fail for he is everlasting truth and he cannot lye Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the Ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by night which divideth the Sea when the waves thereof roar the Lord of Hosts is his Name If those Ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever These Promises are made to the Spiritual seed of the true Israelites as is proved by S. Paul And therefore to remove all our doubts and diffidence all our distrust and hesitation they are confirm'd by his Oath Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his Counsel confirmed it by an Oath That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us 3. THE Promises are precious in regard of their durableness I mean that the things promised are eternal There is nothing liable to decay that can give true repose to the Spirit of a Man the Christian Religion settles the frame and satisfies the enquiries of our Souls by bringing life and immortality to light Nothing else can satisfie the vast capacities of the mind of Man The endless duration of our happiness is express'd in the Scriptures by full and plain phrases And this is the promise that he hath promised us even eternal life And again in the Gospel of S. John He that keepeth my sayings shall never see death And S. Peter assures us that we are begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you And can there be any thing that so adequately satisfies the boundless desires and intellectual appetites of a reasonable Creature as an eternal weight of glory O Eternity who can forget Thee that remembers himself and the frame of his Nature Who can contemn eternal things that thinks that he himself is any thing more excellent than the Beasts that perish Have we naturally such strong inclinations to immortality and can we despise the Gospel that prepares and trims our Souls for life eternal Who can reflect on the variety and Spirituality of his own thoughts and yet conclude that he was made to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof Let no such thoughts dwell within thee but rather look at the things which are not seen For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens And now when we look upon whole Gospel its entire frame and design we may safely say of it as the Apostle says of its Promises that it is Great and Precious in all its lineaments and features Especially when we consider the great design that is carried on by the Gospel and that is nothing less than to make us partakers of the Divine Nature And this leads me to the fourth Particular that I promis'd to speak to viz. 4. THE Scope of the Gospel and its Promises to restore the Image of God on the Souls of men to repair the breaches and decays of Humane Nature to make him look up again to Heaven with briskness and innocence as he did when he was newly form'd by the finger of God to restore life unto the degenerate World not that animal and feculent life that oppresses the Divine Nature but a life of true Reason united to God and fitted for the Society of Angels to make Man as near unto God as Humane Nature could allow and all Mankind who allow themselves the exercise of their Reason must acknowledge at first view that this is the top of Humane Glory the heighth of true felicity the elevation of Reason to its noblest exercise and object to be made like unto God THE Eternal Son of God became Man that he might heal the bruises and wounds that we received by the first A-Adam To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name Which were born not of blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the Sons of God We must be new moulded into the Image of our Maker we must live no more unto sin but unto God we must be acted by higher Motives and Principles than the Life of Nature We must steer our course towards Heaven by other Engines than such as set the World in motion And so much is imply'd in that saying of our Saviour He that loveth Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth Son or Daughter more than me is not worthy of me And he that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me To make this a little more clear I shall enquire into two things 1. Why there must be such a thorough change of our Nature 2. Wherein do the Characters of the Divine Nature plainly appear 1. There must be such a thorough change of our Nature Whether we consider 1. The plain account of Scripture Or 2. The Notions we have of the Deity Or 3. The Corruption of our Nature and its distance from Heaven 1. Do but consider the plain account of Scripture Without Holiness it is impossible to see God He that