all Duty and Obedience a Charter only of Libertinism and Licentiousness Provided a Man be orthodox in his Notions and sound in his Faith 't is no matter how he lives like an Angel or like a Devil so apt are Men to abjure their Reason in complement to their Senses and rather than forsake their darling Vices to shelter them under the Patronage even of the immaculate Jesus But if we look upon Christianity as our Great Master himself is pleas'd to hold the Perspective as he is all Fair 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 50.2 the Perfection of Beauty and the Holy One of Israel so would his Institution appear to be a most fair and amiable Copy of his Eternal Beauty and Holiness It commands us not to rest in a fruitless barren and dead Faith but to evidence its Life and Reality by our Works That we walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are called turning from these Idols of our own Brains these vain fantastick Ideas of our carnal Imaginations to serve truly and painfully the Living God That we trifle not away our precious hours in Idleness and Impertinence but work out our Salvation with all that Care and Solicitude a matter of such moment requires even with Fear and Trembling It endeavour◠by all the endearing Methods of everlasting Love and Kindness to allure and charm us into the Practice of all Vertues beseeching us even by the Mercies of God all those ineffable Appearances of Goodness which take up the Wonder the Praises and the Adorations of the Sons of God in Glory that we think no Sacrifices worthy of our Maker but such as are offer'd in the purest Fires the most ardent and brightest Flames of Seraphick Love That the Redeem'd of the Lord declare not his Glory in such feeble Sounds and Voices as are the faint Echoes of a distant Valley but that they clap their hands together with Joy and Chearfulness and sing Praises to him lustily and with a good Courage That our Souls with all their Powers and Faculties magnifie and set forth the admirable Greatness of the Lord and our Minds also or Spirits rejoyce with Joy unspeakable in God their Saviour In a word That we do not the Work of the Lord negligently nor be remiss and slothful in the great Business of our Souls but always fervent in Spirit vigorously industrious to improve all those Talents all those golden Opportunities God intrusts us with to our greatest Advantage with our utmost Diligence serving the Lord. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might The Reasonableness of which Exhortation I shall briefly represent to you from these following Considerations I. From the Nature of God II. From the Nature of our own Souls III. From the transcendent and inestimable Value of the Rewards that attend us And IV. From the exceeding Brevity or Shortness of the time we are allow'd to work in 1. From the Nature of God Was God indeed such a one as the Epicureans fansi'd him to be a Being taken up with the Fruition and Contemplation of his own Blessedness and that would never vouchsafe to respect the humble Addresses and Supplications of his most faithful Servants we should have no great reason to wonder at that Coldness and Indifferency that lukewarm and careless Behaviour which appears so visibly in our Religious Performances Nay I could willingly conclude with the Wise * Senec. de Benef. lib. 4. cap. 4. Heathen that nothing but pure Madness could induce Mankind to bestow any Worship at all upon such a Being who as though he was deaf as Baal and helpless as Dagon after all their Wrestlings and Importunities would neither hear them nor help them But alas we have no such Pretence or Subterfuge for our Impiety The God whom we serve is indeed that Blessedness and Eternal Being that rests upon his own Center without the Assistance of any External Object enjoying infinite Delight and Complacency from the solitary Contemplation of his own Essential Perfections He dwells in the high and lofty Place encircled with such transcendent Rays of Light that the brightest Seraphim veil their Faces and at an awful distance adore his inaccessible Glory Yet do Mercy and Goodness so essentially sit enthron'd with his glorious Majesty that even he who thus inhabits Eternity humbleth himself to behold the things that are done both in Heaven and Earth The Lord looketh down from Heaven says the * Psal 33.13 Psalmist and beholds all the Children of Men from the habitation of his Dwelling he considereth all them that dwell upon the Earth And the Philosophick Orator without the help of Revelation Sit persuasum civibus says he and so on i. e. Let all the Citizens assuredly know that God takes particular notice what manner of Persons we are with what Mind and Devotion we perform the Acts of our Religious Worship and that he will deal with every man according to his Works He is not a petty Prince 1 King 20.13 28. as the Syrians profanely imagin'd whose Knowledge and Soveraignty are confin'd only to a particular Province but the Lord most High is terrible he is a great King over all the Earth Not only the shining Inhabitants of the Courts above the innumerable and invincible Legions of Glorious Angels but the inferiour Troops likewise of natural Causes serve under his Banner and duly execute his Commands He maketh the