of necessity but from the abundant freeness and generosity of his Spirit He should not have needed unless he had pleased to mould us into Shape and form us into Creatures What worth or merit can be alledged miserable dust and ashes that we are whereby we might claim a prerogative or Title to a Being Alas it was undeserved nevertheless he did it without force or compulsion which was an Illustrious Act of his free grace and bounty yet farr excelled by that much more eminent one in the Redemption of us from the slavery and servitude of sin and Satan yes and re-instating of us in a better condition then that which our First Parents so justly forfeited To love us before we were I confess is great love but to love us when we had rendred our selves vile yea and worse then nothing what can it be stiled but the heighth of love To love us in our non-entity is an Embleme of a most Noble Spirit but to love us after our monstrous ingratitude I cannot express it Eph 2 7. but in the words of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the exceeding riches of his glorious and merciful grace For man by his own default had lost his Original Righteousness and was trappand by Satan of all those blessings God of his special favour intended to bestow upon him We were so far from meriting this grand mercy the gift of his only Begotten Son that we had provoked him in the highest measure immaginable and cast all his commandments behind us What can we therefore conceive should move him to give us his Son surely not any loveliness or attractiveness in us We were not such amiable and beautiful Creatures as to cause a God to descend from the Battlements of Heaven and subject himself to the miseries of humane nature but his mercy and wonderful goodness alone which caused him to be invested with the garments of flesh and our Restauration to happiness is to be attributed to nothing but the free Bounty and grace of God For Sense or Reason cannot scruple so evident a demonstration especially if we consider against whom we thus transgressed whose Law it was we thus contemptuously trampled upon whose I pray was it but the Law of the great Legislator himself Did we not Rebel against the Supream Governour of Heaven and Sin against him who spreadeth out the Firmament like a Curtain and limiteth the Sea that it shall pass no further Isa 9.7 How doth the Prophet stile him Wise in Counsel wonderful in judgment and admirable in the execution of his unsearchable Will He is essential purity it self He abhorreth iniquity with a perfect hatred and utterly detests against every thing that is unjust Yet still it was against him that we offended who is cloathed with righteousness as with a garment and holiness as a Breast-plate It was him whom we provoked and consequently forfeited all natural right and possibility to happiness Yet stand still all ye that fear the Lord and see what glorious things he hath done for our souls Behold how his restless love could never be at quiet until it had employed his Omniscience to contrive means and expedients to reconcile both his Justice and Mercy in reconciling Sinners to himself Nay and this merciful design by the Incarnation of his Son He prosecuted in a way so worthy of himself and highly advantageous unto Man 1 Pet. 1.12 that the Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are ardently desirous to pry into them How did this make St. Paul to cry out Suam commendat erga nos charitatem Deus Rom. 5.8 God commendeth his love towards us in that whilst we were Sinners Christ died for us that is when we wanted all motives to invite and had nothing but our misery to cry aloud in the Ears of God for pity and compassion It is an usual expression when we see one in a deplorable condition to say his poverty or misery speaketh in his behalf but this is more eminent surely in our case and it was our misery was so prevalent with the Almighty as to give us his Son to save us when all expectation and hope of Salvation was taken away And how did this Son express his love to Mankind even as the Apostle tells us He being in the form of God Phil. 2.6 7. thought it no 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 man and being thus arrayed as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross The sense of which is that it was beneath so great a love to love at a less rate then death it self and from the supereminent heigth of glory to stoop to the extreamest of indignities being abased to the bottom of abjectedness that we might be exalted to the contrary extream O Eternal Fathet of mercys thy love and goodness is unmeasurable and thy tender mercys are over all thy works what a large portion hast thou given us of thy love that to us a Son is Born to us a Son is given Thou hast not dealt so with any other creatures as thou hast done with man on whom thou didst stamp thine own Image cloathed him with immortality and constituted him Supream over the rest of the Creation Nay so great was thy goodness O God that when we had lost our selves by departing from thee we should still be found of the in sending thy Son to save and restore them that were lost Lord what is man that thou shouldst so regard him or the Son of man that thou shouldst thus respect him with all thankfulness and praise we remember this day we extol thy love and the humble descent of the Son of thy love Christ Jesus Oh grant that he may be conceived in the heart of every one of us that by the operation of the Holy Spirit Christ may dwell in us and we in him Oh let that Spirit which was in our Saviour inspire our hearts continually