be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the Breadth and Length and Depth and Height And to know the Love of Christ which passeth knowledge that thus ye may be filled with all the fulness of God Observe how the Inspir'd Apostle Rejoyces even to Extasie upon this Subject The fulness of God that is all we or any Creature can hold of Him consist's in what we Understand of the Nature of Love And then to our Eternal Comfort the Love of Christ passes all Knowledge that is no Knowledge can comprehend it all and therefore it can afford still new Matter of Joy and Rapture to all Created Understandings for Ever and Ever And may not this Contemplation raise us to the Courage of an Apostle it will certainly if we let this Good Seed stay in our hearts till it take Root if we do not choke it with the foolish Principles of Pride or make it give place to Cares and Riches and Pleasures of this Life it will bring our hearts to the firmness of an Angel and make Us see nothing that can Terrifie Us We will be ready to joyn with St. Paul in his holy Exultation and say Who shall seperate Vs from the Love of Christ shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword as it is Written for thy sake are we kill'd all the day Long we are counted as Sheep for the Slaughter nevertheless in all these things we are more then Conquerors through Him who Loved us for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor Height nor Depth Rom. viii 35. nor any other Creature shall be able to Seperate Vs from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And now as a Conclusion to all that has been said we may learn this that the best Guard we can have against falling into Heresie is to Watch carefully against all the Inroads and Temptations of Pride which I have shewn to lie at the bottom of all Heresies as the Source from whence they Spring It Corrupts the Will and by that Viciates the Vnderstanding and Inclines them by a strong Byass to the side of Error and in Prejudice of the Truth which is always Founded upon and Accompany'd with the opposit of Pride that is Love and Goodness which is Naturally Productive of a Sweetness and Humility of Temper that Renders us Docible and Vn-prejudic'd without which Truth cannot be Duly Discern'd but is Clouded from Perverse and Obstinate Minds And as the Humility of Love is the best Preservative against Error and Heresie so is it the surest Defence against most sort of Sins in our Private Conversation especially it Enables us most Effectually to Perseverance in the Faith against that Fiery Tryal of Persecution which in one sort or other 2 Tim. 3.12 comes to most Mens share that will live Godly in Christ Jesus But there is an higher Pitch of Perfection even than this And that which I wou'd raise Men to and desire to Imitate my self is that whereof the Dayly Exercise and Improvement is by Gods great Mercy and Goodness afforded to every one of us which is not only to bear the Persecution or the Pride of others which some may do even out of Pride Obstinacy or other Vicious Principle But chiefly to banish Pride out of your selves to look upon the meanest Man in the World as a Member of Christ and so equal to your self And therefore to Condescend to the Lowest Offices that may do him Good to bear his Infirmities and Injuries with Patience which is the true Magnanimity as Christ also did bear ours And that you think this so far from being Dishonorable as that you may esteem it the Greatest Glory and Praise of Love wherein the Happiness of Heaven does consist And if Angels were thrown out of Heaven for Despising Man and Christ Died to Redeem Man and is Himself a Man and Loves and Values the meanest Man what is that Man that Despises another And if even in Heaven there was War and Folly and Blasphemy among the Angels there and misunderstanding the Nature of God how shou'd this make us Patient to one anothers Infirmities How Solicitous and careful to Secure our selves How Reasonable will it hence appear to keep a watchful Eye upon the least progress of Pride or Self-conceit which was Potent to Disturb the Seat of the Blessed and overthrow Spirits which were Heavenly-Born That therefore you shou'd justly abhor the Pride of this World to see a Man Despise not only his Inferiors which was the Sin of Angels but his Equals and Superiors To think himself beyond every Man he meets and that it is below his Greatness Forsooth to receive an Injury from any this is the Character of a Hero so much courted in Romances and Plays the Gospel of this Worlds Honor a Fool swell'd with Pride even to Blasphemy Is it not Nauseous to see Him brave Thunder whose Scull is not proof against the sliding of a Tyle from a House top a weak piece of Flesh whose Foundation is in the Dust the food of Worms that is crushed before the Moth A man that is not able to Encounter a Disease