Spirits or Winds his Messengers and the flaming Fires his Agents or Ministers The Clouds at his Command drop Fatness upon the Hills and Mountains and the Valleys likewise by his Blessing stand in their Season so thick with Corn that they laugh and sing Yea the most casual and seemingly fortuitous Actions are order'd by his Wisdom and the Sun sees nothing in all his Course so little and inconsiderable but what falls under his Care and Providence He feeds the young Ravens that call upon him and the Lions roaring after their prey do seek and receive their Meat from God By him do the Rose in Sharon and the Lily of the Valleys on play their fragrant Beauties and the airy Choiristers securely sit upon the Boughs and sing not one of them falling to the ground without our heavenly Father Yea the very Hairs of our Head says our Lord are all numbred In short no Space no Place exludes his Presence He penetrates into the Center of our Spirits enters the secret Chambers the closest Recesses and Retirements of our Hearts yea and discovers all our most secret Thoughts and Imaginations long before we our selves do even before they are He is about our Paths and about our Beds and spies out all our ways Now then considering the Nature of God how ought our Souls think ye to be employ'd in his Worship and Service Is this God whose Majesty fills Heaven and Earth to be approach'd with flat and tepid Devotions Is he fond of trifling impertinent Ceremonies or to be pleas'd with Lip-Devotion and complemental Addresses
all things made Visible and Invisible Those most glorious and exalted Sons of the Morning who when the Foundations of the World were laid sang melodiously together and shouted for Joy as well as the Beasts of the Field All Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers in Heaven and Earth as well as the subordinate Classes of inferiour Beings and who still upholds them all by the Word of his Power This is the Person that comes to Save us Even He †Phil. 2.6 7. who subsisted in the Form or Nature of God and therefore thought it no Robbery but his inviolable Right to be Equal with God makes himself of no Reputation but takes upon him the Form or Nature of a Servant and is made in the Likeness of Men. Deus Humanâ visit sab imagine terras God himself I say even the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity and whose Name is Great Wonderful and Holy the Lord Jehovah with whom is Everlasting Strength in very deed bows the Heavens and comes down to dwell among Men. Well then might the officious Host of Heaven the Quires of Angels who long desir'd to see the Mystery of this Day usher in the Birth of this great Prince with Songs and Allelujahs Well might one of them cloath'd with the Brightness and Similitude of a Star call the Levantine Princes the great and Learned Magi as Emblems of his Future Conquests over the Princes and Learned Sages of the Heathen World to do him Obeisance and others wing'd with Joy and Triumph carry these glad Tidings to the humble Shepherds and send them likewise as the First-fruits of his own People to pay their Homage to their Lord. For had the heavenly Host been silent the Lowest Class of Beings the very senseless and inanimate Parts of impatient Nature had questionless found a Voice to have told us That unto us a Son was born unto us a Child was given whose Government is upon his Shoulders and whose Goings forth from Everlasting But now how miserable and wretched was our Captivity which the Arm of Omnipotence only could lead captive How thick and dismal the Darkness we were in which the irresistable Rays of the Sun of Righteousness only could disperse and scatter How weighty and insupportable that Wrath which nothing could appease but the adequate Condescensions of an Infinite Love Where were all those spotless Beauties of the Upper World Those kind compassionate Spirits who seem to make it a great Part of their Heaven to relieve us here below Where all those bright Squadrons of exalted Seraphims whose Names are renown'd and glorious for their transcendent Love in the Habitations of Men here as well as in the Mansions of Glory Could not these unstain'd pure and undefiled Images of our heavenly Father These faultless innocent and unblameable Beings who continually surround his Throne with Anthems of Praise intercede for and reconcile the offended Deity to Sinful Man No we were such heinous Offenders that nothing less than God himself could satisfie for our Faults These Blessed Spirits could only in strains of Sorrow lament our Fall and with a Pity and Concern commensurate to the passible Nature of such happy Beings expect the Final determination of Infinite Wisdom Goodness and Justice I know many Learned Men both Ancient and Modern are of Opinion That God might have pardon'd the Sins of Mankind without any Satisfaction made to his Justice Solo nutu jussu voluntate merely by the unexceptionable Prerogative of his Soveraign Will and Power and that 't was only to shew his great Concern for the Honour of his Laws and his everlasting Hatred and Detestation of Sin that he humbled his own Son to become a propitiation for it Far be it from me to intrench upon the Divine Omnipotence or impiously to say to his Goodness what himself does to the Sea Hitherto shalt