highth of admiration they manifested to the World the frequent effusion of the Spirit upon themselves the communicating of it to others by praying preaching and laying on of hands whereby evil Spirits became subject to them that they prevailed over the Devil and his deluding Oracles whose Tongues they silenc'd whose Forgeries they discover'd whose Favorites they strangely and in a moment struck dead and restrained the malice and fury of Lucifer himself Were these the effects of any other power than the Spirit of the Lord Was it ever heard that a meer Mortal was able to do the like to alter the course of Nature and produce effects directly contrary to the production of natural causes Is it within the power of the Mighty or can the Devils themselves bring it to pass No It requires an Omnipotent arm no less than that which created the World and setled the particular Beings therein to change their courses to alter their natures to work not onely with slender and unlikely means but without and against all probable methods certainly none but the Spirit of the Almighty can do thus When therefore the power of working Miracles is the alone work of a Deity and such remarkable instances were plainly manifest by Christ and his Apostles to discover the Divinity and procure the belief of his Doctrine it 's a plain Argument that that extraordinary power with which they were invested was on purpose designed to discard the Devil and confront his Power because that Doctrine which was confirmed by them is directly contrary to the designes and projects of that evil Spirit Secondly By its continual influence upon the Understanding and Wills of men to enable them to resist the Devil and overcome his Temptations Though the Doctrine of the Gospel had such an undeniable Evidence as the Power of Miracles to ascertain the truth and verity of it that one would think no man which believes the matter of fact that such miracles were wrought should doubt of the truth or question the divine Authority of the Christian Religion and consequently would soon resigne up their Understanding to the obedience of Faith to be governed by the Laws of that divine Institution yet he that considers how little men regard the Authority of that divine Testimony and consider the excellency of the Gospel discovery and how careless men are to be strict and serious in their Conversations and how soon debauched by the most easie Temptation who profess to believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and assent to his Doctrine as infallibly true will soon perceive the necessity of some supernatural assistance to bring the hearts of men to the love and their lives to the practice of all necessary truths contained therein over and above that miraculous diffusion at the first delivery and preaching of it And blessed be the Name of God such is the large and plentiful effusion of divine Grace now under the dispensation of the Gospel that 't is always ready at hand to assist the spirits of men in all religious purposes and holy undertakings Joh. 14.26.16 And in several places of the Gospel the Spirit is promised to the devout and humble petitions of honest Christians Luke 11.13 Joh. 16.23.26 So that the most degenerate Soul that does but seriously apply his mind to fear God and keep his Commandments will find such continual assistance from the blessed spirit of Grace as will enable him to mortifie his own Corruption to quench the fiery darts of the Devil to vanquish all oppositions in the way to Goodness and with ease and pleasure to do the Will of God For this very purpose the Son of God intercedes with his Father and presents our Prayers to the Throne of Grace by vertue of his own intercession that the Promise of the Holy Ghost may be continued to his Church to the end of the world to sanctifie the hearts of his People and to fill their Souls with all those graces that accompany Salvation to enlighten the Understanding to convince the Judgment to awaken the Consciences of men that they may believe and consider the great and weighty Principles of Religion and be preserved from all false Doctrine Heresies and Schisms to press upon their consideration the folly and unreasonableness of sin with the dreadful consequences of a wicked life the excellency of true Religion and Goodness with the blessed effects of a vertuous Conversation that men may be perswaded to depart from evil and do good to remove the obstinacy and perverseness that is natural to fallen man that their Spirits may become pliable and submissive to the providential dealings of God respective and obedient to the Laws and Constitutions of Heaven and entirely devoted to his Will and Pleasure to confirm their Faith increase their Integrity to assist them against Temptations to support them with patience under afflictions to compleat their Charity to perfect their Repentance and to enable them by Promises Encouragements and Gifts to suffer for the Lord Jesus and the profession of the Gospel if called to it All this and much more is the Promise of the Father to purchase of the Son of God and the gift of them both to give the holy Spirit to the Church first to sanctifie and make it good Gal. 5.22 1 Thess 5.23 then to preserve it spotless and unblamable to the coming of the Lord. These are the principal means invented by the Wisdom of God to take away the sins of the world to destroy the works of the devil and in infinite mercy presented to mankind by his onely begotten Son to deliver them from the power of darkness and by turning them away from their iniquities to translate them into the kingdom of his dear Son And what can the wit of man conceive what doth the weakness of men want as farther needful to promote and carry on this blessed and glorious designe What could God have done more to subvert the power of the Devil and to reconcile Mankind to himself If he had raised up some mighty Prophet in the World and furnished him with the Inspiration of the Almighty that he had spoken as one having Authority and commended his Message to us in the Name of the Lord we should certainly have received him in the Name of a Prophet or if an Angel had descended from Heaven and appeared visibly to us Mortals and delivered his Embassage to us in a Seraphick manner and backt it with Reasons clear as his Angelical nature we should certainly have admired the goodness of God and acknowledged our selves obliged to so gracious a Dispensation But that God himself should descend from those Regions above into this dark and dismal World become one like us one of us and so in a way agreeable to our humane capacities deliver us the Records of Heaven tell us the terms on which our Eternity depends assure us upon his undoubted Veracity that upon our obedience or disobedience to them Heaven or Hell Life
