the never-dying Worm to feed upon How well therefore is it stiled a Mistery that a God most perfect in himself who stood in no need or want should love so forlorn a Creature by reason of his sin at such vast and great distances from him who could do him small service and stand him in little stead Yet still this immense Being hath out of his Infinite Bounty given us the dear production of himself coeternal consubstantial and equal to the Father in respect of his God-head though inferiour to the Father as touching his Man-hood God and Man a Problem whose solution puzzleth all the Reason humanity possesseth a Riddle which cannot be unfolded but by Faith Did we not behold it through that Perspective but employ our reason to consider it we should as soon conclude to the Suns Union with a Clod or a Thoughts Corporeity as to believe immortality incarnate spirituality turn'd body and the infinite Ocean of goodness in so small a Vessel The composure of the World and the variety of Creatures was the effect of an Almighty Power that Man should be made after the Image of God wonderful enough but that God should be made like Man is much more admirable 'T was a greater demonstration of his Omnipotency that God should be made a like Creature than his formation of all Creatures Immortality put on Mortality and Incorruption dressed in the garments of Corruption We read that the Ark of the Covenant was overlaid with Gold whilst Shittim wood was in the midst which was to Typifie Christs Humanity decked and adorned with his God-head A Mystery so fruitful in Miracles that natural Reason cannot comprehend them Nature was stopt as to the result of an humane subsistence in whose place was intimately applyed the Personality of the Divine Word and this infinite subsistence was adorned with graces virtues and privileges superiment Dost thou wonder to see the Sea divided and stand upon an heap come here then and admire this boundless Ocean contained in the narrow Vessel of a Virgins Body Dost thou wonder to see the Bush in the midst of hungry Fire and not consumed behold a Virgin the Mother of a Son and yet her Virginity spotless and undefiled Dost thou wonder to see a Moses preserved in a Cradle of Bull-rushes behold the King of Heaven in a Manger Was it strange to see the Sun go back on the Dial of Ahaz how marvellous then is it to see the true Sun Light of very Light under a small cloud and the most glorious Candle of Heaven put under a Bushel Dost thou wonder the Bread of Life became Flesh look into the Sacrament of his Supper and see how he can turn his Body and Bloud into Bread and Wine to nourish the Souls of Men Dost thou wonder at the Wisdom of Solomon lo a greater than Solomon is here How did the Wisdom of God become foolishness for us and the Word it self speechless And He who is our God is He not also our Brother Rouze up thy self then O my dull and sordid soul mount up thy self even to the Heavens above slighting the things of the World as dross and dung if compar'd with the honourable Title of being the Son of God Many an express had been sent unto us from the Court of Heaven by those winged Embassadours the Angels But Oh infinite mercy He now sends his Legat à latere his Son from his bosom expecting he would be more honourably treated by us But alas how did we entertain him 'T is true he had his brows encircled with a Crown but it was of Thorns 'T is true he was a King but annointed with his own bloud or as the Evangelical Prophet stiles him a King of sorrows 'T is true he had a Purple Robe but it was of derision 'T is true he had a Bed-chamber but it was a Stable 't is true he had a Cradle but it was a Manger to compleat the saying which was written The Oxe lodged with his owner and the Ass and the Master were content with the same Crib Was he an Isaac a Son of Laughter or rather vir dolorum a man of griefs Was he clothed in his dress of Majesty or did he disguise himself in Purples and Furrs that he might enjoy ease and govern all the Nations of the Earth or rather was he not clothed with shame and dishonour Did not Heav'n nay the God of Heav'n descend to Earth that Earth might ascend to Heaven Thy Fore-head was furrowed with Thorns O blessed Jesu yet thou wouldst not frown We did chain those Arms which thou didst stretch forth to embrace thy Enemies and those who continually provoke thee to wrath thy Bowels of tender compassion yearned towards them who were ready to rake into thine with their bloudy hands Oh! most compassionate Son of the most merciful Father What shall we render unto thee for all thy mercies How shall we pay our acknowledgements whom shall we love to whom shall we resign our Wills and ways but unto thee and the Father of mercies who hath not thought the gift of his Son too great to confer upon us Oh blessed Incarnation oh happy day never will we forget thee but entirely devote our selves to his service and worship who hath this day called us to be his Son by adoption settle our affections and confirm us in this our resolution that by the influence of thy Holy Spirit we may obtain the end and purpose of thy Incarnation everlasting Which is the last to be considered And the words are easie to be understood for by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is meant whosoever shall receive and obey the doctrine of his Gospel and frame his life according to the