witty Parable forc'd open the Conscience of David when the terrours of God began to take hold of him he immediately ran to the horns of this Altar According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my sins and my transgressions This is the argument which God himself cannot resist See with what zeal and holy Rapture it is pleaded by Daniel in behalf of the Captives of Babylon O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord hearken and do defer not for thine own sake O! my God for thy City and thy people are call'd by thy Name NOW we may easily guess what stress the Apostle laid upon this Argument like a skilful Orator he reserves his strongest motives for the last Place that by one stroke he might batter down all Objections He had sufficiently reasoned the case in the former Chapters and now he pleads that his Reasonings may not be in vain that they may not resist so much Light and Authority but rather that they ought to give way to their own Convictions and the true designs of Christianity and yield up themselves an entire Victim to the Will of God IT is usual with the Apostle when he recommends those comprehensive Duties that have in them the Soul and strength of Christianity to enforce them by this Argument If there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort of Love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels of mercies c. But shortly the reasons why the Apostle pitch'd upon this Argument are these I. BECAUSE the contempt of God's mercies is attended with the sharpest and the saddest marks of his displeasure and indignation And this is just in its self if we consider that we have nothing to say on our own behalf when we trample upon his Love and Mercy So argues the Author to the Hebrews How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him And again He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy that hath trodden under foot the blood of the Son of God The contempt of his Love and Mercy manifested in the Gospel is the most inexcusable folly and madness This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light This is the Vinegar and Gall that fill the Souls of the damn'd with self-horror confusion and indignation This is the thought that eternally disquiets the dark Habitations below viz. that once they might have been sav'd that once they had their day and that they refus'd the Light when it shin'd No Tortures so exquisite as the lashes of an inrag'd Conscience The Light that they despis'd whilst they were here looks them broad in the face and makes them roar to all Eternity And these accusations of the Soul against it self the upbraidings and inward whips of the Mind make up the miseries of an intellectual Being 2. THE Apostle made choice of this Argument from the Mercies of God in this place when he summ'd up the whole Christian practice into one Exhortation because his Mercies in the Gospel are his last remedy for our Recovery Upon other occasions the Apostle moves men to their duty by the consideration of his Power So he exhorts the Corinthians Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord we persuade Men. But there are other Arguments to move us when those from his Power and Sovereignty are us'd If we sin against his Dominion and Power we fly to his Mercy but when we sin against his Mercy there is not another Attribute in God to which we can fly his Mercy is the last remedy for the recovery of Mankind This is decipher'd excellently in that Parable of the Gospel the Master of the Vinyard when all his former Servants and Messengers had been baffled and abus'd resolves at last to send his beloved Son It may be said he they will reverence him when they see him and if they did not the patience and goodness of God was no longer to struggle with them If we reflect a little on the weight and solemnity of this Preface we may justly infer the consequence of that Exhortation to which it is prefix'd I beseech you by the most sacred Mysteries of our Religion I beseech you by all that is amiable and delightful by the mercies of God that soften the most rugged dispositions and melt the most obdur'd hearts by that great Propitiation brought to light by the Gospel that you would present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service AND this leads me to consider this Exhortation more particularly The Apostle asserted formerly our freedom from the Levitical Sacrifices and lest we should think that by our Christian Liberty we are loos'd from all worship and obedience he informs us here what was the Sacrifice that was chiefly design'd under the Symbols and Figures of the ancient Law and indispensably requir'd under the Oeconomy of the Gospel And tho Interpreters may vary in their Expressions yet all of them must agree that there is no more intended than that the Christians instead of Beasts and bloody Sacrifices would offer up themselves i. e. their Wills Strength and Affections with purity and zeal to the service of God The word in the Original in several good Authors signifies persons That ye present your bodies i. e. Your selves for this under the New Testament is the only acceptable Sacrifice This is the whole of the Christian Religion this is the life and design of the former Ceremonies and this is the Abstract and Compend of all true