are the very same in Sense If we be dead with him that is if we lay down our lives for the Testimony of the Truth as he did we shall also live with him that is we shall in like manner be made Partakers of Immortality as he is If we suffer or endure as he did we shall also reign with him in Glory The other Sentence is Matter of Terrour to those who deny him and his Truth If we deny him he also will deny us to which is subjoyned another Saying much to the same Sense if we believe not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we be unfaithful yet he remaineth faithful he cannot deny himself that is he will be as good as his word and make good that Solemn Threatning which he hath denounced against those who shall for fear of Suffering deny him and his Truth The Words being thus explained I shall begin with the First Part of this remarkable Saying If we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we suffer we shall also reign with him This it seems was a noted Saying among Christians and whether they had it by Tradition of our Saviour or whether it was in familiar use among the Apostles as a very proper and powerful Argument to keep Christians stedfast to their Religion I cannot determine It is certain that Sayings to this Sense are very frequent especially in the Epistles of St. Paul Rom. 6.5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection and Verse 8. Now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him 2 Cor. 4.10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of our Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body and Verse 18. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh and Rom. 8.17 If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together Phil. 3.10 11. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made comfortable unto his death If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead 1. Pet. 4.12 13. Beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as tho' some strange thing happened unto you but rejoyce in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings that when his glory shall be revealed ye may be glad also with exceeding joy You see that the Sense of this Saying was in frequent use among the Apostles as a powerful Argument to Encourage Christians to Constancy in their Religion notwithstanding the Dangers and Sufferings which attended it This is a faithful saying If we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we suffer we shall also reign with him And the Force of this Argument will best appear by taking into consideration these Two things I. What Virtue there is in a firm Belief and Persuasion of a Blessed Immortality in another World to support and bear up Mens Spirits under the greatest Sufferings for Righteousness sake and even to animate them if God shall call them to it to lay down their Lives for their Religion II. How it may be made out to be reasonable for Men to Embrace and Voluntarily to submit to Present and Grievous Sufferings in Hopes of a Future Happiness and Reward concerning which we have not nor perhaps are capable of having the same degree of Certainty and Assurance which we have of the Evils and Sufferings of this present Life I. What Virtue there is in a firm Belief and Persuasion of a blessed Immortality in another World to support and bear up Mens Spirits under the greatest Sufferings for Righteousness sake and even to animate them if God should call them to it to lay down their Lives for their Religion If Men do firmly believe that they shall change this Temporal and Miserable Life for an Endless State of Happiness and Glory and that they shall meet with a Reward of their Sufferings infinitely beyond the proportion of them both in the Weight and Duration of it this must needs turn the Scales on that side on which there is the greatest Weight And there is a sufficient ground for a firm Belief of this For if any thing can certainly be concluded from the Providence of God this may That Good Men shall be happy one time or other And because they are very often great Sufferers in this Life that there is another State remains for them after this Life wherein they shall meet with a full Reward of all their Sufferings for Righteousness sake But besides the Reasonableness of this from the consideration of God's Providence we have now a clear and express Revelation of it life and immortality being brought to light by the Gospel This St. John tells us is the great Promise of the Gospel 1 John 2.25 This is the promise which he hath promised us even eternal life And this Promise our Saviour most expresly makes to those who Suffer for him Mat. 5.10 11 12. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falslly for my sake Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven Mark 10.29 Verily I say unto you there is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospel's but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time with persecutions that is so far as a State of Persecution would admit and in the world to come eternal life And if such a Perswasion be firmly fixt in our Minds the Faith of another World and the assured Hope of Eternal Life and Happiness must needs have a mighty force and Efficacy upon the Minds of Sober and Considerate Men because there is no proportion between Suffering for a little while and being Unspeakably and Etternally happy So St. Paul tells us he calculated the matter Rom. 8.18 I reckon says he that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us The vast disproportion between the Sufferings of a few Days and the Joys and Glory of Eternity when it is once firmly believed by us will weigh down all the Evils and Calamities of this World and give us Courage and Constancy under them For why should we faint if we believe that our light affliction which is but for a moment will work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory As the same St. Paul assures us 2 Cor. 4.17 If our Minds be but throughly possest with the hopes of a Resurrection to a Better and
his Will which he denied to many Prophets and righteous men who desired to see the things which we see but could not see them and to hear the things which we hear but could not hear them There were good Men in the World under those imperfect Revelations which God made to them but we have far greater Advantages and more powerful Arguments to be Good than ever they had And as we ought thankfully to acknowledge these blessed Advantages so ought we likewise with the greatest Care and Diligence to improve them And now how does the serious Consideration of this Condemn all Impenitent Sinners under the Gospel who will not be reclaimed from their Sins and perswaded to Goodness by all that God can do by the most plain Declaration of his Will to the World by the most perfect Precepts and Directions for a good Life by the most encouraging Promises to Obedience and by the most severe Threatnings of an Eternal and Unutterable Ruin in case of disobedience by the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men by the Terrors of the great day and the Vengeance of Eternal Fire by the wonderful and amazing Condescension of the Son of God appearing in our Nature by his merciful undertaking for the Redemption of lost and sinful Man by his cruel Sufferings for our Sins and by the kindest Offers of Pardon and Reconciliation in his Blood and by the glorious hopes of Eternal Life What could God have done more for us than he hath done What greater concernment could he shew for our Salvation than to send his own son his only son to seek and save us And what greater demonstration could he give of his Love to us than to give the Son of his Love to die for us This is the last Effort that the Divine Mercy and Goodness will make upon Mankind So the Apostle tells us in the beginning of this Epistle chap. 1.1 that God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son And if we will not hear him he will speak no more after this it is not to be expected that he should make any farther Attempts for our recovery he can send no greater and dearer Person to us than his own Son If we despise him whom will we Reverence If we reject him and the great Salvation which he brings and offers to us we have all the reason in the World to believe that our case is desperate and that we shall die in our sins This was the Condemnation of the Jews that they did not receive and believe on him whom God had sent And if we who profess to believe on him and to receive his Doctrine be found disobedient to it in our Lives we have reason to fear that our Condemnation shall be far heavier than theirs For since the appearance of the Son of God for the Salvation of men the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men