rules thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall not perish but be rescued from eternal death and made partaker of eternal life but on the contrary if we disown him and reject his rules we shall receive no benefits by the merits of his death and Passion for though Heaven should become a desart yet he will not people it with persons refractory and disobedient but the sentence of the first Curse shall not be repealed but still hold valid and of force for if they will work their own destruction by refusing to lay hold on Christ this inconveniency happens unto them not from the inefficacy of Christs satisfaction or a defect of his commiseration 2 Pet. 2.1 and goodness towards his Creatures but from their own default because as the Apostle speaks they deny him by whom they were bought He purchased the souls of the whole World but if they will not accept of such a Ransom by believing on him and regulating their wills by his will they may be damned though he was offered up a Sacrifice for them thus the Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 8.11 thy Brother perish for whom Christ died For he died for all yet those only receive the priviledges thereof who believe on him by their obedience to his word For though
endless miseries they may wander many years in the Tents of Kedar where there is nothing but blackness and darkness not the least glimmering of joy yet still he will bring them at length to the Mountains of joy and gladness Thus the Prophet assureth us He gives them beauty for ashes Isa 61.3 the oil of joy for mourning and the garments of gladness for the spirit of heaviness 'T is the method of Heaven to place mourning before joy as Night before Day I will smite and I will make whole First the punishment then the blessing Who would have thought when the Israelites were Forty years in the Wilderness they should ever have came into the Land flowing with Milk and Honey Who would have thought when Jonah was cast into the Sea to have met him again preaching at Nineveh who would have thought when Nebuchadnezzar was grasing in the Forrest to have seen him again governing in Babel who would have thought when Joseph was on Prison to have seen him advanced Lord over Pharaoh's house who would have thought when Job was in the Dunghil that he should be happier and richer then before his misfortunes These are the great acts of mercy which make the faithful sing with Miriam the Lord hath triumphed valiantly Exod. 15.21 did not the fire that insatiable and gluttonous Element loose its devouring nature when the three Judaean Youths were cast into the Chaldaean Furnace though it consumed their enemies who threw them in yet it hurted not them but caressed them with amorous embraces as if they had been flames of love insomuch there was neither an hair of their head perished nor the smell of fire upon their cloaths for thou O thou mighty God of Jacob didst deliver them Nay thus he brought Jacob from Exile thus he delivered St. Peter from the hands of King Herod and all the expectation of the Jews Why art thou then afraid O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me O still put thy confidence in God for he will deliver thee When Herod sent forth his Troop of Horse to slay the poor innocent Infantry of Bethlehem to the end he might destroy him who was born King of the Jews tydings came at last to Mary and Joseph in Aegypt that he was dead who sought the young Child's life Even so when our Banishment and Sickness bondage and scarcity are fully compleated Tydings shall come that our troubles are dead Exod. 34.6 and the heart shall dance and sing that Song of Moses The Lord the Lord Strong Merciful and Gracious Slow to Anger but abounding in Goodness and Truth The same hand that woundeth cureth it is God who maketh the wound and bindeth it up He smiteth and the powder of his mercy maketh it whole Had David put a stop and period at troubles discoursing of nothing but Rods than might have the Righteous have complained I have cleansed my heart in vain but as there is a flux and reflux of the waters of the Sea so are there the ebbings as well as the flowings of sorrows here lies Joseph in the Prison and Jeremiah in the Dungeon Job in ashes Jacob in the Field David in the Wilderness and Abraham in Exile Daniel in the Den and the three Children in the Furnace but at last comes the year of Jubilee and the Prisoners of hope are no longer in Chains Zach. 9.12 but freed from Captivity and Thraldom Upon which account they are stiled Prisoners of hope because they may confidently rely upon God to deliver them for rather than Elijah shall starve the Ravens shall feed him rather then Jonah shall drown a Whale shall swallow him up if the Glutton be cruel and pitiless doggs shall be kind and compassionate For can a Mother commiserate the trickling tears of her crying Infant and will the Father of mercy be obdure to thee are the tears of an infirm Lazaro so eloquent and Rhetorical that they will force compassion from the beholders eyes and will not thy wounds seconded with the intercession of a crucified Jesus move the God of Heaven doth he cloath the Lilly and the Rose which neither spinn nor toyl with such beauty and glory and will not he adorn thy head with hallowed flames which was environed with Thorns for the maintaining of his Truth and Religion hath not God promised to