is in Christ hath crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof He that hath this hope purifieth himself even as he is pure God hath declared in innumerable places of Scripture that there is no access to his favour but by an entire reformation his eyes penetrate to the Center of our Spirits all things are naked and open before him Though the Gospel hath the Nature of a Covenant it is no less the transcript of his Nature than his Royal Edict Holiness is as much our happiness as our duty and no arts no shifts can preserve the favour of God and our sins together How strangely presumptuous must they be who think to compound with the Almighty and venture to bring instead of a true heart sincere love and filial simplicity Sacrifices Oblations and Perfumes To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of the burnt offerings of Rams and the fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the blood of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-Goats Learn to do well seek judgement relieve the oppressed judge the Fatherless plead for the Widow The New and the Old Testament the Patriarchal as well as the Mosaic Dispensation the Pagan as well as the
of the best Philosophy did we remember that we are the Offspring of God could we prostitute so noble a Nature to serve the Devil could we debase our selves so far as to truckle under the Violence and Servitude of our Passions Tully hath an admirable Saying to this purpose Put the case saith he that we should carry any thing so privately as that neither God nor man should discover us yet we should have such a reverence for our selves as not to suffer any thing that is immodest unjust or unclean to escape us So terrible is the witness of Conscience and so infallible is its decision in the great branches of our Duty THEN Sixthly Is Man such a curious piece of workmanship he must be under the peculiar Eye of Providence Thus reasons St. Paul Doth God take care of Oxen yes the very Law thou shalt not muzzle the Ox that treadeth out the corn prove sufficiently that they are under his care and the eye of his Providence BUT the care that is extended to those poor Animals that feed upon hay and corn is far below the special care that he hath of Mankind His delight is with the Sons of Men there is a peculiar eye of Favour that watches over the human Race and yet a higher degree of Love and Providence over good and holy Men. Psal 33.13 The Lord looketh from heaven he beholdeth all the sons of men v 14. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon the inhabitants of the earth v. 18. Behold the eye of the Lord is on them that fear him upon them that hope in his mercy Psal 34.7 The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them But his Love towards Mankind is so strong that it cannot fall under Words He gave us his Son and if he gave us his Son how shall he not with him also give us all things He did not take hold of the nature of Angels but of the seed of Abraham It was his Love to us that engaged him to take upon him the form of a servant and humble himself unto death even the death of the cross Seventhly IF God hath put such Marks of Beauty and Honour on the human Nature Let us love one another So the Apostle enjoins Honour all men Love the brotherhood There is something due to our Nature under the cloud of the meanest Circumstances As the Philosopher alleged when he dispensed his Alms to an unworthy Person Non homini sed humanitati Our Love must resemble the Benignity of God that maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and the good and sendeth down Rain on the just and unjust LOVE is the life of Heaven whence all Bitterness and Unkindness is banished as far as Hell 't is planted in our Nature we are enclined to it by our original Constitution it is the Livery of the Christian Religion and the Badge of our Profession The Vices opposite to it make up the Devil's Nature and his Torture too Anger Bitterness Envy and Revenge create those Storms that continually ruffle the composure of our Spirits whereas the Practice of Christian Charity hath in it the Fore-tastes of Heaven and the Life of the Blessed THERE is no injury done to us can loose us from this Obligation no Error in Opinion no Enormity in Practice no Disaster of Fortune for our Brother is of our kind and however sullied and defac't retains still the Image of God The more frequently we consider this the more we are obliged to the Psalmist's resolution I will praise thee Which leads me to the Second Particular that I mentioned viz. The Psalmist's Gratitude and Acknowledgment Now in speaking to this I shall