best Sacrifice to his Father and preferred the service of God before the love and kindness of his dearest Friends Heb. 10.7 chusing rather to die than to sin against God For when his Enemies were most furiously inraged against him and consulted to put him to death he makes no evasion nor unjust excuses he denies not the truth nor distrusts his Father but committing his Case to the providence of God Mat. c. 26. c. 29. he meekly endures their affronts and injuries and when their malice was so great as to put him to death he patiently bears their indignation their fury and their wrath like a good man and a glorious Martyr praying for his Enemies till he gave up the Ghost Behold here a Mirrour of Piety the Wonder of the world for his Devotion and Charity Was there any action of his life or the least circumstance attending his actions that might justly bear the charge of sin None certainly for from his birth to his death he was a most virulent Enemy to that wicked One and a perfect hater of his works The Devils themselves confess he was the holy One of God His most malicious Enemies could not but say he did all things well Mark 5.7 Pilate that sate in Judgment upon him could find no evil in him and therefore according to his Wife's admonition Mat. 27.19 23 24. proclaims him before a full Assembly of Scribes and Elders to be a just person So that his whole Life was but one continued Series of actions perfectly designed against that wicked One. His Baptism was his solemn inauguration into this Office His Conversation the most plain and easie Mat. 11.28 29. the most full and comprehensive the most encouraging and authentick Pattern for his Followers to imitate in their Christian course of life in defiance to that grand Impostor that while they behold him as the Captain of their Salvation despising the World confronting the Devil bearing Afflictions with patience Persecutions with cheerfulness resisting and overcoming Temptations forgiving and loving his Enemies willing to live so long as God pleased yet ready to die the most ignominious accursed death since it was the determinate counsel of God Whilst his Disciples thus consider his regular Piety his undaunted Courage they may learn to do likewise and in opposition to the Prince of Darkness be encouraged to do to suffer and to be whatever God shall be pleased to call them to 'T was Plato's opinion as Tully reports that if Vertue could but admit herself to view she would appear so amiable in the eyes of all men that Vice in the most costly dress and gorgeous array would appear most contemptible and bare if compared with her If incorporated Vertue in the Philosophers judgment would be so attractive of mens affections certainly the unspotted innocency of an incarnate Deity should be much more powerful to invite and perswade his Followers to the love and practice of Piety and Goodness than the former conceit would be to engage men to the love and practice of Vertue So that if men would consider that grand Exemplar of Piety the life of the holy Jesus his Example must needs inspirit their minds with the most active diligence undaunted courage to fight manfully under his Banner â—eb 12.1 2 3. as the Captain of their Salvation against the World the Flesh and the Devil to run with patience the race that is set before them and to continue in that spiritual Combat his faithful Servants and Souldiers unto their lifes end 2. From some remarkable actions of his Life and especially the bitter passions of his Death whereby he hath given a fatal blow to the power and designes of the Devil The Son of God is not to be considered onely as a meer man though just and innocent but in reference also to that grand undertaking The Redemption of the World from its slavery to Sin and subjection to Satan the Saviour of the World the Redeemer of Mankind His very Birth struck a terrour to those evil Spirits his Life shone with so glorious a light that it confounded the Kingdom of Darkness But the most signal Conquest he obtained over Death Eph 2.13 c. and the Devil that had the power of it was by his meritorious Death and powerful Resurrection For when the Jews had crucified the Lord of Life and laid him full low even in the dust that they began to triumph and applaud themselves in their supposed Victory the Devils also rejoyced as if they had vanquished the power of God How miraculously did the Counsels of Heaven defeat the carnal policy of men and the malicious designes of the Devil too That death which they executed upon the Lord 's Anointed was converted to their own destruction and contrary to the Devils expectation most happily proved the greatest Engine to rout his Forces and destroy his Kingdom For can God die or his holy One see corruption No the price of man's Redemption being paid by the Sufferings of the Son of God Rom. 6.9 10 he broke through the powers of the Grave and in despight of the Devil Hell and Death arose a mighty Conquerour over them all and as a Trophey of Victory led captivity captive and treated them as he pleased And when he had given sufficient demonstration of his Resurrection Acts 1.9 he ascended gloriously into Heaven from whence immediately he sent down the Holy Ghost upon his Disciples and prevalently interceding with his Father received power and authority to demolish the Kingdom of Satan Eph. 2.19 20 21 22. and by delivering men from his insulting Tyranny to constitute a Kingdom of his own and to preserve and keep it from the furious assaults of the Devil by the power of his Providence and the conduct of his Spirit And now he is set down at the right hand of God he continueth for