A

SERMON

PREACHED

Before the Right Honourable

THE

LORD MAYOR,

AND

COURT of ALDERMEN;

ΑΤ

Guild-Hall Chappel, November the 5th, 1673.

Luke 9. 56.

For the Son of Man came not to deftroy Men's Lives, but to fave them.

T is the Glory of the Christian Re

Iligion that it hath conquered the

World, and triumphed over all that opposed it, without any other Weapon but its own victorious Beauty and Reasonablenefs: Had it been proclaimed by theMouths of Cannon, or marched like Paracelfus his Dæmon, upon the Pummel of the Sword; It had been Rivalled by fundry fuccessful Impostures; and the Alcoran it felf would have compared Victories with it: But in this it hath the Preeminence of all the Religions that ever were, that it atchieved its Conqueft without Scrib or Sword, without the Aid of Worldly Force or Policy That by its own native Light, it vanquished the Ignorance and Prejudice of the World; and by pure

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Dint of Reason, fubdued Men's Minds to its Empire: For 'twas not by Racks and Tortures that it converted Infidels, and convinced Hereticks, but by Reason and Miracles; and till it began to be fophifticated with temporal Interests and Defigns, it taught its Followers only to endure, but not to inflict Perfecutions: For this was their Language in the purer Ages, Non eft Religionis, cogere Religionem, que fufcipi debet fponte, non Vi, as Tertull. expreffes it. Religion preffeth no Man to her Service, and disdains to have any Followers but Volunteers; but when once its Followers began to bend it to their Intereft, and make it the Sollicitor of their temporal Defigns to break into Parties, and imbarque their own Reputation, and in the Succefs of thofe difputable Opinions, that distinguished them, then according as they had the Luck to fucceed in their Difputes, and the Favour of the Emperors, they began to folicit, and arm the temporal Power against their Adverfaries; in which bad Practice, they imitated thofe, whom in all other things they did condemn ; namely the Arrians

the

the Circumcellians, and Donatifts, who were the first Christians that either perfwaded, or practised Perfecution; and yet for a long while fo abhorrent it was from the Temper of Christians, that Urfatus, and Ithrius, two otherwife Catholick Bishops, for perfwading Maximus to destroy the Prifcillianifts, were branded by their Brethren with an infamousCharacter,and fharply reproved by the good Bishop of Trevers, who plainly tells them, Satis, Sulp. Sev. Superque fufficere, ut Epifcopali fententia Hift. lib. baretico Judicati Ecclefiis pellerentur :P. 152. Novum eft, & inauditum nefas ; ut caufam Ecclefia Judex feculi judicaret : It is fufficient that Hereticks be banifhed by the Church as Out-laws from the Communion of Chriftians: But it is a new and unheard of Wickedness, that a Cause of Religion should be judged and punished at a fecular Tribunal ; and yet this was above 370 Years after Chrift: But as the Churches Fortunes grew better, and her Sons grew worfe, and fome of her Fathers worst of all; So Perfecution and Tyranny prevailed in Christendom, till at last it was baptized into the Name of Zeal, and enthroned