things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise the Gospel of Christ requireth us to think on these things This is the Yoke of Christ and to put on his Yoke is to observe these things It is to give Obedience to those his Laws which you see is made a necessary means to rest that is to true Happiness He saith here to them that labour and are heavy laden who would have rest to their Souls take my yoke upon you He says not take my Name my Profession but my Yoke and he bids them not consider it talk of it or keep it by them but put it on that is wear it which we then only do when we give all sincere Obedience to his Laws and make Conscience of observing all his Precepts We mistake it if we think it sufficient to make us Christians or to obtain the happiness of the Disciples of Jesus Christ to be Baptized to take up the Name and Profession of Christianity to frequent the outward Ordinances and to contend for the Truth of the Gospel or the Purity of its Doctrine All this is good and must be done but we must do more else we do not enough We must moreover add Obedience for why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things I say Luke vi 46. Not every one who saith to me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Every one saith Christ that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the wind blew and floods came and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it Matth. vii 21. 26 27. There is indeed mention made of a Christian Liberty and we are required to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free But this is not a Liberty to Sin it is not an Exemption from the Moral Law it is not a Dispensation from the Duty which that Law requires of us towards God and Man it is only a Liberty from the bondage of Moses's Law from the curse of that Law which was given to our first Parents a Liberty from the bondage of Satan and the servitude of Sin The Liberty given us is the Liberty of the Sons of God but the Liberty of Sons does not discharge from honouring and obeying the Parents Ye have been called unto liberty saith St. Paul only use not liberty for an occasion unto the flesh As free saith St. Peter and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness but as the servants of God So we are still the Servants of God and therefore bound to obey him there can be no Dispensation from that neither God can give nor is it our interest to seek it Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil for verily I say unto you c. Let no Man deceive himself and think that all may be compensated by believing for tho' Faith be necessary yet faith without works is dead and will not avail a Man That Faith which is acceptable to God and which will avail to Salvation and Justification is a Faith which worketh by love and which keepeth the Commandments True Faith and Obedience are inseparable for Obedience is the necessary Consequence of Faith the proper Fruit and Effect of it and the only Evidence which can be given of it As the Tree is known by its Fruit so Faith by its Works Shew me thy faith without thy works saith St. Iames which is as much as if he had said how is it possible to shew Faith without Works Can the sick Man believe the Physician to have both skill and honesty to cure him when he neither will use his Remedies nor commit himself to his Conduct And how can Men be said to believe in Christ when they will not regard his Word nor observe his Injunctions And what doth he enjoin us Nothing but what himself hath practised He is not like the Pharisees who did bind heavy Burdens and lay them upon other mens Shoulders but they themselves would not touch them He lays no heavier burden upon us than what himself hath born he puts us to no harder task than what himself hath wrought Can the Servant expect to be greater than his Lord If he then fulfilled the Law ought not we also to set our selves to do it If he could not be exempt from Obedience how can we expect it Jesus is not like the Rulers of this World who do not observe their own Laws The Laws they make and Pass are for the People and not for themselves But Jesus observes his own Laws he himself did bear that Yoke which he here commands us to take up And we may learn all our Duty from his Example as well as Doctrine Which leads me to The Third and Last thing required in the Text in order to the obtaining rest of Soul viz. Learning of Christ. The word in the Original signifies to become a Disciple in general But because it is joined here with two particular Vertues of Meekness and Humility therefore by the current consent of Interpreters it is to be taken in this place for the imitation of Christ and endeavours after a conformity to his Example particularly in these two Instances here made mention of The thing enjoined here is not that we should learn his Doctrine or conn his Sayings by heart but that we should study his Life imitate his Practice and labour to be like him The Necessity and Usefulness of this Duty is set forth in many places of Scripture If any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done unto you Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ saith St. Paul And St. Peter If when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God for even hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. ii 20 21. Men are better taught and more easily led by Example than by Precept Example both giveth greater encouragement and also teacheth more clearly conformity to him is the Character of God's chosen ones and without this we cannot claim either the Title of the Sons of God here or the Glory which is prepared for them hereafter For as the Apostle saith whom God did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many brethren Rom. viij 29. O what an excellent thing
because I do not look upon them as matters of such moment in themselves or of such concernment to me But believing the Truth of the Gospel and knowing the importance of what is revealed therein I find it my duty to esteem it as my necessary Food and that it is as proper and necessary to refresh my Soul with serious and daily Meditations thereof as to give my Body those repasts which Nature daily calls for This made our Apostle desire to know nothing save Iesus Christ and him crucified and to say doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. And as such a Faith is required in all the Mysteries of the Gospel so more particularly in the Mystery of the Cross the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ and that Satisfaction he has made thereby for Sin These we should have an Eye to all in our Addresses to God and more especially such solemn Addresses as those we are now to make For he who believes this relies thereon and by vertue thereof draws near to God does confess himself a great Sinner that it had been just for God to have damned him eternally that it is only for the sake of Christ he is saved and that the Wisdom and Mercy of God is highly to be magnified in finding out such excellent Means and Methods for the Salvation of Man and by such Acknowledgments the greatest Sinner endears himself to God and conciliates his Favour and Kindness But he who denies this or has no respect thereto when he draws near to God must either not own himself a Sinner or not think it necessary to satisfie God's Justice or to repair his Honour which is provoked and affronted by Sin or he must not believe that Jesus Christ hath done this for us and that he is the only Mediator betwixt God and Man but must fancy he can come to God by himself or through some other besides Christ and which soever of these perswasions he has he is so far from finding acceptance that he at once both exasperates God and provoketh him who had undertaken to make his Peace and who only could do it I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me therefore it 's said He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God Secondly I told you the Faith here required must also have a respect to our acceptance with God that is we must not only be firmly perswaded of God's Mercy and his good Will to save Sinners But that we our selves in particular shall find Grace in his Sight if we approach as we ought and bring no Impediment along with us and 't would seem the Translators of our Bible have chiefly respected this act of Faith in the Translation of this Text. Christ required of all those who came to him to be cured of their bodily Distempers Faith both in his Power and good Will And St. Matthew tells us He did no mighty works in his own countrey because of their unbelief St. Mark saith further that he could not do it Which we are not so to understand as if our Lord's Power could be restrained by any or that he depended upon Men for the exercise thereof but only that the want of this Faith rendred those Men unworthy of his Benefits and indisposed them for receiving them And as these temporal and bodily Benefits were not commonly conferred without this precious Faith so neither will spiritual and temporal Blessings as Mercy and Salvation be granted except to those who are disposed for them by earnest Desires and a sincere belief of God's being ready and willing to bestow them or at least if they be given to any other 't is not according to those ordinary Rules and Methods of the Dispensation of Grace which we ought to walk by For this Faith is always required as a necessary condition