Worship And because this one truth is of such vast consequence to the Souls of Men and hath in it the Spirit and Quintessence of all practical Devotion I shall endeavour to recommend it and give further light unto it in the following Method 1. I WILL consider the excellency of this Sacrifice abstractly and in it self 2. THE value that God did set upon it when the Levitical Sacrifices were prescribed by the Law and were most in vogue amongst the Jews 3. THAT this Sacrifice was principally intended by all the care caution and ceremony wherewith all other Sacrifices were offered 4. I WILL separately explain the Epithets by which this Sacrifice is recommended with allusion to the old Sacrifices of the Law And from all these particulars we must necessarily conclude that this is the Sacrifice that truly recommends us to God 1. LET us view the excellency of this Sacrifice and total surrender of our selves to his disposal There is nothing else suitable to the Divine Nature it is not Gold nor Frankincense nor the costly Perfumes of Arabia that propitiate the Deity a Soul purified from vice and sin is his peculiar Habitation Nothing quenches the fire
the Spirit of Jesus 3. Having these promises saith the Apostle let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of the Flesh and of the Spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God 'T is certain that every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure If we are Candidates for eternal life our Souls must be purified from Vice for the pure in heart only shall see God 4. Let us therefore fear lest the promise being left us of entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it The Israelites in the Wilderness came short of the Promises made to them by their sickleness and inconstancy Their goodness was like the early dew as the Prophet speaks and by their cowardice they were afraid of the Children of Anak partly by their unbelief they would not believe Moses nor the faithful Spies And this is easily applicable to our case for there is no way to be saved but to believe the Promises to break through all obstacles to fight the good fight of Faith and to lay hold of eternal life 5. LET us ponder and consider the excellencies of these Promises I shall name but the two Epithets bestow'd upon them in the Text. 1. They are Great 2. They are Precious I say 1. They are Great and that in three regards 1. With regard to their Author the only begotten Son of God whom all the Angels worship and adore He is the brightness of his Fathers glory and the express image of his person and upholds all things by the word of his power This one consideration is enough to overawe the boldest sinner and it is frequently taken notice of to magnifie the Gospel and to recommend to us the Precepts of our Saviour that he was in the form of God and thought it no robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation c. Shall we contemn the Promises made by the Son of God God sent his Son to give the Jews the last and most undenyable proof of his Love and Wisdom Certainly they will reverence my Son Thus reasons the Author to the Hebrews How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him And again He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three Witnesses of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace Against whom does the incorrigible sinner sport himself against the Son of God and the clearest proofs of his love For herein is love not that we loved him but that he loved us and gave his Son to be a propitiation for our sins 2. THE Promises are Great in their intrinsic value I mean not only the Promise of eternal life but all the other Promises that are of a relative and subordinate Nature the Graces of the Spirit the remission of our sins the peace of our Consciences these are things to be valued above Gold and Silver Wisdom is preferred above the choicest Rubies the Gold of Ophir is not to be compar'd unto her Therefore the Graces of the Spirit are compar'd unto the most costly things I counsel thee to buy of me Gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white rayment that thou mayest be cloathed and the shame of thy nakedness do not appear and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see 3. The Promises are Great in their tendency and design to recover the World sunk into Corruption to overthrow the Worship of Devils to enlighten the World to take down the Kingdom of Darkness and to advance the Image of God upon the Souls of Men were designs becoming the Goodness and Majesty of the Son of God But of this I shall have occasion to speak under the fourth Particular And therefore I consider the second Epithet bestowed upon the Promises They are not only Great but 2. PRECIOUS And that in regard of their 1. Price 2. Certainty 3. Durableness 1. In regard of their Price S. Peter informs us that we are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from our vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without spot or blemish There is no Religion wants its Sacrifice and this is the Mysterious Sacrifice of our Religion the blood that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel that powerful Atonement that so successfully pleads for pity and compassion in the ears of God the Sacrifice under whose