their supposed Deities betook themselves to the Laws of Moses and the words of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. though with the apparent hazard of their lives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. both wise and unwise Philosophers and others in all places embracing his Religion that Nulla jam natio est tam barbari moris mansuetudinem nesciens quae non ejus amore versa molliverit asperitatem â—â—am c. Arnob. adv Gent. l. 2. Christianity had spread it self throughout the World softening men's manners and teaching them Candour Meekness and Condescension that the greatest Wits Orators Grammarians Rhetoricians Lawyers Physicians Philosophers entertained it renouncing their former opinions and practices and choosing rather to study the Precepts of the Gospel that Servants could be content to endure all the severities of their merciless and enraged Masters Wives to be parted from their implacable Husbands Children to be dis-inherited by their incensed Parents than forsake the Christian Faith and treacherously withdraw themselves from that spiritual Warfare wherein they had engaged that when dreadfull punishments were decreed for all that adhered to the Laws of this Religion it grew by this means and people were only the more vigorous and the readier to proceed undauntedly against all the Menaces and all those Interdicts which were designed to work upon their fears and all the Prohibitions they met with served but to fix them the firmer in the Faith that the divine Law was received Cum vero ab ortu solis useque ad occasum lex divina suscepta sit omnis seuxs omnis aetas gens regio unis ac paribus animis Deo serviant c. Lactant. Instit l. 5. c. 13. from the rising to the setting of the Sun and every Age Sex Nation and Country set themselves to serve God with one and the same Mind and every-where was the same readiness to suffer and every where the same contempt of death insomuch that it was above the power of racks or sires to overcome Deest illis inspirata patientia Nostri autem ut de viris taceam puerr mulierculae tortorer suos tacitè vincunt exprimere illis gemitum nec ignis potest Ibid. not Men only but Women and Children or but to squeeze a groan from them by reason of that inspired Patience whereby their God had condescended to prepare them for this holy Conflict and in a word that Ut jam nullus esser tetrarum angulus tam remotus quo non Religio Dei penetrasset nulla denique natio tam feris moribus vivens ut non suscepto Dei cultu ad justitiae opera mitesceret Lact. de mort Perseq c. 3. there was none of the remotest corners of the Earth whither this divine Religion had not penetrated no Nation living so void of all humanity as not to be mollified and brought to a better temper by it Notwithstanding that it came to pass as our Saviour had fore-warned his Disciples that the Profession of his Name was attended with frequent Tribulations and Afflictions and Persecutions and the cruellest and most barbarous Tortures and Deaths such was the Courage and Resolution of the Christians in those early Ages of our Religion that there were added to the Church daily such as should be saved Till at length Kings became its nursing Fathers and Queens its nursing Mothers and they that before had met together to worship God in Mountains and in Desarts and in Dens and Caves of the Earth that by this means they might escape the discovery of their Enemies were encouraged to do it publickly in places purposely dedicated to his Service and the greatest and the wisest and the best of Men gloried in the Cross of Christ So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed against all the impediments it had to contest with and settled it self in the World to the Honour of God and the comfort and encouragement of its Professors but to the shame and terrour of its obstinate Adversaries And though divers of the Churches that were then and afterwards have since provoked God by their iniquities to deliver them up to their own blindness and hardness of heart and either to let them be over-run with Mahometans or perhaps to relapse into Paganism yet the many Christian Nations that are at this day are a sufficient indication that God is not forgetfull of this his Promise And these together with all those Parts that formerly have been Christian and might still have continued so had they but minded to walk worthy their most holy Profession and those others that will probably be hereafter brought over to the flock of Christ are a sensible proof of the accomplishment of this memorable Prediction that our blessed Saviour should draw all Men after him and that the heathen should be given him for his Inheritance and the utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession None of those Pseudo-christs before mentioned were able to plant a Doctrine or leave a Sect behind them that should continue any time after them But our blessed Lord the true Messiah had the number of his Followers soon encreased to a Miracle his Gospel proving wonderfully prevalent wheresoever it was preached His saving Word like a Sun-beam saith Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 3. Eusebius enlightned the whole World the sound of the holy Evangelists and Apostles going out as had been foretold of them in the holy Scriptures into all Lands and their speech unto the ends of the Earth So that throughout all Cities and Villages sprang up Churches abounding with an immense multitude of believers and they that had from their Infancy been addicted to Superstition and the worship of Devils betook themselves to the service of the one God the Maker of all