First Mention some of those Inducements that oblige us to it And then Secondly press the Practice of it 1. GOD is to be praised because he is the only Object of Praise Love and Admiration nothing else can love us again but God or some other Creature that resembles God Therefore St. John exhorts Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him AND if he is to be praised because of the Works of Nature how much more because of his inestimable Love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ Let the purest Spirits in their Robes of Light and Innocence admire it and veil their Faces with their Wings and stand at a distance and behold what manner of Love this is wherewith the Father hath loved us that we should be called the Sons of God If we cannot fly about the World with that Swiftness and Rapidity as the Angels do in Heaven yet what hinders our Souls to center themselves in his Love by the most unquenchable Ardors when we contemplate his Love to Mankind manifested in Jesus Christ 2. THE true exercise of our Reason requires it What is that you admire or what is it you pursue The Principles of Reason are everlasting and they are never so duly placed as on God who is invariable and without shadow of turning for the world passeth away and the fashion thereof doth perish but a Mind refined by the Principles of Christian Philosophy endures for ever Do but call to mind as M. Antoninus hath it such as have been in eminent Glory the Hero's and Captains of former Ages or such as have been tumbled down by Disgrace or run down with Misery such as have engaged to talk of all Men in every Condition of Life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What 's become of all those things now And should our Reason spend its strength in the chase of such Shadows it cannot be duly employed in such transient Vanities had we but a view of the Impertinencies and Vanities that pass in one City but for one day how vain should we find the World to be 3. To praise God is the Enjoyment of Heaven The vision of God is nothing but the Light of Reason duly six'd on its true Object and advanc'd to its true Elevation when the Soul is dilated and enlarged and expatiates on its proper Theme Have you seen the Cedars or the Fir-trees that rise so high and spread their Branches so wide from a little Seed just so is the Soul how infinitely beyond its present self are its Operations then found to be Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Thus the Inhabitants of Heaven are frequently represented in the book of the Revelations c. 4.10 11. and elsewhere adoring the Excellencies of their great Creator The four and twenty Elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory honour and power
though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll 'T is in the vertue of this blood that we approach the Throne without fear and diffidence the God of Pity and Compassion cannot shut his ears against those prayers that are made under the mediation of Jesus Christ the hands of Justice are bound up when his bloody Sweat and Agony his Passion Death and Burial are commemorated How fixt and immoveable is this foundation of our Faith that we have such an High-Priest at the right hand of the Father who by one Oblation of himself through the Eternal Spirit sat down victorious on his Throne Powers Dominions and Principalities being put under him Though the Doctrine of the Cross be the Scorn of Jews and Gentiles yet let us say with S. Paul God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ And this is still so much the surer when we consider the Nature of that Attonement that our Saviour made This Sacrifice was propitiatory and piacular for he suffered not only for our good but in our room and they who would make him to act no more in all this than the part of a resolute Martyr destroy one of the prime foundations of our Religion and of our hope in the hour of death and at the day of Judgment Fourthly WHEN we fix our thoughts on the death of Jesus we ought to practise those Graces that then appear'd most eminently in him his Contempt of the World his Love to his Enemies his Patience and Resignation Can we dwell on the thoughts of his love towards Mankind and not be inflam'd with the highest Zeal to serve him How can we forget the glorious adventures of his Love who dyed for us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword V. 38. For I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. To God the Father Son and Holy Ghost be all Power Praise and Dominion World without end Amen A SERMON ON 1. COR. ii V. 3 4 5. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling And my speech and my preaching was not with inticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God IN the First Chapter S. Paul had in his view the allaying the differences that had arisen amongst the Corinthians concerning their Teachers whom they should follow He puts them in mind how he had preached the Gospel amongst them and by what Arguments they had been perswaded to embrace it i. e. not with the wisdom of words And again not with enticing words of mans wisdom HE thought it not proper to advance his doctrine and design amongst them by the accurate and artificial reasonings of the wise men of the Gentiles but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power THE elegant Orations and Philosophical Discourses of the Learned Gentiles by which they were wont to put off their opinions to the people withal he did not judge proofs proper for and suitable to the nature of his Doctrine It being wholly Divine it required divine demonstration something above the reach of human speculation something yet untraced by their most accurate Disquisitions So the supernatural gifts bestowed on the followers of Christ by which they were made to interpret the sacred Oracles and ancient Prophecies concerning the Messias and accommodate those Prophecies to the most particular circumstances of his Kingdom By which they were enabled to discern Spirits and dispossess Devils such and such miraculours appearances together with the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles both upon the dead and the living were proofs of divinity in their own Nature far beyond the subtile reasonings of Orators and Philosophers more suitable to the design in hand more undeniable and authentick and therefore a proof much more solid and clear than if they had recommended the Doctrine of Christianity with all the eloquence and ostentation of words THIS method propos'd in the first Chapter He owns and vindicates in this from all the objections and carnal imputations that the admirers of Philosophy on the one hand and heretical Seducers on the other might lay to his charge He did not declare unto them the Testimony of God with the excellency of speech or wisdom It was not his design to read unto them Lectures of Plato's Philosophy but to recommend Christ and him Crucified to preach the humble doctrine of the Cross the plain and necessary Articles of Christianity the very first and indispensible principles of our Faith not the more abstruse mysteries of which as yet possibly they were not capable but those early lessons that we must know as soon as we become Disciples of that Heavenly Institution THIS Doctrine recommended at such a time and by such men so far above the genius of all the prevailing sects of Philosophers and appearing with so much modesty and humility had certainly been run down in triumph by the Patrons of Paganism and Infidelity if it had not been supported by another kind of proof and demonstration than that which was taught in the Athenian Schools Therefore the Corinthians ought not to be much stumbled at the petulancy and ignorance of false teachers who despis'd what they did not understand and measur'd wisdom by a standard of their own The Gospel was recommended amongst them by such proofs as were agreeable to its Nature that their belief might not depend upon any thing that was human and artificial but on the most solid and immoveable foundations the Wisdom and Power of God clearly display'd in vindication of the Gospel This is shortly the scope of the words that I have read The success and efficacy of what he preach'd did not at all depend on the order and composure of his periods tho one might observe Eloquence and Majesty in his Expressions if they were not too much addicted to what they valued amongst the Grecian Orators yet did he not at all affect that which the wise men of Greece most gloried in he design'd that it might be very clear That the success of his Doctrine should depend on supernatural proofs or the light and majesty and conviction that attends the power of miracles LET us view those words more closely and examine their phrase and dependance and see how clear a proof they contain of the excellency of Christian Religion And in them we have three particulars I. HIS uneasie
