of other Mens For he was no less than others subject to Hunger and Thirst Cold and Heat Fainting and Weariedness and all the other things which Nature or Providence has made us liable to As he espoused our Nature so he espoused it with all its Weakness and Infirmities and with all the Trouble which ordinarily attends it Nay which is more he not only submitted to all the unavoidable Infirmities of our Nature but also to all the Misery which attends the meanest Condition of Men which the Apostle points at by the Form of a Servant The form of a servant implies somewhat more than the Nature of Man simply for every Man is not a Servant Jesus Christ has carried his humane Nature to Heaven but he is not there in the Form of a Servant for he is exalted above all When therefore St. Paul saith he took upon him the Form of a Servant he remembers us of the low and contemptible Condition in which he appeared For he came not to the World in Pomp and Splendour in the Form of a King or some great Person Nor did he aspire after a State of Grandeur Power and Command over others but chose to be born of mean and poor Parents who were totally divested of the Glory which by their descent they might have pretended to He was lodged with a Carpenter brought up in his House learned his Trade and wrought with his own hands for his Bread And though it be lawful for Men to endeavour to better their Condition if they take honest means yet he never made a Fortune to himself the foxes had holes and the fowls of the air nests but the Son of Man had no place or possession of his own where to lay his head When he entered upon the Exercise of his Ministery his Retinue was a dozen of poor Fishermen instead of splendid Walls and Schools he taught in Desarts on the Tops of Mountains and from the sides of small Ships and Boats He was born under the Law and subject to it he wore the heavy Yoke of Moses and religiously observed all his Laws He was also subject to the Romans and obliged to pay them Tribute though he owed them none In a word while he was in the World his outward Condition was base ignoble and contemptible and in that Condition he was treated like a Slave forced to endure more Hardship and Misery than ever any Slave was put to He was mocked beaten and cruelly and unmercifully used he was loaded with Contempt Injuries Reproach and all the Evils which Men or Devils could invent And yet like a good and faithful Servant he never declined his Duty nor shifted the Commands which were laid upon him but humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross This is the last Point of the Text. But I cannot enter upon it now I must pass it till another time The two Points I have handled are sufficient for the present to add more would perhaps be too great a burthen to our weak Minds I have laid before you a Mystery which was hid from the Foundation of the World but is now revealed by the Gospel a Mystery which the longest and most profound Meditation can never exhaust A Mystery which may give to all Eternity matter of Admiration both to Angels and Men A Mystery which as our Apostle saith to all that are Perfect sheweth both the Wisdom and Power of God These Divine Attributes were never so admirably manifested The Power of God is clearly seen and evidently set forth in the Creation of the World the erecting such a vast Fabrick out of Nothing the conconjoining its Parts so that they neither interfere nor breed Confusion and the adorning those various Parts with an infinite Variety of Creatures to Inhabit them is a great instance of Divine and Almighty Power So is the Production of Man the Contrivance of his Body the Faculties of his Soul and the Union of two so different Species as Matter and Spirit into one Composition But yet it is more astonishing and more incomprehensible to see the Creature Deified the God-head Embodied and the Humane and Divine Nature united together in one Person And as the Power of God is hereby seen so his Wisdom in contriving this Way to confound Satan to destroy Sin to save Mankind to declare his own Justice and to keep up the Authority of his righteous Laws Lord what Admiration may this breed How ought the Contemplation of this to transport us But Admiration ought not to be the only Effect of this Contemplation it should also engender Love and indeed if our Hearts be not hard as an Adamant and as insensible as a Stone it will enflame them with ardent love to God who hath so highly regarded us as to dignifie us beyond the Angels and any Creature in Heaven or Earth He is infinitely above us and standeth not in need of us and yet he hath had a particular Concernment for us and hath honoured us beyond Expression And that too when we were Rebels and Apostates and guilty of a Thousand Indignities done to the Deity If he had cast some Pity upon us or shewed some Commiseration after we had crouched and humbled our selves and bewailed our Sins with weeping and sorrowful Hearts it had not a little shewed his Goodness even in this Case his Mercy would have been abundantly declared But what superabundant Mercy was it to seek us first nay to court and wooe us when we hated him and were running away from him and that too by no meaner Person than his own Son God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the Fathers hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the worlds Lord how little did Man deserve this And what Obligations doth this lay on Man to love fear and serve God! Again how should our Hearts cleave to Jesus Christ What a strong and passionate Affection should we have for him Who for us and for our sakes made himself of no Reputation Who to serve us and procure our good laid aside the Glory which he had before the Foundation of the World and being in the Form of God and in a State in which he thought it not Robbery to be equal to God did yet take upon him the Form of a Servant All this was his own proper deed and the meer effect of his free Love You see all is ascribed to himself and indeed there was no Force to constrain him wherefore so great and so free Love in him requires the greatest Measure of Love from us Do you think what he has done nothing Seems it little to you to exchange the Form of God for the Form of a Servant The Glory of Heaven for the Miseries of Earth Is it nothing think you for Omnipotency to be confined to the Weakness of a Child For
and Body of the same Nature Qualities Properties and Passions with others liable to the same things and standing in need of the same Support And in a word like to others in all things except Sin so that he may be justly and in strict propriety of Speech stiled the man Christ Iesus and well deserves that Epithet which is often given him in Scripture viz. the Son of man As also his Actions and Sufferings are to be considered as the Actions and Sufferings of a Man We must not with the Ancient Hereticks deny the Humanity of Jesus or Fancy that all his Actions and Sufferings were only in appearance and no wise real for he did partake of the Humane Nature as much as any of us and was of the like innocent Passions and Infirmities with our selves But then again least we think meanly of this man Christ Jesus least we reckon no more of him than of other ordinary Men we must remember all his Character and consider that he who was at this time found in the fashion as a Man was formerly in the form of God and thought it not Robbery to be equal with God This Son of Man was also the Son of God the God-head dwelt in him and both the Divine and Humane Nature were personally united in him and that too after such an intimate manner as we see Soul and Body for composing the Person of a Man Therefore as in respect of his God-head he is called the eternal Son of God the only begotten of God the Father over all God blessed for ever And as in respect of his Man-hood or Humane Nature he is called the Son of Man the Son of David the seed of Abraham and the seed of the Woman So because of the intimate Union and Conjunction of these two Natures into the one Person of Jesus Christ he is said to be God manifested in the flesh the word made flesh When the fulness of time was come saith our Apostle God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law Hence also it is that the Attributes and Works peculiar to the one true God are ascribed to Jesus thus he is said to have created the World to uphold all things by the Word of his Power to know the secret Thoughts c. And what was done by him is attributed to God tho' it was only proper to the Humane Nature Thus Act. XX. 28. St. Paul saith God purchased the Church with his own blood Upon this account all the Prophecies which went before pointed at both his Divinity and Humanity As for instance the very first calling him the seed of the woman shews his Humane Nature and his Divinity is declared by the other Clause which saith that he should bruise the serpents head Behold saith Isaiah a virgin shall conceive and bear a son that is a Man but it being added and shall call his name Immanuel which signifies God with us this imports that he was also to be God So his Humane Nature is set forth in these words Unto us a child is born unto us a Son is given But his God-head no less by what follows viz. His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace For this cause also the Divine Oeconomy towards him after his appearance in the World was so ordered as to attest both his Humanity and Divinity He was conceived in the Womb of the Virgin but by the Power of the Holy Ghost that this Holy