things according 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the divine and sober Religion that our Saviour had sown amongst mankind So much concerning the former of these Prophecies namely of the vast Extent of our Saviour's Kingdom 2. The other was the Destruction of Jerusalem and Dispersion of the Jews that they should be no more a People should no more have any Polity or settled Government amongst them And this consists of two branches 1. The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple 2. The Dissolution of the Jewish Polity and Dispersion of the Jews into all parts to continue a lasting Monument of God's just vengeance upon them for all their impieties and especially for their intolerable rage and malice in procuring the Crucisixion of our ever-blessed Saviour 1. The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple This the Prophet Ch. 9.26 Daniel had long before so plainly intimated that their own Historian concludes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Joseph Antiq. l. 10. c. 12. they who should consult his Writings could not but admire the singular honour God had done him in giving him thus to understand his Will which he had manifestly declared before-hand to the confusion of all those Epicureans
my Blessed Saviour that unparallelled Pattern of an invincible Meekness * 1 S. Pet. 2.22 23. Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatened not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously and who has accordingly commanded me †S. Matt. 5.44 To love my Enemies to bless them that curse me to do good to them that hate me to pray for them that despitefully use me and persecute me that so I may be the child of my Father which is in heaven who makes his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends his rain on the just and on the unjust In a word to acquit our selves good Christians we must be always prepared both to suffer whenever our Christianity or any part of it requires it of us and to do it after a Christian sort with an intire Resignation to the Divine Will and Patience and Meekness towards our greatest Adversaries earnestly beseeching Almighty God for our selves that he will give us Grace to hold out to his Glory and our own Salvation and for our Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers that it may please him to forgive their Sins and to turn their Hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory now and for ever more Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for and Sold by Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Pauls Church yard A Discourse concerning Lent in two Parts The First an Historical Account of its Observation the Second an Essay concerning its Original This sub-divided into two Repartitions the First is Preparatory and shews that most of our Christian Ordinances are derived from the Jews and the Second conjectures that Lent is of the same Original By George Hooper D. D. Dean of Canterbury and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty Octavo An Enquiry into the New Opinions chiefly propagated by the Presbyterians of Scotland together also with some Animadversions on a late Book entituled A Defence of the Vindication of the Kirk in a Letter to a Friend at Edenburgh By Alexander Monrow D. D. Octavo Bishop Overal's Convocation-Book 1606. concerning the Government of God's Catholick Church and the Kingdoms of the whole World Quarto True Conduct of Persons of Quality Translated out of French Octavo Mysteries in Religion vindicated or the Filiation Deity and Satisfaction of our Saviour asserted against Socinians and others with Occasional Reflexions on several late Pamphlets By Luke Milbourn a Presbyter of the Church England Octavo A Treatise relating to the Worship of God divided into six Sections concerning First the Nature of Divine Worship Secondly The pecuculiar Object of Worship Thirdly The true Worshippers of God Fourthly Assistance requisite to Worship Fifthly The Place of Worship Sixthly The solemn Time of Worship By John Templer D. D. Octavo A Defence of Reveal'd Religion in six Sermons upon Romans 1.16 Wherein it is clearly and plainly shewn That no Man can possibly have any real Ground or Reason to be asham'd of Christianity By Henry Halliwell M. A. Vicar of Cowfold in Sussex Octavo A Discourse concerning the Nature of Man both in his Natural and Political Capacity both as he is a Rational Creature and Member of a Civil Society with an Examination of some of Mr. Hobb's Opinions relating thereunto By James Lowde Rector of Settrington in Yorkshire and sometime Fellow of Clare-Hall in Cambridge Octavo The Doctrine of the Glorious Trinity not Explained but Asserted by several Texts as they are Expounded by the ancient Fathers and later Divines for the satisfaction of such as doubt the Conviction of such as deny and the Confirmation of such as believe this mysterious Article of the Christian Faith By Francis Gregory D.D. Rector of Hambledon in the County of Bucks Octavo An Essay to revive the ancient Charity and Piety wherein God's Rights in our Estates and our Obligations to maintain his Service Religion and Charity is demonstrated and defended against the Pretences of Covetousness and Appropriation in two Discourses written to a Person of Honour and Virtue By George Burghop Rector of Little-Gaddesden in the County of Hertford and Chaplain to the Right Honourable John Earl of Bridgwater Octavo Six Sermons preached before the late incomparable Princess Queen Mary at White-Hall with several Additions and large Annotations to the Discourse of Justification by Faith By George Bright D. D. Dean of St. Asaph and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty Two Assize-Sermons preached at the Assizes at Winchester Piety's Address to the Magistrate delivered in a Sermon at the Assizes at Winchester July 11.1695 Both by E. Young Fellow of Winchester College and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty Quarto A Sermon preached at the Anniversary-meeting of the Sons of the Clergymen in the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow on Tuesday Decemb. 