All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive saith Christ. And St. Iames saith Let not that man who wanteth Faith think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. This Faith is requisite both to animate our Endeavours after the means of Grace and Salvation and also to excite God's love and to encline him to be merciful to us 'T is natural to love those who put confidence in us and he has no spark of generosity who will not do his utmost for those who altogether rely on him if a Sinner can confide in God notwithstanding that he hath offended him if he throw himself at his Feet and can but believe that God has so much Mercy as to forgive him all his Sins and upon his Repentance to receive him into Favour for the sake of Christ He by this act so honoureth God and so obligeth him to Mercy by his trust in him that he will not he cannot abandon him This is set forth to us in the Parable of the Prodigal for when the Penitent Son was yet a great way off his Father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him And as this Faith enclines God to Mercy so it animates our Endeavours it excites and quickens us to a cheerful Performance of all the Means and Conditions of Salvation The Husbandman soweth when he has Hope and the Merchant Tradeth when he has Hope of Gain and every Man plyeth heartily what he believes will succeed but Men are discouraged and made to give over their Endeavours when they take up a Perswasion that they shall but labour in vain A double minded man saith St. Iames that is one who hangs in suspence who is tossed with Doubts and Fears he is unstable in all his ways Such an one is inconstant he pursues not his Enterprizes but desists he is not steadfast and unmoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord as every one ought to be and as he will be who knows and believes that his Labour is not in vain When therefore we draw near to God let us do it in this full Assurance of Faith that we may do it heartily so as to please God let us not entertain Doubts and Fears which but disquiet our own Minds and cast dishonour upon God Would not a Servant reflect either upon the Ability or Honesty of his Master if he questioned his Reward for the sincere Performance of his Service If ye who are evil and sinful think your selves oblig'd to love and be faithful to those who seek to please you will not God think you be more faithful and just to forgive us and to receive us into his Favour if we approve our selves unto him Is there any thing surer than his Word Are not
of other Mens For he was no less than others subject to Hunger and Thirst Cold and Heat Fainting and Weariedness and all the other things which Nature or Providence has made us liable to As he espoused our Nature so he espoused it with all its Weakness and Infirmities and with all the Trouble which ordinarily attends it Nay which is more he not only submitted to all the unavoidable Infirmities of our Nature but also to all the Misery which attends the meanest Condition of Men which the Apostle points at by the Form of a Servant The form of a servant implies somewhat more than the Nature of Man simply for every Man is not a Servant Jesus Christ has carried his humane Nature to Heaven but he is not there in the Form of a Servant for he is exalted above all When therefore St. Paul saith he took upon him the Form of a Servant he remembers us of the low and contemptible Condition in which he appeared For he came not to the World in Pomp and Splendour in the Form of a King or some great Person Nor did he aspire after a State of Grandeur Power and Command over others but chose to be born of mean and poor Parents who were totally divested of the Glory which by their descent they might have pretended to He was lodged with a Carpenter brought up in his House learned his Trade and wrought with his own hands for his Bread And though it be lawful for Men to endeavour to better their Condition if they take honest means yet he never made a Fortune to himself the foxes had holes and the fowls of the air nests but the Son of Man had no place or possession of his own where to lay his head When he entered upon the Exercise of his Ministery his Retinue was a dozen of poor Fishermen instead of splendid Walls and Schools he taught in Desarts on the Tops of Mountains and from the sides of small Ships and Boats He was born under the Law and subject to it he wore the heavy Yoke of Moses and religiously observed all his Laws He was also subject to the Romans and obliged to pay them Tribute though he owed them none In a word while he was in the World his outward Condition was base ignoble and contemptible and in that Condition he was treated like a Slave forced to endure more Hardship and Misery than ever any Slave was put to He was mocked beaten and cruelly and unmercifully used he was loaded with Contempt Injuries Reproach and all the Evils which Men or Devils could invent And yet like a good and faithful Servant he never declined his Duty nor shifted the Commands which were laid upon him but humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross This is the last Point of the Text. But I cannot enter upon it now I must pass it till another time The two Points I have handled are sufficient for the present to add more would perhaps be too great a burthen to our weak Minds I have laid before you a Mystery which was hid from the Foundation of the World but is now revealed by the Gospel a Mystery which the longest and most profound Meditation can never exhaust A Mystery which may give to all Eternity matter of Admiration both to Angels and Men A Mystery which as our Apostle saith to all that are Perfect sheweth both the Wisdom and Power of God These Divine Attributes were never so admirably manifested The Power of God is clearly seen and evidently set forth in the Creation of the World the erecting such a vast Fabrick out of Nothing the conconjoining its Parts so that they neither interfere nor breed Confusion and the adorning those various Parts with an infinite Variety of Creatures to Inhabit them is a great instance of Divine and Almighty Power So is the Production of Man the Contrivance of his Body the Faculties of his Soul and the Union of two so different Species as Matter and Spirit into one Composition But yet it is more astonishing and more incomprehensible to see the Creature Deified the God-head Embodied and the Humane and Divine Nature united together in one Person And as the Power of God is hereby seen so his Wisdom in contriving this Way to confound Satan to destroy Sin to save Mankind to declare his own Justice and to keep up the Authority of his righteous Laws Lord what Admiration may this breed How ought the Contemplation of this to transport us But Admiration ought not to be the only Effect of this Contemplation it should also engender Love and indeed if our Hearts be not hard as an Adamant and as insensible as a Stone it will enflame them with ardent love to God who hath so highly regarded us as to dignifie us beyond the Angels and any Creature in Heaven or Earth He is infinitely above us and standeth not in need of us and yet he hath had a particular Concernment for us and hath honoured us beyond Expression And that too when we were Rebels and Apostates and guilty of a Thousand Indignities done to the Deity If he had cast some Pity upon us or shewed some Commiseration after we had crouched and humbled our selves and bewailed our Sins with weeping and sorrowful Hearts it had not a little shewed his Goodness even in this Case his Mercy would have been abundantly declared But what superabundant Mercy was it to seek us first nay to court and wooe us when we hated him and were running away from him and that too by no meaner Person than his own Son God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the Fathers hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the worlds Lord how little did Man deserve this And what Obligations doth this lay on Man to love fear and serve God! Again how should our Hearts cleave to Jesus Christ What a strong and passionate Affection should we have for him Who for us and for our sakes made himself of no Reputation Who to serve us and procure our good laid aside the Glory which he had before the Foundation of the World and being in the Form of God and in a State in which he thought it not Robbery to be equal to God did yet take upon him the Form of a Servant All this was his own proper deed and the meer effect of his free Love You see all is ascribed to himself and indeed there was no Force to constrain him wherefore so great and so free Love in him requires the greatest Measure of Love from us Do you think what he has done nothing Seems it little to you to exchange the Form of God for the Form of a Servant The Glory of Heaven for the Miseries of Earth Is it nothing think you for Omnipotency to be confined to the Weakness of a Child For