to hear him Railly against God! and to think this either Wit or Courage that Men of Spirit as they call themselves shou'd be fond of a Vice which proceeds Meerly from want of Sense And not rather to follow the Advice and Example of a God which is that you wou'd think it your Greatest Honour to become Innocent and Harmless Loving and free from Pride as little Children are which is taught in the Gospel for this Day and that with such Courage that you wou'd rather Choose to Pluck out your Eyes and Cut off your Hands than to Offend the Least the most Inconsiderable of Mankind who are Created by God after His own Image and are the Price of the Blood of Christ That you wou'd believe the Argument of Honour to be Decided which has been Bandy'd by the Angels of Heaven and Determin'd there by God Himself that it Consist's in Love and not in Pride but more sensibly by the Incarnation and Sufferings of Christ which makes it as it were Visible to our Eyes That you wou'd therefore suffer your selves to be perswaded by your own Reason which will shew you the restless Miseries which attend upon Pride and the Beauties and Great Glory of Love in the which if â—â—u can 〈…〉 selves you have already tasted of Heâ—â—â—â— and are Heirs of Immortal Honour Amen And let this Comfort us in our Faint Longings Languid Attempts and many Failings in our Spiritual Warfare And let this silence all our weak Murmurings at the Providence of God which has for Infinitly wise Ends not Fathomable by us Permitted the Fall of Man and Wars and Divisions upon Earth since for this End no Doubt among many others He has made known to us that There was war in Heaven And that as the Conquest can be only by His Strength and Grace in us so it will End in Infinit and Eternal Victory and Triumph to those who Trust wholly in Him by Faith in Christ Humbled and Crucifi'd for us and who follow him Manfully to the end of that Race which He our Great Prophet and Guide has not only Pointed out to us but as our Captain has Led us and Run before us and Fought the same Fight which He wou'd have us to Fight and wherein he will Assist us and Protect us that the Gates of Hell shall never Prevail against us And has already in Our Cause and in in our Name and Nature Triumphed over every Power of the Enemy and taken Possession of Heaven for us as our Head the Soul and Life of that Body whereof we are Members And as the Soul do's Actuate all the Members of the Body consequently it must Raise all the Members with the Body So that all who Partake of the Spirit of Christ are sure that that Spirit must Raise up their Bodies as Certainly as it did Raise up the Body of Christ Rom. viii 9.11 Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His But if the Spirit of Him who Raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you He that Raised up Christ from the Dead shall also Quicken your Mortal Bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you Amen FINIS
be suppos'd that our Sin is like theirs of the same Nature tho' differing in Circumstances and Qualities as a River alters from its Fountain I will not deny but this History of the Fall of the Angels may be apply'd by the Apostle to Illustrate the Conflicts and final Victory of the Church upon Earth against the Malice of Men and Hell and may very fitly be understood so in this same Chapter But this does in no ways derogate from the Truth of the Fall of the Angels and of their War in Heaven No but by supposing it and applying it to the Church does more strongly Confirm the Truth of it Or rather indeed does but continue the Story for the War that is now upon Earth 'twixt the Devil and the Church is but the continuance of the same Quarrel which he fought in Heaven against St. Michael and his Angels But the Collect for this Day applies the Consideration of the Epistle and Gospel and proper Lessons to the Angels of Heaven to which they primarily belong And there being many days indeed all the other Holy days of the Year wherein we remember the Conflict of the Church against the Devil let Us imploy this one Day as set apart to consider the first and great Battle that Lucifer fought in Heaven according to such light as the Scriptures give of it particularly those chosen for this Day Especially from these words of my Text. There was War in Heaven The Sin of the Devil is generally agreed to be Pride And that from good Authority of Scripture Is xiv 12. How art thou fallen from Heaven O Lucifer Son of the Morning for thou hast said in thine heart I will exalt my throne above the Stars of God I will be like the Most High Again Ezek. xxviii 14. Thou art the anointed Cherub and I have set thee so thou wast upon the holy Mountain of God Thine heart was lifted up because of thy Beauty thou hast Corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy Brightness Tho' this by the Prophet was applyed