Divine Cordials, License – To the reader
PErlegi has Conciones viri inſigniter docti, operarii foreign Ioſiae Shute, aevi ſui Chryſoſtomi; quas impreſsione digniſsimas cenſeo.
IA. CRANFORD.
DIVINE CORDIALS: DELIVERED IN Ten Sermons, UPON Part of the ninth and tenth Chapters of Ezra, in a time of Viſitation.
BY That godly and faithfull Preacher of Gods Word, IOSIAH SHUTE, B. D. and late Rector of Mary Woolnoths in Lumbard-Street London.
Publiſhed by Authority.
HABAKKUK 3.17, 18.
Although the fig-tree ſhall not bloſſome, neither ſhall fruit bee in the Ʋine, the labour of the Olive ſhall faile, and the fields ſhall yeeld no meat, the flock ſhall be cut off from the Fold, and there ſhall be no Herd in the Stals: yet will I rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my ſalvation.
London, Printed for ROBERT BOSTOCK, dwelling in Pauls Church-yard, at the Sign of the Kings head, 1644.
TO THE READER.
I Have preſumed to preſent to publike view, a ſcantling of thoſe pious and numerous Sermons, preached by that worthy Miniſter of God and bright Starre of our Church while hee lived, Mr Ioſiah Shute. I confeſſe ingenuouſly, they loſe much of their native luſtre and beauty, by comming under an unskilfull Pen; but ſure I am, you have their marrow and ſubſtance, how defective ſoever in Quotations and circumſtance. I know my attempt will bee cenſured by the Learned, for bringing him abroad in ſo homely a dreſſe, who was the Chryſoſtome of his time: But I choſe rather to bee cenſured by them, then to engroſſe a treaſure to my ſelfe, which by the bleſsing of God may enrich many: The benefit I reaped by him, the honour I owe unto his memory, and the importunity of friends, are a ſufficient Apology for my raſh adventure. That which I have brought to light, is but the work of five dayes; To what a vaſt volume would it riſe, if the elaborate Sermons which hee preached for above thirty years together, ſhould come to ſee the Sunne? I am bold to ſpeak it, becauſe I have hundreds to beare me witneſſe; he was as faithfull and conſtant a Labourer in Gods Vineyard as any the Kingdome had. VVhat remaines then, but our diligence to bee bettered by his holy Doctrine and godly Example, conſidering the end of his converſation? My prayer to the moſt High is, that this Reverend Author may prove a Bonaerges, a Sonne of thunder, to rouſe and awaken the ſecure ſinner, but a Barnabas, a Sonne of conſolation, to the Mourners in Zion: And if this taſte of his Miniſtery ſhall produce theſe good effects in any, I not only have my deſire, but if God ſo pleaſe, (not being prevented by others) I ſhall hereafter aſſay to give you a deeper draught of his Religious Labours. Thus wiſhing thee as much comfort in peruſing them, as I had in hearing and tranſcribing them, I leave thee and them to the bleſsing of God, and bid thee farewell.
William Reynoldes.