thou come but no farther and here shall thy Operations be staid Yet I think we may venture to affirm that these Excellent Persons seem to be so enamour'd with the Beauty of that lovely Attribute his Mercy that they have hardly vouchsaf'd to cast so much as one glance upon his Justice Mercy I acknowledge is his Favourite his darling Excellence the very Flower and Beauty as I may so say of his Nature in which his Soul takes most Delight and Complacency And this consider'd alone might have remitted the whole Debt without any payment at all or at least have accepted the Satisfaction of an Angel But then I consider on the other hand that Justice is as Essential to him as Mercy and that as the one is infinite so is the other too Now Justice you know demands the whole Debt should be discharg'd and the Sinner not releas'd till he has one way or other paid the uttermost Farthing But which I pray of all the Angels is sufficient for these things or where shall we find amongst those Finite tho' glorious Beings a Saviour able to satisfie Infinite Justice for the Sins of the whole World The Blessed Jesus look'd and saw there was none to help and wonder'd there was no Intercessor therefore his own Arm brought Salvation to him and his Righteousness it sustain'd him What I say none of all Created Beings none of the heavenly Powers those Magisterial and Master-pieces of his Creation could Undertake the Son of God himself humbly descends from his Throne of Glory even down to his Foot-stool to perform and accomplish Welcome then thrice welcome Blessed Jesu into thine own World Welcome to the unhappy Dwellings of forlorn and helpless Man May the sense of thine infinite Love enlarge thy Dominions and cause all People Nations and Languages to rise up and call thee Blessed May all Nations whom thou hast made come and worship thee and glorifie thy Name For thou art Great and dost wonderous things thou art God alone Now then my Brethren let us not so ill requite this stupendous Condescension of the Son of God as to debase him as some impious and ungrateful Wretches do beneath the Condition he humbled himself unto Let us not I say for his infinite Love cast Dirt in his Face or because he vouchsaf'd to assume the Infirmities of Humane Nature despoil him as much as we can of the Glory and Majesty of the Divine Though his Beauty was benighted under a Cloud there was Form and Comeliness enough in him that we should desire him The unconverted * Joseph de Antiq. Jud. l. 18. c. 4. Jew himself will tell us that his Divinity like the Sun shining through a Cloud gave such Illustration and Testimony to all his Actions that 't was hardly lawful to call him a Man And now he has run his Race and finished his Course the Cloud is remov'd and the Mists all scatter'd before the prevailing Sun The Incarnate God shines forth in his full Glory and Triumph yea he is now altogether lovely 'T is the highest Repast of Angels and the peculiar Entertainment of
Glorified Spirits to behold admire and praise his excellent Greatness and when our enlarged Souls shall fly away to the same blissful Mansions and be admitted to the Comprehensions of an intuitive Beatitude they shall with equal Satisfaction contemplate his Divine Beauty and as skilfully tune their Harps to his Praises as they Let us therefore in the mean time lay our Hand upon our Mouth and with all due Prostration both of Body and Mind adore this great Mystery of Goodness this astonishing Miracle of the Divine Mercy and Condescention which though above the adequate Comprehension of our Reason is put beyond all possibility of Distrust being most amply confirm'd to us by the concurrent and infallible Testimony of God Angels and Men. At his Baptism and Transfiguration you know he was proclaim'd by a Voice from Heaven to be the Beloved Son of God in whom he was well pleas'd And again when he bringeth in his First-begotten into the World he commands that this Exinanition of himself this Obscuration of his Essential Glory under the Veil of Humane Flesh may not diminish one Ray from the Honour of his Divine Majesty but that all the Potentates in Heaven and Earth fall down and worship him Worship him †Psal 97.7 says he all ye Gods all ye Angels and Thrones in Heaven all ye Kings and Judges of the Earth The holy Angels with their usual Chearfulness obey'd the Royal Orders They humbly ador'd the holy Child Jesus and stood ready through all the Periods of his Life to Serve and Worship him St. Peter though he saw him not so clearly as these Blessed Spirits generously confess'd that he was Christ the Son of the Living God and he receiv'd this Confirmation from the Mouth of our Lord himself That Flesh and Blood had not reveal'd it unto him but his Father only which is in Heaven Nay to the everlasting Shame and Confusion of the unbelieving Sons of Men the Devils themselves have ever subscrib'd to this Article They knew and confess'd him here on Earth and still believe and tremble The over-aw'd and trembling ‖ Vid. Suidam in August Oracle plainly confess'd to the Roman Emperour at his Birth that though he appear'd under all the disadvantageous Circumstances of Humanity and Weakness He was the Soveraign Lord and King of the blest Beings above * Luke 8.28 which was afterwards confirm'd by a