3. 1695. Printed at the Desire of the Stewards to whom it is most humbly presented by Tho. Whincop D.D. Rector of the United Parishes of St. Mary Abchurch and St. Laurence Poultney London Dr. Hickman's Sermon on St. Cecilia's Day 1695. Dr. Wyvill Dean of Rippon's Thanksgiving-Sermon on the Taking of Namur Dr. Lamb Dean of Ely's Sermon before the King at St. James's Jan. 19. 1695 6.
the Truth and Certainty of the Predictions both of our blessed Saviour and of the Prophets who had been before him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. Whilst they only abused affronted and slew the Servants of God the Messengers that he had commissioned to warn them of their sins and the punishments due to them killing the Prophets and stoneing those that were sent to them he was ready to be reconciled and to pass by their iniquities but since they had dared to crucifie his Son his dearly-beloved Son the case has been altered with them and their wound has been incurable they have not been in a capacity to regain their former station nor to make any figure in the World As of old he most wonderfully manifested his Providence over them in conducting them into and settling them in the good Land of Canaan in vouchsafing them his especial Presence in magnifying them above their Enemies round about and in all the Miracles he wrought for them so doth he it now also in a very eminent manner in thus signalizing them from amongst the rest of the World to Deut. 28.37 become an astonishment a proverb and a by-word among all nations whither the Lord shall lead them as he had threatned by Moses to deal with them upon their disobedience Which I have the rather chosen to insist upon because being plain matter of fact at this time it leaves no room to doubt whether God has been mindfull to make good his Predictions in this respect and by consequence the consideration hereof administers an irrefragable Argument for the proof of an over-ruling Providence Thus much of Prophecies and their suitable accomplishments 2. Miracles are another extraordinary and very convincing and satisfactory evidence of the interposition of Providence and which may well silence all its most audacious Adversaries These are what no natural Power can possibly effect And therefore when we either see them or are otherwise well assured that they have been wrought it is intolerably unreasonable not to believe them to have proceeded from a supernatural Operation Whatsoever evasions may be found out in divers other cases for avoiding the force of whatever Arguments are brought for a Providence there is no pretence for it here For Miracles are an ocular Demonstration that there is some supream uncontroulable Power that can upon occasion invert the usual course of things bringing its ends about in an unwonted manner But no-where is this sort of evidence set forth with that advantage as in the holy Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament each of which abound with very surprizing instances of this nature Such in the first place was the universal Deluge which washed away the old World but whereof Gen. 6.17 Noah had been fore-warned and from which Gen. 7.23 2 S. Pet. 2.5 himself and his family were wonderfully preserved to re-people the Earth Such was the destruction Gen. 19.24 c. of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from Heaven And such also though in yet a less degree were the divers Exod. 7 c. sorts of Plagues that were brought upon Egypt by the Ministry of Moses and most of them removed again at his request and his Ch. 14.21 22. dividing the Sea and making it stand up as a Wall on each side while the Israelites passed through and then causing it to return to its wonted course and so to Ver. 27 28. overwhelm Pharaoh and all his Host Such was God's immediate Presence with his people Ch. 13.21 22. in a Pillar of Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night to direct them in their journey to the promised Land Such likewise were Numb 20.11 Moses's bringing forth water out of the hard Rock meerly by the stroke of a Rod Josh 10.13 Joshua's stopping the Sun in the midst of its career 1 King 17.16 Elijah's multiplying the Widow's cruise of oyl and barrel of meal Ch. 18 38 39. and his confuting Baal's Prophets by a fire from Heaven that both consumed the Sacrifice and dried up the water upon the Altar and in the trenches that were about it Jud. 5.20 the Stars fighting in their courses against Sisera and his Army when as Antiq. l. 5. c. 6. Josephus relates the Heavens poured down a prodigious storm of water and hail which beating in their faces discomposed them to that degree as to render their bows and slings and swords useless for their defence the falling of the Walls of Jericho Josh 6.20 upon the People's shouting and the Priests blowing with Trumpets Exod. 16.14 15. the raining of Manna from Heaven for six days in the week Ver. 27. and not the seventh Ver. 13. Numb 11.31 the Quails that came up from the Sea and covered the Camp and many other instances of God's Almighty Power together with 1 King 17.22 2 King 4.35 13.21 some few raised from death to life amongst the