with devout affections towards thee that we may love thee beyond what our tongues can express or hearts imagine and so joyn cheerfully with that Coelestial Chorus who are still giving honour blessing power glory and dominion to thee for ever and ever for this thy unspeakable love to Mankind in giving thy only begotten Son that all may have everlasting life And so I descend from the efficient cause of Mans Redemption the love of God to the parties whom he thus loved and they come under a two-fold Consideration their Quality and Quantity We begin with the First God so loved the World By WORLD may be understood the whole compages of all Beings because every creature by the Passion and Resurrection of our Saviour received almost a new life and was in some measure delivered from the bondage of corruption But by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the text is especially signified all
Mankind and people in the World Thus St. Mathew useth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wo unto the World because of Offences Mat. 18.7 Yes thus our Saviour himself interpreted it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the World cannot hate you but me it hateth where is meant the People or Inhabitants of the world After the same manner Satan is frequently stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prince of the World because he rules and governs in the affections of men and enthrones himself in their hearts But indeed Expositors are various in their constructions thereof some translate it Sic Deus hominem dilexit God so loved the little World Man some hominem ad imaginem Dei factum Man made after the Image and Similitude of God others hominem lapsum et mundanum fall'n and worldly-minded-man all which Translations contribute to extoll and magnifie the wonderful Love of God For is it not worthy our admiration to see light and darkness enter a League To see the torrid and frigid Zone unite and embrace each other To see JEHOVAH and the Gods of EKRON the Ark and Dagon reconciled to see the God Israel and Baal meet together and the Prophets of the Lord and Sons of Belial kiss each other Yet all these was fall'n man compared to him who is nothing but purity it self yet still how does he court this depraved and sinful creature to a reconciliation Shall we not envy his honour and admire his love who will lay down his life for the sake of a righteous man shall we not then be rapt with wonder when we consider the Immensity of the Divine Love to laps'd man to see the eternal Son of the Most High God descend into the lower parts of the earth and in a manner embrace a Dunghil nay beyond that to expose and submit himself to the cruel stroke of the most ignominious death that he might snatch sinful man from a lamentable downfal and mount him from a miserable earth to the Regions of Immortality and Bliss Herein is love John 4.10 not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our sins O thou great and All-seeing eye of Heaven what moved thee to glance so favourable a countenance on us miserable sinners what moved thee to send so kind an Embassage of peace to us vile worms to us who were unworthy thy compassion though never so earnestly implor'd to us who had deserved thy wrath more than thy smiles thy Thunder and Lightning thy indignation and anger but not the least drop of thy mercy How comes it to pass thou inexhaustible Fountain of Love thou showr'st down thy goodness upon us in so plentiful a measure 't was thy mercy O God Oh! praised be that mercy which saved us from destruction 't was thy pity and compassion not our tenderness to thy Laws which sheltred us from thy fury 't was thy love and goodness alone Oh! for ever magnified be that love which induced thee to be so bountiful unto us with all thankfulness and reverence O God we desire to join with those Sons of Glory and bright Morning Stars in singing according to our abilitie and power Glory be to God on High for his unspeakable love in giving his only begotten Son that whosoever do believe on him should not perish but have eternal life for thou sent not thy Son into the World to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the Wonders which he doth for the Children of Men. Which is no more then Justice and our bounden duty to perform for if we consult what we are by nature what shall we conclude our selves but Children of wrath the finful Offpring of disobedient Adam made obnoxious to the worst of deaths before we were entituled to life by sinning against God without whose Reconciliation we cannot but perish For though it is true Man at his first creeping into the World was placed in the Regions of felicity and favoured as one of the Darlings of God yet was he not as quickly disobedient to the commands of his Creator how justly therefore was his Crown forfeited and he deprived of all that happiness God had conferred on him when he was banished Paradise and in the sweat of his brows to earn his bread And if he fell so did we by being in his Lovns for since the advantages of that blessing God promised him if obedient had respect to his Posterity then certainly the curse which was the consequence of his disobedience did not relate to his particular interest alone but was of universal influence and he propagated infection to the last and utmost of his Posterity From our First Parents therefore we derive a curse whose Legacy bequeathed us was sin and damnation and all Man-kind were Joynt-heirs of the same Inheritance the wrath of an incensed God Thus holy David confesseth it Ps 51.5 in sin did my Mother