whole Legion of unclean Spirits when in the Man possess'd they joyntly lifted up their Voices to him with a Jesus thou Son of God Most High But to what purpose I say was all this or why all this Noise and Ostentation had he not been the Son of God in another and more excellent manner than were any of the Sons of Men who either liv'd with him or that went before him had there not been something in it extraordinary that entitled him to so sublime and divine a Privilege Angels Kings and Prophets I confess are frequently call'd the Sons of God They have a larger Participation of his Power or a Communication of more special Grace than is indulg'd and granted to his other Children but yet their Honour and Dignity fall infinitely short of that of Jesus the Son of God For to which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this Day have I begotten thee Or who is he amongst all those exalted Sons of the Most High whom the Father advanc'd to sit at his own Right-hand till his Enemies are made his Footstool David you know was a King and yet he calls him Lord and John the Baptist though he was more than a Prophet was never by Angels Men or Devils acknowledg'd to be properly the Son of God no these are the high Prerogatives of our Lord Christ Jesus to him alone belong the most glorious and supereminent Titles of his own Son his only Son his only Begotten and the Heir of all things So that in all things I say he has the Preheminence But the Scriptures if possible speak plainer yet They not only instruct by natural and necessary Illations and Consequences but also to prevent all Cavils and Disputes are careful in many places to assert this Truth as clearly and as expresly as Words can speak * Joh. 20.28 29. St. Thomas believes and confesseth to him that he is his Lord and God and those who should afterwards inherit the same Faith are pronounced Blessed The Beloved †Joh. 1.1 Disciple is positive that the Word was God and in the Close of his first Epistle speaking of Jesus to shew against an Objection which he rightly foresaw would be afterwards urg'd against the Christians that they might safely worship him without any Fear or Danger of that Idolatry which the Heathens were guilty of in worshipping their Daemons This says he is not Deus factus a made God a God by Office not by Nature but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the True God The Learn'd * 1 Cor. 15.87 1 Tim. 3.16 Rom. 9.5 Apostle adds that this Second Man is the Lord from heaven and God manifested in the Flesh and again most blasphemously if not truly this being that particular Eulogy which is due only to Jehovah the one Supreme Eternal God of Israel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God over all Blessed for Ever and Ever Nay not to mention the many Repetitions of this most glorious Doxology to him in other places of Scripture This is that good Confession our Lord himself made before his Judge He had all along to the Rage and Amazement of his Enemies held his peace shewing by his Silence that he despis'd all their Accusations as certain and apparent Calumnies But no sooner is urg'd to determine this Point but he opens his Mouth and decides the matter I adjure thee by the living God * Mat. 26.63 64. says the High-Priest that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God Jesus after their modest way of Affirmation saith unto him Thou hast said Or as St. Mark more positively Jesus said I am 'T is certain the High-Priest understood him not in that Vulgar Sense wherein Great and Righteous Persons Kings and Prophets are call'd the Sons of God but that he affirm'd himself to be so in the Literal Proper and Natural Signification of the words For otherwise he could not upon the account of this Confession have charg'd him with Blasphemy nor consequently the Council have voted him to be guilty of Death Thus too in the Fifth of St. John he tells the Jews plainly that God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his own Father making himself thereby as they rightly concluded to be Equal with God And in another Conference with them in the Tenth of that Evangelist He not only owns himself to be the Christ and the Son of God in the most proper sence but adds farther that He and his Father are One One not in Will only but in Essence Glory Honour and Power I am sure the Jews understood him
Death This last Enemy has at present an absolute and entire Domination over us our Beauty Honour and Glory mouldering and consuming all away in his insatiable Dwellings But yet he who hath the Keys of Hell and of Death hath promis'd to unlock the Doors of these loathsome Prisons and to let the Prisoners go forth into a state of Liberty and Glory He turneth Man to Destruction but his Almighty Voice will one day call through all the Receptacles of Nature Come again ye Children of Men. By him lastly who liveth and was dead and is alive for evermore shall those that sleep in the Dust of the Earth be awak'd and sing Death is swallowed up in Victory Which Consideration alone as it is full of Comfort and Joy and Triumph to every faithful Christian so is it likewise sufficient to curb the Arrogance and Haughtiness of that Apostate Spirit Who therefore says an ingenious * Br. Rel. Med. pag. 87. Author of our own