ever and having an unchangeable Priesthood is able to save his Church and People to the utmost seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Heb. 7.24 25. By which and other such remarkable passages preceding accompanying and following his death he hath obtained a considerable interest in the very Forts and Dwellings of the Prince of this World by turning many souls from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God 3. From the grand intent and designe of his Doctrine which is most aptly contrived to destroy the works of the Devil to deliver men from the power and dominion of sin and to direct and encourage them to Righteousness and true Holiness For First The Christian Religion delivers the strictest Precepts for the rule of good living with the greatest Majesty and Authority conceivable In general it commands men to love the Lord their God with all their heart Mat. 22.37 38 39. and with all their soul and with all their mind and their neighbours as themselves Mat. 7.12 to do as they would be done unto to
reject the Devil and despise the World to avoid every occasion of sin Jam. 4.7 1 Joh. 2.15 1. Thess 5.22 and appearance of evil and whatever things are true whatever things are honest whatever things are just whatever things are pure whatever things are lovely whatever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise seriously to think of these things and faithfully to do them Phil. 4.8 9. More particularly Heb. 11.3 1 Tim. 6.15 16 it requires men to acknowledge one God the Creator and Governours of the World to conceive him as an infinite and incomprehensible Being to testifie the inward reverence and devotion of their hearts Rom. 12.1 2. by the most ready and universal obedience to his Will to love him for his Goodness to stand in awe of his Justice and his Power 1 Joh. 4.8 Mat. 10.28 Mat. 6.25 1 Thess 5.18 Joh. 4.24 to depend upon his Providence for their protection and to express their thankfulness for the receipt of his Mercies to be serious in all parts of his Worship to live always as in his presence and to manifest their respect to God by their reverend behaviour to every thing that is appropriate to his service or participates of his nature Faithfully to believe all divine Revelations humbly to submit to all the dispensations of his Providence and sincerely to observe all the manifestations of his Will and Pleasure To believe on the Son of God as the Saviour of the World the great Doctor and Governour of the Church Mat. 1.21 Jam. 4.12 1 Tim. 2.5 and the alone Mediator between God Man It prescribes the particular Offices engaging men to a due regulation of all their thoughts words and deeds that do immediately respect their own persons Luke 21.34 It directs them to Temperance and Moderation in eating and drinking in sleeping and recreation to Chastity and Purity both in the married and unmarried estate to Humility and Modesty in the disposition and carriage of men Acts 24.16 To restrain every unruly Passion within the bounds of Reason and to regulate every the most lawful Affection according to the rules of Religion To guide and manage their Behaviour with sobriety and understanding and to order their Discourse with gravity and discretion It lays down also the most excellent Rules of Charity and Justice toward their Neighbours obliging every man to the greatest Sincerity Uprightness and Integrity to each other Mat. 5.23 24 25. Rom. 13.7 to an universal Innocence and Harmlesness in all actions to make Compensation where Offences have been committed to carry a due Respect and Reverence proper to the several Orders and Degrees of men to observe all the positive Acts of Justice distributive and commutative according to the Offices of that Calling wherein divine Providence hath disposed man's Station and to observe all the duties of Love and Charity which the necessities of others require Gal. 6.10 and the abilities of men do qualifie them for In a word the Christian Profession is so pure so undefiled a Religion that it prohibits the least impurity and gives no license to the smallest sin for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Secondly It propounds the most convincing Arguments to encourage men against the Wiles and Temptations of the Devil and to perswade them to the sincere and constant practice of Vertue and Goodness It threatens the Wicked with the Wrath and Indignation of God at present and promiseth to the Vertuous and Good the Providence of God as his infinite Wisdom shall judge most expedient for them But because it is manifest God doth not call Mankind to an account in this World nor deal with them in strict Justice according to their deserts for his external Dispensations are very promiscuous both to the Good and Bad therefore the Gospel doth seriously present to the consideration of men an infallible certainty of a Judgment to come when God shall render to every man according to his works Acts 17.31 2 Pet. 3.10 2 Thess 1.7 Mat. 25.30 ad fin 2 Cor 5.10 It informs us of the nature of the Judge the dreadful preparation for his coming to Judgment the terrible appearance of his Majesty the great proceedings of that day and the irreversible Sentence past upon all concerned in it that we may be confidently assured there are Rewards in store for every man that the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him and the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him It represents the greatest fulness and exuberancy of divine Love Rom. 2.7 8 9 10. Life and Immortality to the Vertuous and Good but the utmost severity of divine Justice Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish to the Vicious and Bad. It assures to all that live according to the Rules of that holy Institution eternal and solid Bliss both in Body and Soul that the one which was corruptible shall put on incorruption which was sown in dishonour shall be raised in glory which was sown in weakness shall be raised in power 2 Cor. 15.42 43. And the faculties of the other so eminently transformed that the Understanding which now seeth the most perspicuous things but darkly and through a Glass shall be endued with the greatest measure of knowledge and entertained with the