Jews And if we descend to the time of our blessed Saviour's incarnation and the following Ages it would be almost an endless task to recount what sick were restored to health only with a word speaking what lunaticks were recovered to a soundness of understanding what lames what leprous what paralyticks what deafs what dumbs what blinds were cured what Demoniacks were dispossessed how the dead were raised to life the graves were opened the rocks were split the vail of the Temple was rent the Earth quaked the prison-doors unlocked and the chains fell off from the prisoners of their own accord how Act. 9.3 c. S. Paul was converted by a voice and a light from Heaven as he was travelling to Damascus how our blessed Lord appeared to Ch. 7.55 S. Stephen at his Martyrdom in what a wonderfull manner Ch. 2.1 c. the Holy-Ghost descended upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost and what were the stupendous effects of this descent such as speaking with tongues the interpretation of tongues discerning of spirits healing the sick and infirm of divers diseases casting out Devils and the like Some of which continued afterwards in the Church for some Ages untill our Religion was sufficiently propagated and confirmed As the generality of the Writers of those times inform us and amongst others Apol. 1 2. Justin Martyr L. 2. c. 57. Irenaeus Apol. c. 5 c. 32. ad Scap. c. 2. Tertullian P. 89 90. Minucius Felix C. Cels l. 7. p. 334. Origen Adv. Gentes l. 2. Arnobius Retract l. 1. c. 13. de civ Dei l. 22. c. 8. alibi S. Augustine De viro perfecto To. 9. S. Jerome and L. 5. c. 7. Eusebius Whereto if we add that a great part at least of these Miracles were wrought in the sight as well of Heathens as of Christians and many times for their advantage and upon their persons and again that they were not done privately or in a corner but openly and before the Sun in the high-ways and the streets at feasts and marriage-entertainments in the fullest assemblies and before the greatest numbers
Necessities and the Difficulties wherein they have been set This must needs be acknowledged to God's Glory and the shame of our selves his unworthy Creatures who have made no better use of all his most gracious Dispensations towards us 1. For if we look upon our selves as a National Church and seriously lay to heart our singular happiness in this respect what People under Heaven can compare with us in it We have a Religion purified from the Innovations and delivered from the Encroachments of Popery on the one hand and yet withall preserved from those Enthusiastick Principles on the other which have infected so many other parts of the Reformation We are allowed the free use of the holy Scriptures and in a Language that we all understand and have them recommended to our study and expounded to us and their Instructions pressed upon us by the best and most important Arguments for the orderly government of our Lives We have the truly Orthodox Faith professed amongst us that * S. Jud. 3. Faith which was once delivered to the Saints without the Superstructure of other Articles unknown to all the purest Ages of Christianity are Members of a Church that faithfully teaches our Duty to God to the King as his Minister and Representative to all other our regular and lawful Superiors whether Civil or Ecclesiastical and to each other in whatever capacity and moreover have the ancient †Meminisse autem Diaconi debent quoniam Apostolos id est Episcopos Praepositos Dominus elegit D. Cypr. Epist 3. Ad omnes Praepositos qui Apostolis vicariâ ordinatione succedunt Epist 66. alibi Apostolical form of Episcopal Government preserved amongst us and have an admirably pious and well-composed Liturgy and only such innocent Ceremonies as are very becoming the service of God and may tend rather to heighten than any way obstruct our Devotions In short it is our happiness to have been taught to reverence Antiquity as the best Expositor of the Word and Will of God and to depart no farther from any modern Churches than they appear to have departed from the truly Ancient and Catholick Church And as we retain the same Form of Ecclesiastical Government that the Primitive Church had and the same Principles upon which they retained it so have we also our Worship ordered suitably to the Worship of the first and best Christians And yet this is not all for as we have been blessed with a Prudent and Orthodox Reformation we have likewise been preserved from the Attempts of those who have sought either violently to overturn or secretly to undermine it We have had our Adversaries on either hand endeavouring to supplant us by various Artifices as might suit best with their Circumstances and might seem most for their Interest but blessed be God they have not had their Ends upon us Our gracious Lord hath often frustrated their Counsels and brought their subtilest Devices to nought and hath from time to time as we hope he will now again put a period to our Destractions 2. If we look upon our selves as Members of a lately flourishing Kingdom we have great reason to be thankful also upon this account We have been very ready to complain of our Abundance as a burden such plenty of worldly Blessings has been vouchsafed us And what Plots and Contrivances have been on foot for our overthrow have generally proved abortive and for the most part have fallen upon the Authors own Heads It is true we were suffered not very long since to prevail against our selves till we had made an unhappy interruption of our Peace and Settlement for divers years together Yet behold the Goodness of our God he then heard at length the cry of his