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SERMON

Preach'd before the Right Honourable the

LORDS

Spiritual and Temporal,

January the 30th, 17%

At WESTMINSTER-ABBY,

By WILLIAM, Lord Bishop of St. Asaph.

LONDON:

Printed by T. H. for Charles Harper, at the Flower-de-Luce, over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-fireet. 1710.

Die Martis, Jan. 31. 1709.

Ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Affem. bled, That the Thanks of this Houfe ball be, and are hereby given to the Lord Bishop of St. Asaph for bis Sermon, preach'd before this Houfe Tefterday in the Abby Church at Westminster; And he is hereby Defired to Print and Publish the fame.

Matth. Johnfon, Cler' Parl

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SERMON

Preach'd before the Right Honourable the

House of LORDS,

January the 30th, 17%%%

II Kings, Chap. viii. Ver. 13. And Hazael faid, But what, is thy Servant a Dog, that he should do this great Thing? And Elisha anfwered, The Lord bath shewed me, that thou shalt be King of Syria.

HE King of Syria being fick, and hearing that a Prophet of the Lord was at Damafcus, fent his Servant Hazael with a very liberal Prefent to him, to enquire of God, by him, whether he should recover of his Disease. To this great Meffenger, the Prophet answers---Go fay unto him---Thou mayft certainly recover; bowbeit, the Lord hath fhewed me, that be Shall furely die. Would the Prophet here have Hazael tell a Lie, and fay his Lord fhould live, when he was certain he would die, being told fo by the Prophet? Or does he rather fay,--You will hardly be fo ill a Courtier, as to tell the King, that

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he

he fhall die; you will leave fo unwelcome a Meffage to any other, and rather choose to say, Thou mayeft certainly recover, altho' I know very well he never fhall recover, and tell you fo, from God. This Senfe is natural and eafy enough; but the Words do not fay it exprefly enough. Or, does he bid him fpeak what is certainly true, if fupplied with fomewhat that Elisha knew very well? Go and fay to your Prince, Thou mayeft certainly recover, i. e. from this Difeafe, which in it felf may not be mortal, Howbeit, the Lord hath Shewed me, that he shall furely die, i. e. by another Hand, after another Manner. The former Part Hazael was to fay to Benbadad, the latter Elifba faid to Hazael: And each of them was true; for Benbadad might have recover'd, had not Hazael murther'd him. If therefore we refpect the Difemper only, it was true that the Prophet bad him fay-- Thou mayeft certainly recover; but if we refpec the Event, which God faw, and discover'd to the Prophet, it was alfo true, that the King should certainly die. What the Prophet faid, was certainly true, in this Senfe, and we ought to take the Words in any other Senfe, than fuch a one as would make a holy Prophet the Author of a Falfhood. When he had spoken thefe Words, the Prophet fettled his Countenance fo ftedfaftly, look'd fo long and fo intently upon Hazael, that he was perfectly confounded; and the Prophet himfelf burst into Tears. Hazael ask'd him, what it was that occafion'd fuch a ftrange Emotion, and why he wept? The Prophet told him, I was to fee, and confider, what mighty Mischiefs he, in time, would bring upon Ifrael, how he would fire their Strong-holds, lay their young Men with the Sword, dafh in Pieces their poor Infants, and rip up their Women with Child. To whom Hazael replies, in the Words of the Text,

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