clearest sight of the divine nature to behold with infinite satisfaction the glorious attributes of God and the wonderful Counsels and effects of them all in his works of Providence toward his several Creatures The Will and Affections shall be perfectly transformed into the divine likeness that Anger Envy Hatred and such troublesome Passions shall be utterly abolished Desire shall be sped into Fruition and Hope shall be swallowed up in Victory and those delightful and ravishing affections of Love and Joy shall survive and remain to the eternal consolation of Soul and Body But it threatens the Wicked that they shall be turned into hell and all the people that forget God Mark 9.24 26. where are Flames so quick and scorching that they shall seize upon Soul and Body Torments that shall always be beginning never ending which the damned themselves by their Malice shall increase and by the gnashing of their Teeth shall help to be their own Executioners So that those who comply with the Wiles and Temptations of the Devil must expect a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour them Heb. 10.27 but those who resist that evil Spirit and seriously renounce his works may expect that glorious
recompence of reward which God hath prepared for those that love and serve him Heb. 11.39 40. Thirdly To this purpose that divine Oeconomy which according to the Sanctions of the Gospel is administred in the Christian Church was instituted by the Son of God That the Ministers of the Gospel as opportunity serves and necessity requires administer the sacred Rites of the Christian Religion in the Church of God Mat. 28.19 by baptizing such as are duly disposed for that solemn Ordinance that thereby they may be listed into the service of Christ and by that religious Sacrament be obliged to fight manfully under his Banner against the World Luke 22.19 20 the Flesh and the Devil And distribute the Holy Communion to those pious and humble Souls that are religiously disposed to celebrate the honour of God in that sacred Institution that they may be encouraged to quench the fiery darts of the devil and have grace to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear To them 't is commanded to solemnize the Worship of God in publick Mat. 10.12 13 1 Tim. 2.1 2. either as Priests to wait at the Altar of the Lord to intercede with his Majesty in the behalf of his people and to present in their stead Prayers and Supplications and Thanksgivings to him or as Embassadors to treat with the People in the business of Religion Mat. 28.20 2 Cor. 5.20 and reveal the Will of God unto them to explain and confirm to their Understandings the Principles of Christianity to represent to their Judgment and Reason the vileness of sin and the reasonableness of Gods service that men may be reclaimed from their sinful and wicked ways and become a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God But when sinners are obstinate and hard to be entreated the Censures of the Church are put into their hands to exercise the power of the Keys in punishing the pertinacious and casting them out of the Church that they may be brought to a just and lively apprehension of their sins and from the Judgment of God executed upon them by his Ministers in the Church be perswaded to reform and amend their lives that they may not fall into the hands of divine Justice in the World to come and so upon sufficient Evidence of their Repentance receive Absolution be dissolved from the Bonds of Satan and admitted into the bosome of the Church again For this power our Lord and Master committed to his Apostles and in them to the succeeding Governours of the Church Mat. 18.18 Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Which Commission was renewed again after his Resurrection when he breathed on them the Holy Ghost Joh. 20.22 23. These are the principal means delivered in the Gospel and instituted by the Son of God to deliver men from the dominion of sin and Satan and thereby to destroy the works of the Devil by taking men off from the love and practice of sin 4. From the mission and descent of the Holy Ghost into the World where divine Inspiration is in two respects very remarkable to take away and the sins of the World and to promote the service and honour of God First By enduing the Son of God and his holy Apostles with power from above whereby they were enabled to confirm and ratifie the truth of the Christian Doctrine by the working of Miracles If Christ had not done those works which no other person did he would not for in truth he could not have obliged mankind to believe and obey it which is the proper import and meaning of our Saviour's expression Joh. 15.24 'T was therefore extreamly necessary that he should manifest the Divinity of his person and confirm the truth of the Gospel by such signal Testimonies as were uncontrolable And such was his infinite Wisdom and Power that while he was conversant among men he gave the World all the satisfaction that was possible that he came from God when he wrought such miraculous works as were never heard of from the beginning of the World presented them boldly to all Spectators and committed the tryal of their reality to the test of their sences which was an infallible evidence that the spirit of the Lord was upon him and the power of God had overshadowed him Heb. 9.14 Rom. 8.11 But because he was mightily declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead as through the eternal spirit he offered himself to God so by the mighty assistance of the same holy Spirit he arose again from the dead and continues alive for ever And because he committed the promulgation of the Gospel to his Apostles whom he sent as Embassadours to preach Salvation to the World and exhort sinners to be reconciled to God the powers of the Holy Ghost was indispensably requisite to inform their Understandings with the Mind of God to reveal the sacred Mysteries of Religion clearly to their apprehensions that they be assured of their heavenly Call to the divine Employment therefore they had apparitions of Angels and received the Bath-col voices from Heaven So St. Paul by a most miraculous Light from Heaven is stricken down to the Earth and