especially against those who detain the truth of God in unrighteousness that is against those who entertain the Light of God's Truth in their Minds but do not suffer it to have its proper Effect and Influence upon their Hearts and Lives and make that a Prisoner which would make them free So our Lord tells us that the truth shall make us free but if after we have received the knowledge of the truth we are still the servants of sin our Condemnation is much worse than if the Son of God had never come For the Christian Religion hath done nothing if it do not take men off from their Sins and teach them to live well Especially at this time when we are celebrating the coming of the Son of God to destroy the works of the Devil we should take great heed that we be not found guilty of any Impiety and Wickedness because this is directly contrary to the main Design of the grace of God which brings Salvation and hath appeared to all men and the appearance whereof we do at this time commemorate for That teacheth men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godlily in this present world And we cannot gratifie the Devil more than by shewing our selves more diligent than ordinary to uphold his Works at this very time when the Son of God was manifested on purpose to dissolve them We cannot possibly choose a worse a more improper Season to sin in than when we are Celebrating the Birth of the Blessed Jesus who came to save us from our sins This is as if a sick Man for joy that a Famous Physician is come to his House should run into all manner of Excess and so do all he can to enflame his Disease and make his case desperate Not but that our inward Joy may lawfully be accompanied with all outward innocent Expressions of it but we cannot be truly thankful if we allow our selves at this time in any thing contrary to the Purity and Sobriety of the Gospel It is matter of just and sad complaint being of great scandal to our Saviour and his holy Religion that such irregular and extravagant things are at this time commonly cone by many who call themselves Christians and done under a pretence of doing Honour to the Memory of Christ's Birth as if because the Son of God was at this time made Man it were fit for Men to make themselves Beasts If we would honour him indeed we must take care that our Joy do not degenerate into Sin and Sensuality and that we do not express it by Lewdness and Luxury by Intemperance and Excess by prodigal Gaming and profuse wasting of our Estates as the manner of some is as if we intended literally to requite our Saviour who being rich for our sakes became poor This is a way of parting with houses and land and becoming poor for his sake for which he will never thank nor reward us This is not to commemorate the Coming of our Saviour but to contradict it and openly to declare that we will uphold the Works of the Devil in despight of the Son of God who came to destroy them It is for all the World like that lewd and sensless piece of Loyalty too much in fashion some Years ago of being Drunk for the King Good God! that ever it should pass for a piece of Religion among Christians to run into all manner of excess for Twelve days together in honour of our Saviour A greater Aggravation of Sin cannot easily be imagined than to abuse the Memory of the greatest Blessing that ever was Christ coming into the World to take away sin into an opportunity of committing it this is to represent the Son of God as a Patron of Sin and Licentiousness and to treat him more contumeliously than the Jews did who bowed the Knee to him and mocked him and called
leaving a Good Name behind them and of Perpetuating the Fame and Glory of their Actions to after Ages Upon this ground chiefly many of the Bravest Spirits among the Heathen were animated to Virtue and with the hazard of their lives to do great and glorious Exploits for their Country And certainly it is an Argument of a great Mind to be moved by this Consideration and a sign of a low and base Spirit to neglect it He that hath no regard to his Fame is lost to all purposes of Virtue and Goodness when a Man is once come to this not to care what others say of him the next step is to have no care what himself does Quod conscientia est apud Deum id fama est apud homines what Conscience is in respect of God that is Fame in respect of Men. Next to a good Conscience a clear Reputation ought to be to every Man the dearest thing in the World Men have generally a great value for Riches and yet the Scripture pronounceth him the happier Man that leaves a Good Name than him that leaves a great Estate behind him Prov. 22.1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches If then we have any regard to a Good Name the best way to secure it to our selves is by the holy and virtuous Actions of a good Life Do well and thou shalt be well spoken of if not now yet by those who shall come after the surest way to glory and honour and immortality is by a patient continuance in well-doing God hath engaged his promise to us to this purpose 1 Sam. 2.30 Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed The name of the wicked shall rot says Solomon Prov. 10.7 But God doth usually take a particular care so preserve and vindicate their Memory who are careful to keep his Covenant and remember his Commandments to do them 3dly and lastly When ever we pretend to do honour to the Memory of Good Men let us charge our selves with a strict Imitation of their Holiness and Virtue The greatest honour we can do to God or Good Men is to endeavour to be like them to express their Virtues and represent them to the World in our lives Upon these Days we should propound to our selves as our Patterns all those holy and excellent Persons who have gone before us the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour and all those blessed Saints and Martyrs who were faithful to the death and have received a crown of life and immortality We should represent to our selves the Piety of their Actions and the Patience and Constancy of their Sufferings that we may imitate their Virtues and be followers of them who through faith and patience have inherited the promises and seeing we are compast about with such a cloud of witnesses we should lay aside every weight and run with patience the race which is set before us Let us imagine all those great Examples of Piety and Virtue standing about us in a throng and fixing their Eyes upon us How ought we to demean our selves in such a Presence and under the eye of such Witnesses and how should we be ashamed to do any thing that is unworthy of such excellent Patterns and blush to look upon our own lives when we remember theirs Good God! at what a distance do the greatest part of Christians follow those Examples and while we honour them with our lips how unlike are we to them in our lives Why do we thus reproach our selves with these glorious Patterns Let us either resolve to imitate their Virtues or to make no mention of their Names for while we celebrate the Examples of Saints and Holy Men and yet contradict them in our lives we either mock them or upbraid our selves Now the God of Peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ c. SERMON VIII The Duty of imitating the Primitive Teachers and Patterns of Christianity Preached on All-Saints Day 1684. HEB. XIII 7. The latter Part of the Verse Whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation The whole Verse runs thus Remember them which have the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation THE great Scope and Design of this Epistle is to perswade the Jews who were newly converted to Christianity VOL. II. to continue stedfast in the Profession of it notwithstanding all the Sufferings and Persecutions it was attended withall and to encourage them hereto among many other Arguments which the Apostle makes use of he doth several times in this Epistle propound to them the Examples and Patterns of Saints and Holy Men that were gone before them especially those of their own Nation who in their respective Ages had given remarkable Testimony of their Faith in God and constant Adherence to the Truth Ch. 6.11 12. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that ye be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises And Ch. 11. he gives a Catalogue of the Eminent Heroes and Saints of the Old Testament who by Faith had done such Wonders and given such Testimony of their Patience and Constancy in doing and suffering the Will of God from whence he infers Ch. 12.1 that we ought to take Pattern and Heart from such Examples to persevere in our Christian course Serm. VIII Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of Martyrs or Witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us especially since they had greater Examples than these nearer to them and more fresh in Memory the great Example of our Lord the Founder of our Religion and of the first Teachers of Christianity the Disciples and Apostles of our Lord and Saviour The Example of our Lord himself the Captain and Rewarder of our Faith v. 2. of that 12th Ch. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame v. 3. For consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners a-against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds This indeed is the great Pattern of Christians and in regard of the great Perfection of it surpasseth all other Patterns and seems to make them useless as having in it the Perfection of the Divinity not in its full brightness which would be apt to dazle rather than direct us but allayed and shadowed with the Infirmities of Humane Nature and for that Reason more accommodate and familiar to us than the Divine Perfections abstractedly considered But yet because our Blessed Saviour was God as well as Man and clear of all stain of sin for tho' he was cloathed with