which shall be to all People Unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord Luke ii But to be more particular This was done to declare and demonstrate the infinite Love and Mercy of God who rather than that Mankind should perish would suffer his own Son and his only Son to be thus abased and humbled God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son unto it that the world through him might not perish but that those who believe might have eternal life John iii. 16. and Rom. v. 8. It is said That God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Mankind is but one part of the Creation And though he make a considerable Figure in this lower World yet if we knew all the other parts of the Creation and their Inhabitants perhaps we should find him contemptible and inconsiderable he is certainly inferiour to the Angels what a Demonstration therefore is it of the Mercy of God to his Creatures that he would not suffer such inconsiderable ones to perish But to prevent their eternal Ruin was pleased to give his Son to do and suffer so many things for us And how doth it heighten his Love to us the Sons of Men that he has shewed more Kindness to us than to the Angels who by Nature are so much better than we He passed by the Angels and has had pity on us he has left them to perish in their Apostacy and Disobedience but has sent his Son to save us Secondly Hereby God hath declared his Justice his uncontroulable Authority the Vigour of his Laws and the Certainty of his Threatnings By this it appears that God is just and will not clear the guilty that he will not suffer his Authority to be contemned nor his Laws to be broken and that what he peremptorily threatens to the breakers of them shall come to pass Heaven and Earth may pass away but one Jot or Title of the Law shall not fall and rather than the Transgression of it escape unpunished he will make his own Son an Example Like that King who having threatned the Loss of both Eyes to such as should be guilty of Adultery And his Son having committed that Crime he to keep his Royal Word to maintain the Vigour of his Laws and to strike Terrour into his Subjects but withal to shew some Mercy to his Son pulled out one of his Son's Eyes and gave another of his own God would not remit the Punishment of Sin but to save Sinners he laid the Weight of the Punishment on his own Son Thirdly Hereby is declared the heinous Nature of Sin how odious it is in the Sight of God how impossible it is to be reconciled to him or to expect his Favour unless it be expiated Let Fools now make a mock of Sin if they dare Let Men consider what the Son of God hath done and suffered to take away the Sins of the World let them call to mind what Obedience what Agony what Shame and Pain the Holy and Innocent Jesus hath been put to what it hath cost him to take away the Guilt of it and to free Men from the Punishment of it And when they have seriously considered all this let them say if they can whether Sin be to be sported with whether it may be safely cherished and indulged Fourthly This setteth forth the Dignity of the Humane Nature How highly is that to be esteemed which God has thought worthy of so strict an Alliance with himself and to save which the Eternal Son of God the Second Person of the blessed Trinity he who thought it not Robbery to be equal with God even he was pleased to make himself of no Reputation to take upon him the Form of a Servant to humble himself and to become obedient unto Death This is Immortal Honour unto Mankind which the Devils envy and which the highest Angels admire and therefore it is said that even they desire to look into it This is the Glory of Man and that which sets him farthest above all his Fellow Creatures in this World The Bodies of other Animals are not much inferiour to ours for they are all of almost the same Nature Composition and curious Contrivance and whatever be the inward Principle of their Life and Actions whatever it be that guides them their Actions are more regular than ours and certainly the Effects of greater Reason Knowledge and Wisdom than what we can by Speculation Study or Experience arrive at But neither Cherubim nor Seraphim nor any of the Celestial Order of Intelligent Beings can boast a Privilege above or even equal to what Man hath by the Incarnation of the Son of God and what followed upon it He took not on him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham God has espoused our Nature and thereby made us more honourable than other Creatures and as we have by this the highest Honour so all the Happiness that can be desired For what greater Happiness What can we desire more than what the Love and Friendship and Favour of God can bestow Fifthly As this shews the Dignity of the humane Nature so wherein the Perfection of it consists even in a perfect Obedience unto God such as we shewed that Jesus Christ did pay unto him Adam ruined the humane Nature by his Disobedience Jesus Christ has repaired it by being entirely obedient even unto Death and no Man can arrive at Perfection but by the Imitation of Jesus in a perfect Subjection to the Will of God To make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof is never to aim higher than Beasts and inferiour Animals to walk by Sense will stifle our Reason to follow the Imaginations and Devices of our own Hearts or only what our own Reason suggests we shall never surmount a natural imperfect State nor have any other Perfection than what cometh from our selves But if we give our selves up to the Conduct of God if we will follow his Will and Providence and never dispute or cavil at his Pleasure we shall far out-grow our natural State our minds shall receive the Light of Divine Illumination our Spirits shall be fortified by the Almighty Spirit of God and we shall at last become Partakers of the Divine Nature which is as high as any can aspire Sixthly I will only give one Instance more which is that the Incarnation of Jesus Christ his Obedience and Sufferings were appointed to the end that he might merit the Glory Honour and sovereign Power which God had design'd for him before the Foundation of the World Wherefore as it follows our Text God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus
Justice nay abundant Mercy which maketh God to pass over so many and so great Offences and not only to spare us but to be willing to make us happy Thus we see how free God's Love is to usward and that nothing but his own abundant Mercy could move him to set his Heart upon us and to do us good which partly encreaseth the Obligation of his Benefits though they be in themselves too as great as can be as will appear by taking a View of this Summ of them that St. Peter gives us here Which was The Third Point proposed The Apostle designed not to give a Catalogue of all God's wonderful Works to us the Children of Men this would have swelled his Epistle much beyond what it is He passeth by the many Thousand Mercies he hath done and daily doth for our Bodies and bodily Life and only takes notice of what he has done for our Souls because on their Welfare our Happiness mainly depends The good of the Body and present Life would yield small Content if the Soul were lost And if the Soul be saved if it have those things which are agreeable to it and which perfect it there is abundant Matter of rejoicing tho' the Comforts of the Body be much wanting Wherefore we see the Apostle here teacheth those to whom he writes who were Strangers scattered abroad and often persecuted to rejoice notwithstanding because through the abundant mercy of God they were begotten again to a lively hope c. The first Benefit reckoned up here is that we are begotten again and indeed it is the Foundation and Beginning of all our Happiness without this it were simply impossible to make us not miserable Now by this is meant the giving us a New or Second Birth a putting us into another State than what we are in by our present natural Generation If any ask what needed this Were we not well enough before It might suffice to answer That there was great need for it seeing God thought fit to do it and that his doing it is made an Instance of his great Mercy for Deus Natura nihil faciunt frustra But if this satisfie not the Necessity of this and the Greatness of the Benefit will evidently appear to such as view the Wretchedness of our State by ordinary natural Generation I say ordinary natural Generation and not our first Creation for Man as he came first out of the Hands of God was in a good State he was like his Maker Wise Holy Pure and Innocent If he had kept this State there would have been no need of renewing it or of making him over again But he kept not this first State but fell into a State of Sin and Corruption he lost the Favour of God incurred his Wrath and Displeasure and became liable to his Wrath and Curse and all the Miseries of this present Life and that which is to come And as all Mankind are descended from those first Parents since they fell from their original Righteousness and Purity and have been propagated in a State of Sin and Corruption so all are generated Sinners filthy and corrupt The sinful Leprosie of Adam is inherent in all his Children and the Curse he brought on himself is entailed on all his Posterity Behold saith David I was shapen in Iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me Psal. li. 5. And our Saviour tells us That which is born of the flesh is flesh for if the Fountain be corrupt what flows from it must be corrupt too who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one It is said Gen. v. that Adam was made after the Image of God but that he himself begat a Son in his own Likeness viz. in a State of Sin and Corruption And as this befalls all of us for Sin is an inseparable Consequent of ordinary natural Generation so that it renders us most ugly and loathsome Sin is the Disease of the Soul and causeth as great Deformity and Vileness to the Soul as the worst of Diseases to the Body If