the Spirit of Jesus 3. Having these promises saith the Apostle let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of the Flesh and of the Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God 'T is certain that every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure If we are Candidates for eternal life our Souls must be purified from Vice for the pure in heart only shall see God 4. Let us therefore fear lest the promise being left us of entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it The Israelites in the Wilderness came short of the Promises made to them by their sickleness and inconstancy Their goodness was like the early dew as the Prophet speaks and by their cowardice they were afraid of the Children of Anak partly by their unbelief they would not believe Moses nor the faithful Spies And this is easily applicable to our case for there is no way to be saved but to believe the Promises to break through all obstacles to fight the good fight of Faith and to lay hold of eternal life 5. LET us ponder and consider the excellencies of these Promises I shall name but the two Epithets bestow'd upon them in the Text. 1. They are Great 2. They are Precious I say 1. They are Great and that in three regards 1. With regard to their Author the only begotten Son of God whom all the Angels worship and adore He is the brightness of his Fathers glory and the express image of his person and upholds all things by the word of his power This one consideration is enough to overawe the boldest sinner and it is frequently taken notice of to magnifie the Gospel and to recommend to us the Precepts of our Saviour that he was in the form of God and thought it no robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation c. Shall we contemn the Promises made by the Son of God God sent his Son to give the Jews the last and most undenyable proof of his Love and Wisdom Certainly they will reverence my Son Thus reasons the Author to the Hebrews How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him And again He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three Witnesses of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace Against whom does the incorrigible sinner sport himself against the Son of God and the clearest proofs of his love For herein is love not that we loved him but that he loved us and gave his Son to be a propitiation for our sins 2. THE Promises are Great in their intrinsic value I mean not only the Promise of eternal life but all the other Promises that are of a relative and subordinate Nature the Graces of the Spirit the remission of our sins the peace of our Consciences these are things to be valued above Gold and Silver Wisdom is preferred above the choicest Rubies the Gold of Ophir is not to be compar'd unto her Therefore the Graces of the Spirit are compar'd unto the most costly things I counsel thee to buy of me Gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white rayment that thou mayest be cloathed and the shame of thy nakedness do not appear and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see 3. The Promises are Great in their tendency and design to recover the World sunk into Corruption to overthrow the Worship of Devils to enlighten the World to take down the Kingdom of Darkness and to advance the Image of God upon the Souls of Men were designs becoming the Goodness and Majesty of the Son of God But of this I shall have occasion to speak under the fourth Particular And therefore I consider the second Epithet bestowed upon the Promises They are not only Great but 2. PRECIOUS And that in regard of their 1. Price 2. Certainty 3. Durableness 1. In regard of their Price S. Peter informs us that we are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from our vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without spot or blemish There is no Religion wants its Sacrifice and this is the Mysterious Sacrifice of our Religion the blood that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel that powerful Atonement that so successfully pleads for pity and compassion in the ears of God the Sacrifice under whose intercession we come with boldness to the Throne of Grace the Sacrifice that laid aside all the Mosaick Oblations the Sacrifice that was typified by all the former and was more acceptable unto God than the Cattel upon a thousand bills This is the Sacrifice that the Prophets foretold and the Apostles preach'd and upon which we must lean at the hour of death Nature teacheth us to fly to the strongest refuge when we are reduc'd to the saddest extremities And therefore do we grasp the Merit of his Sacrifice in our last conflicts and agonies for he is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world This is the Sacrifice that bears the weight of all their sins who are penitent So reasons the Divine Author to the Hebrews for if the blood of Bulls and of Goats and ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the Flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God THEY that allow him no more than to be a resolute Martyr for the Truth who rob us of the comforts of his Sacrifice and Propitiation take away the great pillar of our hope at the hour of death they would reform us unto a gentile kind of Paganism though there be no error more plainly opposite to the Scriptures than theirs For the Notion of a piacular Sacrifice and the penal substitution of it in the room of the criminal was receiv'd amongst all Nations and the Scripture makes use of the same words that are used by other Authors to express a proper atonement when they speak of the Sacrifice of our blessed Saviour WHEN we consider this it may confirm our hope and withal put us in mind how fearful a thing it is to trample upon the blood of the Son of God for being redeem'd by his blood we are no more our own 2. THE Promises are precious because of their certainty The frame of Nature may sooner be dissolv'd the pillars of the Creation may shake and crumble into their first disorder rather than that his Word should
able to conceive the height of his sorrow if we call to mind the Phrases that the Evangelists make use of to signifie his Agony He began to be sorrowful He began to be sore amazed saith S. Mark and to be very heavy say both of them And S. Matthew's Phrase is very significant a little after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Soul is encompass'd with grief as an Island is with Water in the midst of the Ocean I am surrounded with fears and clouds on all hands I see such plentiful showers of indignation and violence ready to discharge themselves against me that I am reduc'd to the last extremities The complaints of Job are most applicable to me for his Archers compass me round about he cleaveth my reins asunder and doth not spare he poureth out my gall upon the ground He breaketh me with breach upon breach he runneth upon me like a Giant I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and defiled my horn in the dust My face is foul with weeping and on my eye lids is the shadow of death not for any injustice in mine hands also my prayer is pure AND this sorrow was not only express'd by his Lips his Eyes his Prayers and strong Cries to the Father but every Pore in his Body spoke it out in great drops of blood as the Psalmist prophesied of him I am poured out like Water all my bones are out of joint My heart is like wax melted in the midst of my bowels And if the Prologue to his Sufferings hath all this in it our apprehensions of them must fall short of their extent and latitude especially that part of them that were transacted in the inward Regions of the Mind when he offer'd himself a Victim for the Sins of the World when he was made a curse for us who knew no sin when he stood in our room and sustain'd the weight of our sins as our High-Priest OH how terrible was this Cup that made the Prince of Courage and Resolution the original Spring of Strength and Constancy all shiver and tremble into Tears Cries and Prayers He betook him to his strong hold his Father whom he never had offended and he prayed in the strength of the most powerful Arguments that bind up the hands of the Divine Justice from inflicting punishments on lesser persons I mean those Arguments from Love Compassion and the Relation of a Father O Father let this Cup pass from me BUT as if the Eternal Fountain of Pity had been dryed up as if boundless Mercy and Compassion had forgot their Nature and necessary Emanations he is suffered to contend with all those terrors alone The Hosts of Heaven seem to joyn with him in this prayer having their Wings ready trimm'd to fly down to the Earth for his rescue yet they are commanded to stand aloof and behold this combat without interposing in their Masters quarrel and that one of their number that was sent to comfort him was allowed to do no more than to afford him strength enough to drink that Cup to the bottom THE Philosophers do tell us That a virtuous Man fighting with difficulties and disasters and by his conduct keeping his mind free from vice is most beloved of God But how soon would all the Heroes of Philosophy be confounded with the least share of these dismal sufferings The Seraphims of Glory stand amazed to see the Humane Nature in the midst of all sinless infirmities give such proofs of valour and magnanimity And the Father took pleasure to baffle the Devil i. e. the pride and arrogance of the World by the patience and resignation of his only begotten Son and he design'd to teach Mankind by his submission that patience and suffering is the way to the highest glory And though this