capable of Nay I will go lower If God had made no express Promise and Declaration of a Future Happiness and Reward to those that serve him and suffer for him Yet if any Man out of a sincere Love to God and awful Regard to his Laws endure Trouble and Affliction if there be a God and Providence this is Assurance enough to us that our Services and Sufferings shall one time or other be Considered and Rewarded For as sure as any Man is that there is a God and that his Providence regards the Actions of Men so sure are we that no Man shall finally be a loser by any thing that he doth or suffers for him So that the Matter is now brought to this plain Issue That if it be Reasonable to Believe there is a God and that his Providence Regards and Considers the Actions of Men it is also Reasonable to endure Present Sufferings in Hope of a Future Reward and there is certainly enough in this Case to govern and determine a Prudent Man that is in any good measure Persuaded of another Life after this and hath any tolerable Consideration of and regard to his Eternal Interest Indeed if we were sure that there were no Life after this if we had no expectation of a Happiness or Misery beyond this World the wisest thing that any Man could do would be to enjoy as much of the present Contentments and Satisfactions of this World as he could fairly come at For if there be no resurrection to another life the Apostle allows the Reasoning of the Epicure to be very good Let us eat and drink for to morrow we dye But on the other hand if it be true that we are designed for Immortality and that another State remains for us after this Life wherein we shall be Unspeakably Happy or intolerably and Eternally Miserable according as we have behaved our selves in this World it is then evidently Reasonable that Men should take the greatest Care of the longest Duration and be content to bear and dispense with some Present Trouble and Inconvenience for a Felicity that will have no end and be willing to Labour and take Pains and deny our present Ease and Comfort for a little while that we may be Happy for ever This is reckoned Prudence in the Account of this World for a Man to part with a Present Possession and Enjoyment for a much greater Advantage in Reversion But surely the disproportion between Time and Eternity is so vast that did Men but firmly believe that they shall live for ever nothing in this World could reasonably be thought too good to part withal or too grievous to suffer for the obtaining of a Blessed Immortality In the Virtue of this Belief and Persuasion the Primitive Christians were Fortified against all that the Malice and Cruelty of the World could do against them and they thought they made a very wise Bargain if thorugh many tribulations they might at last enter into the Kingdom of God because they believed that the Joys of Heaven would abundantly Recompence all their Sorrows and Sufferings upon Earth And so confident were they of this that they looked upon it as a special Favour and Regard of God to them to call them to Suffer for his Name So St. Paul speaks of it Phil. 1.29 Vnto you it is given on the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake Yea they accounted them happy who upon this account were miserable in this World So St. James expresly pronounceth of them Jam. 1.12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation meaning the Temptation of Persecution and Suffering for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him And this consideration was that which kept up their Spirits from sinking under the weight of their greatest Sufferings So St. Paul tells us 2 Cor. 4.14 16. Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus For which cause we faint not but tho' our outward man perish yet our inward man is renewed day by day The Sufferings of their Bodies did but help to raise and fortifie their Spirits Nay so far were they from fainting under those Afflictions that they rejoyced and gloried in them So the same Apostle tells us Rom. 5.2 3. that in the midst of their Sufferings they rejoyced in hope of the Glory of God and that they gloried in tribulations as being the way to be made Partakers of that Glory And Heb. 10.34 That they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance And for this Reason St. James Chap. 1.2 exhorts Christians to account it all joy when they fell into divers temptations that is various kinds of Sufferings because of the manifold Advantages which from thence would redound to them Now what was it that Inspired them to all this Courage and Chearfulness but the Belief of a mighty Reward far beyond the Proportion of all their Sufferings and a firm Persuasion that they should be vast Gainers by them at the last This Consideration St. Paul urgeth with great force 2 Cor. 4.17 18. Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory whilst we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal If we would compare things justly and attentively regard and consider the invisible Glories of another World as well as the things which are seen we should easily perceive that he who suffers for God and Religion does not renounce Happiness but puts it out to Interest upon terms of the greatest advantage I shall now speak briefly to the Second Part of this remarkable Saying in the Text If we deny him he also will deny us To which is subjoined in the words following if we believe not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we deal unfaithfully with him yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself that is he will be constant to his Word and make good that solemn Threatning which he hath denounced against those who for fear of Suffering shall deny him and his Truth before Men Matt. 10.33 Whosoever faith our Lord there shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven Mark 8.38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the Holy Angels This is a Terrible Threatning to be disowned by Christ at the Day of Judgment in the presence of God and his Holy Angels And this Threatning will certainly be made good and tho' we may renounce him and break our faith with him yet
the Infirmities yet he was free from the Corruption of Humane Nature therefore the Examples of meer Men liable to sin as we are may in many respects be more suitable and accomodate to encourage us to the imitation of those Virtues which are attainable by us in this state of Imperfection for which Reason the Apostle hath thought fit likewise to propose to us the highest Examples of that kind the first Teachers of our Religion for of these he seems to speak here in the Text namely those Apostles or Apostolical Men by whom they had been instructed in the Faith of Christ but who were now departed this life it being very probable that the Apostle here speaks of such as were dead when he says Remember them which have the rule over you or those that have been your Guides who have spoken to you the word of God whose Faith follow considering the end of their conversation I say this is very probable because he minds them to remember them which supposeth them to be absent but especially because he minds them to consider the end of their conversation by which surely he means the Blessed State of those Good Men after Death which is elsewhere called the end of our faith even the salvation of our souls 1 Pet. 1.9 So likewise Rom. 6.22 this is said to be the End of a holy Life ye have your fruit unto holiness and the End everlasting life And it very much favours this Interpretation that the Apostle afterwards speaks of the living Guides and Governours of the Church v. 17. Obey them which