One which was Born might be called the Son of God After his Birth he was swadled and laid in a Manger to hold forth the quality of a Man but at the same time Angels were sent from Heaven to declare his Birth who sung Divine Hymns for it that thereby might be represented his quality as God In his Baptism like a Man he is dipt into Water by Iohn the Baptist but to bear Witness of his Divinity the Heavens open and a voice crieth This is my beloved Son When he is in the Desart as a Man he suffers Hunger and Thirst but as a God the Angels minister unto him And as his Death shewed him to be Man so the darkening of the Sun the rending of the Veil the trembling of the Earth the opening of the Graves the rising of the Dead and his bestowing Paradise upon the Thief who died with him were Signs that he was God Moreover the Truth of his Divine and Human Nature is declared and set forth by most of his Actions especially his Miracles as the Blessing the five Loaves and two Fishes and by that making them to multiply to the feeding of Five Thousand The bidding the Sick take up his Bed and walk the weeping over Lazarus's Grave and yet raising him after he had been Four Days in it the sleeping in a Tempest and Storm and the making it Calm when he was awakened By these and many other instances it is evident that the Person our Text speaks of Jesus Christ is both God and Man that in him both the God-head and Humane Nature were personally united Which as St. Paul saith is without Controversy a great Mystery 1 Tim. iii. that is a wonderful and an ineffable thing which passeth the understanding of Man either to explain or fully to comprehend We shall never be able to comprehend this fully till we come to the other World where all Mysteries will end in clear Visions and where we shall not see as it were through a Glass darkly as at present But yet if at present we take a view of this Mystery with a reference to the end to which it was adapted we shall discover convincing Instances of the admirable and unsearchable Wisdom of God The Design was to save lost Mankind by the means of a Mediator who was to make an Atonement for their Sins and so to make up the breach betwixt God and Man as that Man might be saved and yet neither the Honour Justice or Authority of God or his Laws impaired so that it might be thought there was any force or necessity upon God to be reconciled to Man as the Kings of the Earth are obliged to make Peace with their Rebellious Subjects It were a little too bold to say that God had no other way to compass the Salvation of Men But sure this way is admirably contrived both for the Glory of God and the good of Mankind Man could not desire or devise a better a more equal a more easie Method and it is every way honourable for God it is made Effectual for Man and not only the Mercy and Goodness of God do hereby abundantly appear but also his Wisdom Power and Justice and all those Attributes which may excite Fear and Reverence or procure Love or oblige to Obedience Who so proper to ransom Mankind as one of the Race who did participate of the Humane Nature and who was descended from the same Parents Who but Man could
Incorrigible Sinners think to escape the eternal Judgments of the other World The Destruction of Ierusalem was a Type of the Day of Judgment the Calamity of the Iews the Horror and Consternation they were in when the Romans utterly ruin'd them tho' it had no Precedent nor has any thing fallen out since like it yet all was but a faint Shadow of the Day of Judgment but a sorry figure and representation of that Then it is that Men will cry most Pathetically and with the greatest earnestness to the Hills and to the Mountains to fall on them and to cover them from the sight of the Lamb. They had better meet with a Bear rob'd of her Whelps or a Lion roaring than the Lamb of God that Day for then he will be Terrible and nothing can shelter them from him None shall find Mercy then or be acquitted save such as have Jesus for their Advocate and who are sprinkled with his Blood But do incorrigible and impenitent Sinners expect this Or dare they ask it of Him Will they or can they employ Him whom all their life they have affronted and grieved and resisted Or Suppose that they should have such Impudence would it prevail Will He plead for them nay He will plead against them and his Blood will speak no other thing in behalf of them than that of Abel's it will even call for Vengeance Jesus Christ in that Day will only take part with the Penitent Believers All others shall be left to the Wrath of God which as a Consuming Fire shall devour them O consider this ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces when there shall be none to deliver Turn ye turn ye why will ye die Now is the day now is the acceptable time Seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near O know and consider in this your day the things that belong to your Peace lest they be hid from your eyes And may the Merciful God add his Enlightning and Converting Grace to this Exhortation and these Instructions that they may prove Effectual to our Conversion for the magnifying of his Mercy and the Saving of our selves from the Wrath that is to come Amen SERMON VI. ON EASTER-DAY 1 PETER I. 3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you THESE Words are a Form of Thanksgiving proper to be used on such Occasions as this which hath now brought us together and a due Consideration of them may be sufficient to excite in us most grateful Sentiments of God's Goodness to us and of our Obligations to him They were first uttered in Behalf of the dispersed Jews but only upon the account of their being Christians and called to the Hope of Glory which Privilege is common to us and therefore the Text is no less applicable to us than it was to them Even upon our account it may be said Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ c. In which words we may take notice of these particulars First the Author of our Happiness viz. God and the Father c. Secondly the Motive which induced him to bless us his abundant mercy Thirdly the special Benefits conferred on us which are the begetting us again unto a lively hope an inheritance c. Fourthly the means by which the same is wrought and assured to us viz. the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead All these are important things worthy to be known and therefore God willing I shall speak to each of them And I beseech you to lend an attentive and unprejudiced Ear. To begin with the First As Nature teacheth us to be thankful so that we may acquit our selves of this Duty it is necessary to know whom we are obliged to for if we make an Acknowledgment to any other than to him who bestowed the Benefits we defraud him who bestowed them and act as foolishly and unjustly as he who payeth a Debt to another than the Person to whom it is owing Now we are directed here to pay our Thanks to God and indeed he is the only Author of all the good we have of whatsoever Sort whether Spiritual or Temporal Do not err my beloved Brethren every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning We have nothing but what we have received from him It is true all things are not given us immediately by the Hand of God himself oftentimes Blessings are dispenced by the means of his Creatures But whatever way or by whomsoever Good comes to us God is and ought to be acknowledged the Author thereof Good comes not to us by chance nor from any other than God if any other thing be used in the bestowing it it is only as an Instrument in his Hand Neither Devils nor Men nor any other Creature can do us hurt unless God give them leave Nor can any do us good but as they are prompted and empowered thereto by God If Medicines cure it is because he blesseth them if our Industry and Diligence enrich it is because his Providence accompanieth it if Friends and Acquaintance are beneficial it is because he putteth it in their Heart and enables them Does the preaching of Paul or Apollo convince thy Conscience work in thee Faith and Repentance It is only because God worketh with them it is his Spirit only which makes their Ministry effectual for what is Paul And what is Apollos The one may plant and the other may water but the Increase is from God Let none therefore sacrifice unto their net or burn incense unto their drag though by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous Neither let them boast of Men and make all their Acknowledgments to them for either spiritual or temporal good which comes by their means but both for the one and the other let all look up to God who giveth to all liberally let us give Thanks and Praise to him for it is he and he only who maketh us glad by his Work As he made us and not we our selves so from him are all our present Comforts and the Hope of what is to come But as all our Acknowledgments are due to God so that it may appear they are directed aright to the one true God we ought to address them in and by Jesus Christ to God and the Father of Iesus Christ as St. Peter teacheth us here When he saith God and the Father c. He doth not mean distinct Persons the Conjunction and here is explicative and thereby the Apostle points out whom he meant by God viz. the Father of Iesus Christ that is he who sent Jesus Christ