any be not sensible of this it is because it is so common and ordinary and is in a manner natural to them for so we see long Custom and Familiarity will lessen the Horrour of things which ought to be abhorred But whatever they think whose Senses are benumm'd with Sin yet others nauseat and abhorr Sin as the worst of Evils Sin is so abominable in God's Sight that his Eye cannot behold it Saints and such as are begotten again complain heavily of this Defilement of their Nature and look upon it with Grief and Indignation David sets it forth under the Similitude of a most filthy bodily Disease Psal. xxxviii and Ezek. xvi This our natural State is elegantly compared to an exposed Infant of wretched Parents lying wallowing in its Blood and natural Pollution and wanting those good Offices which are necessary to make it live But as there is Filthiness in this State so likewise much Pain and Misery All the Anguish and Trouble of our Spirits proceed hence from this Corruption and Depravation of our Natures come those inward Torments and Vexations of Mind which we feel were it not for this we could draw Contentment and Satisfaction from any external Condition as a Man in perfect Health can sleep soundly upon any Bed And if one be pained with the Gout Stone or other Disease how unreasonable were it to cast the blame of his Trouble and Uneasiness upon the Bed he lies or the House he dwells in So the Cause of our Grief and Trouble is more within than without us it is more to be ascribed to the Disorder of our Minds by Sin than to the outward Inconveniences of our external Condition in the World But besides the inward Pain of Sin which is the Result of its Nature it is loaded with external Misery for it is prosecuted by the Wrath of Almighty God and his Displeasure falls heavy upon it Upon the wicked he shall rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup Psal. ii 6. Now this Wretchedness of our first natural Generation shews both the Necessity and Advantage of being regenerated How happy a thing is it to be washen from the Guilt and cleansed from the Filth of Sin to be delivered from the Punishment and freed from the Power and Dominion thereof That is to be begotten again in the Language of the Text for all that is implied in these Words Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no guile Psal. xxxii 1. But though this be considerable ye 〈◊〉 it is not all God hath not only delivered us from the Miseries of a sinful State but he hath also designed for us greater Glory and Felicity than what we lost by Sin The actual Possession hereof is not till hereafter for
and Consummation of this visible Frame at the last Day all these things I say and more than we know were designed for the Glory and Honour of Christ And as they have all a reference to him so the Beauty and Wisdom and Goodness of those Divine Transactions are not cannot be seen but by Establishing the Incarnation of the Son of God and Therefore to reject this great Mystery is to set at nought the Eternal Purposes of God and all those Glorious Designs which his Infinite Wisdom and Goodness have Devised This is to smother the Divine Wisdom and Goodness which is conspicuous in these things and to deny and deprive him of that Glory which so much Wisdom and so much Goodness and so many and so great Expressions thereof do bring unto him Wherefore not to acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God our Lord and God as it is wilful and unaccountable Obstinacy there being so many Irrefragable Testimonies and unquestionable Proofs thereof so it is inexcusable Impiety and downright Rebellion against God He who doth not receive the King's Vicegerent nor will own him whom he Deputes and Entrusts with the Government both affronts the King's Authority and reproacheth his Conduct he reflects alike on his Prudence and Authority And is he not guilty of the same Crime Is he not equally wicked against God who rejecteth his own Son whom he hath sent into the World for to this purpose God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Now this owning and acknowledging of Jesus Christ the receiving him as the Son of God is what the Apostle calls the having the Son as appears from the following Verse where he expounds it by believing on him And in the following Epistle Verse 9. he makes it to be the abiding in his Doctrine He then hath the Son who believes in him who receives his Gospel who gives a full and hearty assent to the truth of all that is said of him either as to his Nature or Offices the Dignity of his Person or the Power and Privilege he hath received from the Father In a word he hath the Son who stedfastly believes whatever he has Revealed concerning God or Man our present Condition or Original State our Duty here or Reward hereafter for if we believe him to be the Son of God we will believe also whatever he hath delivered and will not fail to adhere to this Belief and Perswasion Thus we see That it is Faith in Christ to which Life is here promised But we deceive our selves if we think it any kind of Faith a bare knowledge or naked Speculation of Gospel Truths a mere and simple assent to them which rests in the Brain and Understanding and goes no farther No this is not that Faith which is so magnified in Scripture and to which so many glorious things are promised Many may have all that this comes to and yet fall short of Life Many will say to me in that day saith Christ Lord Lord have we not prophecied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful Works And then I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity True Faith is always Lively Active and Operative it is not barren and Unfruitful it ever worketh by Love and keepeth the Commandments it purifieth the heart of Pride and Lust and casteth down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringeth into Captivity every thought to the Obedience of Christ it rectifies all inward Disorders and makes us New Creatures framed according to the Image of God in Christ it so renews us to the Spirit of our Minds and so conforms us to the Son of God that our Thoughts are his Thoughts his Ways our Ways we love what he loves hate what he hates believe what he Promises and obey what he Commands so that our Life is hid with Christ in God And of every true Believer it may be said as St. Paul saith of himself I am Crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Look what those Saints and Worthies recorded in the Epistle to the Hebrews did through Faith they subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopt the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of Fire escaped the edge of the Sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight turned to flight the Armies of Aliens c. Was not this a strong and a noble Faith Now such must our Faith be for as our Apostle tells us Verse 4. of this Chapter it must overcome the World he that believeth that Iesus is the Son of God he it is that overcometh the world and all that is in the world viz. the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eyes and the pride of Life Thus you see what Faith is that it is no mean and silly thing that it is no dull lazy unactive Principle but that it is strong and mighty quick and powerful in its operation Be not deceived then my Friends Examine well whether you believe in Christ whether or no you have the Son of God dwelling in you by Faith and do not flatter your selves with the conceit unless it be so indeed Consider O Man and tell me Art thou sensible of thy Misery by Nature of thy guilt thrô thy manifold Transgressions Dost thou feel the Necessity of a Saviour Dost thou run to that Fountain which is opened to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Israel for Sin and for Uncleanness Dost thou hope in the Mercy of God and rely upon the Merits of Christ And art thou therefore humble and penitent and ready to forgive and resolved to amend thy Life Dost thou or art thou sincerely resolved to resist the Devil and wrestle against all Temptations not in thy own but in the Name and Strength of Christ Can'st thou despise the Vanities of the World all sublunary Riches and Pleasures can'st thou freely quit them rather than offend thy God Is thy Heart with God and can'st thou confidently trust him with thy self and all thy Concernments and wait for the accomplishment of his Promises Is thy Care are thy Thoughts and Endeavours chiefly employed about the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof how to grow in Grace and the Knowledge of Christ how to abound in good Works and to bring forth Fruit unto Holiness that thy End may be Eternal Life Can'st thou answer to those things positively Dost thou find