have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls So that it is highly probable that the Apostle here speaks of such Guides and Governours of the Church as had once been over them but were now departed this Life and therefore he might with more freedom and less envy recommend their Example to them and bid them call to mind their Faith and exemplary Conversation among them and propose it for a Pattern to themselves considering the happy End of it viz. The Blessed State they were now in and the Glorious Reward they were made Partakers of in another Life In the Words thus explained you have I. A Duty enjoyned which is to propose to our selves for our Imitation the Examples of Good Men that have gone before us especially the primitive Patterns of Christianity and the first Teachers of our Religion Remember them which have been your Guides and have spoken to you the Word of God whose Faith follow II. The Motive or Encouragement to it from the Consideration of the Reward of it Considering the End of their Conversation I. The Duty enjoyned which is to propose to our selves for our Imitation the Example of Good Men that have gone before us especially the Primitive Patterns of Christianity and first Teachers of our Religion Remember them that have had the rule over you that have been your Guides and have spoken to you the word of God whose Faith follow In which Words the Apostle bids them call to mind their first Guides and Instructors in Christianity whom they had known and heard and conversed with in this World but who were now rested from their labours and were receiving the Reward of them to remember the Doctrines they heard from them and the Virtues they had seen in them and to embrace the one and imitate the other Thus We cannot remember the Primitive Teachers and Patterns of Christianity the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour became we did not personally know them and converse with them living at the distance of many Ages from their time But we may do that which is equivalent and a kind of Remembrance of them we may commemorate their Faith and the Virtue and Holiness of their Lives and what we hear and read of them we may propose for Patterns to our selves and copy them out in our Lives and Actions And this is our Duty and the same in substance with theirs who had the happiness to know and converse with those excellent Persons to hear them Preach and to see the Rules and Precepts of that Holy Doctrine which they Taught exemplified in their Lives In the handling of this Argument I shall do these Three things First Shew why amongst all the Examples of Good Men we should more especially propose to our Imitation the Primitive Teachers and Patterns of our Religion Secondly Wherein we should Imitate them The Apostle expresseth it in one Word in their Faith whose Faith follow Thirdly The Encouragement to this from the Consideration of the happy State they are in and the glorious Reward they are made Partakers of Considering the End of their Conversation First I shall endeavour to shew why among all the Examples of Good Men we should more especially propose to our Imitation the Primitive Teachers and Patterns of our Religion I mean the holy Apostles of our Lord and Saviour whose Faith we should endeavour to follow and to Imitate the holiness and virtue of their Conversation For These certainly come nearest to that most Perfect and Excellent Pattern of all Goodness our Blessed Saviour and are the fairest Transcripts of that unblemisht Original Hence it is that St. Paul so frequently exhorts Christians to Imitate his Example and the Examples of the other Apostles it being reasonable to presume that They came nearest to the Pattern of our Lord. 1 Cor. 11.1 Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ Phil. 3.17 Brethren be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an Ensample For our Conversation is in Heaven And this is reasonable that the first in every kind should be the Rule and Pattern of the rest and of all that follow after because it is likely to be most perfect In process of Time the best Institutions are apt to decline and by insensible degrees to swerve and depart from the Perfection of their first state and therefore it is a good Rule to preserve things from corruption and degeneracy often to look back to the first Institution and by that to correct those Imperfections and Errors which will almost unavoidably creep in with Time If we would preserve that Purity of Faith and Manners which our Religion requires we should have frequent recourse to the Primitive Teachers and Patterns of Christianity and endeavour to bring our Belief and Lives to as near a Conformity with theirs as is possible Who so likely to deliver the Faith and Doctrine of Christ pure and uncorrupted as the Primitive Teachers of it who received it from our Lord himself and were by an extraordinary assistance of the Holy Spirit secured from Error and Mistake in the delivery of it And who so likely to bring their Lives and Conversations to an exact Conformity with this holy Doctrine as they who were so throughly Instructed in it by the best Master and shewn the Practice of it in the most perfect Example
dead which die in the Lord as if St. John had said considering the Extremity and cruel Circumstances of this last and severe Persecution we may from that time forward reckon those who are already dead supposing that they died in the Lord to be very happy in that they did not live to see and suffer those things which will then befall the faithful Servants of God when the Devil shall come having great wrath because he knoweth he hath but a short time Much in the same Sense as Solomon when he considered the oppressions that were done under the Sun says Eccl. 4.2 That he praised the dead which were already dead more than the living which were yet alive that is considering the Oppressions which were so frequent in the World he reckoned those happier that were out of it than those who still lived in it And as this is very agreeable to the Scope of what goes before so it suits very well with what follows after as the Reason why those Persons are declared to be so happy yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them that is that they may be at an end of their Troubles and Sufferings and may not be tryed beyond their Strength and Patience under that Terrible Persecution which will Reign at that time and likewise that they may receive the Reward of all the Good they have done and the Evils they have suffered in this World in the very same sense that the righteous are said to be taken away from the evil to come Esai 57.1 2. The righteous is taken away from the evil to come he shall enter into peace They shall rest in their beds each one walking in his uprightness that is enjoying the comfort of his Integrity and Sincerity towards God And now the main Difficulty being over we shall need to trouble our selves the less about the other Expressions in the Text Yet there are Two which I shall a little explain to you 1. What is here meant by dying in the Lord. And this sort of Phrase in the Lord in Christ and in the name of Christ is used in Scripture very variously In general it signifies the doing or suffering any thing with relation to Christ and upon his account and so to die in the Lord doth most frequently signifie to die in the Faith of Christ and the Profession of the Christian Religion Sometimes it signifies to die for his Cause and to bear Testimony to his Truth which is therefore called Martyrdom as St. Paul is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 4.1 A Prisoner in the Lord that is for his Cause So likewise St. Peter If ye be reproached 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the name of Christ happy are ye And 't is probable that the expression 1 Cor. 15.18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ is to be stood of those that died for his Cause because it follows immediately if in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable that is considering how much Christians Suffered for him in this Life they were in a most miserable Condition if there were nothing to be expected beyond it but especially if we consider the parallel Phrase 1 Thess 4.14 So them also that sleep in Jesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Jesus sake that is them that have suffered Martyrdom for him will God bring with him And in this sense many understand the Phrase in the Text as spoken of Martyrs Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord that is for his Cause And tho' I think the Phrase may well enough be understood more generally yet I shall not reject this Sense Because it is not unsuitable to the Scope and Occasion of the words