intercession we come with boldness to the Throne of Grace the Sacrifice that laid aside all the Mosaick Oblations the Sacrifice that was typified by all the former and was more acceptable unto God than the Cattel upon a thousand bills This is the Sacrifice that the Prophets foretold and the Apostles preach'd and upon which we must lean at the hour of death Nature teacheth us to fly to the strongest refuge when we are reduc'd to the saddest extremities And therefore do we grasp the Merit of his Sacrifice in our last conflicts and agonies for he is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world This is the Sacrifice that bears the weight of all their sins who are penitent So reasons the Divine Author to the Hebrews for if the blood of Bulls and of Goats and ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the Flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God THEY that allow him no more than to be a resolute Martyr for the Truth who rob us of the comforts of his Sacrifice and Propitiation take away the great pillar of our hope at the hour of death they would reform us unto a gentile kind of Paganism though there be no error more plainly opposite to the Scriptures than theirs For the Notion of a piacular Sacrifice and the penal substitution of it in the room of the criminal was receiv'd amongst all Nations and the Scripture makes use of the same words that are used by other Authors to express a proper atonement when they speak of the Sacrifice of our blessed Saviour WHEN we consider this it may confirm our hope and withal put us in mind how fearful a thing it is to trample upon the blood of the Son of God for being redeem'd by his blood we are no more our own 2. THE Promises are precious because of their certainty The frame of Nature may sooner be dissolv'd the pillars of the Creation may shake and crumble into their first disorder rather than that his Word should
God saith Isaiah In all publick Sacrifices there was some Ceremony to signifie the translation of the punishment from the People to the Sacrifice Thus the Person among the Heathens that was appointed for a publick Sacrifice had all the Imprecations of the People heaped upon him as he went along the streets But our Saviour did not only expiate the sins of one City Kingdom or Family but the sins of the whole World past present and to come in their most heinous Nature and numberless Aggravations He made Atonement for them all by that one peculiar Sacrifice which needs not again be repeated because it had no imperfection He himself alone bore our sins in his own body on the Tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness And our sins are thus for ever buried if we do not reinflame the Wrath of God by our impenitence Now when we remember the Love of Jesus in dying for us and all the circumstances of his Disgrace and the variety of these peculiar Vertues that appeared in him under his saddest Torture may not we pray in the words of the Greek Church By thy unknown sufferings Lord have mercy upon us NOW I go forward to the second Particular that I propos'd to speak to and that is by whom this Cup was ordered and prepared And our Saviour tells S. Peâ—er that it was the Cup his Father gave him to drink The sufferings of our Saviour were not casual and fortuitous but duly weigh'd by infinite Wisdom So much the Apostles St. Peter and St. John in their Scraphick Prayer acknowledge Of a truth against thy Holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy Counsel determined before to be done I might illustrate this Truth 1. From the signification of Ceremonies under the Law particularly that of the Scape-Goat and the Red Heifer 2. From the Prediction of Prophets especially the Prophecies of Isaiah and Daniel 3. From the nature of his Undertaking whether 1. the Sacrifice that he offer'd or 2. the Religion that he planted I say from all those Heads I might demonstrate this great Truth viz. that the sufferings of our Saviour were weighed and ordered in the Divine Counsel But I must leave this and the third Particular also which was the alacrity and readiness of his Soul to drink this Cup insinuated in the Question propos'd to St. Peter Shall I not drink the Cup that my Father giveth me And those things I leave at present that I may make some Application of what I have already insisted on And 1. CAN we read the History of his Passion without any Concern Are we made of Flint Marble or Adamant O stupid and inconsiderate Sinner Wilt thou look upon him whom thou hast pierced by thy sins We find that when this Tragedy was acted universal Nature seem'd to groan The Sun did hide his head the Earth blush'd to be the Theatre of so much Villany and have we no sense at all When we remember that we were principally accessory to his grievous Torments He was bruis'd for our iniquities he was wounded for our transgressions the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes are we healed Shall we again crucifie him afresh by our treacherous and perfidious impenitence This is a higher outrage than that other committed by the Jews As for his Crucifiers many of them were converted but this obstinate contempt of his Love sets us without the bounds of Mercy tho his mercy be above the heavens and over all his works To provoke him again by our sins is a