which is above upon those who do not obey him so none but those who keep his Commandments are capable of them The Dignities and Enjoyments of this present World may be possessed by any Both good and bad we see can be invested with them but as for the Heavenly Glory none can enjoy it but such as are worthy thereof As the Eye is required to Seeing and the Ear to Hearing and the Palate to Tasting so the previous Dispositions of Holiness and Righteousness are requisite and absolutely necessary to the Enjoyment of Heaven and Eternal Life Without holiness saith the Apostle no man can see God Seeing it is certain that we keep in the other World the same Temper and Inclinations which we have in this therefore he who is not prepared and disposed before-hand by the Exercise of Vertue and the leading a Life according to the Commandments of God is no more capable of Heaven and the Pleasures thereof than a Beast is of the intellectual and rational Enjoyments of Men. Heaven is not to be considered so much under the Notion of some glorious Place as of a State which brings us near to God and makes us Partakers of his Divine Nature It is a Life of perfect Holiness and Purity Wherefore they who seek for Heaven without the Desires and Endeavours to be truly holy are wholly ignorant of and do quite mistake the thing and do not know what they would be at Let any Object or Enjoyment be in it self never so good or excellent yet if it be not agreeable to the Faculties and suitable to the Inclinations of him who hath it it affords no Satisfaction or Delight And if he hath any Aversion thereunto it disgusts and procures Trouble and Pain The covetous Worlding the lascivious and intemperate Person relish no Pleasure in the Church in the Exercises of Devotion and in the Company of pious and devout Souls who are wholly mortified to the World and the things thereof these are irksome painful and wearisome things unto them And we may be sure Heaven would be yet far more troublesome because it would be a greater Violence to their Inclinations Therefore could we suppose a wicked Man translated into Heaven he yet would find no Heaven of it I mean he would not look upon himself as happy there because he would find nothing agreeable to his mind or grateful to his Inclinations he would taste as little Pleasure in all that that place could afford him as a Swine would do to be wrapped in Odours and fine Linen and decked with all manner of precious Ornaments As that Beast would still count the Mire and Puddle more delicious so a wicked and ungodly Person would esteem the lowest the most brutish and sensual Pleasures here to be preferable to the Joys of Heaven it self Heaven certainly is as much the natural Consequence of a holy and good Life as it is the Reward obtained for our Obedience And Hell is no more the determined Punishment of Sin than it is the necessary result and effect of it As a Weight naturally presseth towards the Earth so Sin sinketh a Man necessarily into Hell that is the outmost Misery Whereas true Goodness and Righteousness put him without the Reach of it in that they elevate and raise him towards God who is the Fountain of all Happiness Holiness therefore and Obedience to Christ is the true and only way to Heaven he that treads not this Path shall never come there Thus we have considered the Text as it seems the Proposal of a Question or interrogatory asking the Reason and Cause why those who own and acknowledge Christ to be their Lord and Master do not sincerely obey Him and keep his Commandments From which Occasion hath been taken to shew the unreasonableness and Absurdity of disjoining these which should be conjoined together I mean the Profession and Practice of Christianity seeing that which moveth and exciteth to the one doth also call for the other Now before I leave this Point allow me to ask you a few Questions and to reason the matter a little with you What is it that perswadeth you to call Christ Lord Is it that you may please God by receiving him whom he hath so highly exalted If this be the reason do you not see that by the same reason you are obliged to serve and obey him For this also is the Will of God Is it Love to Christ which makes you adhere to him You see Love and Obedience are inseparable and that Love cannot be ingenuously professed if Obedience be denied Finally do you embrace Christ on the account of that rich Reward which he hath promised But do you not see that this cannot be expected without keeping his Commandments and performing that Work which he requireth and hath intrusted to you What Reason can be given for refusing an entire Subjection to the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. Is there any Motive or Inducement to believe which doth not equally perswade to obey It is evident then that if the matter be laid home to Men they can answer nothing but must stand speechless Out of thine own Mouth thou shalt be condemned O wicked and slothful Servant for thou oughtest to have obeyed him whom thou knowest and believest to be thy Lord Shouldest thou not study to please him whom thou professest so much to Love And oughtest thou not to have done thy Work if thou wouldest have had thy Wages What a shameful and unworthy a thing is it for Men to act so unlike Men To shew so little Reason nay to walk so contrary to all Reason in these matters of the greatest Moment and Concernment The Practice of Heathens and Infidels is not so absurd as this comes to they do not obey Christ because they do not believe in him or they will not profess him because they have no mind to obey him So one tells us of the Men of Congo That at first they were easily perswaded by the Portugueze to embrace Christianity and were baptized in great abundance But afterwards when they found it did require some Strictness which they had no mind to bear that they must leave their Heathen Practices particularly their Multitude of Women they came back to the Church renounc'd what they had done and return'd back to their indulgent Heathenism For they knew not how to reconcile the Christian Vow with living in the open Breach of it being too honest for such Practices And certainly it is far more reasonable to declare that we do not believe in Christ nor yet own him than to profess both and in the mean time continue disobedient to him if we lay aside our Obedience let us lay aside our Faith and Profession too for that but makes us the more guilty and liable to a greater Condemnation And thus we are brought from considering the Text Question-wise to consider it as an Expostulation or sharp Reproof made to all empty and barren Professors and such as rest
to Christ and instead of doing his Will do the contrary obey Sin and the lusts of the Flesh I say this is prejudicial to his Interest and obstructs the Advancement of his Kingdom in this World It doth both keep it from being further extended and also from arriving to its true height where it is established Evil communications corrupt good manners and one wicked perverse Servant may debauch the rest draw them from their Service and the faithful and punctual Attendance upon their Master So a very few persons professing the Name of Christ but careless to do his Will may have a very bad influence upon other Disciples This tendeth to beget in them a perswasion that they may belong to Christ though they be Wedded to the World Slaves to their Lusts and drowned in Sensual Delights Ever since the Church Doors became so patent that one might have the Name and Rank of a Christian without giving Proofs of a Sincere Conversion or shewing the Testimonies of an Holy and Upright Life all Zeal and Care for Serving of God have been very much cool'd and slackned And ever since too Religion hath been at a stand and made no further progress in the World While those who call'd themselves Christians made their light to shine before Men whilst their good Works and holy Life were clearly seen many embraced our holy Faith and glorified our Heavenly Father The Holy and Innocent Lives of the Apostles and Primitive Christians were so taking that it allured the World and made Men ambitious and desirous to embrace that Religion which taught and enabled People to live so well But now that the lives of Christians are so mean and sordid so corrupt and prophane no body enquires after our Religion they search not into the truth and certainty thereof they neither concern themselves about its Author nor do they enquire what Advantages it offers beyond the other Religions of the World The wickedness of Christians has drawn a bar upon the progress of Christianity by raising and nourishing such Prejudices in those who are Strangers to it so that it is now a very rare thing to see one leave his Native Superstition and come over to embrace Christ and his Worship Perhaps there are more Apostates and Renegadoes from Christianity than there are Converts to it And however the one is as ordinary as the other And now having seen what evils flow from a bare barren Profession and a Noncompliance with the Precepts and Laws of Jesus Christ how insolent it is in it self what dishonour it brings to our Lord and what a prejudice it is to his Interest in the World I say when we consider this we need not wonder why he should so sharply reprove and inveigh against it as he doth here in our Text Certainly he hath all reason to do so and we his Ministers cannot be answerable if we neglect to expostulate with those who are guilty of this fault And O how few among us can plead not guilty Let me use a little freedom with you be not angry if I ask would to God you would seriously ask your selves what you are what you Profess in whom you do believe I know what the answer will be all will say we are Christians we profess and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ but I pray how do ye shew it What signs and proofs give ye thereof Can you make out this by the Works of Obedience Is it evident that ye do those things which he saith If so you have all reason to call him Lord and you speak but the truth when you call your selves his Disciples but not otherwise Be not deceived think not external Baptism frequenting the Church hearing Sermons or