For considering that last and extreme Persecution which he had described it was not altogether improper to pronounce those happy that had Suffered Martyrdom already and were taken away from those dreadful Calamities which in these last days of Antichrist were to fall upon the faithful Servants of Christ The other Expression is the last in the Text And their works do follow them So we render the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which yet does most properly signifie to accompany or go along with one and so indeed the Expression will rather be more Emphatical they rest from their labours and their works accompany them But whether the word be rendred to follow or to accompany the difference is not very material Thus you see what the particular sense and meaning of the words probably is to declare the happy Estate of those Saints or Martyrs who were already dead in and for the Faith of Christ and should not live to see those cruel and fearful Sufferings which should afterwards come upon the Christians But then this is grounded upon that general Truth that they are happy that dye in the Lord. And this is that which I intend now to prosecute abstracting from the Particular occasion upon which these words were spoken which brings me to the Second thing I propounded and chiefly designed to handle upon the occasion of this day namely the happy Estate of Good Men after they are departed out of this Life And in speaking to this I shall confine my self to Two Particulars which the Text mentions as the Reasons and Grounds why they that dye in the Lord are declared to be in so Blessed a Condition yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them 1. Good Men when they are departed this Life are freed from all the Labours and Pains they were exercised with in this World That they may rest from their labours 2. They reap the Comfort and Reward of all the Good which they have done in this World And their works do follow them or rather go aloâ—â— with them to receive the Reward which God hath promised to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality 1. Those who die in the Lord are freed from the Evils and Miseries of this Life And this is so great a Felicity that some and those who think themselves no small Philosophers have placed the chief Happiness of Man in freedom from Pain and Trouble But tho' Happiness do not consist in this alone yet it cannot be denied to be a great part of it For tho' some have been so phantastically obstinate as against the Reason and Common Sense of Mankind to maintain this Paradox that a wise Man may be as happy upon the Rack or in Phalaris his Bull as in the greatest ease and freedom from Pain that can be imagined Yet Nature cries shame of this Hypocrisie and there are none of those wise Men they speak of were ever such Fools as to try the Experiment and to shew by their Actions that it was indifferent to them whether they lay'd themselves down upon their Beds every Night or were stretcht upon
of hope unto the end and let us not be slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises Now the God of Peace who brought again from the Dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you Perfect in every good word and work working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight SERMON XI The Blessedness of Good Men after Death The Second Sermon on REV. XIV 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them IN my Explication of these Words I told you that they are in the general Sense and Meaning of them a solemn Declaration of the Blessed Estate of Good Men after this Life but deliver'd upon a Special Occasion as is signified by that expression VOL. II. from henceforth that is from the time of that Vision in which was represented to St. John the last and extremest Persecution of the faithful Servants of Christ and which should precede the fatal downfal of Babylon from that time blessed are the dead which die in the Lord that is considering the Extremity and the cruel Circumstances of this last and severest Persecution we may from that time forward reckon those who are already dead supposing that they died in the Lord to be very Happy in that they do not live to see and suffer those grievous things which then will befall the Faithful Servants of God In my former Discourse I consider'd the Words according to the general intention of them abstracting from the particular occasion upon which they were spoken endeavouring to set forth the Happy Estate of Good Men after this life from the Two Reasons and Grounds mention'd in the Text namely because they rest from their labours and because their works do follow or accompany and go along with them which two particulars constitute the Happiness of the future State Serm. XI That which farther remains and to which I now proceed is to make some Inferences from what I have said upon this Subject And in doing this I shall have an Eye on the special occasion of the Words as well as on their general intention And the Inferences shall be these following First If those that die in the Lord are at rest from their Labours and Pains then this Text concludes directly against the feigned Purgatory of the Church of Rome which supposeth a great number of those that die in the Lord and have obtain'd Eternal Redemption by him from Hell not to pass immediately into Happiness but to be detain'd in the Suburbs of Hell in great Pain and Torment till their Souls be Purged and the Debt of Temporary Punishment to which they are liable be some way or other paid off and dischargeed Secondly Here is a mighty encouragement to Piety and Virtue to consider that all the good we do in this World will accompany us into the other Thirdly It is a great encouragement to Patience under the Sufferings and Persecutions which attend Good Men in this World that how heavy and grievous soever they are at present they will end with this Life and we shall then rest from all our labours Fourthly The consideration of the extreme Sufferings of Christians in the last Times and which perhaps are not far from us should render us very indifferent to Life and all the enjoyments of it so as even to esteem it a particular Grace and Favour of God to be taken away from the Evil to come and by Death to prevent if he sees it good those extremities of Sufferings which seem to be hastning upon the World I. If those that die in the Lord are at rest from all their labours and pains then this Text concludes directly against the feigned Purgatory of the Church of Rome which supposeth a great number yea the far greatest part of those that die in the Lord and have obtain'd Eternal Redemption by him from Hell not to pass immediately into Happiness but to be detain'd somewhere they are not certain where but most probably in the Suburbs of Hell in great Pain and Torment equal in degree to that of Hell and differing only in Duration I say to be detained there till their Souls be purged from the Defilements they have contracted in this World and the Debt of Temporary Punishments to which they are liable be some way or other paid off and discharged They suppose indeed some very few Holy Men to be so Perfect at their departure out of this Life that they do immediately and without any stop pass into Heaven because they need no Purgation and those likewise who Suffer Martyrdom because they Discharge their Debt of Temporary Punishments here But the generality of Christians who die in the Lord they suppose so imperfect as to stand in need of being Purged by Fire and accordingly that they are detained a longer or shorter time as their Debt of Temporary Punishments is greater or less And indeed they have a very Considerable and Substantial Reason to exempt as few as possibly they can from going to Purgatory because the more they put in fear of going thither the Market of Indulgences riseth the higher and the Profit thence accruing to the Popes Coffers and the more and greater Legacies will be left to the Priests to hire their saying of Masses for the delivery of Souls out of the Place of Torments For tho' the Prayers of Friends and Relations will contribute something to this yet nothing does the Business so Effectually as the Masses and Prayers of Priests to that end But how is it then that St. John says that those that die in the Lord are happy because they rest from their labours If so be the far greatest part of those who die in the Lord are so far from resting from their labours that they enter into far greater Pains and Torments than ever they endured in this World And therefore Bellarmine that their Doctrine of Purgatory may receve no prejudice from this Text would have from henceforth in the Text to be dated from the day of Judgment when he supposeth the Pains of Purgatory will be at an end But why from henceforth should take date from the day of Judgment he can give no Reason but only to save Purgatory from being Condemned by this Text. For St. John plainly speaks of the Happiness of those that should die after that time whatever it be which he there describes but that time cannot be the day of Judgment because none shall die after that time Just thus Estius one of their most Learned Commentators deals with another Text which by the generality of their Writers is urged as a plain proof of Purgatory he shall be saved yet so as by fire Upon which he says it is sufficient that there is nothing in this