conceive me and in iniquity she brought me forth Now what had been the wages of this sin but eternal death what had been the fruit which they plucked from the Forbidden Tree in the disguise of an Apple but everlasting ruine had not the wonderful mercy of God found out an expedient to salve his Justice and save us For had he not dealt thus graciously with his Creatures what could we have in reason expected but to have been swept away in the Deluge of Divine indignation that he should have dipt his Arrow in the Poyson of that Serpent which gull'd and mocked us and exhaust were it possible his whole Magazine of Thunderbolts that he should have girded his Sword upon his Thigh and take Vengeance upon us making us to suck the Lees and dreggs of that intollerable potion reserved for the Sons of Perdition This was the fruit flourishing on the Tree of Knowledge this was that miserable plight and woful condition into which we had brought our selves we had deserved the worst of Gods fury by breaking our bands and Covenant with him Stand still therefore all ye that forget God and admire his goodness and tell me if there be any God like unto our God or any Father like unto our heavenly Father who forbore to enter into the Armory of his wrath or to affright us with the furrows of a contracted brow for notwithstanding we were born Heirs Apparent to calamity without end yet loe he sent his only begotten Son to cut off the entail We have sinned O Lord and dealt wickedly but this Lamb of thine what hath he done that he should be thus battered and bruised wounded and bloudy to save us from the Stripes we had justly deserved how great was thy love to us to send him who was in Heaven with thee to us on earth in the likeness of sinful flesh Oh! what charming love was this how pretious are the thoughts of it to us Grant then O
and pleasure he will not only deliver them from the lightest and least burthensome but also from the most tormenting and diresom yea from all and every one of them For though great are the troubles of the Righteous yet the Lord will deliver him out of all Which words present us with these Two Considerations First The condition of the Righteous man upon earth or the Religious person presented to us in Sables with ashes sprinkled on his head his garments rent his heart broken himself a companion a man and friend of sorrows Great are the Troubles c. Secondly We have a confident assurance of this mans delivery from this his forlorn estate The Lord will deliver him out of all We begin with the State of the Righteous upon earth Job 14.1 Man that is born of a Woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery saith that picture of patience and Landschape of misery Holy Job who took the heigth of other mens miseries by surveying his own afflictions for though he was an upright man one who had an awful reverence for the majestie of Heaven and that combining with his love caused him to shun all occasions and appearances of evil yet still as he endeavoured to avoid all the tempting evils of sin the evil of afflictions pursued him close at his heels for he was filled to the brim with the very Gall and Bitterness of Sorrows How was he sequestred from all the Blessings of this Life plunder'd of his Earthly Goods robb'd of his Children the little models of himself and from the hands of an ill-advising Wife delivered into the hands of Satan to be buffeted and scourged at his pleasure Few and evil have been the days of my life saith the Patriarch Jacob one of the chief Darlings of God Gen. 47.9 yet what a large draught did he drink of the Cup of salt Tears of afflictions How was he banished from the knees of his aged Father from the bosom of his loving and tender-hearted Mother What an inveterate enemy to him was his Brother Esau who forced him to travel into a strange Country only accompanied with his Staff and his Scrip almost clad with no other Garments than the sable-weeds of wo having no other Bed than the cold Earth to rest his wearied and tender Limbs no other Canopy than that of Heaven no other Pillow than a Marble-stone which like a kind-hearted Host did by its weeping seem to commiserate the hard misfortune of this unhappy Pilgrim who after all this was constrain'd for meer maintenance to serve a Pagan in a strange Land for many years Yes and as we have seen the afflictions of this pious man in his own person so we may track the footsteps of them in that of his Off-spring for they were the Coheirs not only of his substance but also of his sorrows But to discourse of all their troubles crosses and tribulations would make your ears undergo an Egyptian Tyranny whilst we passed through this Wilderness of wo. This then shall suffice that they walked through the Red-Sea of affliction before they arrived at the Promised Land of Canaan verse 3. Nevertheless these People were Gods own chosen Inheritance or to use the Prophets expression the Friends of God and greater favourites in the Court of Heaven Notwithstanding which Zech. 13. the Wisdom of Heaven thought it convenient to purifie them in the Furnace of Afflictions the more gloriously to adorn them with those Spiritual Ornaments which can render them most amiable in the Eyes of the great King But amongst all who have suffered affliction who ever met with more hardships than David For he being a Type of Christ was always hedged about with the Cross as Christ was contemned of his Country-men so David of his Brethren As Christ fled into Egypt so David unto Gath As Christ received Food of Women so David of Abigail As Herod persecuted Christ so