distressed Servants and restored quiet to our Land together with all those outward Comforts that usually attend it And since this we may remember that not many years agoe scarce any part of Europe enjoyed so long and advantageous a Peace as we did there being very few of our Neighbours who were not embroyled in an expensive War whilst we sate securely to use the Prophet's Expression * Mich. 4.4 under our own Vines and under our Fig-trees We grew wealthy and proud by these Advantages and if it please God now to humble us under his afflicting Hand this is no more than our abuse of his former Mercies has too justly deserved And when by his Chastisements he shall have fitted us for his more favourable Dispensations it is to be hoped he will be graciously pleased to let us partake of them again as heretofore 3. Or if again we look upon our selves in our private personal Capacity who amongst us can recount the abundant Goodness of God to him every day We have in this respect likewise been honoured with store of such Blessings and such Deliverances as may well fill our Hearts with Gratitude and our Mouths with Songs of Praise to the God of our Salvation †Quoniam pravitas fragilitas insufficientia nostra ineffabilis est multaque nimis ex parte nostri summa requiritur gratitudo Dionys Carthus de vitâ spiritali Art 12. We are nothing we have nothing we can do nothing nor be secure of any thing without his good Providence taking care of us and to him therefore we are heartily to ascribe the Honour and Glory for all the Blessings we receive and for all the Misfortunes and Evils we escape And yet oh our gracious our compassionate God how boundless is thy Loving-kindness to us upon each of these accounts Our Lives and Limbs our Memory and Understanding our Health and Strength our Food and Raiment and all the common Mercies we receive we are too too apt to undervalue because of our so constant enjoyment of them yet these are Blessings that they who want or are about to lose them know how to esteem at a great rate And how plentifully I had almost said how incessantly are these continued to us If we have now and then a restless Night have we not many very many good ones for it If we have lost one Child or other dear Relation how many more have we yet remaining If we have been deprived of any other outward Enjoyment or Advantage are not divers others continued to us or else succeed in the room of what is lost Or if we have one Limb distorted or in pain or perished are not all our other parts preserved in health and good order Or if our Condition be yet harder if we have lost an only Child or have lost our best Friends upon whom possibly we had great dependance or have lost our whole Estate or Employment or whatsoever we are wont to value most or have our whole Body disordered with Pains or Sickness how hard soever our Lot may be in any one or more of these Particulars are we not safe as to the rest Why then should any amongst us suffer his Wants or Disappointments in one kind to
of the Devourer He takes care to create himself an Enemy that will easily turn all his wisest Counsels into Foolishness and render all his Undertakings successess and who on the other hand can as easily overwhelm him with all sorts of Plagues and Calamities 3. If God should be pleased to grant success to these Attempts beyond what there is any reason to hope for * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristot Rhetor. l. 2. c. 24. this possibly may be but to make way for some severer misery to overtake us Such as Philip of Macedon was afraid of when having received three joyfull Messages at the same time namely that his Chariot had come off Victor in the Olympick Games that his General had routed his Enemies and that his Wife had born him a Son cried out hereupon with hands lift up to Heaven †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch de Consolat ad Apollon Oh that after so much good news it might be only some common calamity that should befall him Or as befell Theramenes at Athens who having met with a wonderfull Deliverance when the House wherein he was with others at Supper had fallen and slain the rest of the Company without hurting him was * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. shortly after put to a more cruel Death by his Collegues in the Tyranny God may please for the clearer manifestation of his Power †Consuesse enim Deos immortales quo gravius homines ex commutatione rerum doleant quos pro scelere eorum ulcisci velint his secundiores interdum res diuturniorem impunitatem concedere J. Caes de bello Gall. l. 1. Miseri in hoc altius tolluntur ut decidant altius hi enim ut victimae ad supplicium saginantur ut hostiae ad poenam coronantur Min. Fel. to exalt wicked Men and give them their fill of Wealth and Authority and Honour and to allow them the free enjoyment of all these only in order to their heavier fall As he did sinfull Pharaoh of whom the Scripture saith expresly ‖ Exod. 9.16 In very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to shew in thee my power and that my name may be declared throughout the earth meaning That God had not only * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 9.7 set him in an eminent station by by making him a potent King but had moreover †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud 72. Interp. preserved him alive after all the Plagues his Land had suffered for his Obstinacy and Disobedience had made him ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to stand as it is in the Original to the intent he might become a lasting Monument of the Divine Vengeance upon incorrigible