making Prayers are sufficient for holding the Dignity and Privilege of Christians or for laying Claim and Title to the Lord Jesus Christ Indeed they are not Christians who cannot shew these but they may have them and yet not belong unto Christ The veriest Hypocrites may go thus far and such as Christ will never own in the great Day of his Appearance For certainly he will reckon none his Disciples nor will he reward any as such but those who heartily and sincerely obey him I know my sheep saith he and that we may know them too he tells who they are My sheep saith he hear my voice and they follow me Now can you say that you have hearkned sincerely to the voice of this Shepherd Have you followed whither he leadeth you Have you indeed performed the Commandment of this your Lord O that you could all answer Affirmatively But then as Samuel said to Saul What meaneth this bleating of the sheep in mine ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear What means the ridiculing of the Doctrine and Mysteries of the Gospel What mean the Taunts and Scoffs cast upon its Precepts How comes Sin and Iniquity to abound so much Why does lust so much reign and prevail What mean your Oaths and your Curses your rash and idle Speeches your Slandering and your Back-biting your Wrath Malice and bitter Envyings your Covetousness and Uncharitableness Whence is it that Whoredom and Uncleanness Gluttony and Drunkenness Pride and Wantonness Falshood and Dishonesty abound so much and are so frequent Have you thus corrupted your selves and do you yet presume to call upon the Name of the Lord Know ye not that every one that nameth the name of Christ must depart from iniquity Or do you think these but the spots of Children You are mistaken they are not the spots of Children they are not consistent with the sincere Belief and Profession of Christ they who love him will not be guilty of them for they bewray a contempt of him and his Gospel and occasion it to be evil spoken of by others It is Zeal for God and Charity to Men. It is Self-denial and Innocency Purity and an Universal Holiness it is fruitfulness in all manner of good Works which only can shew us to be true Disciples of Christ These are the Badges of Christianity who putteth on these is a Christian indeed but he who lacketh and despiseth these he who hath neither love nor regard unto them may as well renounce his Profession Let me intreat you therefore to examine and try your Hearts and when you have done that declare your Sentiments and Resolutions Why do you halt and hover so much Speak your Mind freely be plain and ingenuous Are you for God Will you accept Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Master Declare it and let it be seen by your works and Conversation If you think him a hard Master one who imposes a Burthen you cannot endure If you think his Laws grievous rigid and severe I pray you renounce your Covenant with him quit his Service and go serve some other Lord. For why do you stay with him you cannot Serve Why do you own him you resolve not to Obey Why do you call him Master whom you
into shame how long will ye love vanity and seek after leesing Do ye slight God set at nought your Maker and court the World Are ye taken up with Toys and Trifles and will ye despise Life and cast behind you eternal Bliss Be astonished O ye Heavens at this And be horribly afraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord for my People have committed two great evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hew'd them out Cisterns broken Cisterns that can hold no water O! that Men were wise O! that they did understand O! that they would but seriously consider this Come I pray you let us reason together call in your Thoughts consult your Knowledge advise with your Experience and then tell me what you have ever found preferable to God Is there any thing more worthy your Thoughts or Care What is it that doth equal his Favour and Love Or what can compensate the Loss thereof Will Riches will Honours will Pleasures or will any thing else be profitable as God Can we expect to draw from them either separately or jointly as much Comfort and Satisfaction as from him Behold every Day lets us see that all these things are frail brittle and uncertain and that there can be no fast hold of them But though they were more certain and stable yet being unsuitable to the Nature of our Souls 't is impossible to draw from them alone that good which our Souls crave It is indeed somewhat hard to convince Men but though they should act over all the Experiments of Solomon and prove what good is under the Sun they could not draw another Conclusion than what he has left us viz. That all things are vanity and vexation of Spirit and that Mans chief and only good is to seek God and to delight themselves in him The Lord is my portion saith my soul therefore will I hope in him O consider what an Honour it is to be admitted into Favour and Fellowship with God The Psalmist falls into Admiration when he beheld Man but a little lower than the Angels and invested with Dominion over the Fowls of the Air the Beasts of the Field and the Fish of the Sea And whatever Reason there be for Praise and Admiration in that Case yet Angels being but Fellow-Creatures and the other destitute of Reason and Understanding and so far below us this is nothing so considerable as to be advanc'd into Communion with God himself this is indeed a Heighth and Dignity which may both amaze the Beholders and those on whom it is conferred To be made the Friends of God is truly an Honour to our Nature nothing else can give any Lustre or Glory to us but this is the highest can be aspir'd to either by Angels or Men and therefore we have great Reason to cry out Lord what is Man that thou shouldest be so kind to him And so kind too after he had turn'd Rebel and Traytor is indeed beyond Expression Behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God Constantine had good Reason to say that he gloried more in being a Member of the Church than in being Head of the Empire for to be a true lively Member of the Church doth unite us to God and so is more to be desired than the greatest Dominion or an universal Monarchy For hereby we are not only highly honoured but greatly enriched we have not only an honourable Title and Relation conferred on us but also the largest Emolument Eliphaz advised Iob to seek unto God that he might be relieved out of all his Trouble and if he got him his Friend he told him he should be in League with the stones of the Field and the beasts of the Field should be at peace with him for God will certainly oblige all his Creatures to keep Peace with those with whom he is at Peace as a King maketh Peace not only for himself but for all his People or if he let any of them break Peace it is that he may make those his beloved and peculiar Friends to be the more glorious by gaining a Victory over them He that draws near to God is sure of his Hearts wish Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart What can any wish for more than what an infinite Wisdom can contrive an infinite Power act and an infinite Bounty bestow Now he who hath God his Friend is allied to infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness which will ever interess themselves in all his Concerns Happy are the People whose God is the Lord blessed is the Man who chuses God for his Inheritance for he will give grace and glory and will with-hold no good thing from him All things shall work together to the good of them that love God Trouble as well as Prosperity and the saddest Affliction as well as the greatest outward Plenty Many say who will shew us any good But saith David Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their Corn and Wine increased They who draw near to God have Joy which the World cannot rob them of the Ground of their Happiness and Comfort is not liable to Rapine or Violence nor doth it ever decay Peace I leave with you my Peace I give unto you saith Christ but not as the World giveth give I unto you that is he gives neither so inconsiderable nor yet so brittle and uncertain a Peace as what the World gives but what is more solid and substantial wherefore he adds let not your hearts be troubled neither be afraid If we have Peace with God through Christ we need not startle at any thing neither at private Personal Disasters nor at publick Calamities Because God is our refuge and present help The Children of God cannot be without Crosses and Afflictions but God will not suffer these to marr either their present inward Comfort or after Happiness their Joy cannot be taken from them He will let them be tossed up and down with the Waves of Trouble but they shall not be swallowed up they shall have a joyful exit Mark the perfect and behold the upright for the latter end of that Man is Peace Psal. xxxvii When Men draw near the end of their Life when their Days are near a Period whether through Age or by any Accident they have need of some comforting Cordial to keep them from fainting and nothing is possible to administer this but the Hopes of Peace with God The Sense of God's Favour and Love will make Death appear without a frightful Visage though generally it is esteemed the King of Terrours this will make one to be so far from abhorring Death as in many Cases to be even glad of it because it opens a Door to eternal Rest unspeakable Joy and Fullness of Glory Is it not then good for