into the World and has manifested himself to Men by him This Manifestation is the fullest and most glorious and so particular that it is a certain Mark to distinguish the true God from false Gods and the Worshippers of the one from the Worshippers of the other Jews Turks and Pagans and all those who worship their own Imaginations will readily say Blessed be God But none will add the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ but such as know and own the true God indeed Ever since this Manifestation of the true God he hath stiled himself by it and will have all to acknowledge him under this Title And they who own it not not only dishonour God and rob him of a great deal of Glory which thereby redounds to him but also they may be said to revolt from the Knowledge and Acknowledgment of the true God He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him saith Christ Iohn viij 23. And St. Iohn himself tells us Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also 1 Epistle ii 23. Wherefore such Acts of Worship as do thus particularly discriminate the true God and are so appropriate to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that they are applicable to none other are very necessary For this Reason our Initiation into the Worship and Service of the true God is by baptizing us into the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost And for the same Reason we ought often to receive the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper for hereby we make an express and peculiar Acknowledgment of this one true God viz. the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By this also it appears how suitable a part of Christian Worship the usual Doxology is and how proper to annex it to the Psalms of David whereby they are adapted to the New Revelation of the Gospel and rendered so much Christian that neither Jews nor any but Christians will join in the Use of them Having thus considered the Author of our Happiness the Motive which induced him to bless us comes next to be considered The Obligation which ariseth by the conferring a Benefit is more or less according to the Motive or Cause which prompted it if it was extorted by Force and Compulsion if one be so driven to it that he cannot shun a Courtesie scarce any Obligation accrueth thereby if it be done out of respect to after Requitals it is but a mercenary Kindness and tho' it obligeth somewhat yet the Obligation is none of the greatest it only bindeth us to make some Recompence and particularly that which the Person might have an Eye to if it be reasonable as the Services of Servants bindeth to the paying their Wages which is all they have before them and when that is done the Obligation of their Services ceaseth But if a Favour be conferred freely out of pure Love and good Will the Obligation is both perpetual and of the highest Nature Such a Favour ought never to be forgotten and if it be great in it self too it bindeth to the utmost Love and Thankfulness Now such is our Obligation to God for as he hath blessed us with the highest Blessings as shall be seen afterwards so he hath done it most freely meerly out of his abundant mercy as the Text saith And the same is intimated every where throughout the Scripture Through the tender mercy of our God the day spring from on high hath visited us said Zachary Luke i. 78. Of his own will begat he us saith St. Paul Titus iii. 5. and Rom. ix 15. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion so then that it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Therefore in the same Chapter they who are saved and prepared unto Glory are called Vessels not of Justice or of Righteousness but of mercy to teach us that if it had not been for Mercy none would have been saved And indeed to what can our Salvation be ascribed but to the Mercy of God It cannot be said that he was constrained thereto by some external Cause for who can compel the Almighty Who can prescribe Laws to the absolute Sovereign of Heaven and Earth It was not the Hope of Profit that moved him for as Eliphaz said Can a Man be profitable unto God as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself Is it any Pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect My Goodness extendeth not to thee saith David for if thou be righteous what givest thou him Or what receiveth he of thine hand Thy wickedness may hurt a Man as thou art and thy righteousness may profit the Son of Man But we cannot make God either better or worse He stands in no need of us nor is it possible for any either in Heaven or Earth to add or take from his Greatness Happiness or Glory for what can be added to or impaired from an infinite Being Suppose God was obliged to give those celestial Mansions to such as could merit them yet who could claim them even on that Account His Angels he chargeth with folly What is Man then that he should be clean And he which is born of a Woman that he should be righteous If he did enter into Iudgment who could stand What Man could be justified in his sight Whatever God would have been obliged to if Man had continued innocent yet sure considering us in our lapsed State it must be acknowledged that it is Mercy only which saves us unless we say that he is obliged by Rebellion Treachery impious Affronts wicked Insolencies and continued Provocations But being these can only be thought to irritate his Anger therefore we ought to conclude with the Scripture that it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed And that we are not only not consumed as we deserve but moreover called to Glory and eternal Life is not Mercy simply but abundant yea superabundant mercy as our Text speaks Would you but take a View of your Hearts and Actions for one Day and consider not only the lesser Follies and Impertinencies you are guilty of but the grosser Faults the unclean and wicked Thoughts which arise in your Hearts the rash and evil Words which proceed from your Mouth what Sins are committed and what Good is left undone in how many things you offend altogether and how light the best Actions would be if they were weighed in the Balance I say were those impartially examined the Guilt of one Day would be found exceeding great and then what would it be if the Sins of all the Days and Years we lived were added And seeing our Case is such tell me is it not Mercy only which tieth the Hands of Divine
the right hand of God Finally let us be stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord for our labour is not in vain Now the God of Peace that brought again from the Dead our Lord Iesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Iesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON VII ON EASTER-DAY 1 JOHN V. 12. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life THE Yoke of Christ is so far from being heavy and troublesome that on the contrary it is very Light and Easie His Commands are so far from being Grievous that they are very Profitable and in keeping of them there is great Reward It is no less our Interest than our Duty to become Christians and we cannot shew our selves more Wise more Careful of our own Welfare than when we give our selves up to be the Disciples of Jesus Christ and to follow him whithersoever he leads us For by doing so we secure to our selves all desireable Happiness What is more desireable than Life Now He that hath the Son hath Life but he that hath not the Son of God hath not Life The Meditation of these words can never be Unseasonable it may always be Useful and Profitable but it is especially very proper and pertinent for the Day and Work which we are now setting about I pray God we may so clearly understand these words and so seriously consider them that we may not from any constraint or formality only but chearfully and heartily join our selves to the Lord Jesus Christ and resolve to maintain not only an External Communion with him in his Sacraments and Ordinances but an Internal one also by Faith Love and Obedience that by so doing we may obtain that Life and all the Blessed Fruits and Benefits of it which is in and through him Now That we may Treat of this Text the more profitably we shall first Explain the Phrases here used of having the Son and of Life and then shall shew how True it is That he who hath the one hath the other also As to the First By the Son of God we are to understand here the Lord Jesus Christ the History of whose miraculous Conception and Birth and Death and Resurrection and Ascension we have fully Recorded and plainly set down in the Four Gospels that this is the Person which St. Iohn designs and points at here is so Evident that it needs not to be proved who Reads the Epistle or but takes notice of the 1 5 and 20 Verses of this Chapter will find it past all doubt In this Epistle Jesus Christ is not only frequently stiled the Son of God but the Necessity of believing it is also clearly held out by the Apostle thus Chap. ii 23. Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also And a little before our Text He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself he that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the Record which God gave of his Son And This St. Iohn insists the more upon because even in his time there were some Cerinthus and Ebion by name who began to spread Damnable Heresies denying the Divinity of Jesus Christ and giving him out to be only a meer Man In Refutation of whom it is said also that he wrote his Gospel at the desire of the Asian Bishops And in it indeed he sets himself more than any other of the Evangelists to advance this great Truth That Jesus is the Son of God not by Adoption or upon the account of his Sanctity and Divine Mission which hath given the Title to other Men but after a peculiar and ineffable manner so that None other is or can be the Son of God as he is for he doth evidently hold him out to be the only begotten Son of God and declares his Eternal Generation and Godhead by clear and Undoubted Testimonies St. Iohn doth not only with the other Evangelists Record such Actions and Speeches of Jesus Christ from which his Deity may be inferred and deduced they speaking out both an Omnipotency and Omniscience But he expresly calls him God and brings in our Lord frequently asserting his Oneness and Equality with the Father in plain and clear terms and both suffering some and calling upon others to pay him equal Homage and Worship with the Father which he would never have done but would have guarded against if he had not been the Son of God in that sence which the Catholick Church hath believed it for then it would have been Idolatry and a downright robbing of God Jesus could not be Ignorant whether he was the Son of God or no neither can we suppose him to swerve from the Truth or to go about to perswade Men to believe in the least what was not True for if he had not been Truth God would not have born Witness to him by so many Prophecies before he came to the World by so many Audible Voices and Wonders when he was in it by raising him from the Dead and finally by confirming the Preaching of the Gospel both with Signs and Wonders and with diverse Miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost If we receive the witness of Men the witness of God is greater and this is the witness of God which he hath testified That Iesus Christ is his Son And who will not believe and receive the Testimony which God hath given to his Son maketh him a Liar He who refuseth this opposeth himself to the Truth of God and so reproacheth and dishonoureth him who hath so positively and so many ways testified of him And Therefore it is said by this Apostle as we cited before Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father And in the following Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God And as the Denying of Jesus Christ to be the Son of God is a Reproaching the Truth of God so also it is a Despising of his Wisdom and an Endeavouring to baffle and Undervalue all the admirable contrivances thereof and all the Wise and Wonderful Dispensations of his Providence and the Eternal Purposes of his Counsel For as all things are of Christ and through him so all things were designed with a respect to him The Creating of the World the permitting of Man to fall the Miraculous Constitution of the Iewish Nation and the no less wonderful Preservation thereof for so many Years the Shame Ignominy and Banishment which that People suffer now the Calling of the Gentiles all God's Dealings with Men and Angels and in a word all that hath hitherto fallen out and all that is to be any time hereafter and the End
and Consummation of this visible Frame at the last Day all these things I say and more than we know were designed for the Glory and Honour of Christ And as they have all a reference to him so the Beauty and Wisdom and Goodness of those Divine Transactions are not cannot be seen but by Establishing the Incarnation of the Son of God and Therefore to reject this great Mystery is to set at nought the Eternal Purposes of God and all those Glorious Designs which his Infinite Wisdom and Goodness have Devised This is to smother the Divine Wisdom and Goodness which is conspicuous in these things and to deny and deprive him of that Glory which so much Wisdom and so much Goodness and so many and so great Expressions thereof do bring unto him Wherefore not to acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God our Lord and God as it is wilful and unaccountable Obstinacy there being so many Irrefragable Testimonies and unquestionable Proofs thereof so it is inexcusable Impiety and downright Rebellion against God He who doth not receive the King's Vicegerent nor will own him whom he Deputes and Entrusts with the Government both affronts the King's Authority and reproacheth his Conduct he reflects alike on his Prudence and Authority And is he not guilty of the same Crime Is he not equally wicked against God who rejecteth his own Son whom he hath sent into the World for to this purpose God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Now this owning and acknowledging of Jesus Christ the receiving him as the Son of God is what the Apostle calls the having the Son as appears from the following Verse where he expounds it by believing on him And in the following Epistle Verse 9. he makes it to be the abiding in his Doctrine He then hath the Son who believes in him who receives his Gospel who gives a full and hearty assent to the truth of all that is said of him either as to his Nature or Offices the Dignity of his Person or the Power and Privilege he hath received from the Father In a word he hath the Son who stedfastly believes whatever he has Revealed concerning God or Man our present Condition or Original State our Duty here or Reward hereafter for if we believe him to be the Son of God we will believe also whatever he hath delivered and will not fail to adhere to this Belief and Perswasion Thus we see That it is Faith in Christ to which Life is here promised But we deceive our selves if we think it any kind of Faith a bare knowledge or naked Speculation of Gospel Truths a mere and simple assent to them which rests in the Brain and Understanding and goes no farther No this is not that Faith which is so magnified in Scripture and to which so many glorious things are promised Many may have all that this comes to and yet fall short of Life Many will say to me in that day saith Christ Lord Lord have we not prophecied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful Works And then I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity True Faith is always Lively Active and Operative it is not barren and Unfruitful it ever worketh by Love and keepeth the Commandments it purifieth the heart of Pride and Lust and casteth down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringeth into Captivity every thought to the Obedience of Christ it rectifies all inward Disorders and makes us New Creatures framed according to the Image of God in Christ it so renews us to the Spirit of our Minds and so conforms us to the Son of God that our Thoughts are his Thoughts his Ways our Ways we love what he loves hate what he hates believe what he Promises and obey what he Commands so that our Life is hid with Christ in God And of every true Believer it may be said as St. Paul saith of himself I am Crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Look what those Saints and Worthies recorded in the Epistle to the Hebrews did through Faith they subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopt the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of Fire escaped the edge of the Sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight turned to flight the Armies of Aliens c. Was not this a strong and a noble Faith Now such must our Faith be for as our Apostle tells us Verse 4. of this Chapter it must overcome the World he that believeth that Iesus is the Son of God he it is that overcometh the world and all that is in the world viz. the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eyes and the pride of Life Thus you see what Faith is that it is no mean and silly thing that it is no dull lazy unactive Principle but that it is strong and mighty quick and powerful in its operation Be not deceived then my Friends Examine well whether you believe in Christ whether or no you have the Son of God dwelling in you by Faith and do not flatter your selves with the conceit unless it be so indeed Consider O Man and tell me Art thou sensible of thy Misery by Nature of thy guilt thrô thy manifold Transgressions Dost thou feel the Necessity of a Saviour Dost thou run to that Fountain which is opened to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Israel for Sin and for Uncleanness Dost thou hope in the Mercy of God and rely upon the Merits of Christ And art thou therefore humble and penitent and ready to forgive and resolved to amend thy Life Dost thou or art thou sincerely resolved to resist the Devil and wrestle against all Temptations not in thy own but in the Name and Strength of Christ Can'st thou despise the Vanities of the World all sublunary Riches and Pleasures can'st thou freely quit them rather than offend thy God Is thy Heart with God and can'st thou confidently trust him with thy self and all thy Concernments and wait for the accomplishment of his Promises Is thy Care are thy Thoughts and Endeavours chiefly employed about the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof how to grow in Grace and the Knowledge of Christ how to abound in good Works and to bring forth Fruit unto Holiness that thy End may be Eternal Life Can'st thou answer to those things positively Dost thou find