Saul persecuted David Yes and the wrath of the King created a number of Enemies insomuch that though he was annointed he could not reign and when he reigned his reign was but a Warfare The Philistines against him the Amorites against him the Edomites against him yea and Absalom too for whom he would have died rose up against him His Son who was his darling prov'd Traitor unto him and Viper-like sought to deprive hin of life who gave him breath Is it strange then that David affirms Great are the troubles c. But perhaps some may confess 'T is true whilst Religion was clouded and the Law had shadowed the brightness thereof men were overspread with calamities and troubles but so soon as the Son of Righteousness arose he dispersed not only the mists and obscurities that were under the Law but also that gloominess of sorrows which had seized on mens spirits and since Christ is come and hath preached the Kingdom of the Gospel our days are the Halcyon and weather Sun-shine To which I answer If we take a prospect of the troubles of the Righteous under the Law we shall conclude it was but a little Cloud which arose like the Palm of a mans hand in reference to those Storms and Tempests which have united and spread themselves over the face of the whole earth under the dispensation of the Gospel for in temporal blessings and earthly felicities the Law hath the preeminence For in the time of the Law God promised to Moses Deut. 9.14 for a reward of his faith and obedience to make of him a great Nation But the blessed Jesus saith My Flock it is a little one In the time of the Law Gen. 15. Abraham the Father of the faithful was blessed with the promise of plenty and abundance All the Land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thine inheritance for ever yes and our Royal Prophet cou'd say that the Righteous shall possess the Land Ps 37.22 nay a little after he testifieth that he had observed for many years together yet never could see the Righteous forsaken and 25. v. or any of their Seed begging their Bread for in those days Prosperity did seem as it were entail'd on none but the Righteous Person But since Christ came to settle the Gospel in the World Tempora mutantur and the blessings of the godly are of a contrary die and complexion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blessed are you when persecuted for Righteosness sake Mat. 5.10.11 and blessed are you when men shall revile you and speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every thing that isevil of you for my name sake We must through many Tribulations enter the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 Heb. 12.6 7. So agin Whom the Lord loveth he scourgeth and chastneth every Son whom he receiveth We are therefore a Spurious Offpring and no true Children of God if exempt from afflictions Quos Amo arguo castigo Those who are my Darlings and Favourites whom I honour with the
one should perish and so again God himself hath sworn that he delighteth not in the death of a sinner But perhaps some may contest that if it be the intention and will of God that all should be saved how comes it to pass so many fall short and miss of the reward designed by God glory everlasting I answer The Holy Scriptures have recorded Gods will to be two-fold his Absolute and his Conditional Will The former God used when he framed the goodly Structure of the World and said let there be light and there was light let there be a Firmament and there was a Firmament So likewise when he created those incorporeal intelligencers the Angels he spake the Word and they were made he commanded and they were created This is the absolute and only irresistable Will of God But in matters relating to the Salvation of Men he made use of the Second his Conditional Will And those Conditions were three The First was in Paradise eat not and thou shalt live but how soon did we forfeit this Covenant by an hankering and prurient desire after the Tree of Knowledge The Second was under the Law do this and thou shalt live And here though the spirit was never so willing yet so many were the weaknesses and infirmities of the flesh that we groaned under its weight and were not able to perform it until Christ the fulfiller of the Law came to ease us of its burthen and then he made a third and new agreement with us under the Gospel and that is believe on the Son of God and thou shalt be saved To the performance of which he hath afforded such powerful aids and encouragements that we may observe the tenour of his Laws and live for ever For the ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace But if we will not observe his Laws but break our bonds asunder we justly forfeit our right in Christ and may charge God foolishly but thank our selves for damnation For though our Creation was the work of Omnipotency alone yet the salvation of our souls can never be effected without our endeavours He hath opened a fountain for us to bath in but if we refuse to wash and be clean who is to blame for the continuance of our Leprosie Nay further he doth not only to our Justification add the invitations of his grace and holy Spirit to dispose our selves for it promising to ease and refresh such as are weary and heavy laden with the burthen of their sins but positively declares he stands at the door of our hearts knocks and solicites to enter but if we will not fuffer the King of glory to come in may not he justly defie the World to object the least fault and blame on his side since he hath done to his Vineyard whatever could be thought requisite to make it thrive and