to Men yet it was by allusion to the Pride of the Devil Thus far in the General that it was Pride And it 's commonly said to be an Aspiring to be Equal with God But that cannot be directly for we cannot suppose such Absurdity in an Angel but by Consequence if you please and from Consideration of the Nature of Pride which sets no bounds to its Ambition for he that desires to be High would he not be Higher and Highest which is in consequence to be God But now as to the Particular Instance of his Pride the Occasion the Contest and the Issue of this first Discontent of the Devil which rais'd a War in Heaven let us with Humility inquire bounding our thoughts within the Rule of Gods word to infer no Doctrine contrary to any express Command in Scripture let Us make a Resignation of whatever we earn in this Harvest by Dedicating the whole to Glorify and Exalt the Doctrine of Christ and vindicate His Virtue from its sorest Enemies We know the Incarnation of Christ was Reveal'd to Man Gen. 3.15 Four Thousand Years before it came to pass And we are not to suppose that so Glorious a Mystery was conceal'd from the Angels We are told 1. Tim. 3.16 that it was declared unto the Angels And Tit. 1.2 That it was promiss'd Before the World began which cou'd not be to Man And 1. Pet. 1.12 That the Angels desire to look into it And the like might be inferr'd from many places of Scripture Particularly from the Verses immediatly before my Text where the Apostle in a Vision seeing this War in Heaven as it were present before his Eyes plainly tells the Cause of it to be the Incarnation of Christ and the Malice that the Devil thence conceiv'd against Christ and against his Church The Dragon stood before the Woman to Devour her Child when she had brought it forth So she brought forth a Man Child who shou'd Rule all Nations And her Son was taken up unto God and to his Throne As you have it in the 4th and 5th ver and thereupon ver 7th he tells you there was a Battle in Heaven 'twixt Michael and the Dragon and their Angels on both sides You will observe that in this as in other Prophesies and Visions things long past and to come are Represented as present and therefore in this Chapter the first Ground of Difference among the Angels the War which thereupon Ensu'd in Heaven and which is still carry'd on to this day upon Earth and the final Issue thereof at the Consumation of the World are all told in one breath as all present together as in a Picture for such they were represented to St. John who in his Vision saw all at one view and thence he speaks of the first Revelation God gave of the Incarnation to Angels or to Man and of the fulfilling thereof in the fulness of time he speaks here of them without distinction as of the self same thing But we who must frame our knowledge by steps let Us begin with the first Revelation and thence Inquire into this War in Heaven and so descend by degrees till we see Christ actually Incarnate as had been Reveal'd Thus then we proceed When the Incarnation was first Reveal'd We reasonably suppose That the Good Angels look'd upon this Infinite Condescention of God as an Act of the greatest Glory in God and in Raptures of Love Ador'd the Divine Goodness But the other Angels who had their Eyes full of their own Glory thought such Condescention Unworthy of God and therefore were loth to believe it at least in that sense they cou'd not understand it being blinded with Pride it was not agreeable to that Notion of God which they had which consisted chiefly in Power and Greatness as they belong to Haughtiness they understood not the Nature of Love which only is Almighty and Conquers in its Condescending And therefore they Argued against it as St. Peter against Christ's Passion Mat. xvi 22. he could not believe Christ meant it in earnest But perhaps to try the Zeal of his Disciples to see how much they would be concern'd against it and shew themselves not indifferent that their God should Die and be Crucified like a Thief therefore Peter wou'd be the first to shew his love to his Master and to shew it more zealously he took upon him to Rebuke Christ for but speaking of such a Thing as if he had heard Blasphemy it was not so much as to be Nam'd or Imagin'd be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee So little did Peter then understand the true Nature and Greatness of Love And to shew that this was the Error of Lucifer our Saviour there rebukes Peter in his Name Get the behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me as if he had been speaking to the Devil himself who first had a wrong Notion of Love and Instilled the