downright affront to his Love but after such undeniable proofs of his kindness to disbelieve the Gospel is utterly inexcusable Infidelity makes the nearest approaches to the sin against the holy Ghost which I take to be the malicious opposition of that Light and Evidence which God offers for our Conviction When the Messias came he proved his Mission and Authority by the most convincing Miracles and Signs more glorious than ever Moses wrought nor was it reasonable to expect that he should bring with him fairer Credentials to recommend himself and his Doctrine than those he displayed before his Country-men But his Countrymen shut their Eyes against the Light He came unto his own and his own received him not And we are guilty of the very same sin if we trample upon the Gospel which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed by them that heard him He seal'd the Truth by his Death confirm'd it by his Resurrection and by the various Gifts of the holy Ghost proves beyond all contradiction that He is at the right hand of God the Father Secondly DID our Saviour thus die for us Then we ought to treat our selves with greater regard than to be inslav'd to our former sin Did he hide the glory of his Divinity that he might redeem us from misery and despair by his own Blood Was it for this that he took flesh of our Flesh that we might be made partakers of the divine Nature Why do we live like so many mean sordid abject Creatures as if we were confin'd by the frame of our Nature to the Earth only As if we could look no higher than the trifling interests of this World So sadly have we forgot our selves and though very frequently our Pride makes us hateful to God and odious to one another yet do we truckle under the meanest Vices We were not redeem'd with corruptible things such as silver and gold but with the precious blood of the Son of God This is the Argument that St. Paul makes use of to heighten our esteem of our Brethren Wilt thou make thy Brother perish for whom Christ died And the Argument of St. Peter to aggravate the folly and wickedness of the Hereticks that they deny'd the Lord that bought them To be bought by the blood of the Son of God is the powerful Argument of the Gospel against Sin and if we resist this we may justly fear to be delivered up to a Reprobate Sense Our sins set us at the greatest distance from God he is Light Beauty Strength and Perfection and Sin is folly weakness error and deformity Let us therefore fly from it because so horrid in its Nature so dismal in its consequences that nothing could attone it but the Blood of the Son of God Thirdly HERE is the true remedy against despair So reasons S. Paul He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things And a little after Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died This is the powerful Oratory that prevails before the Throne of God nay it is irresistible in the mouth of a penitent sinner Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord
desirable event WE are to meet with God in the most comfortable and sublime Ordinance and to dress our Souls in their best Robes and Wedding-garments We are to come to this Feast with pure intentions and to arm our selves with the whole armour of God and against every Limb of the body of Death We are to set the pure Law of God before our Eyes and faithfully to compare our actions with it and do you think that this can be done by a superficial glance or can we renverse so easily what is so deeply rooted in our Nature and frame can we by the slightest attempt overturn the works of Satan When we remember that we are to be judged for every secret thought and every idle word and every evil deed how impartial and accurate ought we to be in this Examination when we compare our lives with the Law of God what a formidable Army of our sins do we at first view perceive Our omissions our careless performance of what we do our injuries towards others our foolish impertinent and uncharitable Censures of many our breach of former Promises and Resolutions the hardness of our Hearts against the various Methods of Gods Goodness Patience and Providence against the light reproofs and directions of our own Consciences and the honour of our most holy Profession now when we have gotten such a sight of our sins the Prayer of the Publican in the Temple becomes us Lord be merciful to me a sinner 2. WHEN you have made an impartial discovery of your Condition judge thy self with all severity for if we judge our selves we shall not be judged of the Lord. We are not to judge our selves blindly and with precipitation but upon a full and clear evidence of our Condition nor is it enough to pass sentence against our selves in general forms to acknowledge that we are sinners but we must confess our particular sins such as are our sins in a special manner either by habitual custom temperament of Body ordinary Society or by any other accident or teâ—â—ation for without this particular and ingenuous confession we are not ashamed of what we have done and consequently not truly penitent Let us therefore neither hide nor extenuate our sins before God to whose Eyes all things are naked and open and whose word divides between the soul and the spirit who knows our thoughts afar off and the very first tendencies of our Soul towards