into shame how long will ye love vanity and seek after leesing Do ye slight God set at nought your Maker and court the World Are ye taken up with Toys and Trifles and will ye despise Life and cast behind you eternal Bliss Be astonished O ye Heavens at this And be horribly afraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord for my People have committed two great evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hew'd them out Cisterns broken Cisterns that can hold no water O! that Men were wise O! that they did understand O! that they would but seriously consider this Come I pray you let us reason together call in your Thoughts consult your Knowledge advise with your Experience and then tell me what you have ever found preferable to God Is there any thing more worthy your Thoughts or Care What is it that doth equal his Favour and Love Or what can compensate the Loss thereof Will Riches will Honours will Pleasures or will any thing else be profitable as God Can we expect to draw from them either separately or jointly as much Comfort and Satisfaction as from him Behold every Day lets us see that all these things are frail brittle and uncertain and that there can be no fast hold of them But though they were more certain and stable yet being unsuitable to the Nature of our Souls 't is impossible to draw from them alone that good which our Souls crave It is indeed somewhat hard to convince Men but though they should act over all the Experiments of Solomon and prove what good is under the Sun they could not draw another Conclusion than what he has left us viz. That all things are vanity and vexation of Spirit and that Mans chief and only good is to seek God and to delight themselves in him The Lord is my portion saith my soul therefore will I hope in him O consider what an Honour it is to be admitted into Favour and Fellowship with God The Psalmist falls into Admiration when he beheld Man but a little lower than the Angels and invested with Dominion over the Fowls of the Air the Beasts of the Field and the Fish of the Sea And whatever Reason there be for Praise and Admiration in that Case yet Angels being but Fellow-Creatures and the other destitute of Reason and Understanding and so far below us this is nothing so considerable as to be advanc'd into Communion with God himself this is indeed a Heighth and Dignity which may both amaze the Beholders and those on whom it is conferred To be made the Friends of God is truly an Honour to our Nature nothing else can give any Lustre or Glory to us but this is the highest can be aspir'd to either by Angels or Men and therefore we have great Reason to cry out Lord what is Man that thou shouldest be so kind to him And so kind too after he had turn'd Rebel and Traytor is indeed beyond Expression Behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God Constantine had good Reason to say that he gloried more in being a Member of the Church than in being Head of the Empire for to be a true lively Member of the Church doth unite us to God and so is more to be desired than the greatest Dominion or an universal Monarchy For hereby we are not only highly honoured but greatly enriched we have not only an honourable Title and Relation conferred on us but also the largest Emolument Eliphaz advised Iob to seek unto God that he might be relieved out of all his Trouble and if he got him his Friend he told him he should be in League with the stones of the Field and the beasts of the Field should be at peace with him for God will certainly oblige all his Creatures to keep Peace with those with whom he is at Peace as a King maketh Peace not only for himself but for all his People or if he let any of them break Peace it is that he may make those his beloved and peculiar Friends to be the more glorious by gaining a Victory over them He that draws near to God is sure of his Hearts wish Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart What can any wish for more than what an infinite Wisdom can contrive an infinite Power act and an infinite Bounty bestow Now he who hath God his Friend is allied to infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness which will ever interess themselves in all his Concerns Happy are the People whose God is the Lord blessed is the Man who chuses God for his Inheritance for he will give grace and glory and will with-hold no good thing from him All things shall work together to the good of them that love God Trouble as well as Prosperity and the saddest Affliction as well as the greatest outward Plenty Many say who will shew us any good But saith David Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their Corn and Wine increased They who draw near to God have Joy which the World cannot rob them of the Ground of their Happiness and Comfort is not liable to Rapine or Violence nor doth it ever decay Peace I leave with you my Peace I give unto you saith Christ but not as the World giveth give I unto you that is he gives neither so inconsiderable nor yet so brittle and uncertain a Peace as what the World gives but what is more solid and substantial wherefore he adds let not your hearts be troubled neither be afraid If we have Peace with God through Christ we need not startle at any thing neither at private Personal Disasters nor at publick Calamities Because God is our refuge and present help The Children of God cannot be without Crosses and Afflictions but God will not suffer these to marr either their present inward Comfort or after Happiness their Joy cannot be taken from them He will let them be tossed up and down with the Waves of Trouble but they shall not be swallowed up they shall have a joyful exit Mark the perfect and behold the upright for the latter end of that Man is Peace Psal. xxxvii When Men draw near the end of their Life when their Days are near a Period whether through Age or by any Accident they have need of some comforting Cordial to keep them from fainting and nothing is possible to administer this but the Hopes of Peace with God The Sense of God's Favour and Love will make Death appear without a frightful Visage though generally it is esteemed the King of Terrours this will make one to be so far from abhorring Death as in many Cases to be even glad of it because it opens a Door to eternal Rest unspeakable Joy and Fullness of Glory Is it not then good for
us to draw near to God But if so much real good as thus accrues by drawing near to God be not Motive enough to engage us to do it I pray consider the Danger of neglecting it which is no less than utter Misery and certain Destruction for lo they that are far from thee shall perish saith the Psalmist thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee It may certainly be matter of Astonishment how Men can rest be merry or enjoy any Quietness while they live in Enmity with God and have no Assurance of Peace with him Men are troubled if they understand any Alteration of their King's Favour toward them nay if but some Difference fall out between them and some Favourite of the Court though the King's Anger may be many ways avoided and that before the Sun hath finished his Course twice the Favourite may be turned out of Court and put in a Condition which obliges him as much to depend on others as others now on him But however is the Wrath of frail mortal Man so much to be feared Is their Displeasure so carefully to be avoided And should the Wrath of God be little regarded How much more Reason have we to fear God than Man There is no concealing ones self if he search out nor is there any resisting his Power if he be resolved to punish and who may stand before him if his anger be kindled but a little Ye who will not be perswaded to draw near to God how think ye to save your selves how can ye escape if ye neglect so great Salvation as is now tendered you Can you muster Forces equal in Strength and Number unto God's And if you cannot why do you not seek Peace before he come in Wrath to revenge himself for the Affront you have done him in rejecting so great Love and Kindness as he hath proffered by his own Son Ye Atheists and Prophane who now laugh at Religion and make a mock at Sin what will ye do or say for your selves when God enters into Judgment with you Do you think to put on then your present Boldness and unmannerly Impudence or will you make God retire by your Prophane drolling and jesting as you use now to affright all sober and modest persons from your Company Then your Tongues will be bound up your Wits will fail shame shall cover your faces you shall stand trembling and shall feel that power to your confusion which at present you scorn and little regard Ye who cannot find time to seek God who have no leisure to Pray to read the Scripture or to attend God's Publick Worship or Ordinances how do ye think to come off will ye say that ye had your Business to wait on that ye were taken up with the pursuit of Honours and Riches that ye were drawn away with Pleasures with Gaming and Sporting That is to tell him plainly you loved him not you preferr'd all things before him and thought it time enough to seek him when you had nothing else to do Or do you imagine to bribe him but he will not be brib'd and tho' he could what would you give you have nothing you leave all behind you you pass naked into the other World There is no Remedy then but submit you must and you can expect no Mercy for it is out of time and when it was offer'd you contemn'd it O consider this ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces when there shall be none to deliver Now is the acceptable time now is the day of Salvation now you may have Peace be wise therefore and let not such opportunities slip but seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Draw near to God and he will draw near to you Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded I have now spoken to the Exhortation and proposed what may make it take effect and I hope you are thereby moved to draw near to God It follows next that we consider the manner how we should draw near for this we should also look to otherwise we will be disappointed of Peace with God He is ready and willing to accept of any who come aright as they ought He that cometh to me I will in no ways cast out Joh. 6. 