tho' joyn'd in one Person with the Godhead Submit No it provok'd their Contempt their Hatred Rage and Madness against Man and this carrying them still farther from the Sight and Participation of Love consequently Remov'd them far away from the sight of God who is Love 1 John iv 8. And that is the proper definition of Sin and Hell and Misery for Sin and Hell are in Effect the same there is Hell that is Misery involv'd in the Nature of every Sin because all Sin consists in our withdrawing our selves from God who is Happiness Essential and in his Absence only is any Misery or Vnhappiness And consequently the farther we Remove from Him the Greater is our Misery This frees Us from an Objection how God who is all Love can be a Consuming Fire and Inflict Hell For Hell is the Natural Product of Sin But that it proceeds from God is so Untrue that it can only be where He is not But God is every where He is in Hell That is He comprehends Hell and Understands the Nature of it for that is the Seeing of a Spirit or the Manner of its being Present But Hell does not see Him that is Understand His Nature aright which is the Original of Pride and is the being Absent from God and therein Consists their Misery Can Love be said properly to Inflict those Torments which proceed only from the want of Love Or does the Straightness of a Rule Cause the Crookedness of that Line which will not keep to the Rule He that hides his Adultery or his Murder in a Cave may as justly Curse the Sun for the Darkness and the Damps which he Endures as the wicked Blaspheme the God of Love for the Envy and Malice and Vexation which attend upon their Pride Let Us be Judge by our Selves whence do the Terrors of Conscience proceed They proceed from the Sense of Good we have Omitted It is not then the Good which causes those Terrors but on the Contrary the Omitting of that Good The Nature of Love like that of Fire converts every thing into its Self But a Proud Spirit even from thence will draw Arguments of Envy and afflict its Self but this proceeds not from the Nature of Love but from the Nature of Pride therefore Pride in its own Nature is Miserable and Love is always Victorius If any say how is it that Love overcomes Pride after what Manner Let him observe how Light overpowers the Darkness without Noise but Irresistably And the Grosser the Darkness is the Greater does appear the Power of the Light and its Extent the Greater As Death gives place to Life and Truth prevails against Error with such Arms does Love fight against Pride Love is Light and Life and Truth And by whatever Degrees Love does Advance by the same is its Conquest Secur'd and Joy lifts up his head and Sorrow and Shame and Pride fly before his Face Now the Incarnation being the greatest Extent of Love is consequently the greatest Shock and Humiliation of Pride that is possible to be Imagin'd and so most contrary to the Devil the Father of Pride the Greatest Destruction and Ruin of his Principles as it Unites gives Peace and Intire Satisfaction to the Angels of Love so it Distracts and Runs contrary to all the thoughts of Proud Spirits Thus Love which is Happiness in the Abstract becomes a Torment to those who Understand it not by being seen thro' a false Prospect And in their Madness they Blaspheme that Love which is their only Remedy And Curse it because they have Parted from it and the more it Invites them to Return the more do they Fret themselves and in Spight run farther from it which still does more Incapacitate them to Return and this is that makes Hell Immortal And thus it is that the Virtue of Christ's Incarnation and Death wrought down from Earth to Hell to the Confirmation and Perpetual Increase of Misery to the Damn'd Spirits who have stood out proof against the last Remedy the strongest Charm of Love that 's possible the Incarnation of Christ and have seperated themselves from His Love and Pine away a sad Eternity in the Ruins of their Pride Irreparable which grow more Obdurate from its being overcome and from that Triumph of Love in the Incarnation so far beyond all that it looked for or cou'd beleive and which therefore being fulfilled it Hates and Reproaches with an Impotent Despair which is the Anguish of Hell This was the Issue of the War but let us now take a View of the Battle As Korah and his Company were bold to appear before the Lord and Appeal to Him whether Moses or they were in the Right so both Armies of Angels being perswaded of the Justice of their Cause went forth to Battle and were bold both confident of the Victory to Appear and Plead before the Lord for whose Honor each Party did pretend to Fight as it is still with Us which proceeded from the Different Notions they had of God Satan Argu'd the Majesty Soveraignty and Omnipotence of God The Poor Dejected worthless Condition of Man And hence how Absurd and Blasphemous it wou'd be that God shou'd be a Man Subject to Infirmities and Death Against whom Michael Fought from the same Consideration of Gods Omnipotence that therefore God might Incarnate Himself and the more Difficult it did appear to Created Minds