chiefly frequents Coemeteries Charnel-Houses and Churches because they are the Dormitories of the Dead where like an insolent Champion he beholds with Pride the Spoils and Trophies of his Victory over Adam And thus I have discharg'd my first General Head which was to shew the Greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ I now proceed to my Second which is very briefly to lay before you our Inexcusableness and the intolerable Aggravations of our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect it How shall we escape c. 1. Then we shall be utterly inexcusable and intolerably aggravate our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect this great Salvation which Christ hath wrought for us because we shall be entirely destitute of the mollifying Circumstances and Considerations of Ignorance Whilst Men had little or no Understanding but walk'd on still in Darkness 't was no wonder that the Foundations of the Moral as well as of the Intellectual World were out of course Their broken Notices of another State and beggarly Conceptions of its Delights and Entertainments induc'd them rather to let loose the Reins to their Intemperance than to correct and retrench the Luxuriancy of their Vices A more delicious Canaan the Fields and Groves of Elysium and a Mahometan Paradise naturally lead Men to an unbounded Gratification of their sensual Appetites as to that which is the End and Perfection of their Beings their ultimate Portion in the Regions of Eternity So that a truly moral Man with such Perswasions about him would be an Object equally strange and surprizing as Fewel or dry Stubble that will not take fire in the midst of a burning firy Furnace But now with Christians is the Case quite otherwise We know for certain both the Existence and Nature of the other State That for pure and holy Souls who are entirely cleans'd from the Stains and Pollutions of corrupted Nature and rais'd to the Possession of their Primitive Brightness remains a most glorious and undefil'd Inheritance Entertainments most agreeable to their enlarged Faculties exalted and divine Joys for evermore That for impure and sensual Souls on the contrary who fight under the Banner of the World and the Flesh forsaking God that made them and lightly esteeming the Rock of their Salvation is prepar'd a Worm that will never die and a Fire that will ne'er be quench'd We know I say that Refin'd and Purified Souls will be receiv'd into serene undisturbed Mansions of everlasting Happiness the City of the Living God the Heavenly Jerusalem where with all the shining and innumerable Companies of Holy Angels they shall for ever behold and praise the unfolded Beauties of their God and Saviour That on the other hand there are sad uncomfortable Regions of Darkness and Misery where Fire and Brimstone Storms and Tempests will be the lamentable and everlasting Portion of the Ungodly Fire and Brimstone to possess inflame and torment their Bodies and the Storms and Tempests of an enraged Conscience impetuously to hurry their awak'ned Souls through all the unhappy Stages of that woful Eternity If we then dare to commit Wickedness who have received this clear Knowledge of its sad Effects and Consequences that it cuts off all our hopes of the Glories of Heaven and irrevocably condemns us to the unconceivable Agonies and Amazements of Hell we put our selves beyond all possibility of Excuse and as our Saviour himself assures us unmeasurably enhanse the Severities of our Condemnation This is the Condemnation * Joh. 3.19 says he with an Emphasis i. e. the highest the greatest the most intolerable Condemnation that when Light is come into the World Men love Darkness rather than Light In a word God may vouchsafe to wink at the times of Ignorance and graciously overlook the unhappy Miscarriages of the unenlightned World He may be favourable to the Servant that knows not his Will and therefore does unwittingly things worthy of Stripes But Christians who know their Lord's Will and yet prepare not themselves nor do accordingly will have nothing to plead or pretend for their Disobedience and therefore will most certainly be beaten with many Stripes 2. We shall be utterly inexcusable and intolerably aggravate our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect this great Salvation which Christ has wrought for us because we thereby become guilty of the vilest Ingratitude We know the infinite Obligations to Duty and Gratitude which our Heavenly Father has laid upon us all the Stratagems of his Goodness the astonishing Miracles of Divine Mercy and Condescension That he whom the Virgins the untainted Beings above adore and love meekly drew a veil over his Essential Glories and cloath'd himself with Flesh for the Society of Mankind That the Eternal Independent All-sufficient One stoop'd down for our sakes to the lowest Estate of Uneasiness and Need and the Lord and Governour of all the Kingdoms of the Earth vouchsaf'd to dwell among us though he scarce found a place where to lay his Head That the King of Glory was contented not only to be despis'd and rejected of Men to become a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief but also to suffer his most precious Life to be most cruelly and ignominiously taken from among Men that be might entitle us again to Happiness and Glory Nay we have seen the only begotten Son of the Living God oppress'd and groaning under a heavier load of Misery than all this almost sinking under the insupportable Burthen of his Father's Wrath and in the Anguish and Bitterness of 〈◊〉 Soul most lamentably complaining tâ— his Father too whom he had never offeâ—â—ed had for the Foulness and Blackneâ—â— our Iniquities hid his Face from him 〈◊〉 more we are sensible that we our seâ— have been the Betrayers and Murtherers of the Lord of Life that he has frequently bled afresh and been crucify'd again 〈◊〉 our new Sins that our repeated Impieties have wounded his sacred Side and the 〈◊〉 rows of our Ingratitude pierc'd him to 〈◊〉 very Heart How notwithstanding 〈◊〉 this he
