The Election Sermon

is mY ana N i | In COUNCIL, June 2. 173% -_ Ordered, HAT Paul Dudley and Jonathan Remington, Esqrs, give the Thanks of this Board to the Reverend Mr. John Swift, for his SER M ON Preached to the General Assembly, on the Day of Election of Councellors, and desire a Copy thereof in order to its being Printed. | p * J. Willard, Secr. SERMON 3 Preach'd at BOSTON, BrxrrFORE TAE Great and General Aslembly Of the Province of the * Maslachusetts-Bay | IN » New-England, 1 May 31. q DCScX XxX II. l Being the Anniverfary for the Election of : His Majesty's COUNCIL for the Province. Buy Fohn Swift, M. A. And Pastor of the Church in Framingham. IIs on ZOSTON in NEM ENGLAND: Printed by B. Green, Printer to His Excellency the GOVERNOUR and COUNCIL, for T. Hancock, at the Bible ard Three Crowns in Ann-Street, Us LET LO SESSASSISESSISSSSSASSSSSS & OCD 22D OCDYOGBIOCEDNICDOEEDOODY Hp EEE EEE GESEEESSBEDSEEDBBEDBSESSHSESBBBEDS ELL LLELLLLLLLLEEL ELLE) Flection- Sermon. NT e eee LUKE xiii. 9. AND if it bear Fruit well ; And if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. iS.” $834 S& SMMUTABILITY is an essential ProCO nv: perty of that Being that we worship 22 (993 e and adore. All created Beings either 2 Gt in the visible or invisible World, are 255 in their own nature mutable : Had it 2189 2 not been so with the Angels, they N had never fallen : And Man at his best as to the strongest Constitutions of the several Orders of Men that there have been in the world, either in State or Church, how long have they abode in their honour? What is become of the Four Monarchies ? The © Assyrian, the Grecian, the Persian and theRoman ? And as to theChurch catholic or Christsspouse we read, (a) that She is beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Ferusalem ;

But what is become of the Beauty of the one or Comeliness of the other? Again, She lJooketh forth as the Morning, whose appearance is not always steady. Fair - 0 mn... (a) Cant. 6 4, 10, SSL BLS Estate was altogether vantity. And An Elestion S ER M ON. as the Moon, which hath her increment & her waine. Clear as the Sun, which yet hath its Macule S'lares, or Sun Spots, and sometimes shines forth with its Meridian brightness, and at other times is clouded or eclips'd. Again,as if the most splendid of inamimate beings were not sussicient to describe her by, she is said to be ferrible as an Army with Banners, which sometimes is crowned with Victory, and sometimes is defeated. And no particular eccleliastic constitution,whether formed byGQD or invented by Man, hath prevailed” to keep a Church from corruption. The Church of Hrael it self, tho” it was National and a Theocrasy, having their Canons and Regulation from Heaven, yet soon grew corrupt: as in Jer. 2. 21. Ter I had planted thee a noble vinè, wholly a right Seed: how then art thou turned into the dege- - nerate plant of a strange vine unto me? Here is a doleful change, a noble vine, planted by Heaven, wholly a right Seed, but alas turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine, Sc. It was a generous vine, but now a vine turned clear out of kind. And there is a description of the Jewish Church, in its good & bad State, its flourishing & decaying state, its holy & corrupt state, in its fruitful and barren state. And as to the Gospel Churches that we read of, what is become of them ? Are they not cut down for their Barrenness ? Where is that Church that was at Feru/alem ? And the Church of the Romans,Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Ihe ssalonians, and all the Seven Afian Churches, and others ? Are they not all cut down for theirApostacy or Barrenness? But to return to Zudea, because the words that I have now read are the close of a Parable delivered by our Saviour to the eus, to them primarily, not to them only; but to us, and to all who enjoy the means of Grace. Some Years past, on the o:casion that we are now met upon, an ingenious Parallel t was run in this place between Ner- England and Canaan : And I with and pray that we in this Land, may not equalize or exceed the Inhabiters of that in their Sin and Punishment, Barrenness & Doom. In 8 — t By Dr. Colman in kis last Election Sermon, Com An Elesion SERMON 3 In the Parable before us, our Lord Jesus sets forth the state of the Fews, by a Fig-tree planted in his Vineyard, Sc. Now as some Scripture prophesies are often fulfill'd, so some Scripture Parables or Tropes are variously applicable every Person seated in Christs visible Church is a Tree planted in his Vineyard, and every such Church is a Tree planted in the Vineyard of the World. (Y) For brevity sake, I shall not offer any Analytical account of the parts of this Parable ; but keep as near as I can to the words of my Text, and the eccaliin of our being here. JL In the words then more generally, we have the continued intercession of the Dresser of the Vineyard for the Barren Fig-tree, vis. That it might have longer forbearance, or a reprieve. — II. We have in the words a double Hypothesis, as I. F It it bear Fruit. 2. L If it bear not Fruit. And as to the first of these, if it bear Fruit, in the Greek it is K av u II xapaor” i. e. allo if it make Fruit, q. d. …