prosper and if they finally perish as I shall shew more at large by and by are they not the authors of their own perdition by their rejecting those abundantly sufficient graces he hath offered them to accept So that in the extremity of their misery they will be forced to confess thou art Righteous O Lord and thy judgments are just But some further object that though the satisfaction Christ made was sufficient for the whole World yet say they it was not effectual that is I conceive he did not intend all should participate of the benefit thereof And what is this but by the worst kind of enclosure to circumscribe his All-sufficient goodness to set banks and shores to that unlimited Ocean of mercy which cannot consist with the wisdom and goodness of Christ for if he paid a full and plenary satisfaction for the offences of all men was it not as easie and more agreeable to his mercy to communicate the benefits to all than to appropriate them only to a few and little parcel of men Any in the shape of a man would censure it a meer delusion for the King of Great Britain to proclaim himself Redeemer of all the captivated Christians under the Tyrany of Ziim and Ochim Turks and Infidels if he should send over Ransom large enough for all yet afterwards cashiere the poor Captives hopes of liberty by interpreting himself though I proclaimed and sent sufficiently for all yet I meant Redemption only to a few Would not this renew our griefs and augment our sorrows and if it was so with God what anxieties and fears what troubles and scruples would it move in our minds whether we were the persons whom the King delighted to honour for if we conceited we were the Children elected by God and God had resolved from eternity to save us what licence would it give to our unbridled desires by presuming too much on the Patience and long-suffering of God when we believe we cannot be dis-inherited from being Coheirs with the Son of God and so make us neglect the working out our salvation knowing that our labour is in vain because before we were God had determined we should not miss of our Diadem of glory But blessed be God no mans state is fixed or unalterable before he hath a Being much less from eternity or before the foundations of the earth were laid nay now we have a being it is possible to pass from the state of death to the life of grace 'T is true when we are cut off from the Land of the living and are arrived at our long home then our condition and the decree of God is unchangeable for where the Tree falleth there it lyeth Eccles 11.3 They that die in peace shall arise in glory with the King of Peace and they who die in their sins shall be raised 't is true but receive small comfort from the Sun of glory for they shall be banished from his presence Let this consideration rouze us from the Lethargy of sin that we may work whilst the day of salvation lasteth before the night cometh when no man can work What we do let us do quickly for though the marrow may seem to swell in our bones our bloud hot and boyl in our veins though we pride our selves in the strength and flower of nature yet still is not our time in the hand of God who can tell what a day may bring forth Seeing then God hath expressed so high a Love to us let us not turn his grace into wantonness for he that believeth on him that sent me saith Christ hath everlasting life And St. John tells us He is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world This was an Act of Oblivion out of which none was excepted He came to revoke the general Sentence the Decree gone out against all men For as I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the Death of the wicked but that he turn and live He hath set before us life and death Oh! let us choose life that we may
live for ever and let us put up our Prayers and say O Almighty and most Merciful Father we adore thy Mercies and admire thy Love to the Word in the Gift of thy Son O blessed Jesu how worthy is thy Love to be had in reverence over all the World for thy voluntary susception and affectionate suffering such horrid and cruel Tortures the Waters of bitterness entred into thy soul and the Storms of Death and thy Fathers Anger broke thee in pieces What shall we do who by our sins have tormented our dearest Lord What contrition and tears can sufficiently express those sad accidents which they have produced Lord have Mercy upon us Christ have Mercy upon us and pity our distress And seeing thou hast done so much for our Souls only speak the word and thy Servant shall be whole Suffer us not to neglect that great Salvation which thou hast purchased for us Dispose us by Love Thankfulness Humility and Obedience to receive the benefits of thy Incarnation and Passion Enflame our Affections more and more towards thee and God the Father whose goodness was not contented in barely loving us but to love us so as to give us thee the only begotten Son of God And so I come to the Organ and Means by which our Redemption was effected the gift of his only begotten Son Wherein we consider both the Action he gave and the Gift it self His only c. We begin with the Action And first He gave it gratis freely and of his own accord for he was omnipotent and could not be constrained by any force all Creatures depending on him alone Acts 17.