the Greater Glory did it bring to God That the ways were Unsearchable by which God did Communicate Himself to His Creatures whose whole Being was a Participation of God and that it was Unexcusable Presumption for a Finit Power to Determine how Intensly an Almighty Love might bestow of its self even to denominate what it Loves to be one and the same Person with its Self Satan tho' Dazzl'd with the Refulgence of Almighty Power yet still pursues his Pride and Contests that if God shou'd Choose a Creature to make one with Himself it sure must be the Worthiest That the Nature so ioyn'd to the Divinity must be Adorable And that it were against the Justice of God to make Noble Spirits serve a Baser than themselves That therefore if any 〈◊〉 must be the Nature of Angels and not the Impure â—eed of Man that God will assume And if an Angel who â—as pretentions beyond Lucifer the Brightest Son of the Morning the Glory of God's First Creation And in this sense he might be said to aspire to be Equal with God even Literally i. e. to be One and the same Person with God Which cannot Rationally be made up of any other Scheme that we hear yet Advanc'd concerning his Rebellion for no otherwise is it possible for Us to imagine how a thought so seemingly Absurd even to Us shou'd arise in the mind of an Angel of being Equal with God But as we have here Deduc't it why might he not think that God might be an Angel as well or rather then a Man And this we may reasonably conjecture
the Soul Dies And in this is the Great and Absolute Victory over all the Devils and Powers of Hell Here the Devil finds himself out-witted as well as Over-Power'd and that Love is Superiour to Pride as much in Wisdom as in Strength But his Malice never fails him He sets all his Engins on work to Prejudice Men from Receiving this Doctrin of Satisfaction and from believing in Christ as their surety or Propitiation Which only is the Saving Faith The Mahumetans believe Christ to be a Prophet The Alcoran calls Him the Messiah and the Word of God and our Intercessor with God Yet are they not Christians which Denomination Properly belongs to none who do not Believe the Divinity Incarnation and Satisfaction of Christ for our Sins Who deny any of these may Flatter themselves with the Name of Christians but they are Really tho' may be themselves Perceive it not Inlisted under the Devil's Banner and Fight his Battles And he has Gain'd Followers in nothing more than in this He has Perswaded Men to Dispute against their own Salvation He has put such Arguments as these in the Mouths of Socinians and Quakers what need has God of any Satisfaction May He not do what a Man can to forgive a Debt we call it Mercy in a Man and can it be Vnjustice in God But when a Man forgives a Debt do we call it Mercy or Justice in him you say it is Mercy In Man Mercy and Justice are Mixt in proportions but in God they are both in their Utmost God is not only a Just being that is who has a great deal of Justice in Him but He is Justice it self the Highest Notion possible of Justice and since Justice cannot acquit without full Satisfaction no more can He. How then do His Attributes fight against one another No that is Impossible but as the Vulgar renders Jam. 2.13 Misericordia Superexaltat Judicium Mercy does Exalt Justice Gods Mercy in sending Christ does Exalt His Justice which cou'd not be exact Justice if it did not require full Satisfaction God is all Justice He is all Love and Mercy too They are the same thing in God They are the same in Love for God is Love Every Sin is a Debt to Love or an offence against it which is against God Now a Debt of Love is not to be reckon'd as a Debt of Money A Man may forgive his Money as he pleases but Love cannot forgive an Ingratitude but upon Repentance Love cannot allow of Hypocrisie or Envy or Malice or any thing contrary to its self Love is so much the Essence so the All of Christ's Religion that all other Gifts and Graces are valu'd only in so far as they Administer to the Ends and Purposes of Love Without this the Greatest Excellencies and Performances Imaginable are Reputed as nothing in the sight of God that is of Love Faith even to Remove Mountains and Zeal to give all my Goods among the Poor 1 Cor. xiii 3. and my very Body to be Burnt and all Prophesie and all Knowledge all will signify nothing if they be not done out of a Principle of Love if Charity be wanting all these and all other things Possible all are nothing Love regards them not Nothing can Charme Love but Love All the whole Earth in one Sacrifice and all the Pains of Hell cannot Bribe Love into a Friendship or Reconciliation with Pride or Ill Nature It must Hate these by the same Necessity that it is its self Behold the Iustice and Severity of Love Behold the reason why our Love can never be accepted with God Because it is mixt with what God