called to the Apostleship Acts 9. Hereupon he became so serious and earnest to assert both his Calling and Gospel to descend from Heaven Gal. 1.1 Paul an Apostle not of men neither by men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father They had extatical Visions Peter was in a Trance Paul wrapt up to the third Heavens They had monitory Dreams and Impulses from the Spirit by all which they had a full assurance of the Divinity of their Message and the truth of their Call to the Apostleship But 't was equally necessary for the Conviction of the Unbelieving World that they should confirm the divine Authority of these things by sufficient external Arguments therefore they were endued with the gift of Tongues and the power of working Miracles when according to the promise of our Lord the Holy Ghost descended from Heaven upon a full Assembly as they were met together to solemnize the Worship of God Acts 2. that they began to speak with other Tongues and to utter divers sorts of Languages insomuch that their Auditors admired the marvelous works of God when they heard the Servants of Christ speaking every one in their own Tongue Thus they were qualified by an extraordinary Inspiration to teach all Nations and to preach the Gospel throughout the whole World And as they had diversity of Gifts and different Administrations so they were enabled by the power of the Holy Ghost to work Miracles 2 Cor. 12 8 9 10 11. and in the Name of Christ to do even what they list To them was given the power of healing all manner of Diseases the raising the Dead to life But one great and signal Gift they received which to the
or Death are ascertained to us that he should delineate to our very eyes in plain and legible Characters the excellency of his Doctrine by the Piety and Innocency of his Life and so recommend his Precepts to our practice by his own Example set before us that he should convince and assure us of the Divinity of his Person and Doctrine by many and undeniable Miracles that he should seal the truth of what he delivered by his own bloud offer up his Life a Sacrifice to death to procure life to the sinful World that by his divine power he should rise out of the Grave gloriously ascend to Heaven intercede with his Father on our behalf and from thence send us another Comforter even the spirit of Truth which should inform our minds with the knowledge of all necessary truths and bring us to the love and practice of all Christian Vertues and Graces Certainly this method is abundantly able to destroy the works of the Devil and the prevail with sinners to lead godly and pious lives Which will most evidently appear if we proceed to consider the second Argument to illustrate the truth of the Apostles Assertion II. The Son of God hath in many remarkable instances already supplanted the Power of the Devil in delivering many Souls from the tyranny and dominion of that insulting Enemy notwithstanding the great disadvantages and discouragements that the Christian Religion hath met with in the World both from Jews and Gentiles from the first plantation of the Gospel until now For though the Jews were circumcised the eighth day and in their Childhood kept in cruel bondage under their Parents and Masters who constrained them to learn the Law of Moses and when they came to riper years were taught by the Scribes and Pharisees who sate in Moses Chair that their Religion was eternal and the Oeconomy thereof never to be altered and therefore were bound to reject any person that should broach any other Doctrine to discard him from their Synagogues to stop his mouth that he might not speak and their ears that they might not hear And 't is notorious that the Gentiles were no less fortified in their Heathen Rites and superstitious Customs every Nation having their respective Deities whom they constantly adored and offered Sacrifice to and some of them so careful to secure the honour of their Gods and all under their Authority in their Idolatrous observances that as Melanchton notes in his Epistle to his Comment upon the Romans every Athenian made a Vow at his admission to the Liberties and Franchises of the City se pugnare pro diis solum cum aliis not onely to fight valiantly in the front of an Army to defend and vindicate their Gods but like the Roman Scaeva to withstand whole Legions Adde to all this the Opposition that was to be expected without the Scoffs and Jears that Christians must expect from their Neighbours the Censures of their Laws and the displeasure of their Governours the meanness of Christ and the unworthiness of his Apostles the poverty and weakness of them both that they were utterly unable to supply the wants of their Disciples or defend them from the malice and cruelty of their Enemies But above all consider the corruption of their hearts and the contrariety of the Gospel to their former course of life forbidding the least Impurity and threatening vengeance against the smallest sin which they poor wretches were wholy immersed in and in honour of their Gods were not onely taught to practise but commanded to observe And yet notwithstanding such great contradictions the Gospel of Christ which is the power of God to salvation constrained both Jews and Gentiles with a holy violence to break asunder their unlawful Oaths to disclaim their former Religions to flie from the snares and delusions of the Devil and to become Proselytes to the Religion of Jesus For when that glorious Light the Sun of Righteousness appeared in the World the beams of his Majesty were immediately dispersed over the face of the Earth and his Glory in a short time dispelled that hideous darkness which had overspread the World and brought Life and Immortality to light For so the Evangelist tells us that by the miraculous instinct and conduct of a Star the news of his birth was revealed to the furthermost parts of the Earth as soon as ever he was born and the Princes thereof came to pay their Adoration to him and when they saw him fell down and worshipped him Mat. 2. And when he entered upon his Prophetick Office though he did not cry nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets yet the Children of men slockt in abundance to hear him deservedly