evil Apply the confession of the prodigal Son to thy particular state and say with true contrition and humility I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son THE Grace of God cannot grow to any ripeness and perfection but in the Soul that is truly humble and that sensibly feels it self in the most destitute condition unless our Saviour speedily interpose for our recovery and there is no Method so proper to make us truly humble as to see our selves without disguise naked as in the sight of God When we are stript of our Excuses and artificial coverings by which we endeavour to hide our selves from our Neighbours then we see the vast distance that is between the pure Laws of our Religion and our loose careless and disordered lives God is present with us at all times and his Eyes pierce to the Center of our Spirits Let us therefore go to the bottom of the Sore and examine our actions by that infallible Rule of his Word and then we must condemn our selves in the most serious and afflictive strain of true remorse and contrition and therefore we find that the most eminent Saints have been most accurate and impartial in censuring their own sins and transgressions they were more ingenuous than their most watchful Enemies to aggravate their own follies Thus my heart was griev'd saith the Psalmist and I was pricked in my reins so foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee 3. WE are to approach this Sacrament with strong resolutions at last to be revenged on our sins Let us reason our selves out of our former idleness and sloth if we are truly griev'd for our sins we must break thorough the ordinary Obstacles that formerly kept us in bondage Is there no strength in this Sacrament to break those Iron bars by which we are shut up under the power of our sins Are our bonds so strong that they cannot be shaken off Are our Appetites so violent and unruly that they cannot be resisted Were not others encompassed with the same flesh and infirmities and yet happily made free And shall we miserably groan under the load of our sins even though we feel that they make us hateful to God Nay let us cast our selves under the compassionate Eye of our blessed Lord and Master and beseech him that he would let us feel the power of his Resurrection and break our Captivity that he would let us know that He that is in us is stronger than He that is in the World that his Wisdom and Strength may interpose to help our weakness and folly that He would gird his victorious Sword upon his thigh and eradicate our evil Habits Let God arise and let his Enemies be scattered and fly before his presence Our resolutions must not only be vigorous and fervent but fixt against particular sins to which our inclinations are more violent and forward 4. COME unto the Holy Table with full trust in the mercy of God He will not quench the smoaking flax nor will he break the bruised reed He blows upon the first sparks of Sincerity until they are flam'd into perfect zeal and Devotion The Waters that He gives are a Well of water springing up unto life eternal He will perfect that which he hath begun The goodness of God and the incomprehensible Love of Jesus are immovable Pillars of our Faith and therefore we are to fill our Eyes with a prospect of Mercy He will not deal rigidly with us neither will he upbraid us with our former guiltiness when we are prostrate at his feet when we plead with him by his boundless Compassion and the Abyss of our miseries The Blood of Jesus is the true Atonement and propitiation for the sins of the World So reasons the Author to the Hebrews that the blood of Jesus must be of infinitely greater force than that of Bulls and Goats and the ashes of an Heiser for he offered himself without spot unto God and that through the eternal Spirit and therefore he lives for ever to make intercession for us and if we believe the sufficiency and merit of his Sacrifice we must also be persuaded of the real efficacy of this Sacrament to convey the Merits of Christs blood to every penitent Communicant This may be easily discern'd by its contrary influence on the prophane and impenitent If he that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks damnation then certainly it it must convey life strength light
and comfort to the truly penitent Indeed when we look narrowly to the nature of it it is one of the surest Pillars of our Faith for this we do in remembrance of his Death and Passion and his blood that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel is still of the same force and value with God Let us not therefore entertain narrow Notions of the Almighty as if he delighted in the death of sinners as if he took pleasure in their miseries for God is Love and it is below his infinite Majesty to crush to ruin and destruction such as appeal to his Mercy If thou hatest thy sins if thou perceivest how vile they make thee and how miserable if thou implore the goodness of God to deliver thee thy freedom is already begun and God will advance it into a full Victory 5. COME unto this Sacrament reconciled to thy Brother Peace and Love are the dispositions that make our Souls fit Mansions for the Holy Ghost the vapours and smoak of Contention drive him from our Habitations This is one of our Saviours great directions in his Sermon on