37. But yet every drawing near will not find acceptance some come and are rejected not for the want of good will on God's part but for the want of those Qualifications and Conditions on their own which are necessary and requisite to recommend them to the favour of God Now what these are the Apostle shews you here The first is a true Heart The Heart is not made mention of with a design to exclude the Body for that is also required as appears by what follows But because God is a Spirit who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins who knoweth the inward Thoughts of Man the inward Temper and Disposition of their Minds and with what Designs and Affections they present themselves before him therefore the Heart is in the first place mentioned that Men may not presume to mock God by outward Fawnings and Caresses whiles in their Hearts they have no true Kindness for him nor sincere Love to him God will not value the Bowings and Prostrations of Mens Bodies their sad Looks mournful Tone fair Words and Professions if these proceed not from the Heart and be not the real intimations of the inward Purposes and Affections of their Soul But if in the midst of these they retain any secret aversion to God his Will or his Ways or if there lurks with them some love and inclination to what offends him then he will abhor them and all their Offers and Services This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me therefore saith God in vain do they worship me There is no true Friendship where there is not an Union and closing of Hearts Indeed sometimes Enemies will meet shake hands and make many fair Protestations and yet their old Grudge and Quarrel will continue which cannot be reckoned a cordial reconciliation it 's only a patcht agreement to please some third Person or to shun some present inconvenience which will never last But as there is nothing to oblige God to patch up a Peace with us against his Will or contrary to his Honour so there is no Peace with him who is the Father of Spirits but when it is with the Heart neither will he look favourably upon any heart except a true heart that is a sincere heart free of Hypocrisie and Deceit he who draws near to God must be like Nathaniel a true Israelite in whom there is no guile that is who sincerely and in good earnest loves and desires that which he professeth and pretends to seek One Man may deceive another he may make him believe what is not in his
before his Incarnation he appeared in the Heavens invested with all the Glory and Majesty proper and peculiar to God as Creating the World Upholding and Governing it receiving Worship and Adoration from Angels and the like I might confirm this by several other Texts but I shall only mention two The First is Heb. i. 3. Where it is said that he is the brightness of God's glory the express image of his person and upholdeth all things by the word of his power The other is Iohn 17. 5. Where Jesus Christ maketh mention of a Glory which he had with the Father before the Foundation of the World Now that we may know that he held all this of right and by vertue of his Nature and not otherwise the Apostle adds that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God that is he did not reckon it Usurpation Arrogancy or Presumption to hold an Equality with God and consequently he is truly God For if Jesus Christ was not by Nature God if he was a mere Creature though never so excellent it would be great Robbery and the highest Presumption and Usurpation for him to entertain the least thought of an Equality with God And it would be no less than Blasphemy for St. Paul or any other to talk so of him But seeing not only here but every where throughout the Scripture we find such high Speeches of Christ which exalt him above all Creatures even to an Equality with God therefore it is an evident Demonstration that he is God in the strictest Propriety of Speech For it is contrary to the Scope and Tenour of the Scripture to magnifie Men or Angels or any other Creature above what they are in their own Nature whatever Excellency God hath bestowed upon them The Scriptures teach to set all Creatures even the highest at an infinite Distance from God It representeth as Idolatry the exalting Creatures to a Partnership of the Divinity the conferring on them the Names Titles Attributes and Worship which belong to God It sheweth That God will not give his Glory unto another and is Jealous of others doing it that he cannot endure the Appearance of it Therefore the Doctrine and Purpose of the Scripture is thwarted and contradicted by those Expressions we find concerning Jesus Christ if they be not founded upon his Nature that is if he be not God Consider I pray you that all the Revelations which God hath made were design'd to reclaim the World from Idolatry one great Instance of which was the Deifying of Men. If therefore Jesus be not God if he be only Man as the Socinians hold then there is ground to impeach this last and greatest Revelation as destroying the Design of the former at least of not being so wisely managed as to serve the common end of all For in the other Dispensations the Men whom God used as his Instruments were carefully represented to the People to be Men of like Passions and Infirmities with themselves nay their Sins and Failings are put upon Record that none might be ensnared to conceit them Gods But as to Jesus there are such Representations of him such Speeches concerning him as may perswade and incline both learned and unlearned to think him God and every Scruple removed which may obstruct such a Belief Either therefore the Design of the Gospel is That we should receive him as God and consequently he is such or it doth not sufficiently prevent the falling into this Error if it be one but on the contrary layeth a Snare for it and tempteth to the Belief of it and so doth not suit with its own Design it is not adapted to its own end for it ensnareth to the committing of Idolatry in the Person of Jesus which is very absurd To conclude this Point I would fain know of any who call this Truth in Question what would satisfie them Supposing Jesus is God what Evidence would they have of it What Proofs or Demonstrations Could Reason ask more than plain and simple Assertions the ascribing to him the Name Titles Attributes and Works peculiar to the true God and finally the enjoining all the Worship of the outward and inward Man which is only due to him and therefore let us conclude That Jesus is God blessed for ever Having thus fully evinced the Deity of Jesus I proceed to speak of his Humanity or Incarnation which is declared in the 7th and 8th Verses He whom we have declared to have been in the Form of God and to be equal with God was pleased to become Man not by ceasing to be God but by taking to himself the Nature of Man a Body and a Soul as other Men with the common natural Qualities and Properties of both He did not exchange the Nature of God for that of Man but he assumed to the God-head the humane Nature and became strictly united with it so that in the Person of Jesus Christ there was an Union of two Natures the divine and humane In him dwelt the fullness of the God-head bodily Col. ii 9. The word saith St. Iohn was made flesh and dwelt among us In former times this same Son of God assumed to himself a visible Shape by means of which he appeared to Abraham and the Prophets which he also laid aside again when he left off talking with them But now he has taken the humane Nature to him in Reality and Truth and is become so personally united to it that he is never more to lay it aside but is to abide so for ever and ever This is a stupendous and incomprehensible Mystery but the Truth of it is as evident as Scripture can make it For as St. Paul in this place doth evidently assert the Deity and God-head of Jesus so he sets forth the Reality of his humane Nature He took saith he the form of a servant that is the Nature of Man and all that is essential to it And lest any should imagine a Difference betwixt him and others he adds he was made in the likeness of man and found in fashion as a man that is he was in all things just as other Men except Sin which is an adventitious Quality and not essential to our Natures And because he would be as other Men and demonstrate the Reality of his humane Nature as others therefore he came not to the World by immediate Creation as Adam but derived his Being from others He was conceived in the Womb of a Woman and shut up in that dark and narrow Cell all the time which Nature has prescribed to others He was brought forth after the ordinary manner and treated like the Children of Men swadled in Cloaths laid in a Cradle and put to suckle at the Breast He did not grow up hastily and ripen after an extraordinary manner but arrived at the Stature of a Man after the usual Years of Infancy Childhood and Youth He was not nourished by Miracles nor was his Body exempt from the Frailties and Sufferings
