Sermon Preached 10 January 1699, Title page – Dedication
A SERMON Preach'd to the SOCIETY FOR Reformation of Manners, In Kingſton upon Hull;
On Wedneſday, January the 10th. 1699/700.
By JOHN BILLINGSLEY, Miniſter of the Goſpel.
LONDON: Printed for A. and I. Churchil: And Thomas Ryles, Bookſeller in Hull. 1700.
Mr. BILLINGSLEY's SERMON FOR Reformation of Manners.
THE Epiſtle Dedicatory, TO The Worthy Members of the SOCIETY for Reformation of Manners, in Kingſton upon Hull.
Honoured Sirs,
THAT I make bold to Entitle You to the Patronage of the following Plain Diſcourſe, I think needs no other Apology, but to mention, That it was firſt Preached, and is now made Publick, at Your Requeſt.
You have undertaken a Difficult Work, and (thorough the Goodneſs of God) made ſome Conſiderable Advances in it, in Circumſtances that were enough to have Diſheartned a Piety and Courage leſs than Yours. And I hope you have found, and, by the Bleſſing of Heaven upon Your Honeſt Endeavours, will find, that the farther You go on in this Service, the more your Difficulties will abate, and the more Your Encouragements (thoſe eſpecially of the Beſt ſort) will increaſe.
I have endeavoured to lay before You Plain Scripture-Rules for Your Management of this Weighty Buſineſs, and to repreſent to You the manifold Obligations You lie under to Perſevere in it. I hope I have herein ſpoken nothing but Words of Truth and Soberneſs, even ſuch Truths as all Wiſe and Good Men, of the moſt differing Parties (Alas! that we cannot avoid ſtill uſing the unhappy word Party!) are agreed in.
And if any will call this Canting, they ſhall (for me) enjoy the ſole Privilege of adhering to their own, beloved, and long-accuſtomed Dialect: For when Men are fallen out with God and their own Conſciences, with Reaſon, Authority, and Sobriety, it is no Wonder if the Light of Scripture-Truth, any thing warmly applied, ſet them a raving. The worſt I wiſh ſuch, is, That they may awake and come to themſelves in time; elſe they will e're long know (what they will not now conſider) that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Heb. 10. 31.
It was, I confeſs, ſome Diſcouragement to me in both Parts of this Ʋndertaking, (but eſpecially the latter) that I was to manage this Weighty Argument after ſo many, of every way greater Abilities, and who had, in a ſort, exhauſted the Subject. Yet ſince I could not, without being rude to You, and unfriendly to the Truly-good Cauſe You are engaged in, decline it; I ſhall leave the Judgment of this Confeſſedly-mean Performance, to the Pious and Candid Readers, without being concerned at the Scoffs of Debauched and Profane Perſons, with whom, the Apoſtle St. Peter hath foretold us, theſe laſt Days ſhould abound, 2 Pet. 3. 3.
That the following Sermon may be bleſſed of God, for the ſtrengthening of Your Hands in the preſent Eminent Service You are imployed in; That You may, all of You, approve Your Hearts unto God, and Your Actions to the Conſciences of Men; That all Mountains may become a Plain before You; That the preſent Inhabitants of this Place, and even late Poſterity, may reap the Happy Fruits of Your Good Endeavours; That we may be as Eminent for Real Holineſs and Brotherly-Love as we have long been for the Remarkable Care of a Gracious Providence about us, is, and ſhall be, the Earneſt Prayer of,
Gentlemen, Your very Affectionate, Obliged, Faithful Servant, John Billingſley.