Offenders An Example well worthy the serious consideration of those that promise themselves Safety any other way than God has appointed For howsoever such flatter themselves in their Wickedness at present they know not how soon a Day of Reckoning may come and then they must look to pay dear for all their Abominations Sometimes God may permit Mens Ungodliness to succeed and to answer their Expectations for a while but withall may cause it to be attended with some other inconvenience that shall more than compensate for all the benefits arising from it As in the case of * 2 King 5.21 22 23. Gehazi who hoped to make an advantage of the lye with which he pursued Naaman the Syrian and so he did for the present but then upon his return into his Master's sight †v. 27. he was seized with a Leprosie that was never to leave him all the days of his life nor his Seed after him Sometimes he may cut them off before they come to tast the fruit of what they have unlawfully obtained as he did ‖ Faust Marcell libell precum Potamius Bishop of Lisbon This Bishop was first Orthodox but afterwards denied the Faith and turned Arian in hope of an Estate to be bestowed upon him by the Emperour Which though granted him proved a very poor Recompense for his Infidelity for as he was going to take possession of it a certain pain seized him in his Tongue wherewith he had blasphemed God and his Distemper encreasing upon him he died by the way * Nullos fructus fundi vel visione perâ—â—piens Ibid. without the satisfaction of having seen what he so eagerly thirsted after Sometimes again he may let Men go on in their Wickedness and proceed from one degree of it to another and after a while may put a very remarkable stop to their career and perhaps not without the loss of their Life As it happened to Hosius Bishop of Corduba who after he had been zealous for the Orthodox Faith in the time of the Arian Persecution and had censured and rejected the forenamed Potamius for his Apostacy from it was yet wrought upon in his old Age * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat Hist P. l. 2. c. 31. by the threats and punishments of the Emperour Constantius to subscribe the Arian Confession and returned back from him into Spain with Commission to banish all that refused to join in a Communion with him But it came to pass that being about to pronounce the Sentence of Deposition upon Gregory of Eliberis in order to his Banishment he was struck by the Hand of God †De sessu in terram eliditur atque illic exspirat aut ut quidam volunt obmutuit Inde tamen effertur ut mortuus Libel prec Ibid. Fell from his Seat to the earth and there expired or at least had his speech taken away and was carried out for dead Or else when Men grow impetuous and excessively extravagant in their Impieties he may seem to connive at them for a time and when that is past may take them down in the height of their Pride and make them acknowledge his Hand visibly upon them for their Crimes Thus he avenged himself upon two notorious Adversaries to his Church Antiochus a profess'd Enemy to the Jewish and Julian a subtile underminer of the Christian Worship and Religion The former of whom having forbidden the Jews to Sacrifice as their Law requir'd of them having offer'd Swines-flesh upon their Altar to profane it having prohibited their initiatory rite of Circumcision and burnt their Scriptures yet before his death finding his illness very hard upon him he declared to his Friends about him ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Josep Antiq l. 12. c. 13. that he endured all this for the Cruelties he had exercised upon the Jews and for his robbing their Temple and despising their God The latter had been educated from his Childhood in the Christian Religion and though as he grew up he began to have most Inclination for the Heathen Idolatries * Socrat. Hist Eccl. l. 3. c. 1. Am. Marcel l. 22. Theod. Hist l. 3. c. 2.
Greg. Naz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet openly made profession of Christianity and took upon him a Monastick Life and was a Reader in the Church of Nicomedia in Bithynia till at length he thought it a proper time to lay aside his Vizard and then he disowned the Religion he had hitherto profess'd went publickly to the Heathen Temples sacrificed to the Images he found there and called himself their High-Priest Thenceforward he set himself against the Christians and spake and wrote against their Doctrine 1 Sozom. Hist l. 5. c. 17. trying all ways 2 Theod. l. 3. c. 22. by fair Words 3 Theod. l. 3. c. 16. by Promises and Rewards 4 Socrat. l. 3. c. 13 14 15 16 19. by Terrours and Sufferings 5 Am. Marcell l. 22. Optat. Meliv l. 2. by Toleration 6 Soz. l. 3. c. 17 18. Greg. Naz. Stel. 1. by Tricks and subtile Artifices to win them off from their Christianity But after all it is related of him that having received his mortal Wound and considering the Hand of God upon him in it 7 Quanquam Nazarenum nostium ut ipse solebat dicere Galilaeum statim in praelio senserit D. Hieron Epist 84. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sozom l. 6. c. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodorit l. 3. c. 25. he could not but declare though he did it in an undecent manner that that Christ whom he had so despised and reproached and whose Worship he had laboured by so many various methods to extirpate out of the World was not too hard for him Thus it pleases the great God to execute his Wrath in an extraordinary and signal manner when Men grow audacious and incorrigible in their Wickedness and provoke him to that degree that he can no longer bear with them All the present success such meet with is no security to them against a more deadly stroke when the measure of their Iniquities is filled up This is the proper season for him to vindicate his own Honour and Justice and to let themselves and the rest of the World see that he is not an unconcerned Spectator of their doings And accordingly he takes occasion many times to inflict some immediate Judgment upon them or else he makes some other way for his Indignation which if attended to must necessarily convince them of their folly in having departed from his Precepts how inviting soever the temptation might have appeared to them And if we appeal to the ordinary course of the World it must be acknowledged that though a Man may contrive to advance himself for the present which yet is more than many can do with all their Cunning and all their Wickedness though a Man may contrive I say to advance himself for the present by Cheating Oppression Sycophantry Perjury Subornation Time-serving or other evil Practices these seldom last long without recoiling upon him to his sorrow They may prove serviceable whilst he can put a fair gloss upon them but if once they come to be publickly taken notice of his Credit is presently impaired by them and either he is at length undone or at least finds himself in worse circumstances than if he had kept to the undoubted Rules of Honesty And such an one being brought into Streights his former ill dealings not only occasion him fewer Friends amongst Men to assist him in his necessity but give him likewise just ground to expect far less of the Divine Favour and Compassion than he might otherwise have hoped for Whence his fall becomes the greater and the more grievous the greater * Nam in omni adversitate fortunae infoelicissimum genus est infortunii fuisse foelicem Boet. de Consol Philos l. 2. pros 4. by how much the higher he had been advanced and the more grievous by how much the less pitied he falls by those about him and the less hope he hath therefore of a recovery And the case is much the same in relation to Treasons Rebellion Robbery Murther or other the like dangerous as well as unconscionable Practices Except that these not only fail in time to answer the Offender's Expectation as the former but besides are frequently attended with some ignominious punishment at the last and it may be to the utter overthrow of themselves and their Estates and Honours together at one blow after this manner verifying the saying of the Wise-man †Eccles 9.10 As the fish that are taken in an evil net and as the birds that are caught in the snare so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly upon them and that other of the Psalmist ‖ Ps 92.7 When the wicked spring as the grass and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish it is this is the time whilst they are thus in their Splendor that they shall be destroyed for ever But farther if through the immense Clemency of God the Sinner should escape all these forementioned Inconveniencies neither erring in his Choice nor in the Means he uses in pursuit of it nor having his Designs defeated nor any heavier Judgment inflicted upon him during the whole time of his abode in this World supposing all this still the impropriety and disadvantage of unlawfull Means in order to our welfare will appear 3. Because there are other dreadfull mischiefs that usually accompany them The danger is not over upon obtaining the End aimed at but there are ill consequences of the Means in order to it yet remaining which will more than recompense for the benefits redounding from them And especially these two 1. The trouble anxiety and perplexity of Mind that may justly be expected to follow upon them here in this World 2. The intolerable tortures that are due to them in the other 1. The trouble anxiety and perplexity of Mind that may justly be expected to follow upon them here in this World For it cannot be other than a very considerable abatement of any the greatest outward Happiness * Nullum maleficium sine formidine est quia nec sine conscientiâ sui Tertull. adv Marcio l. 4. c. 17. Nemo malus foelix Juv. Sat. 4. v. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pythagorae fragment pros apud Hieroclem Demophilii sentent Pythag. Si sera Deorum vindicta sit noluerunt tamen impios ipso in facinore adeo exultare ut non angore conscientiae fraudisque cruciatu tanquam domesticis furiis affiduè vexentur Cic. Consol ad Brut. to remember that it has been acquired by the wilfull transgression of God's Laws When the Possessor blesses himself most in his unjust attainments this one thought will be enough like the * Dan. 5.6 Hand-writing on the Wall to Belshazzar to imbitter all his Joys to strike his Limbs into a fit of trembling to cover his Face with paleness and fill his Mind with horrour and confusion What a damp must it be to his compleatest Satisfactions to recollect that they have been the