by a Bull fix'd up by some Priests in London pretended to absolve all her Subjects from their Fealty and Allegiance Witness that Unfortunate Prince Henry III. of France who within the Compass of this last Century was stabb'd by one of his own Subjects James Clement a Monk only for favouring the Protestant Religion Which tho' an Execrable Villainous and Diabolical Act was so far from being censur'd or condemn'd by Sixtus Quintus then Pope that his Holiness both approv'd and also highly extoll'd it in a long Consistory Oration calling it an excellent glorious and memorable exploit not atchiev'd without the special Providence and Appointment of the Great and Good God and the Suggestion and Assistance of his most Holy Spirit Witness that grievous Massacre which in our own memory the Huguenots suffered in France which tho' equalling at least the heat of any of the ten famous Persecutions by the Heathen Emperors was yet applauded by Innocent the Eleventh as a thing pleasing unto God a Sacrifice of sweet savour which would advance that bloody Tyrant to a very eminent Station in the Regions of Immortality 'T would be endless to run through all the Butcheries they have committed No Design so horrible and bloody no Attempt so mischievous and treacherous no Enterprize so base and cruel but what you may find committed by them under the sacred Name of Religion and Conscience For Witness lastly the black unparallell'd Undertaking of this Day when against all the Laws of God and Man of Justice and Gratitude of Humanity and Reason one of the Best of Kings and most Indulgent of Princes was with the Queen and Prince at one Thunder Clap to have been sent to Heaven One might reasonable expect to hear of some unusual Provocation that rais'd these Mens Spirits to such an incredible height of Immanity But alas the most enraged of them never seriously alledg'd any and if they had the very Stones in the Wall would have found a Voice to have condemn'd them For if Mercy and Goodness if Kindness and Benevolence if Paternal Care and Royal Indulgence have any Charms or Endearments they all concentred in that Excellent Prince they thought to have destroy'd Past Experience had richly demonstrated how impatiently these Blood-hounds thirsted after Royal Blood yet so gloriously did his Mercy triumph over his other Virtues that he not only wink'd at their Misdeeds but gave them likewise free Access to his Person honoured some of them with particular Dignities and as he declares * Pag. 253. himself so animated and encouraged them by his as much unexpected as undeserved Favours that they did directly expect and assuredly promise themselves Liberty of Conscience and Equality with his other Subjects in all things And yet as tho' we must first cease to be Men before we can commence Papists and renounce both our Reason and Conscience to become servants to his Holiness tho' under the benign Influence of his so happy Reign they bask'd themselves in the pleasant Rivers of overflowing Felicity tho' I say they sat under his Shadow with great Delight whilst his Banner over them was Love the poysonous Seeds of that pestilential Heresie had as appears from their own Confessions so infected or rather quite choak'd the good Seed of Nature that notwithstanding all the Obligations that Heaven and Earth could lay upon them Hell got the upper hand and they thirsted after his Blood Good God! That Men who profess themselves the Disciples of a poor despis'd and crucifi'd Saviour whose Life tho' he had all the heavenly Host at his Command was one continued Lecture of Humility Meekness and Self-denial and whose whole Doctrine resolvable into this one Precept Love one another should be so far from following his Example in saving Mens Lives and doing all the Good they can that they go about with his Profess'd Adversary seeking whom they may devour That the Professors of that Religion which is made up of Purity Piety Peace and Holiness should delight in cruel Treacheries bloody Massacres and tragical Murthers nay think by so doing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as our * Joh. 16.2 Saviour speaks even to offer a Sacrifice to God as tho' he would be pleas'd with that sort of Worship which the most barbarous and brutish part of Mankind us'd to give to the Devil Does it not seize you with Amazement to think that the Servants of the Prince of Peace should delight above all others to imbrue their hands in Blood and that the Followers of the meek Lamb of God should degenerate into ravenous Wolves and Tygers That the Vicar of Christ who expresly declares that his Kingdom is not of this World should magisteriously take upon him to dispose of Crowns and Scepters and insolently to trample upon the Necks of Kings and Emperours Certainly if these things are indeed consonant to the Principles of Christanity I know no Reason that great Statist Machiavel had to complain that it rendered Men unfit for cruel Undertakings or why those Heathen Emperours which Persecuted it most should not be canoniz'd for Saints since they undoubtedly did the Office of good Patriots in endeavouring to rid the World of such Men who made it their business to turn it upside down But Quid Christiani laeserant Regna terrena How the Christians had caus'd any Molestation or Damage to the Kingdoms of the Earth was justly demanded by St. Austin For tho' from their frequent Discourses of that Kingdom which they expected hereafter their Enemies erroneously suspected them to be disaffected to the Government 't is abundantly evident both from their Writings and Practice that they were Caesar's best Friends They did not indeed with his other subjects exalt him above the Level of despis'd Mortality and therefore they neither gave him Sacrifice nor swore by his Genius but what really became good and pious Men they fought his Battels honour'd his Person rever'd his Power paid his Tribute offer'd up Prayers for him and obey'd his Laws unless where they evidently contradicted the Laws of Christ and where they did submitted to the most cruel Penalties they laid upon them with the greatest Calmness and Serenity of Soul And when notwithstanding all this they were accus'd as indeed they often were as Enemies to Caesar they thought it highly concern'd them for the Honour of their Religion by all means possible to wipe off these Stains which were falsly laid upon them and accordingly we find them in their Apologies and other Writings with all the Zeal imaginable vindicating themselves from such malicious Aspersions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Cat. 10. says St. Cyril 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We beseech God for the common Peace of the Churches for the Quiet of the World for our Kings their Souldiers and Auxiliaries And †Ap. c. 30. Tertullian Precantes sumus Omnes sempèr pro omnibus imperatoribus and so on i. e. We all do continually pray that God would give our Emperours a long Life a
free Possession of your Estates and the Happiness of being Members of the most uncorrupted Church in the World are things that can in reason pretend to our Gratitude we of all Men in the World are the most indebted O then let us never with the ungrateful Israelites hanker again after these loathsome Flesh-pots nor when we have eaten and drank to the full rise up to play with this Harlot any more She will often no doubt be tempting and ensnaring you and by her Paints and Colours gaudy Shows and Pompous Pageantry endeavour to entice you again into her Embraces But remember 't is only a treacherous Syren's Voice which only therefore courts you that she may make you her Prey She seeks not you but yours and how Zealous soever she may seem for your Welfare the Term of her desire is only her own She knows the Fruitfulness of your Land the Liberality of your Soil and the Pleasantness of your Dwellings She remembers how she once rang'd without Controul over all your pleasant Pastures and chose out the fattest of your Lands for her to sport and play in and therefore since for the foul Apostasie she made from her Primitive Innocence the flaming Sword and the Guardian Spirits debar her from re-entring this Paradise 't is no Wonder if the better to deceive us she transform her self for a time into an Angel of Light But I trust the wakeful eye of Providence will still discover her Treacheries and not suffer us any more to be ensnar'd by her Smiles And then for her Frowns we are sure they cannot hurt us Those Curses she so liberally throws against us will I doubt not take wing and fly back upon her self and all those Bulls and Interdicts Anathema's Curses and Excommunications which yearly in Passion Week the better to prepare her self for the Celebration of the Lords Supper she charitably denounceth against us either prove Bruta fulmina Thunder-claps which indeed make a Noise but want a killing Bolt or by woful Rebounds turn the direful Execution upon her own Head In a word If we take care to walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are call'd and not dishonour Reform'd Religion by the Deformity of our Lives maugre all the Malice of Earth and Hell of Men and Devils we shall undoubtedly be sav'd Damnation will not be inflicted according to mens Passions and Uncharitableness neither will the grim Faces and dreadful Menaces of Romish Emissaries exclude us from the Favour and Blessing of Heaven Tho' they reject us Christ will embrace us Tho' they turn us out of their Synagogues God will receive us under his Wings and provided we forfeit not his Protection by our Misdemeanours the Angel of his Presence will undoubtedly continue to save us till Time it self shall be no more Wherefore that we may not peculiarly incur this Judgment by our Ingratitude but duly express our Joy