hates by the necessity of His Nature with Insincerity and Affections to Vice we love not God for His own sake for the native Beauty of Love but to serve our own Ends pittiful selfish designs vain foolish wicked The Heavens are not Clean in His sight and He chargeth His Angels with folly and our Righteousness is as filthy Rags and that which is highly Esteem'd among men is Abomination before God Now what hopes of Atoneing for our Faults when our Best Performances are fresh Provocations And this Inexorable Justice of Love is the Greatest Mercy too if we consider it For there being no Happiness but in Love and no Atonement to Love but by Returning to Love again consequently this seeming Severity is really but an Invitation to our Happiness But all our Love is Polluted and therefore Hateful to Purity which is God So that we can never perform this Condition tho' the most Merciful as well as Just And here Satan wou'd Stop all our Hopes by perswading Us That our Debt cannot be paid by Another That the Most Perfect Love will not be accepted for that which is Defficient And this is so far True that where the Imperfect Love does not go as far as it can it can receive no help from that which is more Perfect For being willing to remain Insensible of any Offence I have committed against Love is the Greatest Contempt of Love and Love can hear nothing in its Defence But where I am as Sensible as I can and wish to be more and do all that is in my Power and Repent with my whole Heart tho' all this be very Vnproportionable to my Offence and full of Imperfections there Love will rejoyce to accept the Interceeding of a Perfect Love and it 's full Satisfaction and Atonement for the weak but willing Love And this manner of Paying the Debts of Love is perfectly agreeable to the Nature of Love It is agreeable to the Common Conversation of the World Was it ever made an Objection that the Surety shou'd pay the Debt or that it was unjust to be a Surety Yet this Enemy of Mankind wou'd make Us think it against Reason that Christ shou'd be our Surety or that He shou'd pay our Debt And this being the main Hinge or indeed the whole of Christianity as to Us many Batteries are rais'd against this to Destroy Us all at once for if we loose this what good can Christianity do Us we are yet in our Sins There are several Parties and from several Arts which attacque Us in this most Essential Point Some say that Christ came into the World only as an Example But then they are put to it to find a Reason for his Death It will not bear an Argument That His Death was only intended as a Confirmation of His Doctrine for that shews it neither to be True nor False but only that He was fully Perswaded of the Truth of it Yet this is all that Cause can afford Others say that He came to Teach a new Condition for the Remission of Sin which was Repentance To this it is Answer'd That that was no new Condition What time soever a Sinner Repents he shall save his Soul This was in the Old Testament Rent your Heart and not your Garments and many other places to the same purpose Secondly Repentance was
will two such Combatants enter the Lists Here is a Creature so Mighty that he dares contend with God and here is God humbl'd into a Man to subdue that Spirit which had overthrown all Mankind And Christ grapples with him as a Man without interposing his Godhead for that had been no contest and to shew what Man might have done and may still do I need not here again tell you of the Quarrel upon which these two Fought it is the same we have been speaking off the same that St. Michael Fought before that is Pride and Love which of these is the most Noble and most Mighty Michael defended his Cause well and was Victorious but Christ Acted what Michael cou'd not Since the Devil wou'd not be peswaded by Arguments Christ here brings him to the Test to Experiment the Powers of Love and of Pride And that with all the Disadvantages Imaginable Love in its Lowest Condescention expos'd to Pride Inrag'd in its Altitude Christ came of Poor Parents Born in a Stable not room for him in a common Inn he liv'd Destitute and Forlorn without a place to lay his head in worse provided for than Foxes or Birds he choose poor Men and unlearned for his followers He was Despis'd Persecuted Slandar'd called a Glutton and a Drunkard a Madman a very Devil Isa 53.2 3. He had neither Forme nor Beauty a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Greifs we hid as it were our Faces from Him He was Despis'd and Rejected of Men and they esteemed Him not His Vertue was Omnibus ornamentis Spoliata void of all outward Ornaments to Recommend it according to Plato's Qualification and may be call'd a Prophesy of the Just one and of His Passion His Arms was Blessing and Praying and Instructing He never us'd His Power to Hurt any but to Heal His very Enemies He went about doing