his sight This is the plain Doctrine of the Gospel And it is therefore a great vanity to talk of treading in our Saviour's steps or entituling our selves to the inestimable benefits of his Death and Resurrection if we permit our selves to live in contradiction to it or to conceit that we shall be accepted as his Followers if we think much to †S. Matt. 20.23 drink of the cup that he drank of or to be baptized with the Baptism of Sufferings that he was baptized with He has sufficiently declared that he will admit of none but upon condition of being ‖ Rom. 8.29 conformed to his image by enduring all those evils whereto they shall at any time find themselves exposed for the sake of a good Conscience assuring us moreover that * S. Mar. 8.38 whosoever shall be ashamed of or unwilling to own Him and his Words both his Doctrines and his Precepts in the midst of an adulterous and sinfull generation of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels This is the first Consideration and is sufficient one would think to engage all who have any Reverence for their crucified Redeemer or any love for their own Souls readily to subject themselves to all kinds of Losses Reproaches or other the severest Afflictions rather than both dishonour their holy Profession and ruine themselves to all Eternity However that we may all be the rather invited to a chearfull suffering for the sake of our Saviour and the necessary Points and Principles of his Religion I propounded in the next place and now accordingly proceed to remind you that 2. This is but what our Lord has done for us in a very signal manner Who * 2 Cor. 8.9 though he were rich yet became poor for our sakes that we through his poverty might be made rich Though he were †Phil. 2.6 7 8. in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God yet made he himself of no reputation but took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death even that vile servile ignominious and cruel death the death of the Cross He who had from all Eternity been infinitely happy together with the Father out of his immense compassion to fallen Man condescended in time to be born into the World of a poor Virgin to lead a mean and despicable a troublesome and uneasie life exposed to all the Infirmities of Humane Nature Sin only excepted and to die in the most contemptible and painfull manner that hereby he might redeem us from Sin Death and Hell and might restore us to his Father's Favour and procure us a Title to the ineffable Glories of his everlasting Kingdom What intolerable Disingenuity therefore what monstrous Ingratitude must it be for any of those whom he has thus excessively commiserated to stick at any the severest Sufferings much more to be unwilling to part with only some present possessions or other outward conveniencies in obedience to his Command Whenever thou callest to mind what Pain and Shame what Reproach and Contempt what Wants what Affronts what Tortures what Agonies he underwent upon thy account how * Is 53.3 he was despised and rejected of men and became a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief that †v. 5. through his stripes thou mightest be healed how ‖ v. 8. he was wounded for thy transgressions and bruised for thy iniquities was taken from prison and from judgment and was cut off out of the land of the living and all this to make Atonement for thy Sins and redeem thee from the unconceivable Miseries justly due to them when thou reflectest I say upon this singular Love of thy incarnate and dying Saviour how canst thou find in thy Heart to refuse dying again for him But especially how canst thou possibly preferr some fading transitory Priviledge or Enjoyment before thy Duty to him Had not he given himself for thee thou hadst been irrecoverably ruined for evermore and how canst thou then be backward to make him the best return for it thou art able How canst thou be afraid of suffering when thou hast him for thy Guide and seriously layest to heart that * 1 S. Pet. 2.21 he also suffered for thee leaving thee an Example that thou shouldest tread in his steps The Meditation hereof if duely attended to would make thee almost ambitious †Dum mori post mortem timent interim mori non timent Caecil in Min. Fel. Si nondum nostrum sanguinem fudimus sed fudisse parati sumus nemo hoc dilationis nostrae moram Clementiam judicet quae nobis officit quae impedimentum glorioe facit quae coelum differt quae gloriosum Dei conspectum inhibet D Cyprian Epist 31. Edit Ox. Poena illic subigitur cruciatus obteritur nec mors metuitur sed optatur Epist 37. Cum omni saevitiâ vestrâ concertamus etiam ultro irrumpentes magisque damnati quà m absoluti gaudemus Tortull ad Seap. with the Primitive Christians of the Crown of Martyrdom At least it would certainly engage thee to a resolute and undaunted observance of all thy Saviour's Laws and thy indissoluble obligations to him and so would dispose thee * 2 Tim. 2.3 to endure hardships as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ to esteem the †Heb. 11.25 26. reproach of or for Christ greater riches than all earthly treasures and to choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Especially if it be again considered That 3. This is the best and most effectual way of defending our Religion ‖ Salus autem civitatis Dei talis est ut cum fide ac per fidem teneri vel potius acquiri possit fide autem perditâ ad eam quisque venire non possit D. Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 22. c. 6. which whilst People take any other course to preserve they know not what mischief they may do it by those attempts and whether instead of protecting and maintaining it they are not giving it its mortal wound * Histor Eccles Sclavon p. 58. Joannes Commenius the last Archbishop of Prague bewails the miserable condition whereinto the Churches of Bohemia and Moravia were brought by attempting to save themselves by Arms which could not secure them as they expected but became an inlet to their ruine to that degree that he complains a little after †Ut intra Bohemiam Moraviam nullum amplius Evangelicis restet Templum nulla Schola nullum privatum religionis exercitium nulli sacri libri exustis Bibliorum codicibus aliisque purioris divini cultus adminiculis p. 59. they had neither Church allowed them nor School nor private exercise of their Religion and