the Mount therefore if thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift If the Sacrament of the Altar be not here strictly meant yet by the nearest Analogy and consequence it is intended and the most judicious Interpreters think that our Saviour gave this direction with a special Eye to that Sacrament which he was afterwards to appoint And the same direction for the matter is repeated If you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you The unreasonable rigidity of the Bankrupt-servant towards his fellow is loathsom in the Eyes of God and of all good men We are exhorted by St. Peter to lay aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings And we are inform'd by St. Paul that Love is the fulfilling of the Law and that the works of the flesh are manifest among which are reckon'd hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance When we consider the nature of our Religion the whole tendency and design of the Gospel we must conclude that there is nothing more opposite unto its harmonious and blessed temper than malice and revenge and therefore we must be ruled by other measures than those that prevail most in the World He is thought mean-spirited low and abject that is ready to forgive an injury yet it is the height of true Courage and Magnanimity if we consider the whole Scheme of our Religion how much it is twisted with meekness gentleness and charity or the supreme Authority of God to whom Vengeance doth belong our own in inward Peace and Tranquility or the order and settlement of publick Societies we cannot refuse to comply with our Saviour's direction and therefore St. Paul commands us that as we desire to approve our selves the Elect of God holy and beloved that we put on bowels of compassion kindness humbleness of mind meekness long suffering forbearing one another if any man have a quarrel against any and that above all we put on Charity which is the bond of perfectness True and universal Charity is the great glory and perfection of our Religion in which Christians ought to outshine all others It is that by which we resemble our Father above and prove our selves to be his off-spring in the highest and truest sense Our blessed Saviour after He had commanded us to love our Enemies concludes with this Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect The Jews themselves who were indulged or rather connived at to be more rugged and untractable than the Christians were yet obliged to shew many acts of benevolence to their Enemies of their own Nation and Profession And many of the Philosophers did look upon the forgiving of injuries as an instance of true Valour and Fortitude NEXT Let us consider that Hatred and Variance and Strife make us unfit for any particular act of Worship and therefore are we commanded in our Prayers to lift up holy hands without wrath and doubting And secondly Contention and Enmity exclude us from all hopes of Pardon as oft as we say the Lords Prayer we appeal to the Omniscience of God that we desire to be pardoned no otherwise than we heartily pardon and forgive the lesser injuries of our Brethren done to us and if we retain in our hearts the seeds of Rancour and Malice against our Brethren we pronounce sentence against our selves we change our Prayers into imprecations and instead of the great blessings of Peace and Pardon we are consign'd over to the saddest doom and horrour Then let us consider that if we are commanded to lay aside our prejudices and evil designs against such as have provoked us how much more ought we to forbear affronting of them who were never injurious to us and therefore we must recompence evil for evil to no Man we must be tender-hearted and charitable to the poor and necessitous Alms and Fasting are said to be the two Wings by which our Prayers fly to the Throne of God the Providence and Promise the Power and Goodness of God are all engaged in defence of the charitable Man this is the universal Voice of the New and Old Testament the language of Nature and Religion Jew and Gentile do acknowledge it from all the ties of Virtue and Humanity Let us therefore remember the hardships of them who are indigent their sad groans and lamentable sighs and according to our ability relieve them not scrupulously weighing our own strength so much as their straits and calamity Let us not lay up treasure upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt but in heaven where they are not expos'd to any danger or decay still remembring that he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly When we are thus far prepar'd we cannot but feel the sharpest hunger after this spiritual Food our Souls are then inflam'd with the strongest desires we breath after God in the affections and language of the Psalmist As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God my soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God When shall I converse with him in the most intimate manner that this state of frailties and weaknesses can allow of The Solemnities of Religion recruit our strength against our Lusts and corruptions we are made more chearful and resolute to grapple with our Enemies when we feel the influences of his Spirit uniting us to God and exposing to our view all our former sins in all their deformities we conclude from such