Good to all and Lov'd His Enemies more intensly then they cou'd Hate him and tho' they requited Him with Mischief for His Good-will yet He always return'd Good to them for their Evil. He came into his own and His own Receiv'd Him not The only Visible Church He had upon the Earth had taken Arms with the Enemy the Scribes and Pharisies were His sorest Prosecutors the Sanhedim Bought Him prefered a Thief and a Murderer before Him and procur'd His Death with violent out-crys one of His own Diciples Betray'd Him another Forswore Him as Forsook Him He was left to Tread the Winepress alone expos'd single to all the Malice and Scorn of Men and Devils the Agony of His Soul forceing Him into such an Astonishment and Exceeding Sorrow a was never heard of since the World began a Bloody Sweat making its passage through Skin and Cloths and falling down in Great Drops upon the Ground Lastly His Father Himself forsook Him in His Greatest Extremity Hanging upon the Cross twixt two Thieves and fill'd with the Reproaches of all about Him shaking their Heads and thrusting out their Tongues at Him His Father forsook Him That only cou'd make Him Cry out yet did not that it self overcome His Love for He Intirely and willingly submitted Himself He Bowed his Head in Obedience and Gave up the Ghost He Resign'd His Soul into the Hands of His Father who had forsaken Him trusting in Infinit Love that it can never fail and Dy'd praying for His Murderers showing the transcendence of His Love above their Malice And here behold the Wisdom as well as Goodness of Love That same Method which Pride and Malice suggested to destroy Christ that was it which most Advanced the Glory of His Love And let Us here Adore the Almighty Power of Love that out of all the Evils Pride was able to Invent cou'd bring such Infinit Good And by the Rule of Contraries here we may see the Folly as well as the Impotence of Pride When it is arived at the Full of its own Wishes that is always its Destruction For when Love has born all that Pride can do when it sees it can go no farther it Returns upon its self with Impatience and Rage and Madness When the Devil had nail'd Christ to the Cross he thought himself a Victor And had been so if that cou'd have mov'd Christ to Impatience or Distrust or if He had withdrawn Himself from His Sufferings either for the Shame or the Pain for then His Love had been Conquer'd it had fled the Field not being able to abide the Shock But Christ supported that Tryal with a Godlike Patience and Constancy and His Love Unshaken Remain'd more than Conqueror That Old Serpent left his Sting in the Cross and fled away Disarm'd Asham'd Confounded And the Grave of Christ which he thought to have kept shut for ever was made the Gate to open the Triumphs of Love into Hell where the Spirits of Pride did Gnash their Teeth with Unextinguishable Rage to find that Love was Unconquerable and that its Lowest Condescentions turn to its Greatest Glory for what can Conquer that which has the Vertue to bring Good out of Evil Thus you see how Christ has spoil'd the Principalities and Powers of Pride by the Arms of His Love and hath made a shew of them openly Tryumphing over them in His Cross Col. 2.15 that is in the Humilitation which is the Great Power of Love and having loosed the Pains of Death because it was Possible that He shou'd be holden of it Act. 2.24 He Arose Gloriously to the Astonishment of His Wretched Guards and all the Afrighted Legions of Hell Whom He Chain'd to His Triumphal Chariot and when He Ascended up on High He led Captivity Captive or a Multitude of Captives as our Margent Reads it And Gave Gifts unto Men Eph. iv 8. Bestow'd His Royal Donatives Liberally among His own Soldiers who had Fought under His Banner and now Attended on His Triumph and Shar'd in the Glory of it Now that He Ascended what is it but that He also Descended first into the Lower Parts of the Earth Eph. iv 9. He that Descended is the same also that Ascended up far above all Heavens that He might fill all things This shews that the Glory of Love Consists in its Condescentions And its Glory Rises Proportionably High to the Lowness of its Condesension Thus the Meanest Condescention Rises to the very Highest Glory and this Fills or Fulfills All things Includes All things for All things are Contain'd between the Highest and the Lowest And this is Fulfilling all Righteousness all the Dictats or Demands of Love towards our Righteousness making us like it self and this Includes in it the full Goodness and Power of God that is the utmost Condescention of Love So that now we see in Christ all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling Bodily And we are compleat in Him And from hence let me make the Apostles Inference and Prayer for you Eph. 3.17 That ye may be Rooted and Grounded in Love because so and never otherwise You will