truth be despis'd by the carnal World yet the Morals of the Gospel are built upon it We must cut off our right hands and pull out our right eyes if we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven IF we consider more particularly his behaviour under these first Skirmishes in the Garden we may observe 1. His Reluctancies Let this Cup pass from me But was not his Cross and Sufferings the constant Theme of his Sermons Did not all the Sacrifices of the Law of Moses represent his Passion at a distance And the Prophecies of former Ages prepare all men to receive this great Truth that the just was to dye for the unjust And did not Moses and Elias treat of his Sufferings on the Mount of Transfiguration Whence then is this trouble of mind this extraordinary Agony Whence all those appearances of fear and surprize All is true yet the sinless Humane Nature meeting at once with every thing that is odious terrible and disgraceful shrinks and recoils And herein is his Victory that he so perfectly resign'd himself to the Will of his Father that he rejoices in the midst of his sorrows to sacrifice his feelings and infirmities to the Conduct and Wisdom of God O Miracle of Patience O invincible Resolution folded up in that one word Not my Will but thy Will be done Thus verifying himself to be the Messias prophesied of by the Psalmist Then said I Lo I come in the volume of thy Book it is written of me I delight to do thy Will O my God yea thy Law is within my heart It was his Meat and his Drink to do the Will of his Father through the whole tract of his Life in lesser instances but now when the last period of it drew nigh when the Sacrifice was ready to be laid upon the Altar then it was all burnt and consum'd with Love It mounted the Heavens in a Fiery Chariot of pure and unmixt Zeal and by one perfect act of Oblation sacrific'd his Will to the Will of his Father without reserve or limitation WE shall best discover how comprehensive this surrender was when we read the History of the Gospel and see with what triumph and insolence his enemies insulted over him Even in Jerusalem where his Miracles made him famous there they prepared their Whips and their Scourges their Buffets and their Thorns to afflict him and a Mock Purple to make him ridiculous And thus arrayed he is brought forth to divert the great crouds of People that flocked to Jerusalem about this time and they were to tell the shameful story of his Sufferings over the habitable World yet there was no shaking of his Courage and Resignation AND to let the World see that his Love to Mankind was more than heroick and beyond the Fictions of Poets and truly becoming the Son of God and the designs of our Redemption when the Paroxisms of his Agony gave him the least respite he returns to his Disciples When Heaven and Earth seem'd to be made up of anger and indignation against him yet does he not forget them and though they became stupid and unsolicitous for him their supreme Lord and Benefactor he does not
Glory where we shall have the palms of victory put into our hands crowns upon our heads and in our mouths the songs of the blessed where we shall sit with the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and Martyrs when we enter the City of Peace and of everlasting Rest in the New Jerusalem How can we but sigh and groan for our deliverance from our present Bondage When shall we be set at liberty from Corruption and Vanity and satisfi'd with his Divine Likness when we shall for ever solemnize the Nuptials of the Lamb and behold God face to face and shall be changed unto his Glorious Image when we are admitted to the Company of those Seraphims that fly round about the Throne and sing to all Ages of Eternity Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Does not the view of this Glory overcome our Spirits and disengage us from the Earth Why should the trifling interests of vanity ingross our thoughts and the little apparitions and dreams of the Earth enchant us O Christians think more frequently of your Country and of the incomprehensible Love of God that sent his Son to redeem you of the whole tendency of that excellent Religion of the excellency of our own Souls and the light of his Countenance that is better than Life Let us steal frequently out of the hurry and noise and impertinence of our little business unto those Regions of Light and Peace and Purity unto Mount Zion and unto the City of the Living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels to the general assembly and Church of the first born to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect To God the Father Son and Holy Ghost be all Praise Power and Dominion for ever and ever Amen FINIS * Sr. Thomas Kennedy Mat. 6.23 Lord Verulam Rom. 1. Psal 19. Psal 8.3 The inconceivable distance between original Purity and Perfection and humane Misery De Nat. Deor. â—in Foelix p. mihi 135. Nihil in homine membrorum quod non necessitatis causa sit decoris quod magis mirum est eadem figura omnibus sed quaedam unicuique lineamenta deflexa sic similes universi videmur inter se singuli dissimiles invenimur 2 Cor. 5.