Text against Purgatory Sufficient for what Not to prove Purgatory as they generally pretend from this Text but to save it harmless from it as if we had pretended that this Text makes against it But there are others that make against it with a Witness Not only the perpetual Silence of Scripture about it when there are so many far occasions of speaking of it as in the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus where the future State is so particularly described and yet no mention made nor the least intimation given of this Third State But besides the Silence of Scripture about it there are several Passages utterly inconsistent with it as namely St. Paul's Discourse in the beginning of the Fifth Chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians where he plainly declares the Assurance he had that all sincere Christians so soon as they quit the Body do pass into Happiness For we know says he that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens The plain meaning of which is that so soon as we quit the One we shall pass into the Other And this Consideration he tells us made Christians weary of this World and willing to die Ver. 2. For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven and Ver. 4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened But had Christians believed that the greatest part of them when they left the Body were to go into Purgatory to be terribly Tormented there they would not have been in such haste to die but would have protracted the time as long as they could and have contentedly born the burden of this earthly Tabernacle rather than to quit it for a Condition a Thousand times more intolerable But St. Paul expresly says that Christians knew the contrary and that as soon as ever they went out of the Body they should be happy and with the Lord and that this gave them courage against the Fears of Death Ver. 6. Therefore we are always confident 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bono igitur animo sumus Therefore we are always of good courage knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord and Ver. 8. we are of good courage I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. The plain Sense of which is that Christians were willing rather to die than to live because they knew that so soon as they left the Body and departed this Life they should be present with the Lord. But now if the Doctrine of Purgatory be true this whole Reasoning of St. Paul proceeds upon a gross Mistake and therefore I am certain it is not true And so does the voice from Heaven here in the Text Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord that they may rest from their labours For there is no Reason to restrain this general expression that die in the Lord only to the Martyrs for tho' they are certainly included and prehaps Primarily intended in it yet this Phrase comprehends all those who die in the faith of Christ and is most frequently so used in the New Testament But let this suffice to have been spoken of this matter especially since Bishop Fisher and several of their own Learned Writers do so frankly acknowledge that their Doctrine of Purgatory hath no sufficient Ground in Scripture Other Reasons I grant they have for it which make them very loth to quit it it is a very Profitable Doctrine and therefore they have taken care to have it more abundantly confirm'd by Apparitions of Souls from the dead than any other Doctrine whatsoever In short how little soever they can say for it it is in vain to go about to persuade them to part with it Demetrius the Silver Smith argued as well as he could for his Goddess Diana from the universal consent of the World in the Worship of her the great Goddess Diana whom all Asia and the World Worshipeth But his trusty Argument to his Workmen was Sirs ye know that by this Craft we have our Wealth and this our Craft is in danger to be set at nought II. Here is a mighty encouragement to Piety and Virtue to consider that all the good we do in this World will accompany us into the other Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord for their works accompany them When we come to die we can call nothing our own but the Good Works which by the Grace of God we have been enabled to do in this Life These will stick by us and bear us company into the other World when we shall be stript of all other things and forc'd to part from them whether we will or no. Our Riches and our Honours our Sensual Pleasures and Delights will all take their leave of us when we leave this World nay many times they do not accompany us so far as the Grave but leave us very unkindly and unseasonably when we have the greatest need and use of them There is one way indeed whereby we may secure our Riches and make sure Friends to our selves of them by laying them out in Charity By this means we may send them before us and consign them over to another World to make way for our reception there So our Lord assures us Luke 12.33 that by giving Alms we provide our selves bags which wax not old a treasure in the Heavens which faileth not and Luke 16.9 that by this way we may make to our selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when we fail they may recieve us into everlasting habitations The Mammon of unrighteousness What is that It is what the Scripture elsewhere calls deceitful riches because in other ways in which Men commonly lay them out they turn to no certain account but one way or other do deceive and frustrate our Expectation but by disposing of them in Charity to the relief of the Poor and Persecuted we make sure Friends of them and consign the Effects of them to our certain Benefit and Advantage in another World And as Charity so likewise all other Graces and Virtues are that good part which cannot be taken away from us All the good Actions that we do in this Life will go with us to the Grave and bear us company into the other World and will stand by us when we come to appear before our Judge and through the Merits of our Blessed Saviour will procure for us at the Hands of a Gracious and Merciful God a most Ample and Eternal Reward And what an encouragement is this to Holiness and Virtue to consider that it will be all our own another day and turn to our unspeakable advantage at our great Account To be assured that whoever serves God faithfully lays up so much Treasure for himself which he may take along with him into the other
his Mercies sake in Jesus Christ who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Dominion and Power now and for ever Amen SERMON XVI The Love of God to Men in the Incarnation of Christ Preached in the Chapel of Lambeth-House ON Christmas-Day 1691. 1 JOHN IV. 9. In this was manifested the love of Go towards us because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him THESE Words contain a clear and evident Demonstration of the Love of God to us In this was manifested the Love of God towards us VOL. II. that is by this it plainly appears that God had a mighty Love for us That he sent his only-begotten Son into the World that we might live through him In which we may consider this Three-fold Evidence of God's Love to Mankind I. That he should be pleased to take our Case into Consideration and to concern himself for our Happiness II. That he should design so great a Benefit to us which is here exprest by Life that we might live through him III. That he was pleased to use such a Means for the obtaining and procuring of this Benefit for us he sent his only-begotten Son into the World that we might live through him Each of these singly is a great Evidence of God's Love to us much more all of them together I. It is a great Evidence of the Love of God to Mankind that he was pleased to take our Case into Consideration Serm. XVI and to concern himself for our Happiness Nothing does more commend an Act of Kindness than if there be great Condescension in it We use to value a small Favour if it be done to us by one that is far above us more than a far greater done to us by a mean and inconsiderable Person This made David to break out