and Thankfulness to God for the transcendent Mercy of this Day let us 3. Take Care both to continue our selves and also to bequeath to our Posterity a grateful Remembrance of it How near was the Daughter of Zion to be covered with a Cloud and to be trampled under foot by her treacherous Enemies The Net you have heard was cast about her and the Fowlers even hasting to the Slaughter The Train was laid all the Instruments of death prepar'd and there remain'd nothing to make us an Holocaust to the Roman Moloch but just putting the lighted Match to the Powder And yet methinks I hear the Church full of Faith saying Tho' no Danger was ever like to any Danger yet I charge You O ye Daughters of Jerusalem by the Roes and by the Hinds of the Field that ye stir not up nor awake my Love 'till he please For how forlorn and destitute soever I may seem to some yet I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine tho' therefore he tarries he will not be long but will in due time look forth as the Morning fair as the Moon clear as the Sun and terrible as an Army with Banners And indeed her Beloved came when she expected him not He was found of her when she sought not after him He awaked as one out of Sleep and look'd and saw there was none to help and wondred that there was none to uphold Therefore his own Arm brought Salvation to her and his infinite Goodness alone upheld her May then that God who has thus wonderfully wrought for us in snatching us from the Mouth of the Lion and the Paw of the Bear be ever blessed and the Remembrance of this unspeakable Mercy never defac'd so long as the Sun and Moon shall endure May those glorious Spirits which before pity'd our Danger and now rejoyce at our Deliverance never be frustrated in their Expectations but see all our Members and Faculties our Lips and Lives Hearts and Voices harmoniously singing the Triumphs of the Lord and in the continual Order Concord and Congruity declaring the infinite Goodness of our God that so our Candlestick may never be remov'd for our Ingratitude but tho' Darkness cover the Earth and gross Darkness the People This Church may still be a Crown of Glory in the Hand of the Lord and a Royal Diadem in the Hand of her God that the Gentiles may admire her Beauty and the Sons also of them that afflicted her come bending unto her and all they that despis'd her bow themselves down at the Soles of her Feet and all the Nations round about call her the City of the Lord the Zion of the Holy one of Israel Lastly May she be covered with the Robes of Righteousness and continually cloath'd with the Garments of Salvation 'till the Great Year of Jubilee the time of her final Redemption shall come when God shall put an End to all Prejudices and Animosities all Struglings and contentions and all the Elect with Crowns on their Heads and Palms in their hands shall make one perfect Harmony in singing the eternal Praise of God and of the Lamb. Which blessed time God in his Mercy hasten through Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit Three Persons and One God be ascrib'd as is most due all Honour Glory Power Might Majesty Dominion and Thanksgiving from this time forth and for evermore Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for RICHARD SARE AND JOSEPH HINDMARSH FAbles of Esop and other Eminent Mythologists with Morals and Reflections Folio The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Octavo Seneca's Morals Octavo Erasmus's Colloquies Octavo Tully's Offices Twelves Bona's Guide to Eternity Twelves All six by Sir Roger L'Estrange The Genuine Epistles of St. Barnabas St. Ignatius St. Clement St. Polycarp The Shepherd of Hermas and the Martyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp Translated and Published with a large Preliminary Discourse by W. Wake D. D. Octavo A Practical Discourse concerning Swearing by Dr. Wake Octavo Compleat Sets consisting of Eight Volumes of Letters writ by a Turkish Spy who lived forty five years undiscovered at Paris giving an Impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most remarkable Transactions of Europe during the said time Twelves Humane Prudence or the Art by which a Man may raise himself and Fortune to Grandeur the sixth Edition Twelves Moral Maxims and Reflections in four Parts written in French by the Duke of Rochefoucault now made English Twelves Epictetus's Morals with Simplicius's Comment made English from the Greek by George Stanhop late Fellow of King's College Cambridge Octavo The Parson's Councellor or the Law of Tythes by Sir Simon Degge Octavo Of the Art both of Writing and Judging of History with Reflections upon Ancient as well as Modern Historians by the Learned and Ingenious Father Le Moyne Twelves An Essay on Reason by Sir George Mackenzie Twelves The Unlawfulness of Bonds of Resignation Octavo The Doctrine of a God and Providence vindicated and asserted by Tho. Gregory late of Wadham College Oxford and now Lecturer near Fulham Octavo Some Discourses on several Divine Subjects by the same Author Octavo Death made Comfortable or the Way to Die well by John Kettlewell a Presbyter of the Church of England Twelves Dr. Gregory's Divine Antidote against the Socinians Octavo Dr. Wake 's Thanksgiving Sermon Dr. Gregory's Thanksgiving Sermon