their Hearts were swelled up with Grief their Souls were inwardly pierced with excessive Sorrow which abundantly appeared by all the ways by which People use to express their sorrowful Thoughts and sad Apprehensions smiting their Breasts and rending their Garments which the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth howling and mourning with the Voice which is the signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now it will be worth the while and very proper for the Day to consider what it was that moved them to all this Indeed the Hearts of Women by Nature are soft and tender and their Passions are sooner and more easily moved than those of Men but if we view the Object of their Grief we will not think it strange that these Women did thus bewail and lament it will be much more strange if we can restrain our Passions and refrain from weeping at the account of it and yet all know that the sight of a thing toucheth more sensibly than the hearing of it doth These Women had seen all which our Lord had hitherto suffered at the hands of wicked and sinful Men and had lively Apprehensions of what he was yet to suffer for the Death he was going to was known and ordinary but known only to be a vile shameful and most painful Death as upon other accounts so upon this that it was not a speedy but a lingering Death If they themselves were not Witnesses yet they well enough understood how he was seiz'd in the Garden as a Thief when he was most serious in Devotion and Prayer and dragged from thence to the High-Priest's Palace which ought to have been a Refuge to Innocence and a Safeguard against Indiscretions and an Unmerciful Threatment But alas even there they saw him unjustly used and most indiscreetly Handled falsely Accused illegally convicted of Blasphemy and other Crimes and all the rules of Discretion Civility and Good Manners broken in treating him He was Spit upon and Buffetted Blindfolded and smitten on the Cheek with a Prophesie who it was that smote thee By the break of Day he was hurried away to Pilate from him to Herod and back again to Pilate every one making their Sport of him After some Mock-Formalities of Law and Justice these Women saw him delivered to the Roman Soldiers a sort of Men who took Pleasure in Blood and Cruelty and then they beheld him dressed like a Fool with a Crown of Thorns a Purple Robe and a Reed instead of a Scepter because he was said to be the King of the Iews They saw him strip'd of these Ornaments of mocked Majesty and unmercifully Whipt and Scourged by the same Soldiers with Cords till Furrows were made in his Back and the Blood ran down his innocent Body And when all this would not satisfie the Malice of his Enemies they saw him given in exchange for a Villain and Notorious Robber and against all Law and Reason meerly upon the importunity of an unreasonable Multitude condemned to a Violent and Cruel Death and contrary to all Equity denied any respite or breathing time but instantly forced away to the place of Execution and made to bear that Cross on which he was to hang and pine away his Life in Pain and Torment Represent all this to your selves and consider if it be not sad and doleful who would not shed Tears at such a Sight May not this force Tears either from Man or Woman Suppose Jesus had been as bad and criminal as his Enemies would have made him yet such cruel and unmerciful Usage called for Compassion Quod non homini detur humanitati Even when it is necessary to satisfie the Law and to execute Justice Pity should be shewn to the Offender But if Pity and Compassion be due to Calamity and Misery even when there is guilt to deserve it what should be shewn when there is no Guilt at all If it should touch our hearts to see any of our Fellow-Creatures suffer though it be no more than the just Punishment of their Sins how should we be affected How should our Passions be stirred when unspotted Innocence and Vertue suffer These good Women knew that Jesus had no Crime they saw his very Enemies could not fix any upon him and that they were baffled when they undertook to prove any against him Nay he was not only innocent but also perfectly righteous he not only was guilty of no Ill but also he was one who went up and down doing good and had done many great and good and wonderful Works The Malice of his Enemies was not occasioned by any Fault of his but only by the Truth and Purity and Powerfulness of his Doctrine and by the Holiness and Integrity of his Life both which reproved their Errors their false Teaching their Hypocrisie and their Covetousness Add to all this his Quality which was the greatest in the World For tho' these Women were not yet instructed fully about his eternal Generation nor yet perhaps believed him to be the true Son of God equal with the Father as the Catholick Church doth teach and hath always taught and which must be believed if the Scriptures be true and genuine yet they believed him a Prophet and knew him to be a good Man mighty in Word and Deed they were perswaded that he was the Messiah and trusted that it was he who should have redeemed Israel Judge I pray you then what cause of Grief was here The greatest Dignity trampled upon and affronted The greatest Innocence condemned The greatest Righteousness punished The greatest Meekness reviled The greatest Charity and Beneficence persecuted The Man who preached the Word of God with Authority who shewed them the true way to Life who comforted them in their Affliction who cured their Diseases who restored their Children and Friends to Life who fed them with Miracles and from whom they expected the Salvation promised by all the Prophets to see this Man mocked scourged and put to Death before their Eyes Lord what matter of Grief was this What Occasion for Weeping Mourning and great Lamentation But though all this was more than sufficient to afflict and grieve the minds of these Women yet there was something more than all this which Jesus suffered which they knew not he suffered in his Soul and Spirit by the immediate Hand of God which none was sensible of save himself Inward Trouble and Disturbance of the Soul is much more sad and weighty than Pains and Torments in the Body The spirit of a man may sustain his Infirmity but a wounded spirit who can bear Jesus was at this time drinking the Cup of his Father's Wrath and Displeasure against Sin and the Sin not of one or two but of all Mankind What it was that he suffered in his Soul on this Account we do not know but that he did suffer in that part is certain and that he suffered heavily appears from his sweating Blood in the Garden in a cold Night from his praying three
Religion with Commotions and Mischiefs in the World and make it pernicious to Commonwealths and Civil Societies though its Principles if truly understood and candidly received and heartily obeyed would certainly tend to their Peace Settlement and Security So there be some who count Religion a great obstruction to the Happiness of private Men that it imbitters our Lives that it only damps our Pleasures and that it doth render Men wretched by obliging them to much inward Sorrow and Contrition and exposing them to much outward Trouble and Affliction There be who think and alledge that Men would have an uninterrupted Happiness and a constant Pleasure and Satisfaction if it were not for the restraints that Religion and the Laws of God lay upon them But we may see the contrary from daily Experience they who are farthest from God and the observing his Laws are not the farthest from Misery and Trouble Nay oft-times Men by forsaking God and his Commandments have involved themselves into inextricable Trouble and brought upon them Misery and Punishments less supportable than what has befallen any for their strict adherence to God and the Laws of Christianity It is true the way of Religion is narrow and set with Thorns but the broad way has its uneasiness too and in it Men meet also with mischievous and hurtful Accidents The wicked man travelleth with pain all his days saith Eliphaz And Isaiah compares the wicked to the troubled sea which is still casting forth mire and dirt The Distempers and Diseases which follow intemperance and excess in Meat and Drink are more troublesome even to the flesh than Fasting and Mortification and the other Severities which Religion prescribes I shall not name that shameful Disease which is the ordinary Reward of unclean Persons but only observe that as it is dishonourable even among the Devil's Votaries so certainly it is more grievous to be born than Persecution or Martyrdom for the Name of Iesus But not to insist further on these particular Evils which follow Vice and Sin let us consider Men in general in this World and we shall see that they are liable to many Temporal Miseries and that though they would renounce Christianity they could not secure themselves from Trouble and Sorrow Iob speaking of Mankind in general saith That man that is born of a woman is but of few days and full of trouble Which is a Truth that all the World will assent to from their particular experience Our Bodies are subject to Diseases our Goods are exposed to Violence and Rapine the Country we live in is liable to be infested with Wars Pestilence and Famine It were too tedious for me to reckon up all the particular Troubles Crosses and Afflictions which Man's Life is exposed to in this World and some one or other of them every Man is daily encountering Great travel is created for every man and an heavy yoke is laid upon the sons of Adam from the day that they go out of their mothers womb till the day that they return to the Mother of all things says the wise Son of Syrach upon which account Solomon praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive Yea saith he better is he than both they which hath not yet been who hath not seen the evil work which is done under the Sun So that it seems he thought it better not to be born than