into such Admiration when he considered the ordinary Providence of God towards Mankind Lord what is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou shouldst consider him This is a wonderful Condescension indeed for God to be mindful of Man At the best we are but his Creatures and upon that very Account at an infinite Distance from him so that were not he infinitely Good he would not be concerned for us who are so infinitely beneath the Consideration of his Love and Pity Neither are we of the highest Rank of Creatures we are much below the Angels as to the Excellency and Perfection of our Beings so that if God had not had a peculiar Pity and Regard to the Sons of Men he might have placed his Affection and Care upon a much nobler Order of Creatures than we are and so much the more miserable because they fell from a higher Step of Happiness I mean the lost Angels but yet for Reasons best known to his Infinite Wisdom God past by them and was pleased to consider us This the Apostle to the Hebrews takes notice of as an Argument of God's peculiar and extraordinary Love to Mankind that he sent his Son not to take upon him the Nature of Angels but of the Seed of Abraham Now that he who is so far above us and after that we by wilful Transgression had lost our selves had no Obligation to take Care of us but what his own Godness laid upon him that he should concern himself so much for us and be so solicitous for our Recovery this is a great Evidence of his Kindness and Good-will to us and cannot be imagined to proceed from any other Cause II. Another Evidence of God's great Love to us is that he was pleased to design so great a Benefit for us This the Scripture expresseth to us by Life and it is usual in Scripture to express the best and most desirable things by Life because as it is one of the greatest Blessings so it is the Foundation of all other Enjoyments And therefore the Apostle useth but this one word to express to us all the Blessings and Benefits of Christ's coming into the World God sent his only-begotten Son into the world that we might live through him And this Expression is very proper to our Case because Life signifies the reparation of all that which was lost by the Fall of Man For Man by his willful Degeneracy and Apostacy from God is sunk into a State of Sin and Misery both which the Scripture is wont to express by Death In respect of our Sinful State we are Spiritually Dead and in respect of the Punishment and Misery due to us for our Sins we are Judicially Dead Dead in Law for the wages of Sin is Death Now God hath sent his Son into the World that in both these respects we might live through him 1. We were Spiritually Dead Dead in Trespasses and Sins as the Apostle speaks Eph. 2.1 2. You hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this world Every Wicked Man tho' in a Natural Sense he be Alive yet in a Moral Sense he is Dead So the Apostle speaking of those who live in sinful Lusts and Pleasures says of them that they are dead while they live 1 Tim. 5.6 What Corrupt Humours are to the Body that Sin is to the Soul their Disease and their Death Now God sent his Son to deliver us from this Death by renewing our Nature and mortifying our Lusts by restoring us to the Life of Grace and Holiness and destroying the Body of Sin in us that henceforth we should not serve Sin And that this is a great Argument of the mighty Love of God to us the Apostle tells us Eph. 2.4 5. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ It is an Argument of the Riches of God's Mercy and of his great Love to us to recover us out of this sad and deplorable Case It is a kindness infinitely greater than to redeem us from the most wretched Slavery or to rescue us from the most dreadful and cruel Temporal Death and yet we should value this as a Favour and Benefit that could never be sufficiently acknowledg'd But God hath sent his Son to deliver us from a worse Bondage and a more dreadful kind of Death so that well might the Apostle ascribe this great Deliverance of Mankind from the slavery of our Lusts and the Death of Sin to the boundless Mercy and Love of God to us God who is rich in mercy for the great love wherewith he loved us hath quickned us together with Christ even when we were dead in Sins when our Case was as desperate as could well be imagined then was God pleased to undertake this great Cure and to provide such a Remedy as cannot fail to be effectual for our Recovery if we will but make use of it 2. We
were likewise judicially Dead Dead in Law being Condemned by the just Sentence of it So soon as ever we sinned Eternal Death was by the Sentence of God's Law become our due Portion and Reward and this being our Case God in tender Commiseration and Pity to Mankind was pleased to send his Son into the World to inter pose between the Justice of God and the Demerits of Men and by reversing the Sentence that was gone out against us and procuring a Pardon for us to rescue us from the Misery of Eternal Death and not only so but upon the condition of Faith and Repentance of Obedience and a Holy Life to bestow Eternal Life upon us and by this means to restore us to a better Condition than that from which we were fallen and to advance us to a Happiness greater than that of Innocency And was not this great Love to design and provide so great a Benefit and Blessing for us to send his Son Jesus to bless us in turning away every one of us from our Iniquities Our Blessed Saviour who came from the bosom of his Father and knew his tender Affection and Compassion to Mankind speaks of this as a most wonderful and unparallell'd expression of his Love to us John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son God so loved the world so greatly so strangely so beyond our biggest hopes nay so contrary to all reasonable expectation as to send his only-begotten Son to seek and to save the sinful Sons of Men. If it had only in general been declared to us that God was about to send his Son into the World upon some great design and been left to us to conjecture what his Errand and Business should be how would this have alarmed the guilty Consciences of sinful Men and fill'd them with infinite Jealousies and Suspicion with fearful expectations of Wrath and fiery Indignation to consume them For considering the great Wickedness and Degeneracy of Mankind what could we have thought but that surely God was sending his Son upon a design of vengeance to Chastise a Sinful World to Vindicate the Honour of his despised Laws and to revenge the multiplyed Affronts which had been offered to the highest Majesty of Heaven by his Pitiful and Ungrateful Creatures Our own Guilt would have been very apt to have fill'd us with such Imaginations as these that in all likelihood the Son of God was coming to Judgment to call the Wicked World to an Account to proceed against his Father's Rebels to pass Sentence upon them and to Execute the Vengeance which they had deserved This we might justly have dreaded and indeed considering our Case how ill we have deserved at God's Hands and how highly we have provoked him what other weighty Matter could we hope for But the Goodness of God hath strangely out-done our Hopes and deceived our Expectation so it follows in the next Words God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world intimating that this we might justly have imagin'd and feared but upon a quite contrary Design that through him the world might be saved What a surprize of Kindness is here that instead of sending his Son to condemn us he should send him into the world to save us to rescue us from the Jaws of Death and of Hell from that Eternal and Intolerable Misery which we had incurred and deserved And if he had proceeded no farther this had been wonderful Mercy and Kindness But his Love stopt not here it was not contented to spare us and free us from Misery but was restless till it had found out a way to bring us to Happiness for God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son not only that whosoever believes in him might not perish but might have everlasting life This is the Second Evidence of God's great Love to us the greatness of the Blessing and Benefit which he had designed and provided for us that we might live through him not only be delivered from Spiritual and Eternal Death but be made partakers of Eternal Life III. The last Evidence of God's great Love to us which I mentioned was this that God was pleased to use such a Means for the obtaining and procuring of this great Blessing and Benefit he sent his only-begotten Son into the World that we might live through him And this will appear to be great Love indeed if we consider these Four things 1. The Person whom he was pleased to employ upon this