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 15.41 Joh. 5.28 Psal 8.5 L. 3. Off. Rom. 8. Cap. ult 1 Joh. 3.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John Matth. Galat. 5. Psal 119. v. 34. Psal 137. Heb. 11. Psal 120. v. 5. Fortior est qui se quam qui fortissima vincit Moenia Coloss 3.2 Cor. Mat. 5.11 Heb. Psal 144.1 Est Deus in nobis agitante calescicimus illo Psalm 56. Maxim Tyr. Heb 12.14 Mat. 5.8 Phil. Acts. Isa 40.13 v. 22. v. 13. Ps 1â— 44. Isa 28.29 Jer. 39.19 Mal. 1.8 Psal 139. Ephes Psal 13.5 6. Matth. Psal 119. Psal Psal 19. Psal 69.9 Psal 119.111 Psal v. 127 Psal 40.1 Psal 4. 1 Cor. 16.13 Eph. 6.11 Eccl. 9.10 St. John Tit. 3.3 2 Cor. 7.11 Proverbs Jeremiah Luke 9.62 1 Cor. 9.24 1 John 2. Coloss 3.1 Vid. Grot. in alterquae dicitur Sancti Petri Epist 1 Epist S. John * Isa 48. v. 8. †Psal 51. * Rom. 11 †Eph. 2.1 Job 15.14 v. 15. Rom. 1. Isa 1.18 Jer. 2.5 v. 10 11. Ezek. 18.25 Jer. 13.27 Vid. Orig. cont Cels Mat. 22.5 Psalm Psalm Acts 26.18 2 Thess 1.7 8. Heb. 11. 1 John 2.14 Coloss 3. 1 John 2. 1 Joh. 3.2 Heb. 11.13 2 Cor. 4.16 17 18. 2 Cor. 7.1 1 Joh. 3.3 Matth. 5. Heb. 4.1 Psal 106.12 13 c Hoseah Heb. 1.3 Phil. 2.6 7 8. Matth. Heb. 2.3 Heb. 10.28 29. Rev. 5.18 1 Pet. 1.18 Heb. 9.13 14. Jer. 31.35 36. Rom. 9. Heb. 6.17 18 19. 1 John 2.25 1 Pet. 1.3 4. 2 Cor. 5.1 Hierocl 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Joh. 1.12 ver 13. 1 Joh. 3.1 Matth. 10.37 v. 38. Heb. 12.14 1 Joh. 3.3 Isa 1.11 v. 17. James Ezek. 18.21 Mic. 6.8 Mat. 3.8 Mat. 7.21 2 Tim. 2.19 Vid. Alcibiad Plat. Matthew Psal 18.1 2. 1 Phil. 2.15 †Rom. 3.13 * 2 Pet. 2.20 Matth. 5.44 45 46. 1 John Dilherus Isa 35.6 Gen. 27.28 29. Hosea 14. Romans Pope Pius IV. his Creed 2 Tim. 2.25 Rom. 11.33 Psalm 2. Isaiah 2 Cor. 4.4 Dilherus Virg. Psal 45. Corinth * Jacob. Vitriac apud Carolum Maria Du Viel Dâ—n Non donum sed donantis animus Psal 136. Rom. 9.3 Exod. Psal 14.2 3 4. Luke 15. Psal 51.1 Dan. 9.19 Phil. 2.1 Heb. 2.3 Chap. 10.28 29. Joh. 3.19 Cor. Luke 20.13 †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lactant. Hic verus est cultus in quo mens colentis seipsam Deo victimam immaculatam sistit John 4.23 24. John 4. Psalm 50.12 13 14. Isa 66.1 2 3. Isa 1.11 16. Micah 6.6 7 8. Rev. 1 5. Psalm 4. Res severa est verum gandium Psal 119. Jerem. 7.22 Joh. 4.21 22 23 24. Lev. 2.13 Mar. 9.49 1 Pet. 2.1 John 1.47 Mat. 5.23 24 25. Isa 11.6 7 8 9. v. 9. Col. 4.6 Mal. 1.8 Phil. 2.15 Eccl. 5.1 Lev. 2.11 Mat. 16.6 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Isa 65.5 Psal 139.7 8 9 10. v. 11. Heb. 4.12 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Ham. in loc Psal 139.23 24. Vid. Valer Maxim L. 1. De Relig. Cornel. Cetheg Claud. Flaminio abire jussi sunt propter exta parum curiose Deorum immortalium aris admota Philo de Animal Sacrific pur Col. 3.1 2. Psal 130.6 Lev. 22.8 2 Pet. 15 6 7. Rom. 6.4 Vid. Mr. Mede 's Discourse on Hallowed be thy Name †2 Cor. 6.17 Verse 16. Dan. 5.3 4. 1 Cor. 6.15 1 John 2.15 1 Pet. 2.9 Vid. Spencer de Legib. Hebâ—aeor 1 Cor. 10.14.15 c. Verse 21. Heb. 10.23 Cant. 1.7 Psal 112.1 Psal 137.6 Psal 42.1 2. Heb. 11.4 1 John 4. * The Murder of the Arch-Bishop of Saint Andrews Clem. Alexandr Arnob. Orig. contr Cels Lact. c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 1. Gen. 1. Illic Postquam se lumine vero Implevit stellasque vagas miratur astra Fixa polis vidit quanta sub nocte jaceret Nostra dies risitque sui ludibria trunci * Luc Tull. de Nat Deor. Nulla Gens tam barbara c. * Caesar de Bello Gallico Vid. Grot. ad Matth. c. 20. v. 22. * Isay 53. †Heb. 13. Lam. 1. v. 12. Psal 129. v. 3. Matth. 26.39 Matth. 26.37 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Job 16.13 14 15 16 17. v. 16. Psal 22. Seneca Psal 40.7 * Cic. de offic Nam negligere quid de se quisque sentiat non solum arrogantis est sed omnino dissoluti Facinus est vincire civem Romanum scelus est verberare prope parricidium necare quid dicam in crucem tollere Verbo quidem satis digno tam nefaria res appellari nullo modo potest Psal 22.6 7 8. Psal 22.17 Chap. 23. Heb. 12.4 Phil. 2.6 7 8. Heb. 9 25 26 28. * 1 Pet. 2.24 * Liturg. Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