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In him we live move and have our Being It was not therefore any compulsion but love only which was so generous as to transport it self up to Heaven and assault the Divinity in its Throne drawing from thence the Eternal Son of God 2dly God so loved the World that not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he delivered him and so St. Paul useth it He spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all Rom. 8.3 He was delivered up to the malice and fury of evil men and thence delivered up to the ignominious death of the Cross 3dly Nay God did not only deliver him up but also sent him For saith the Apostle in this was manifested the Love of God because he sent his only begotten Son into the World 4thly And to augment his Love if perfection will admit of addition This Mission is the more to be accepted by us because it was by way of commutation and exchange for us Commutavit filium suum unicum He exchanged his only begotten Son It was the Worlds Price was set to sale and how dearly did he purchase it What reason then have we to spend every moment of our Life in loving praising and glorifying him And when we contemplate these admirable contrivances of his Wisdom and Mercy can we do less than say O God what shall we return thee in requital or wherewith shall we appear before thee When we would praise thee an Abysse of Majesty exhausts in a moment all Encomiums and our adorations what are they before thy Divine Essence Could we render our selves uncreated in deference to thee the Fountain of all Beings it were a poor Homage to thy ineffable Greatness Nay could we annihilate the World and bring all Creatures into their old postures of nothing for thy Glory yet what is this compar'd with what thy immensity might justly expect But while we labour with our Poverty finding nothing created worthy thy acceptance Oh astonishing Mercy behold the perfect oblation of thy Son which thou hast given us the prodigious Effect of thy Love Him we offer unto thee and through him we hope to be accepted None can speak our Gratitude but that word who can only satisfie thy Justice Since by this Gift the very Treasury of Heaven was emptied for a time and the Earth enriched with that pure Sacrifice wherewith thou wert well pleased and the Odour thereof draws upon mankind a continual Floud of Mercies This is a Sacrifice O God thou wilt not despise him we offer unto thee and with him our selves and all that we have beseeching thee to accept of us for the sake of thy Son who was offered up for us all And so I come to consider the Gift it self His only begotten Son Son is a Name by which men oft endeavour to express their endearments and affection to us Thus when Cushi told David of his Sons unfortunate though just 2 Sam. 18.33 death the Text tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latine Commotus The King was troubled and much moved and went up to the Chamber over the Gate where Judgment was administred and wept and said O my Son Absalom my Son my Son and refused to be comforted for his death nay he wished death had been subject to a mistake and took him instead of this rebellious Viper who sought the usurpation of the Kingdom and Death of his Parent And if a Son was so dear to David how dear must he be unto God And consequently what a Noble and Royal Gift must this be of our Heavenly Father It had been too great an Honour to have dispatched unto us the meanest Servant in his Heavenly Court to visit us or if he had deputed an Illustrious Seraphim to proclaim to the World That He who is King of Kings the Great God of Heaven and Earth would be reconciled to his Rebellious Subjects Should we not have been startled at the news of such a Message How much more then when he sends his Son the Prince and Soveraign of the Heavenly Host to be had in no reputation and take upon him the form of a Servant But then 2dly It was his own Son and not anothers He was not an Adopted Son who raised himself by his merits to the Title of the Son of God as Photinus and his Followers would have perswaded the World but he was God of very God and Light of very Light Or was it his Son by Nuncupation and name only as others did imagine but his own Son for otherwise we destroy our belief of the Trinity and conclude the Father Son and Holy Ghost not three Distinct Persons but Names Therefore 3dly Mat. 12.18 It was the only begotten Son of God conceived in the Womb of the Virgin Mary by the powerful overshadowing of the Holy Ghost Here is Love in its Zenith the Son in whom his soul was well-pleased Nay his only begotten Son This is that great Mistery the Apostle speaks of God manifested in the Flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 where we may behold the Eternal Father giving up his only Son in behalf of Mankind polluted and depraved by corruption vitiated by sin disobedient to his Lord and insolent to his King a Worm and no Man a poor scantling of putrifaction and a prey for
the Sun was placed in the Firmament of Heaven that the whole World might be cherished by the influence of its heat and light yet how many are there to whom it is not much beneficial for are there not some of so reserv'd and melancholy a disposition that they are more affected with darkness upon which account they creep into Grots and Holes to hide themselves from the glory of his Beams In like manner light came into the World and was offer'd up for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Catholick good of all but some loving darkness rather then light keep themselves baricadoed from his benign influence resisting the light of faith for otherwise he should not perish but have everlasting life Heb. 5.9 which is best interpreted by that curt yet full expression of St. Paul he is the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him The Kingdom of Heaven is