us to draw near to God But if so much real good as thus accrues by drawing near to God be not Motive enough to engage us to do it I pray consider the Danger of neglecting it which is no less than utter Misery and certain Destruction for lo they that are far from thee shall perish saith the Psalmist thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee It may certainly be matter of Astonishment how Men can rest be merry or enjoy any Quietness while they live in Enmity with God and have no Assurance of Peace with him Men are troubled if they understand any Alteration of their King's Favour toward them nay if but some Difference fall out between them and some Favourite of the Court though the King's Anger may be many ways avoided and that before the Sun hath finished his Course twice the Favourite may be turned out of Court and put in a Condition which obliges him as much to depend on others as others now on him But however is the Wrath of frail mortal Man so much to be feared Is their Displeasure so carefully to be avoided And should the Wrath of God be little regarded How much more Reason have we to fear God than Man There is no concealing ones self if he search out nor is there any resisting his Power if he be resolved to punish and who may stand before him if his anger be kindled but a little Ye who will not be perswaded to draw near to God how think ye to save your selves how can ye escape if ye neglect so great Salvation as is now tendered you Can you muster Forces equal in Strength and Number unto God's And if you cannot why do you not seek Peace before he come in Wrath to revenge himself for the Affront you have done him in rejecting so great Love and Kindness as he hath proffered by his own Son Ye Atheists and Prophane who now laugh at Religion and make a mock at Sin what will ye do or say for your selves when God enters into Judgment with you Do you think to put on then your present Boldness and unmannerly Impudence or will you make God retire by your Prophane drolling and jesting as you use now to affright all sober and modest persons from your Company Then your Tongues will be bound up your Wits will fail shame shall cover your faces you shall stand trembling and shall feel that power to your confusion which at present you scorn and little regard Ye who cannot find time to seek God who have no leisure to Pray to read the Scripture or to attend God's Publick Worship or Ordinances how do ye think to come off will ye say that ye had your Business to wait on that ye were taken up with the pursuit of Honours and Riches that ye were drawn away with Pleasures with Gaming and Sporting That is to tell him plainly you loved him not you preferr'd all things before him and thought it time enough to seek him when you had nothing else to do Or do you imagine to bribe him but he will not be brib'd and tho' he could what would you give you have nothing you leave all behind you you pass naked into the other World There is no Remedy then but submit you must and you can expect no Mercy for it is out of time and when it was offer'd you contemn'd it O consider this ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces when there shall be none to deliver Now is the acceptable time now is the day of Salvation now you may have Peace be wise therefore and let not such opportunities slip but seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Draw near to God and he will draw near to you Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded I have now spoken to the Exhortation and proposed what may make it take effect and I hope you are thereby moved to draw near to God It follows next that we consider the manner how we should draw near for this we should also look to otherwise we will be disappointed of Peace with God He is ready and willing to accept of any who come aright as they ought He that cometh to me I will in no ways cast out Joh. 6. 37. But yet every drawing near will not find acceptance some come and are rejected not for the want of good will on God's part but for the want of those Qualifications and Conditions on their own which are necessary and requisite to recommend them to the favour of God Now what these are the Apostle shews you here The first is a true Heart The Heart is not made mention of with a design to exclude the Body for that is also required as appears by what follows But because God is a Spirit who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins who knoweth the inward Thoughts of Man the inward Temper and Disposition of their Minds and with what Designs and Affections they present themselves before him therefore the Heart is in the first place mentioned that Men may not presume to mock God by outward Fawnings and Caresses whiles in their Hearts they have no true Kindness for him nor sincere Love to him God will not value the Bowings and Prostrations of Mens Bodies their sad Looks mournful Tone fair Words and Professions if these proceed not from the Heart and be not the real intimations of the inward Purposes and Affections of their Soul But if in the midst of these they retain any secret aversion to God his Will or his Ways or if there lurks with them some love and inclination to what offends him then he will abhor them and all their Offers and Services This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me therefore saith God in vain do they worship me There is no true Friendship where there is not an Union and closing of Hearts Indeed sometimes Enemies will meet shake hands and make many fair Protestations and yet their old Grudge and Quarrel will continue which cannot be reckoned a cordial reconciliation it 's only a patcht agreement to please some third Person or to shun some present inconvenience which will never last But as there is nothing to oblige God to patch up a Peace with us against his Will or contrary to his Honour so there is no Peace with him who is the Father of Spirits but when it is with the Heart neither will he look favourably upon any heart except a true heart that is a sincere heart free of Hypocrisie and Deceit he who draws near to God must be like Nathaniel a true Israelite in whom there is no guile that is who sincerely and in good earnest loves and desires that which he professeth and pretends to seek One Man may deceive another he may make him believe what is not in his
is it to be like Jesus for he is the brightness of the Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person so that to be like him is to be like God By the Imitation of Jesus we recover what our First Parents lost and forfeited to themselves and us even the Image of God Therefore the Imitation of Jesus brings more Honour and Glory than any or all earthly Dignities Likeness to God is the highest degree a Creature is capable of therefore if we understood our selves and our interest we should be more ambitious of this than of all the Titles and Dignities which either Kings or People can bestow If the Imitation of Christ were impossible it would not have been enjoined us but neither is it so difficult as some at first may imagine besides that the Difficulties may be surmounted through the Grace of God the thing will become both easie and pleasant if we will but converse with Christ contemplate and meditate on him frequently They who converse much together we see use to slide insensibly into the Manners Fashion and Behaviour of one another Even so if we take this Method we shall soon find our selves changed into a resemblance with Jesus Christ. But we all saith the Apostle with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. iij. 18. But now as it is our Duty our Honour our Interest to follow Christ and to labour to be like him So it is fit to consider wherein we should follow him Some Imitations are indiscreet unreasonable and so far from obliging that they provoke A King loves to be imitated by his Subjects because it is a Testimony of their Love and Respect and the greatest Honour they can put upon him But he would not have them to imitate the Peculiarities of Royalty and Sovereignty Imitation should not be in things peculiar but in these things which are common which may agree to and suit with both So we must not attempt to follow Christ in what was peculiar to him as the Son of God and the Saviour of the World we must not imitate the Acts of his Almighty Power or what was proper to his Mediatory Office It is no part of our Duty to imitate him in his Miracles in his walking on the Water commanding the Winds and Seas casting out Devils fasting Forty Days and the like What we ought to imitate is the Divine Vertues which shined forth in his holy Life and which appeared in all his Actions Wherefore he saith learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart These Words may also be considered as an Encouragement for coming to Christ taking up his Yoke and learning of him because he is a meek and lowly Person gentle and easy no wise rigid and severe therefore Men may come to him readily and ought to come willingly for they need not fear hard Usage he will not treat them roughly nor impose grievous Tasks upon them He is a kind and loving Master who consults the Good and Ease of his Disciples and who will not exact any Service which is not both reasonable and also for their Interest as is clearly insinuated in the last Words my yoke is easy and my burden is light But seeing Jesus requires us to imitate him and is frequently proposed