counting it their greatest honour to become the Disciples of so glorious a Master So great Worth they saw in his Person and such Excellency in his Doctrine such glorious Rewards he propounded to them such intolerable miseries he warn'd them to flie from that they made hast to deliver themselves from the bonds of sin by which they were detained Captives to the will of the Devil and without delay became the Followers of Christ glorying in nothing more than in being Christians And as our Lord himself did so miraculously rescue the Souls of men from their subjection to Sin and Satan so that life and vigour which continually attends the dispensation of the Gospel hath been illustriously manifest in opposition to all the Powers of Darkness and the Malice of Hell it self For as his Apostles went up and down preaching the Gospel the Lord added to the Church dayly such as should be saved Three thousand Souls became Converts to the Christian Faith at one Sermon of St. Peter's Acts 2.41 In the Roman Empire and the Province of Judea multitudes multitudes thronged into the Kingdom of Christ and not onely the weak and impotent people but the great ones and wise men of the Earth cheerfully embraced this divine Religion accounting their Strength weakness and their Wisdom folly until then Cornelius a Centurion became a Proselyte to it Nero's Family had some Saints Sergius Paulus a Proconsul and Dionysius the famous Areopagite at Athens became Converts to the Christian Faith And the Histories of the Church present us with many and many excellent Persons of great esteem for their admirable Learning and vast Endowments who in a short space of time voluntarily forsook the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and sincerely devoting themselves to the service of Christ were deservedly famous in their Generations for Piety and Devotions Which very Argument Arnobius insists upon when he reasoned with the Heathen to perswade them to receive the Faith of Christ that men of the greatest Wits and Parts Tam magnis Ingeniis paediti Oratores Grammatici Rhetores Consulti Juris ac Medici Philosophie etiam secreta rimantes Magisteria hec expetunt spretis quibus paulò antè fidebant c. Arnob. cont Gent. l. 2. p. 44.
Orators Grammarians Rhetoricians Lawyers Physitians and Philosophers forsook their former Sentiments and adhered to the Doctrine of Christ Nay so mightily prevailed the Word of God in despight of the Devil and all the Powers of Darkness that within an Age or two after the Incarnation of the Son of God his dominion was as large as the World and extended over the Territories of the whole Earth Hesterni sumus Apol. C. 36. c. 1. vestra omnia implevimus c. saith Tertullian For the Temple of Jerusalem was utterly destroyed and the daily Sacrifice perfectly ceased and such the Reformation in the Gentile World that the Devils forsook their ancient Habitations and trembled Eus Ecc. Hist l. 2. c. 3. l. 3. c. 8. where-ever the noise of the Gospel sounded their clamorous Oracles soon became dumb and their principal Deities mute as a Child their great Gods forsook their beloved Temples and though some were chained yet they were constrained to run away Nay so bold and confident were the Primitive Christians in their Apologies before their Persecutors that they challenged the Governours and Rulers Tert. Apol. c. 23 22. before whom they appeared to bring any persons possessed with evil Spirits or grieved with any other Infirmities and if they did not in the Name of Christ restore the one sound to his health the other to an entire mind they would be content to die the most ignominious accursed death Nay Lact. de fals Sap. l. 2. c. 25 26 to discover the excellency and vertue of the Christian Religion they were bold to say that by the Administration of the Gospel they would undertake to convince the most obstinate to convert the most obdurate sinner and to transform the most diabolical and hellish nature into a divine and heavenly temper verifying hereby those lofty Expressions of the Apostle that the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword Heb. 4.12 Mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God 2 Cor. 10.4 5. And to this very day the Son of God hath rode in triumph over the Devil not onely by teaching men to deny all ungoaliness and worldly lusts to live soverly righteously and godly in this present world but by redeeming them actually from all iniquity and purifying to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Thus it was prophesied of the Messiah Isai 61.1 and fulfilled by him when he appeared in the World as he himself testifies The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath appointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bound and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord Luke 4.18 19. In a word the glorious company of the Apostles the goodly fellowship of the Prophets the noble Army of Martyrs and all the Saints of God that have departed this life in his Faith and Fear and now make up that part of the Church Triumphant in the Kingdom of Heaven waiting for the accomplishment of our Victory and the perfecting of the Body of Christ have been redeemed by the Bloud of the Son of God delivered by him from the snares of Death and the power of the Devil and are now sate down with the Lamb of God in the highest Heavens III. The Son of God will most certainly obtain a perfect Victory over the Devil before he resigne up his Commission to his Father as from all eternity he was fore-ordained and in the fulness of time solemnly inaugurated into this Office As to this very day he hath been faithful in the administration of it to the destruction of Satan's Kingdom so he will undoubtedly continue till he hath accomplished the number of his Elect 1 Cor. 15.28 compleated the body of the Church Triumphant and subdued the Power and Authority of his Enemies So that though the Devil disturb the Peace of the Church and make his rendezvouz in the World seeking whom he might devour and destroy yet the Son of God who in his Resurrection led captivity captive and to this day hath gone on conquering and to conquer will still proceed in this victorious manner till he hath perfectly