shut up against none though some are so unhappy as to exclude themselves for they are so far degenerated into Brutes that neither the dreadful apprehensions of an angry God a consuming fire or Worm that never dyes can frighten them into obedience or can the invitatory Charms of Holy things allure them thereunto or lastly can the modest shame of a base and ignoble action move them for like ill-distempered bodies they convert all wholsome food into their own corrupted humours saying unto God depart from us we desire not the knowledge of his ways who is the Almighty that we should serve him or what benefit accrues to us if we pray to him First they abhor the knowledge of his ways and commandments because they are contrary and speak against their works Secondly They refuse submission to his power perswading themselves he is not Almighty because sentence is not executed speedily but he is Merciful Long-suffering and Gracious And then lastly They will not pray unto him because they would ask that which is so repugnant to his supreme wisdom and goodness that they know he will not answer their petitions So that in short it is through themselves they perish and come not to bliss and glory because they decline the presence of God shutting up all the avenues of faith and charity through which he should come in unto them For God hath engaged his word not to be inexorable and the Creator hath protested and sworn that it is far from his thoughts to delight himself in the destruction of his Creature For can the charity of a grave and sober person upon earth pray for the conversion and salvation of all Nations and what shall the charity of Christ be limited or will they ravish him of his goodness No verily he would have none to perish but upon their submission he will embrace them with the arms of his mercy receive them for his own Children by Adoption give them the blessings of eternal life and make them partakers of his everlasting Kingdom Seeing then this was the end and drift of Christs Incarnation seeing God hath dealt thus graciously with us what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness How ought we to esteem and love him who so esteemed and loved us that he thought not his life and bloud too dear for us How ought we toesteem our selves since God hath thought us worthy to be esteemed of him Let us remember this and know that we are men How ought we to take heed that we neither spot or soil that flesh wherein God hath manifested himself For what are we the better that God hath given us his Son if there be not a mystical Incarnation in our hearts and his Nativity our spiritual Birth-day that being born anew Christ may dwell in us and we in him Was it not his purpose to be like us that we might be like him was he not born of a poor Virgin to teach us to be meek and lowly did he not take upon him the form of a Servant to teach us we must not Lord it over them who are beneath us How little did he value the pomp and grandeur of the World to set our affections on things above how contented was he in a mean condition to teach us not to take care for to Morrow How courteous was he to the meanest Clients to teach us humanity and brotherly kindness how liberal was he of doing good to teach us to be diligent in relieving the necessity of the Indigent How patient was he in suffering the the mockeries and scoffs of the ruder multitude to teach us not to pay evil for evil how patient was he amidst the sad tortures and pangs of the Cross to teach us not to repine at the chastisements and corrections of Heaven How little did he fancy the applauses of men to teach us not to court popularity or be fond of the praises of men How absolutely did he resign up his Will to the Will of his Father to teach us in every state to say Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven In a word how did he lay down his Life in full hopes of a glorious Resurrection to teach us to say Though after my Skin worms destroy my Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I my self shall behold and not another These are the Beauties of Jesus to be equally admir'd and practised by us This is a Transcript of the Deity which we must carry always in our hearts for by the copying of it Christ knows who are his Let us then endeavour to follow our Exemplar as close as we can in these steps of his Holy Life Let us not slight that Love which is gone to prepare us a place in his Fathers House Let us make all things conspire to proclaim his Glory Let us conceive Christ in our heart by our believing and hearing his word and let us bring him forth in our life by giving all diligence to practice and perform it Let us look on the Mercy of this day as an hopeful assurance that God will never end his Love and good Will towards Men till he hath brought us thither where Jesus is Let us earnestly beseech him to guide us in those steps whereby he did ascend from Earth to Heaven Let us desire him so earnestly to subdue our Wills to His that it may be our Meat and Drink to perform his Heavenly Pleasure Which that it may be more effectually wrought for the Eternal Interest of us all let us fall down and say in sincerity of heart ALmighty God who hast given us thy only Begotten Son to take our Nature upon him and as this day to be born of a pure Virgin Grant thas we being regenerate and made thy Children by Adoption and Grace may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit through the same Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be ascribed all Honour Glory Might Majesty and Dominion now and evermore Amen FINIS