Design he sent his only-begotten Son 2. How much he abased him in Order to the effecting and accomplishing of this Design implyed in these words he sent him into the World 3. If we consider to whom he was sent to the World And 4. That he did all this voluntarily and freely out of his meer Pity and Goodness not constrain'd hereto by any Necessity not prevail'd upon by any Application or Importunity of ours nor oblig'd by any Benefit or Kindness from us 1. Let us consider the Person whom God was pleased to employ in this Design he sent his only-begotten Son no less Person than his own Son and no less dear to him than his only-begotten Son 1. No less Person than his own Son and the Dignity of the Person that was employed in our behalf doth strangely heighten and set off the Kindness What an Endearment is it of the Mercy of our Redemption that God was pleased to employ upon this Design no meaner Person than his own Son his begotten Son so he is called in the Text his Son in so peculiar a Manner as no Creature is or can be the Creatures below Man are call'd the Works of God but never his Children the Angels are in Scripture call'd the Sons of God and Adam likewise is call'd the Son of God because God made him after his own Image and Likeness in Holiness and Righteousness and in his Dominion and Sovereignty over the Creatures below him But this Title of begotten Son of God was never given to any of the Creatures Man or Angel for unto which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee as the Apostle Reasons Heb. 1.5 He must be a great Person indeed to whom this Title belongs of the begotten Son of God and it must be a mighty Love indeed which moved God to employ so great a Person on the behalf of so pitiful and wretched Creatures as we are It had been a mighty Condescension for God to treat with us at all but that no less Person than his own Son should be the Embassadour is an astonishing Regard of Heaven to poor sinful Dust and Ashes 2 This Person was as dear to God as he was great he was his only-begotten Son It had been a great Instance of Abraham's Love and Obedience to God to have sacrificed a Son at his Command but this Circumstance makes it much greater that it was his only Son hereby
is nor any fear of becoming less And all Temptation is founded either in hope or fear and where neither of these can have any place there can be no occasion no possible Motive or Temptation to Evil for to be Evil and to do Evil is always an Effect of weakness and want of Power The summ of what I have said upon this Argument and the design indeed of it is to shew that the greater Power and Authority any one hath the less Liberty he hath to do any thing that is bad And I have been the larger upon this because I would fain imprint upon the Minds of Persons whom the Providence of God hath invested with great Power and Authority that as they have great opportunities of doing more good than others so they have greater Reason and more Advantages of doing it and are more inexcusable if they do any thing that is bad not only because their Actions are of a more publick influence and observation but because their Temptations to Evil how great soever they may seem to be are in truth and reality much less than other Mens Happy are those Princes that wisely consider this and make their Power and Authority over others an Argument to be so much better themselves and to do so much more good to others and because they are less subject to the coercive Power of Law do for that Reason think themselves so much the more obliged to be a Law to themselves Blessed be God for the Happiness which we enjoy in this respect and let us earnestly beseech him that he would be pleased to bestow such a plentiful measure of his Grace and Holy Spirit on our most Gracious King and Queen as may Effectually both engage and enable them to use their Power to the best purposes for the Publick good And thus I have briefly gon over and explained to you the several Particulars in the Text the duty of Prayer here enjoyned for whom we are to pray in general for all Men and for whom more especially and in the first place for Kings and all that are in authority and upon what Considerations we are to pray for them and to Praise God in their behalf because of the great Benefits we receive by them and because both in respect of the Dangers and Difficulties of their Condition they stand in need of our Prayers above other Men besides that in praying for their Welfare and Prosperity we pray for our own Peace and Happiness And now to apply this to our selves and to the Occasion of this Day By all that hath been said we cannot but be convinced what Cause we have to bless God for that happy Government which we live under that excellent Constitution under the gentle Influences whereof we enjoy more Liberty more Plenty and more Security from all manner of Injury and Oppression than any Nation this Day on the Face of the Earth Therefore with what Thankfulness should we this Day commemorate the happy Restauration of this Government to us after the miserable Distractions and Confusions of twenty Years by the Restauration and Return of our banisht Soveraign in so peaceable and yet so wonderful a Manner that a Remembrance of it even at this Distance is almost still Matter of Amazement to us Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who alone doth wondrous Things And with our joyful Praises let us joyn our most devout and fervent Prayers to Almighty God for the King 's and Queen's Majesties and for all that are in Authority And I may truly say that there was hardly ever greater Reason and Occasion for it both from our Distractions at Home and our Dangers from abroad never was there greater Need of our earnest Supplications and Prayers than at this Time when our Armies and Fleets are in Motion and when God seems already to have given us some Earnest of good Success blessed be his great and glorious Name We have indeed a great Army and a more powerful Fleet than ever this Nation sent forth but unless God be on our Side and favour our Cause in vain are all our Preparations for whenever his Providence is pleased to interpose by strength shall no Man prevail Have we not Reason then to cry mightily unto God when the only Strength of the Nation is at Stake when our Sins and Provocations are so many and great and there lies so heavy a poal of Guilt upon us When the person of his Sacred Majesty is exposed to so much Hazard not only in the high Places of the Field but from the restless Attempts of the malicious and implacable Enemies of our Peace and Religion that he would be graciously pleased to go forth with our Armies and Fleets and not remember our Iniquities against us but save us for his Mercies sake We are too apt to murmur and complain of Miscariages and the ill management of Affairs but surely the best thing we can do and that which best becomes us is to look forward and to turn our Censures of our Governours and their Actions into humble Supplications to God in their behalf and in behalf of the whole Nation that he would be pleased to turn us every one from the Evil of our Ways that he may return to us and have mercy on us that so Iniquity may not be our Ruin that he may rejoyce over us to do us good and may at last think Thoughts of Peace towards us Thoughts of Good and not of Evil to give us an expected End of our Troubles Let us then betake our selves to the proper Work of this Day hearty Prayers and Thanksgivings to Almighty God for the King and Queen and for all that are in Authority that as he hath been pleased by a wonderful Providence to rescue us from the imminent danger we were in and from all our fears by the happy Advancement of their Majesties to the Throne of these Kingdoms so he would of his infinite goodness still preserve and continue to us this Light of our Eyes and Breath of our Nostrils Princes of that great Clemency and Goodness which render them the true Representatives of God upon Earth and the most Gracious Governours of Men. And let us earnestly beseech him that he would confirm and strengthen them in all goodness and make them wise as Angels of God to discern betwixt Good and Evil that they may know how to go in and out before this great People that be would give them the united affections of their People and a heart to study and seek their good all the days of their lives And Finally That he would be pleased to continue so great a Blessing to us and to grant them a long and Prosperous Reign over us and that their Posterity in this Royal Family may endure for ever and their Throne as the Days of Heaven that under them the People of these Nations we and the Generations to come may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty for