and Crosses though Shame and Sorrow though Want and Misery 〈◊〉 Torture and Death abide us for professing the Gospel of Jesus Christ yet let not us be daunted but in such extremities let us follow the Apostles Counsel * Heb. 12.2 Look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God This Consideration this noble President will help us against fainting in our Minds under the greatest Persecutions what extremities did the Son of God submit to for the pleasure he took in restoring lost Man The happiness he was about to purchase for them outweighed all the Trouble and Anguish that lay in the way to it in like manner seeing we have the expectation of Bliss and Joy grounded on never failing Promises let us call to mind this Example of our Lord and if the time come that we the Servants shall meet with harsher Treatment than what the Master of the Houshold found let us bear up courageously remembring the Joy set before us in the promise and which shall be fullfill'd in the Kingdom of Heaven Nor is this consideration only usefull to the sustaining part of a Christian's Life but it hath its force and energy in the abstaining part also we look upon it as the effect of an immature judgment to exchange Pearls for Shells or Gold for Glass and shall our Consciences condemn us as Children in understanding as novices in the Faith while for the Tantalizing Pleasures the glittering Honours and faint profits of this life we hazard the Joys the Pleasures the Honours and the Happiness of the next especially when it shall be considered we had a title to a competency of these without our inordinate care and willfull neglect of the other Remember how careful and sollicitous our Saviour was for his Disciples Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me this provision was not bounded in the Apostles but extended to all Ages and Corners of the World in as much as it is said * Joh. 17.20 He did not pray for his Disciples alone but for them also which should believe on him through their Word You may hear the whole matter †Joh. 14 1 2 3. Our saviour before his Departure was comforting his Disciples Let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in Me in my Father's House are many Mansions Heaven is Spacious I go to prepare a place for you I desert you not as one weary of your Society or as one sickle in my choice and love but I design your Good I came on Earth to prepare you for Heaven and now I go again to prepare Heaven for you for my full intention is where I am you shall be as I am you shall be Let us pluck up our Spirits and buckle to the several Duties of our Christian Calling without fainting not being weary of well doing for we have great things beyond expression to receive hereafter I shall conclude with St. Paul's Exhortation †2 Tim. 1.12 13. we Christians are not to be ashamed nor is there any reason we should be ashamed for we know whom we have believed viz. Jesus Christ who is the Son of God and therefore we may be satisfied that he being God is able to keep what we commit unto him let us therefore hold fast and inviolable both as to corruption from others and from contradiction in our own lives that Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary is perfect God and Head of his Church that we are bound to confess this both in word and in the manner of our living and that we are to live to his Honour and Glory and thus doing we shall at the last Day receive Crowns of Glory at the hands of that Righteous Judge who has prepar'd most glorious Rewards for all that love his Appearing To whom he Glory and Honour might Majesty and Dominion World without End Amen FINIS
Phrase called implies a being really the thing so called is that †Rom. 9.25 26. I will call them my People which were not my People i. e. I will make them my People who were not so before This being Premis'd I come to the Names or Appellations given to the Son of the Virgin Mary I. Jesus Mat. 1.21 This was the proper Name of the Son of God when he took humane Flesh I confess others as Types of him had bore this Name yet never did the Signification of the Name fully agree with the Bearer till now This name Jesus shows him to be of Heavenly Extract in that it was given him from Heaven Probat Angelus caelitùs conceptum cui nomen caelitùs imponitur none but God knew the Dignity of this Person and therefore he particularly Assigns him this Name as sufficiently comprehending his Dignity This Name coming from Heaven did plainly demonstrate him to be the Son of God in that none on Earth had Power over Him to give Him a Name The Etymological Reason which the Angel gave of this Name illustrates the Deity of Him to whom it was given †Mat. 1.16 Thou shalt call his name Jesus for He shall save his People from their Sins so that he really was Sui nominis he in all things answered his Name Salvation in other Jesus's was either an empty Name or at most but a faint shadow of the Salvation which was found in him * Acts 4.12 For neither is there Salvation in any other neither is there any other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Salvation from Sins is God's Peculiar for so it is said †Isa 45.21 There is no God else beside me a just God and a Saviour there is none beside me so again * Hosea 13.4 For there is no Saviour beside me Thus we see God challenging Salvation as his peculiar Prerogative and hence I Argue Since by God's special Command this Name Jesus was conferr'd on the Son of the Virgin Mary because he should give Salvation from sins it is plain that he was God for he must necessarily be believed to be the Lord of Life in whose power it was to bestow Life Secondly He was called Christ and from hence also it will appear that the Son of the Virgin Mary was God Christ is a name of Dignity it is a Greek Word and of the same Signification with Messiah in the Hebrew For him the Jews looked and him they did really believe to be no other than the Son of God and this may reasonably be concluded in that they interpreted the second Psalm to be a Prophecy of him wherein we find it declared †Psalm 2.2 That he was the Anointed of God And of this Christ this Messiah it is expresly said by God himself * v. 7. Thou art my Son this Day have I begotten thee That Christ and the Messiah were Synonymous Terms and that both belonged to the Son of the Virgin Mary is evident from * Joh. 1.41 We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted the Christ both these Names signifie Anointed Kings Priests and Prophets under the Law were Anointed with Holy Oyl thereby intimating that they were Separated Sacred and Consecrated to God in the discharge of their respective Offices and were therefore called Messiae or Christi but this Son of the Virgin Mary was Messiah or Chris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 emphatically as being both appointed to perform all those Offices and moreover anointed extraordinarily above any or all of them for * Joh. 3.24 God gave not unto him the Spirit by measure To give by Measure or Weight implies giving with a cautious or sparing Hand and contrarily to give without measure argues giving plentifully even the whole others albeit they were anointed yet were limited they had the Spirit by measure some having one Grace others another but this Jesus the Son of the Virgin Mary was anointed with the fullness of the Spirit for saith the Apostle †Col. 2.9 In him dwelled all the fullness of the God-head bodily Whosoever allows the Son of the Virgin Mary to be the Messiah the Christ must allow him to be the Son of God that the Jews did ever believe the Christ to be the real Son of God is very perspicuous * Joh. 1.49 where Nathanael allowing Jesus to be the Christ i. e. anointed to be King of Israel immediately concludes he must be the Son of God his Words are Rabbi thou art the Son of God the King of Israel and that he as Honestly as Rationally spoke what he believed there is not the least cause to doubt seeing that this Christ who knew what was in Man and needed not that any should testifie v. 47. declared of him * That he was an Israelite indeed in whom was no guile Hear we also Martha's confession of Faith grounded upon the same Reason †Joh. 11.27 I believe that thou art the Christ the Son of God What shall we say the High Priest though enraged had not forgot this truth that The Christ must necessarily be the Son of God * Mat. 26.63 I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God for he was satisfied if he was the one he must be the other also Now that the Son of the Virgin Mary was The Christ is evident in that he so punctually executed the Office of King Priest and Prophet to those that would hear and believe he taught the Will of God to those who would submit to his Sceptre he became a King ruling in their Hearts by Faith and Love for he acknowledged his Kingdom was not of this World and to such he was a Priest not only in offering himself a Sacrifice for them but in Blessing them and turning them from their sins so that the Son of the Virgin Mary thus manifesting himself to be The Christ must by the Jews own concession be acknowledged to be the Son of God Thirdly The Son of the Virgin Mary was called Emanuel and this was likewise a demonstration of his Deity Emanuel * Mat. 1.23 which being interpreted is God with us i. e. He that was God from all Eternity hath now assumed humane Nature and is become one with us in all things sin excepted This name does plainly imply the Union of the two Natures in the one Person of our Redeemer it doth moreover point at his mediatory Office between God arid Man and demonstrates him a compleat Saviour able to save to the uttermost In him there were two Natures and yet nec inferiorem consumpsit Glorificatio nec superiorem minuit Assumptio the Deity did not swallow up his Humanity the Humane Nature was not swallowed up and lost in the Deity nor did the Deity suffer Debasement or Diminution by the Assumption of the humanity but both Natures remain whole and intire constituting but one
Person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Emanuel God-man but of this we shall understand farther in speaking to the next Name There is a secret Harmony between these names Jesus and Emanuel and both declare the Deity of the Virgin Mary 's Son for he that can be a Jesus to save from sin must necessarily be God and so have Life and Salvation in his power to bestow nor can God with respect to his own Decree be a Saviour from sin except he become one of us seeing the same nature that sinned was sentenced to suffer Fourthly The Son of the Virgin Mary was called The Word which name doth also vindicate his Deity It is said †Ioh. 1.1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God in which words the very Heathen have ingenuously confessed there was more of the Divine Nature comprehended than could be found in all the voluminous Writings of their Philosophers The better to gather the full sence of this Verse we must first enquire who is here meant by The Word for it is evident that is the subject of which three things are here predicated namely that it was Eternal a distinct Person from God the Father yet of the same Nature and Essence I shall first make it appear that the Messiah the Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary he whom we acknowledge for our Lord and Saviour was called the Word He was known to the Jews and others by this Appellation the Lord * Psal 110.1 which Title Lord and that of the Word were interchangeably used by them for whereas according to our Translation we read †Gen. 1.23 So the Lord created Man the Targum renders it The Word of the Lord created Adam Again * Gen. 3.22 our Bibles have it The Lord said the Targum The Word of the Lord said Moreover we find the Rabbis and Jewish Doctors frequently expounded Jehovah by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word of the Lord particularly Jonathan the Son of Vzziel who was before Christ and Author in part of the Chaldee Paraphrase Our Bibles Read †Isai 45.17 Israel shall be saved in the Lord but the Chaldee Paraphrase Israel shall be saved in the Word of the Lord so that this Apellation was no new thing of St. John's invention but the Messiah the Son of God was known thereby to the Jews of old and which may give our Testimony herein the greater Credit the same name The Word was known to the Philosophers for Trismegistus Zeno Plato and others have spoken of The Word nay even in Mahomet's Alchoran Christ is called The Word so the Person signified by The Word we understand to be the Messiah The Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary I shall therefore proceed to the things promulged of him in this Verse which if found true our Faith stands fixed as on a Rock and we must believe that Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary had a Divine Essence prae-existing before the World and that he is a distinct Person from the Father but yet that he is very God 1. The Word was from everlasting In the beginning was the Word In principio Verbum Erat the Verb being here of the Preter imperfect Tense doth imply that The Word was so in the beginning of Time as that he also was before it had the Apostle put in Est in the Room òf Erat it might have given occasion to think that The Word then received its being or began to be There had been the like danger had he used Fuit for then some would have conjectured that upon the Creation of the World The Word was but that before or after it was not in being but the Word used is Erat of the Preter imperfect Tense which standing between the Present and the Preter is not absolutely either but participates of both times to demonstrate that The Word was so in the beginning that he was both before and after the beginning he had a subsistence before all times for being at that time when all things were beginning to be made plainly implys he was before the beginning of all things and so must be of the same Eternity or Everlastingness as the Father and this is yet more clear as we shall see immediately in that Phrase The Word was with God he was of the same Eternity and Coexistency with the Father Accordingly the Word is called by Nonnus the Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod nullo tempore sit comprehensum others give him the same Title Quasi carens Principio and †Rev. 1.11 Christ is called Alpha and Omega the first and the last without any Restriction or Limitation he was ever truly and essentially God and there is not the least ground for Arrius's Blasphemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 time was when he was not 2. The Word was with God this demonstrates him a distinct Person from God Apud Deum not as a Property or Quality not as an Attribute or Faculty but as a Person distinctly existing and that by a different manner of Generation from the Father Apud Deum we cannot properly speaking say any Person is with himself he may be said to be with another but not with himself so that from hence we must necessarily inferr a Distinction of Persons he that is with being one and he with whom he is being another which makes flatly against the Sabellians who deny'd a Distinction of Persons Thirdly And the Word was God This Demonstrates the Identity of Nature and that the Word was of the same Nature and Essence he certainly was Alius a distinct Person from the Father but not Aliud of another but the same Nature This very Name Word is most apt to represent the Two Natures of Christ the Divine and Humane because that in a Word we must consider there is Sonus a Sound the Elision of the Air passing from the Mouth of the Speaker and possessing the Ear of the Hearer there is also Verbum the Word carried by that Sound and Informing the Understanding so that the Sound and Word though two are neither to be separated nor are they confounded Fourthly The Son of the Virgin Mary was called The Son of God and this Name also vindicates his Deity This Title is given in Scripture upon Various Considerations as sometimes times Mankind in General are called The Sons of God and †Acts 17.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are his off-spring this is spoken in reference to the Creation and upon the same account the Angels * Job 38.7 are called The Sons of God Again Sons of God are taken in a larger sence for such as from the Dignity †Psal 82.6 of their Offices were so called The word is also used in a Spiritual sence they are called ‖ 1 Joh. 5.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Born of God or Sons of God who by the Spirit of God are Changed or Renewed being Regenerate
†2 Sam. 7.12 And when thy days shall be fulfilled I will set up thy Seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy Bowels and I will establish his Kingdom Isaiah received a Message from God that this Son of God should be born of a Virgin * Isa 7.14 A Virgin shall conceive Micah had notice of the place of his Nativity †Micah 5.2 * But thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be litle among the thousands of Judah yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel All these Prophecies were exactly accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary Was it said the Seed of the Woman This was punctually perform'd in the strictest Sence * Mat. 1.18 The Birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his Mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost Was he to be of Abraham's Posterity it is accordingly Recorded †Mat. 1.1 The Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ the Son of David the Son of Abraham To this purpose the Apostle Argues * Gal. 3.29 They that are Christs viz. true Believers are Abraham's seed being one in Christ they must be so accounted in that he was so Was he to be of the Tribe of Judah So saith the Scripture he was †Heb. 7.14 It is evident our Lord sprang out of Judah Was he to be of the Family of David This was so manifestly true of the Son of the Virgin Mary that even the Blind saw it Hear them * Mat. 9.27 Thou Son of David have Mercy on us Was he to be born of a Virgin You heard it proved †Mat. 1.18 Was he to be born in Bethlehem So testifie the Scriptures he was * Mat. 2.1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King Again The Scriptures Testifie that Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary was God because to that very end they had their being †Joh. 20.31 These things are Written not only what I have wrote but what Matthew Mark and Luke have Wrote also that you might believe Jesus is the Son of God and that believing you might have life through his Name they must therefore necessarily testifie sufficiently of him what they were intended to induce us to believe of him viz. that he is God There want not plenty of other Arguments to evince the Deity of Jesus Christ As that we are Commanded to be Baptized in his Name and Baptism ought not to be Administred in the Name of any Creature We are also Commanded to Believe in his Name and it were bootless to Believe in any Name but the Name of God We are called Christians from him and it cannot be thought that the Church of God hath so far degenerated as to lay down the Name of God and submit to be called by the Name of a Creature We might have Argued that Divine Honour Praise and Glory are Ascribed to him We have that Knowledge that God hath declared himself Jealous of his Honour and he hath said expresly †Isai 42.8 He would not give his Honour to another Nay we have known his Jealousie burn like Fire against such as have presumed upon his Glory for this cause the Angels were thrust out of Heaven * Isai 14.12 13 14 15. Herod Alexander Caligula and Domitian have paid dearly for their Usurpation in this Kind Ascribing Glory and Honour was by the Jews allowed an Acknowledgment of the Deity When-ever the Priest in she Sanctuary made Mention of the Name of God the People used some Forms of Blessing or Praising God This may be gathered from ‖ Deut. 32.3 where Moses said Because I will publish the Name of the Lord Ascribe ye Greatness unto our God In this cafe we shall find the like Glory Ascribed to the Son of the Virgin Mary †Matt. 21.9 Hosanna to the Son of David The Jews were ordered to observe the Feast of Tabernacles which as Expositors agree not onely remembred them of their Dwelling in Tents but did also Prefigure God's pitching his Tabernacle in our Flesh At this Feast when-ever any Name or Title of God was recited by the Priest the People Repeated Hosanna which signified Save us we beseech thee St. Jerom was of opinion That much about the time of Christ's Incarnation the Jews were wont often to Read the Hundred and Eighteenth Psalm which they Interpreted of Christ in the Twenty fifth Verse whereof this word Hosanna is found this was frequently Sung in their Synagogues and the Jews being at this time big with Expectation of the Messiah met him Riding to Jerusalem and Saluted him with Hosanna the very word they used to Salute the Majesty of God on their Feast of Tabernacles a Type of Christ's Incarnation so that by this Salutation at this Time they cannot be thought to have meant any other than an owning That GOD was come among them To Justifie this Opinion I have Two Reasons 1. Because in the latter part of the Verse viz. * Matt. 21.9 it is said Hosanna in the Highest 2. Because we Read †Luk. 19.40 That if they should have held their peace and have forborn to Ascribe this Honour and Glory to Christ the Stones out of the Wall would have done it So that if Men had been obstinate and would not have Acknowledged him as God their Redeemer the Stones would have Glorified him as God their Creator The Christian Church hath continued even to our days Two Representations of the Deity of Christ which the Prince of Darkness hath laboured to get decry'd as too Superstitious and Ceremonious onely that they growing out of Request he might gradually obliterate the Sense and Belief of the Deity of the Holy Jesus the one of these is Bowing at the Name of Jesus and the other is the Eulogy given unto him when-ever his Gospel is Read in the Church saying when the Gospel is named GLORY BE TO THEE O LORD and when it is ended THANKS BE GIVEN TO THEE O LORD FOR THIS GOSPEL I referr it to modest men to Judge whether laying aside the use of these be not a Departing from one kind of Evidence of the Deity of Christ I might have added that in the end as also in other places of the Epistles Writ to the Church of God by the Apostles Christ is Prayed to as God for God the Father is Supplicated for Love Jesus Christ for Grace and the Holy Ghost for the Communication of his Gifts †2 Cor. 13.13 The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all Amen * Gal. 1.3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ But next to Plainness my great Care hath been Brevity as much as so weighty a
would Pervert and Change the Gospel of Christ yet if an Angel from Heaven should Preach any other Gospel unto you than that Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God is the Head of the Church Let such Person be Accursed Look upon him as one Excommunicate and with whom consequently none ought to have any Commerce in Sacred Matters The Heathens had a Saying Mutus sit oportet qui non laudârit Herculem He deserves not to Speak who cannot find something to say in the Praise of Hercules Shall not Christians be thought worthy to lose their Tongues if they cleave to the Roof of their Mouths and refuse to sound forth the Noble Praise of the Blessed Son of God our Great Saviour and Redeemer How should our Tongues be Talking of his Praise all the day long It would extreamly well become Christians to be telling one the other What wonderful things this Blessed Jesus hath done for them I do not mean in the General Works of Creation and Redemption onely but his particular Favours also the Peace the Joy the Resolution the Strength the Grace they daily receive from Communion with him It can be no other than a Splendid Entertainment to the Piously Affected for they have Meat to eat that the World knows not of to recount how sweetly they were at first Translated from the Power of Satan into the Kingdom of the Son of God to tell how often and long this Blessed Son of God stood and Knocked by his Word Ministers and Spirit at the door of their hearts before he obtain'd Audience to declare how he put his finger into the hole and lifted up the latch i. e. took care to put back all Obstructions and Impediments with which the Devil the World and the Flesh had bolted up our hearts how pleasant would be the Repetition of those Passionate Perswasions and Loving Promises which the Son of God used notwithstanding the Unkindness he found how he shed abroad in their Hearts his Gracious Influences till at last by the Assiduity of his Courtship the Unweariedness of his Patience and the Fervour of his Love he overcame their Folly and Perverseness If the Shepherd not onely looks with pleasure on the Lamb he wrenched from the Jaws of the hungry Wolf but also believes the Relation of that Exploit acceptable to every Mild and Gentle Disposition Why should not Christians believe it as grateful to Communicate among themselves how often and by what ways this Great Shepherd the Son of God hath delivered them his Sheep from the Paws of that Cruel Lion who daily surrounded the Fold in expectation of his Prey What can be more Joyful than for one Christian affectionately to relate to another in what Combats with the Flesh what Bickerings with the World and in what Buffetings of Satan they have been Supported Relieved and Comforted by this Son of God How delightsome must it be for the formerly Afflicted to comfort one that at present is in the like condition by relating how when he was overwhelm'd with dismal Storms of Grief and Anxiety when he sailed in a Tempestuous Sea of Fears and Agonies and no Comfortable Light could on either hand be espy'd that then this Son of Righteousness brake out upon him his Grace Love and Mercy set them upon a Rock higher than themselves he brought them out and set them in a large place free and far enough from all their Troubles What Grace must such Discourses Minister to the Hearers And moreover this way of entertaining one another would prevent a world of filthiness scurrility foolish and inconvenient talking There is naturally so great Correspondence between the Heart and the Tongue that they are but few who delight not to speak of that Subject which most possesses and pleases their Mind Thus the Husbandman's whole Discourse is of his Land Manurement Team Plough and Crop The Souldier's Tongue runs of his Arms Colours Officers Camps Marches and Engagements and the very Huntsman will deasen your eares with the Names and Qualities of his Dogs the Obstreperous terms of his Art and the Diversity of his Game Must it not therefore argue a great poverty of Grace and that our Souls delight not themselves in the Lord when good and Edifying Discourse is so rare among us Christians especially if it be considered that we have the greatest reason not onely barely to confess but to make our boast of this Son of God all the day long But I must urge this Point farther It is not an Oral Confession onely or an Exultation in Christ the Son of God that I aim at For we Read among the Primitive Christians there were some * Tit. 1.16 viz. the Gnosticks who did profess to know God but in works they did deny him being Abominable and Disobedient and unto every good Work Reprobate too many such Titular Christians are to be found who were it not for the Oaths that fall from their Tongues it were hard to say that they had ever heard of Jesus Christ or did in the least believe him to be the Son of God they are of such Unchristian Tempers such Unsanctified Lives that they can be accounted no other than Enemies of the Cross of Christ I do heartily wish that all loose and dissolute Christians would seriously digest this Consideration How ill does Cursing Swearing Drunkenness Whoredom Prophaneness Envy Malice or whatever else is of Evil Report become them who Profess themselves Servants to the Holy Son of God such Persons notwithstanding their specious Pretences are not his Servants for it is as well the Result of Reason as the Declaration of Scripture †Rom. 6.16 That Men are properly and rightfully their Servants to whom they obey The dishonour must necessarily be very great that Ungodly Professors do to the Son of God for they cause his Name to be Evil Spoken of his Deity Doubted and his Gospel to be Despised for the Grand Reason why neither the Jews among us nor other Infidels abroad make more hast to the Mountain of the Lord is the palpable difference between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Lives of them that Confess him for they cannot escape all Wild and Extravagant Opinions of Christ when they perceive how little Influence his Precepts allow'd for Holy Just and Good have upon their Manners who pretend to be Govern'd by them Moreover to Confess This Jesus Christ the Son of God aright doth imply the suppressing all Contradicting or Blaspheming of his Deity were I worthy I should humbly tender this Note where the power of a Redress is lodg'd Impiety is come to an high pass when openly in our Streets the Blessed and Glorious Trinity is Libell'd and the Deity of Jesus Christ impugn'd this is one but the worst way of saying Farewel to Christianity In this case being God's Cause and Quarrel I must take the liberty of saying No Christian Answers the end of his Profession by a Cold Indifferency he that contents himself with his
own Orthodox Confession and Regular Life and doth not contribute what lieth in him to Discountenance and Suppress such Blasphemers and their Blasphemy is but Almost not so Altogether a Christian * Jude 3. We are Exhorted Earnestly to contend for the Faith once delivered to the Saints Once delivered so that when once delivered and received if it be corrupted or lost we have great Assurance of a Second Edition It was Israel's Fault that when Elijah was Contending hard with the Prophets of Baal for the Honour of the God of Israel * King 18.21 The People answered him not a word they seemed wholly unconcern'd as if Religion had been a Matter onely for the Men of God the Prophets and Priests to trouble themselves about or as if it were all one to them to Serve God or Baal The Prophet had called them to Recollect themselves and Judge which was the True God and to Follow Him I grant the People were so Mannerly as not to oppose the Prophet but what was this when in a matter of so great Importance they should have spoken on his side But in this untoward Generation How unconcernedly doth one Christian hear another Nay How patiently doth the Magistrate hear most Men Rend Tear and Blaspheme the Precious and Honourable Names of this Holy Son of God yet show little or no zeal exert not the least shadow of their Power to Controul them and which aggravates the matter by so doing they are Injurious both to God and the Poor Such Persons may be reputed Civil Magistrates but their over-much Civility is the Shame of their Office the Growing Contempt of their Power and the General Reproach of Christianity I will yet Pray against this Wickedness that if such Careless Magistrates may not be overthrown in Stony places for their too great Easiness and Connivence yet that the Accustomed Swearers would hear my Words and they must find them sweet You that can Deafen Mens Ears and even Chill the Blood of Conscientious Christians with the Vollies of most Desperate Oaths and Curses what Answer will you shape at the last day Think you that you shall not blush and be confounded when you behold him Arrayed with Glorious Majesty and sit on the Great Tribunal whose Name you have made so Vile and Trivial whose Blood you have despised and Trampled under Feet whose Wounds your Mouths have Torn Wider and Rankled here Men look'd upon you as desperate Fools so Often so Loudly so Heartily to Imprecate what you would not for the World should have befallen you there you shall find your Jest converted into Earnest and feel that Punishment Inflicted that had you Ten thousand Worlds to give you could get no Release from Oh that Men were wise and would consider what shall befall them in the end who in stead of Confessing Jesus Christ the Son of God so Monstrously Blaspheme his Name and Deity Upon this Foundation that Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary is the Son of God and Head of the Church next to that of our open Confessing of him we may raise this other Story * Rom. 13.14 Put on the Lord Jesus Christy and make not provision for the Flesh to fullfill the Lusts thereof Their Conversations who are called by the Name of Christ and profess to believe him to be God ought to be in all Purity as becometh the Gospel of Christ they are oblig'd to act as is most suitable to their being Members of that Body of which the Son of God is Head they must in all things live as true Disciples in that School of which the Holy Jesus is the head Master not entertaining themselves with carnal and sensual Delights Hypocrates ordered each of his Followers to take this Oath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will maintain my Professtion unspotted and my Conversation uncorrupted If he judg'd it so expedient for the Honour of Physick that the practisers thereof should be so Upright and Vertuous how much greater care may the Institutor of our Religion challenge from us that in no good thing we come behind other Men insomuch as the Precepts he has commended to our Observation are of a more Sublime and excellent Nature and lead to a greater perfection than ever was attainable by that or any other Art whatsoever A Christian ought to be no other than a lively pattern or representation of Christ exhibiting daily in his Conversation those admirable Graces and Vertues which were so eminent in the Original therefore are such commanded to put on Christ by a most strict imitation of him Qui Christum induit omnem virtutem habet he that puts on Christ must become Holy in every respect as he was moreover this putting on must be without any intentions of depositing again I grant there are some would their number were less who put on Christ after the same manner that the resemblance of a man's Face is put on a Glass which is but for a moment no longer than the Person stands by thus some have put on Christ by Baptism and others for a fit ad Sacramenti perceptionem in order to receive the Sacrament but this is not the putting on which is required for that ought to be usque ad vitae sanctificationem to the sanctifying of the whole life their Souls and Bodies Minds and Spirits their Thoughts Words and Deeds ought to be influenced and directed altogether by their Profession We Christians are bought with a price * 1 Cor. 6.20 viz. The Blood of the Son of God and therefore must glorifie God in our Bodies and in our Spirits which are Gods our Bodies as well as Souls were his purchase and therefore both are to be devoted to his service no Christian is Vir sui Juris his own free Man we are not to serve our selves nor to live unto our selves but unto the Lord. It is said of Scipio that when at a Feast where it might have been thought his Blood had been heated an Harlot beautiful and gay presented her self such a Temptation together with such an Opportunity was gallantly resisted upon this single consideration Vellem si non essem Imperator were I not a General I should comply Menedemus preserved Antigonus in the like Assault by timely advising him to remember that he was a King's Son Christians have the advantage of far greater considerations to put back all evil Suggestions we are Sons of God Friends of Christ we are a peculiar People a Royal Priest-hood nay Co heirs with Christ and therefore as saith the Apostle * Phil. 2.5 The same mind ought to be in them as was in Christ i. e never to condescend to any thing repugnant to their Principles or beneath their present Dignity and future Expectations How monstrous a sight is it to see such who believe in God offering themselves in Vassalage to Sin and Satan or such who are acquainted that it is God's pleasure to give them an Heavenly Kingdom losing themselves