routed the Devil and his Angels and his place be found no more on the Earth as it is prophesied by St. John Rev. 12. For at the last and dreadful day there shall be a general conflagration in the World to consume the Wickedness thereof when the Devil and his Angels shall be constrained to appear before this glorious Prince and receive their final doom which was denounced upon them when they were cast out of Heaven to be thrust into the bottomless Pit with all their accursed Crew to be tormented day and night and to dwell in everlasting burnings when the great Redeemer of the World the Captain of mans Salvation shall gloriously ascend to the Kingdom of his Father and in triumphant Chariots carry up with him an innumerable company of blessed Saints who shall sit down with him in his Fathers Kingdom and reign as Kings and Queens for evermore We have hitherto considered the truth of the Proposition delivered in the Text That it was the grand designe and purpose of the Son of God to destroy the works of the Devil that he was manifest in the World to deliver Man from his Power and Dominion to teach and enable them to walk in the ways of Vertue and Goodness From which Argument 't is just and obvious to infer three things 1. From hence men may learn whether they be indeed the Servants of God and Disciples of Christ or the Slaves and Vassals of the Devil 'T is the continual Employment of that accursed Spirit to lay Snares in our way to Heaven to tempt and entice Souls to the practice of sin and thereby to ascertain their eternal Ruine On the other side 't is the constant endeavour of our blessed Saviour to deliver men from their evil ways to encline their hearts to the Love and their lives to the Practice of all manner of Goodness thereby to reconcile them unto God and to save them in the day of the Lord. Flatter not your selves then in a business of so great concernment Our Apostle lays down a plain Rule from this Doctrine He that doth righteousness is righteous even as Christ is righteous v. 7. He that committeth sin is of the Devil v. 8. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin v. 9. And in this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God v. 10. Let men pretend what they will a sinful and wicked life is a plain Mark and Character of one that belongs to the Devil as on the contrary a vertuous and godly Conversation
is the onely signe of a Child of Grace the onely certain evidence of a good Christian That man who in the general course of his life carries a sincere respect to the Commandments of God and in good earnest studies to conform his actions to his holy Laws that carefully avoids the occasions of evil and seriously resists the Wiles and Temptations of the Devil that despiseth not any Precept of the Gospel because the matter of it may seem small and inconsiderable nor refuseth the severest duty because of the pains and trouble it may put him to Such a man is the honest upright Christian a true Disciple and Sevant to the Son of God notwithstanding his infirmities and frailties which through Inadvertency Surprize or a violent Temptation he may sometimes commit which as 't is impossible for the best man in this imperfect State to secure and fortifie himself against so the Mercies of God in the dispensation of the Gospel doth graciously pardon and through the Merits of Christ readily pass them over But he that committeth sin is of the Devil He that casts off the fear of God from his eyes and lives in a constant course of a wicked life that complies with the Temptations of the Devil but is careless and indifferent in the Profession and Practice of Religion that habituates himself to the practice of any one known sin or the neglect of any necessary Christian duty though he be not arrived to the highth of wickedness but make some shew and appearance of Religion by prosessing the Christian Faith frequenting the publick Offices of Religion and exercising the material parts of some Vertues and Graces yet if his Obedience be not uniform and entire according to the scope and tenour of the Gospel he is certainly in a state of sin and iniquity and whatever his Profession or Confidence be without controversie a Child of the Devil for St. James tells us that true Christian Wisdom must shew itself without partiality without hypocrisie and the same Apostle confidently assures us that whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all Jam. 3.18 â— 2.10 2. This Argument is an excellent Criterion to judge of the truth of Doctrines which are delivered as the Doctrines of Christ whether they be so or no. Our Apostle gives us an admonition and direction to this purpose 1 Jo. 4.1 2 3. Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they be of God Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus is come in the flesh that is every Doctrine which is consonant with the Incarnation of the Son of God and the design of his being manifest in the world is of God for God manifested in the flesh is a great Mystery of Godliness 1 Tim. 3.15 and St. Paul calls the Christian Faith the truth which is after Godliness Tit. 1.1 But every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus is come in the flesh that is every Doctrine which is contrary to the design of his Incarnation that is apt to hinder a good life or invalidate the necessity of it cannot be from God Whatever Doctrine gives licence or connivance to sin must needs proceed from the Devil that enemy of all goodness though the Author pretend to an Infallible Spirit like the Church of Rome or to Divine Inspiration like our Modern Enthusiasts Yet in the Church of Rome such Doctrines as these are solemnly constituted as Essential parts of the Christian Religion and imposed upon the Christian world with the same authority as the most Fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith Thus the Sacrament of Penance joyned with Confession is represented as sufficient to Salvation The Doctrine of Purgatory which supposeth an expiation of sin by the Prayers of the living after death Prayers in an unknown Tongue The prohibition of the Scriptures without licence to the people The dispensing of Indulgences the Popes Supremacy and Infallibility