as an Example to us and seeing in this very place in which he bids us come and learn of him he recommends himself as a meek and lowly Person therefore we ought to consider those Vertues of Humility and Meekness as particularly proposed for our Imitation Jesus Christ had all other Vertues as well as these he was a true Pattern of Love to God of Zeal Submission Obedience and heavenly Mindedness of Charity Mercifulness and good Will towards Men of Chastity Purity Sobriety Patience and Contentment and in a Word of every thing which is Praise worthy in the Sight of God or good Men. By his Life as well as Doctrine we may learn how to behave our selves in all Circumstances and Conditions in Poverty and Affliction under Contempt and Disgrace when we are hated and persecuted And though he possessed not outward Plenty and Grandeur yet several of his Actions shew the true end and use of these and do teach those who possess them to imploy them more for the Glory of God and the Good and Comfort of others than for their own private Satisfaction From his Practice and Example we may learn our Duty to Superiours Inferiours and Equals But tho' he be a Pattern of all Vertue and Goodness yet he instanceth only in Meekness and Humility either because these comprehend all other or are the chief and first to be learned and which if they be learned will draw all other after them All Vertue and Religion either respects Man or God and without Meekness and Humility it is impossible to carry our selves aright towards either of them But he that is truly humble and meek will certainly endeavour to please both Nay the very Exercise of these two comprehends all our Duty to God and Man as we may learn from Micah vi He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but that thou shouldest do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with thy God Meekness cannot be either better or more briefly described than in the Characters of Charity given by St. Paul It suffereth long is kind envieth not vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things For these Characters belong to Charity because it softneth our Natures and rendreth us meek Meekness is a Branch of Charity and naturally flows from it These two are inseparable and we may certainly conclude the one is not where the other is wanting Love smooths our Natures and carries off all Ruggedness of Temper it disposeth us both to please others and also to be well pleased with what they do it maketh the Persons and Actions of others acceptable and even when any thing is amiss in either it excuseth or censureth gently If Christian Love did abound more there would be more of Meekness and good Nature in common Conversation But because that is very much wanting therefore there is so little generous Complaisance to be seen The most are very selfish and have but very little Concernment for others and this is the Cause why they are so surly and morose so peevish and wrathful why their Temper is so stiff and uneasie and their Behaviour so rough and blustering they love themselves too much and others too little and therefore they can hardly condescend to gratify others and are but seldom satisfied with what is done to themselves As Meekness proceeds from Love so from Humility and therefore they are
fitly joined together here a proud Man can never be meek and he who is lowly in Heart cannot be of another Temper So if we would learn Meekness we must study Humility And we may soon be perswaded into this if we but hearken unto Reason for that demonstrates that we have nothing to be proud of because we have no good but what we have received and therefore if we glory we should glory in the Lord. Humility is not to undervalue ones self but not to think above what we ought to think And if the Thoughts of our selves be just not higher than they ought they will not be high nor lofty nor will they shew others at the distance of Contempt and Scorn for we all stand upon the same Level have the same Original Nature Frame Constitution and End And as this makes the Condition of every Man much the same so it does not afford Matter of boasting to any our Extract and Original is from the Dust and to it we must return our Frame and Constitution is frail and easily disordered our Strength and Beauty like the Flower of the Field is withered before Noon We carry our Breath in our Nostrils and it goes out as a Vapour We are Children a Third part of our time and the other Two parts are consumed in Sin and Vanity all our Actions are either grossly Evil or to little Purpose our Righteousness is as the Morning Cloud and as the early Dew that passeth away not being able to endure the Heat of the Sun Men of low Degree are Vanity and Men of high Degree are a lye lay both the one and the other in the Balance and they will be found altogether lighter than Vanity Surely every Man even the best of Men in their best State is nothing but Vanity and Emptiness when set in the Sight of God Sin is indeed Matter of true Humiliation but the deepest and truest Humility arises from the Contemplation of the Infinite Nature and Perfections of God He who proposes himself as a Pattern of Humility and Lowliness here knew no Sin he had all the Weakness of Flesh and Blood he was surrounded with the Infirmities of our Nature but he was altogether free from the Corruption of it and never did any thing amiss and yet he was lowly in Heart because of his intimate Union with God and did bear about with him a full Idea of his glorious Attributes For as the Glory of the Sun extinguishes the Glory of the Stars so all created Excellencies must disappear upon a View of the uncreated Glory of God whose Perfections can never be found out When even the most perfect and upright Iob does see this with his Eye he abhorreth himself and doth repent in Dust and Ashes Iob xlii 5 6. If we have these two Vertues Meekness and Humility we will not murmur at the Commands of Christ as if any of them were grievous then we shall be sensible of the Reasonableness and Equity of them then we shall find his Yoke easy and his Burthen light For besides the new Strength and Vigour that we shall receive from above for the bearing of it we shall then clearly discern that it is most just and reasonable admirably adapted to our Nature and well accommodated to our Interest wisely contrived to give us all Peace and Satisfaction at present and to prepare us for perfect and Eternal Happiness hereafter Now the God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus Christ that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well pleasing in his Sight through Iesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON III. ON Christmass-Day PHIL. II. 6 7 8. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross. THERE are in our holy Religion two Sublime Mysteries which as they can never be fully comprehended so they can never be too much or too frequently thought upon For nothing can make more for the Glory of God nothing can be of more Comfort and Profit to our selves they enlighten the Understanding warm the Heart add vigour to all the rational Faculties and so cherish and strengthen the Spiritual Life that by these means we may become able to walk straight and to run with Patience without fainting the Race that is set before us By these I mean the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God and that of his Passion and Death both which are jointly spoken of in the Text as the Day and the Action we intend to set about call us to consider both the Day being by the Appointment of the Catholick Church the Anniversary of our Lord Jesus his Birth therefore the Incarnation is a proper Subject for it But some of us intending at this time and others against the next day to make that solemn Address to God by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper this also makes it fit to think upon his Death Nor is it Unsuitable to commemorate his Death upon the Festival of his Nativity for the one was the End and Reason of the other His Birth was in order to his Death and if he had not died his Birth could not have profited us This Sacrament is a proper Christmass Feast to feast devoutly by Faith upon the Sacrifice which Christ offered upon the Cross is the best Entertainment we can give unto God or make for our selves This will put more Joy into our Hearts than either Wine or Oil or any of the Delicacies of richest Banquets By this it appears that the Text is suitable but before I enter upon the Explication of it it will be fit to shew you the scope of the Apostle in this place and upon what occasion he utters these words In this place the Apostle sets himself to perswade the Philippians to Humility and a generous Charity or such a mutual concernedness for each other as might make every Man ambitious to serve his Neighbour as himself and even to prefer others to himself This is an excellent temper of Mind and the very height of Vertue but withal the Practice of it is hard and the Attainment very difficult This gives a true resemblance and conformity to the Divine Nature and therefore is not easily arrived at seeing now by the corruption of our Natures we are removed to a great distance from God The things which St. Paul requires here are directly opposite to the Nature of Man in his present Natural or Corrupt state for in this state the Soul of Man hath no generous Expansion or Enlargement towards others but is almost altogether pent up