to be born and to live only to see and feel the Miseries of this Life which is certainly true if Men be only destinated for this present temporal Life What S. Paul saith of Christians that of all others they will be the most miserable may be said of Mankind in general with a respect to other Creatures if all after-hopes shall be taken away and that they be not considered with a relation to the other World The Beasts and brute Creatures are more happy than we they are brought forth with less pain and brought up with much less care they come sooner to perfection and arrive at the sensible Pleasures proper to their several beings with more facility and less travel they are liable to fewer Calamities and are not so much interrupted in their Enjoyments they live easily without Reflection and die without any regret or trouble so that certainly if there be no respect to another World Man is a more vain and miserable Creature than Brutes and still the more Miserable as he is the more Wise and Good Wherefore it is that the Apostle saith here of Christians That if in this life only we have hope c. For first Besides these general Calamities which as Men they are liable unto Christians are exposed to many particular Troubles and Afflictions upon the account of their Profession For the Doctrines they teach and believe the Rules which they follow themselves and prescribe to others are so contrary to Flesh and Blood and so opposite to the Interests and common Sentiments of corrupt Men that they are still drawing upon themselves Storms of Persecution Our Saviour not only forwarns his Disciples of these Persecutions that would arise for the Gospels sake but he makes the cheerful undergoing of them the indispensible condition of being his Disciple and prescribes it as the first Lesson to be learned of them If any man saith he will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me As the Iews were greatly mistaken in their expectation of a Messias thinking he was to establish a Temporal Kingdom and to bestow Temporal Rewards So Christians will be much mistaken if they think by coming to Christ to secure themselves of Wealth Honour Riches Preferments and other Worldly Advantages For oftentimes they who cleave to Christ are forced to part with These and who cannot let them go on some occasions must part with him for both cannot be kept together As in one place our Saviour saith He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me And he that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me So in another place he saith plainly If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple and whoso doth not bear his Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple which our Apostle and his other fellow Apostles and the Primitive Christians found to be true by their own Experience for by becoming the Disciples of Jesus Christ they not only forfeited the common Comforts and Conveniencies of this Life but they also suffered all the Torments Indignities and Cruelties which enraged Men could inflict They were tortured and had tryal of cruel mockings and scourging yea and of Bonds and Imprisonments they were stoned sawn asunder tempted and slain with the sword they
say we will not consider this as any true Motive to the receiving of Christ Because it is neither sufficient nor reasonable and he who embraceth Christ upon no other grounds than this his Religion is little to be valued or regarded Neither is it matter of wonder that such an one yield to the prevailing Tentations of Sin and refuse compliance with the Precepts of a strict and holy Living especially when he perceives them fallen into desuetude and that Vice and Ungodliness are more commonly practised for he that in these things hath no other Reason or Motive than the Custom and Fashion of the place he lives in will no doubt be still carried away with the Tide But what a shameful and unworthy a thing is it to be guided and directed in Matters of so great moment only by the Practice of others and the Custom of the place we live in The Apostle St. Peter commands us to be always ready to give an answer to every man who asketh a reason of the hope that is in us And truly it is a very slender and poor one when we have no other but that we were so Educated and that this Faith and Religion were professed and in fashion where we were Born and Bred. Indeed it is no small Happiness to be Born within the Church and under the light of the Gospel and among those who may educate us in the Christian Faith because hereby we have an early occasion of acquainting our selves with those great and important things which concern our Eternal Salvation And therefore we have always good reason to bless God for these excellent Advantages of our Birth and Education without which it 's like we should have never come to the true Knowledge of Christ. But yet this doth not excuse us from a reasonable Enquiry and Search into the Truth and Grounds of the Christian Faith when we come to Age and the Years of Discretion we should be ashamed to pin our Faith upon our Grand-mother's Sleeve we ought to fix it on a better bottom than mere Education we should search into the Grounds and Reasons why we should rather be of the Christian Religion than of any other and should labour to understand what Obligations are upon us to chuse Christ and none other to be our Lord and Master For unless we do this we do not act like Men our Faith is neither reasonable nor divine but unworthy both of Men and Christians and which will never endure the Shock of any Temptation That which should chiefly perswade us to profess Christ and to become his Disciples is the Consideration of his being sent from God and a serious Reflection on those undoubted Truths and irrefragable Testimonies we have received thereof Jesus Christ was foretold by the Prophets and when he was in the World God bare Witness unto him by the Appearance of Angels and several Voices from Heaven and divers other astonishing Signs he wrought many Miracles and did many things not only beyond humane reach but beyond the reach of Nature it self and he gave others Power to do the like his Death was accompanied with many amazing Wonders especially that of his Resurrection so that the World was astonished at it For Death had no Power over him for he rose from the dead and appeared unto many and last of all was seen to ascend up into Heaven When he was gone what he foretold his Disciples came to pass and as they preached the Gospel which he had taught them so God gave Testimony unto them by Signs and Wonders and divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost which followed them So that the whole World was constrained to receive and believe their Doctrine We have as great Evidence and Certainty for these things as is possible to be had and is sufficient to reason any Man into the Belief of them And by these things it doth appear that Christ is no Impostour nor the Gospel a cunningly devised Fable but a certain Divine Truth which teacheth us that God hath highly exalted Jesus Christ and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father If we believe in Christ if we own him to be our Lord it should be for these Reasons and upon these grounds otherwise our Faith is not valid This is the first and true Inducement to the receiving Christ and if we embrace him and make him our Lord for this reason because he is sent of God and hath received all Power in Heaven and in Earth then we cannot but conceive an indispensible Necessity of yielding all Obedience and Service For God hath not made him a titular Lord he hath not given Him a Name of Dominion and Power only but he hath constituted him such a Lord as must be served and obeyed and the Power and Dominion which he hath received is not nominal but real actual and effective And consequently the Subjection which is required to be given him must be something else than Words and Complements it must be more than a barren and empty Profession it must be real Deeds faithful Services and an impartial and universal Obedience to his Laws and Commands or else whatever we profess or say he will never own or acknowledge us to be his true Subjects and Servants A son honoureth his father and a servant his master if I then be a father where is my honour And if I be a master where is my fear saith the Lord by the Prophet Malachy If we do really acknowledge another to be Lord and Master we must also acknowledge our selves to be his Servants And Servants owe Obedience therefore we reproach our selves so often as we call Christ our Lord and yet refuse to obey him Our Ingenuity in calling him Lord can never appear so long as we do not heartily and readily obey him For as God speaketh in the fore-cited place Offer it now unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person Try I pray you and see if any Man will be put off as thou thinkest to put off Christ when thou hast no mind to obey him Will any Prince look upon those as good Subjects who pay him no Homage and refuse him the Acts and Testimonies of their Allegiance Will any Master count him his Servant who never minds his Will but doth his own And how unreasonable then art thou not to serve and obey him whom thou callest and believest to be thy Sovereign Lord and Master If we be perswaded that it is necessary to receive him whom God hath sent lest we be esteemed Rebels for resisting the Ordinance of Heaven We ought also to believe and be perswaded that it is absolutely necessary to obey him for it is all one not to