and others of the same nature are imposed with the same Authority and received with the same Veneration and Piety as the belief of Deity the Redemption of the world by the Son of God and the Rewards of another Life It 's needless and would be too tedious to consider them particularly but what man of common sense and understanding is not able to see that these Doctrines are directly and of their own nature great impediments and obstructions of a good life and therefore are not of God To the same ill purpose tend those frequent discourses of the Absolute Decrees of God the irresistibility of Divine Grace together with the weak and imperfect description of Faith with the strange Metaphorical expressions by which those Doctrines are unhappily represented to the world with Doctrines of like affinity confidently vented and spread abroad by the too curious and bold discoverers of hidden and unrevealed Mysteries For that Faith that doth not ingage men to become new Creatures and to keep the Commandments of God can never justifie much less save them and that Grace which shall infallibly work to convert men however disposed may make men careless and oscitant to the duties of Religion but doth neither require nor incourage their care and industry and those decrees which have irrevocably and absolutely sentenced men to Heaven or Hell from all Eternity may pamper some with presumption drive others to despair but can have no efficacy to perswade men to work out their Salvation with fear and trembling And therefore those persons that have imbibed these opinions ought to have a great care to keep their Hearts sounder than their Heads that they may be good though they apprehend no rational necessity why they should be so But if such men be good upon false and pernicious Principles as I make no question but many such erroneous persons are what eminent Lights might they be in the Church of God for sanctity and holiness of life if they would suffer right Reason and the acknowledged Principles of Religion to supplant their Erroneous Opinions and be perswaded to embrace the truth as it is in Jesus Lastly the consideration of this Doctrine should be a prevalent and most effectual Argument to perswade those that believe the truth and purport of it to leave off their sins and to lead Religious and godly lives We acknowledge our selves Christians and thereby profess to believe the Doctrine of Christ to live in obedience to his commands and in the stricter imitation of his holy life let us then look unto Jesus the Captain of our Salvation that we may prosecute that great and glorious end for which he came into the world became Emmanuel God with and incarnate among us That he was manifest in the flesh to destroy the works of the devil hath been in some measure represented to your consideration both from his holy life and meritorious death the design and tendency of his Doctrine the mission and dispensation of the Holy Ghost the many signal and eminent victories over the
Devil throughout the world in rescuing many Souls from the tyranny of the Devil and the powers of darkness and giving them power to become the Sons of God You therefore that call your selves by that worthy name of Christians consider the high Priest of your profession and the great obligation that lies upon you to walk worthy of your calling and to live as becomes the Gospel by renouncing the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world and all the sinful lusts of the flesh that as you profess to believe the Articles of the Christian Faith ye may keep Gods holy will and Commandments all the days of your life That having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust ye may be partakers of the Divine Nature and as the Apostle exhorts give all diligence to add to your faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity and that these things may be in you and abound 2 Pet. 1.4 c. This our Baptismal Covenant obligeth us to this the Sacrament of the Lords Supper would enable us to effect this the principles of our Christian profession require this the precepts of our most holy Religion commands for this the blessed promise of Gods Grace is tendered to Mankind in the dispensation of the Gospel this the blessed hope of Eternal Glory should incourage us to and the dreadful apprehension of everlasting damnation should make us afraid to neglect And if hitherto we have been so desperately mad to continue in slavery and subjection to the Devil and thereby to stand at open defiance and direct hostility with the Son of God Let us not persist a moment longer in so wretched so miserable a condition but immediately break off our League with Satan and become the servants and worshippers of the only true God and of his Son Jesus Christ whom he hath sent For though our case be very bad whilst inslaved to the Tyranny of the Devil yet since we enjoy the Gospel that word of Everlasting life no man ought to conclude that his condition is desperate For now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save the chiefest of sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 So that the Son of God is willing to save us from our sins and the malice of the Devil too if we be willing to leave off our sins and to serve him in holiness and righteousness we may yet be turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God and so be rescued from the slavery of the Devil and our lusts into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God But at this time especially in which we are to Commemorate the Incarnation of the Son of God who came to visit us in great humility and in infinite mercy to deliver us from the power of the Devil we should seriously resolve to banish sin from our hearts and lives that the Son of God may take possession of our Souls and dwelling in our Spirits by Faith we may bring forth the fruits of Piety and Charity and all other Christian Vertues and Graces to the praise and honour of his blessed Name that in the last day when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead we may rise to the life immortal through him who liveth and raigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost now and for ever Amen Amen FINIS