deliver thee and will he break his Vows Is not a martyred soul a friend of Gods and is he wont to forsake his Favourites did he not once speak peace unto thee and is it usual for him to recall his words Nay in a word did not he smile upon thee when thou wert in the greatest agonies and are his smiles deceitful Rest satisfied therefore and quiet thy self with the rich expressions of his love and full assurance of obtaining the promise to set with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God We are not healed so soon as we are bruised but our deliverance is deferred for a while to see how patiently we demean our selves waiting the Lords leisure as it is said of the Prophets Vision though it tarry Hab. 2.3 wait for it for it will most assuredly come it will not tarry and so in the text Ps 55. though the Righteous have troubles yet they are not everlasting ones and so again he will not suffer the Righteous to fall for ever Whilst the Righteous are in trouble they seem as it were in a trance dead for a while but at length they shall come forth as Lazarus from the grave mourning may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning how shall this therefore content the afflicted soul that he shall be delivered when made perfect through tribulation How may this cordial revive a wounded and drooping spirit making it to burst forth in the expressions of David By this I know that thou favourest me Ps 41.11 for my enemies dont triumph over me When old Eli heard the sad threatnings of God against him the destruction of his Family the loss of the Priest-hood the cutting off both his Sons in one day all which were afflictions of the heaviest nature neverthe less the sole consideration that it was the Lord 1 Sam. 3.18 made him cry out Let him do what seemeth him good If an excess of joy be ever allowable certain it is when we fall into divers temptations of tryal otherwise Mirth what meaneth it and laughter it is madness Is the Lilly less fair or the Rose not so odoriferous and fragrant when environed with thornes neither is the Spouse of Christ his Church less beautiful and comely because she is militant and always in warfare Why art thou then afraid O my Soul or why dost thou repine at adversity especially since God hath laid it as the foundation at least medium to eternal felicity art thou poor alas how canst thou want if God be with thee or the rich what have they in possession when God is afar off St. Paul
live for ever and let us put up our Prayers and say O Almighty and most Merciful Father we adore thy Mercies and admire thy Love to the Word in the Gift of thy Son O blessed Jesu how worthy is thy Love to be had in reverence over all the World for thy voluntary susception and affectionate suffering such horrid and cruel Tortures the Waters of bitterness entred into thy soul and the Storms of Death and thy Fathers Anger broke thee in pieces What shall we do who by our sins have tormented our dearest Lord What contrition and tears can sufficiently express those sad accidents which they have produced Lord have Mercy upon us Christ have Mercy upon us and pity our distress And seeing thou hast done so much for our Souls only speak the word and thy Servant shall be whole Suffer us not to neglect that great Salvation which thou hast purchased for us Dispose us by Love Thankfulness Humility and Obedience to receive the benefits of thy Incarnation and Passion Enflame our Affections more and more towards thee and God the Father whose goodness was not contented in barely loving us but to love us so as to give us thee the only begotten Son of God And so I come to the Organ and Means by which our Redemption was effected the gift of his only begotten Son Wherein we consider both the Action he gave and the Gift it self His only c. We begin with the Action And first He gave it gratis freely and of his own accord for he was omnipotent and could not be constrained by any force all Creatures depending on him alone Acts 17.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In him we live move and have our Being It was not therefore any compulsion but love only which was so generous as to transport it self up to Heaven and assault the Divinity in its Throne drawing from thence the Eternal Son of God 2dly God so loved the World that not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he delivered him and so St. Paul useth it He spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all Rom. 8.3 He was delivered up to the malice and fury of evil men and thence delivered up to the ignominious death of the Cross 3dly Nay God did not only deliver him up but also sent him For saith the Apostle in this was manifested the Love of God because he sent his only begotten Son into the World 4thly And to augment his Love if perfection will admit of addition This Mission is the more to be accepted by us because it was by way of commutation and exchange for us Commutavit filium suum unicum He exchanged his only begotten Son It was the Worlds Price was set to sale and how dearly did he purchase it What reason then have we to spend every moment of our Life in loving praising and glorifying him And when we contemplate these admirable contrivances of his Wisdom and Mercy can we do less than say O God what shall we return thee in requital or wherewith shall we appear before thee When we would praise thee an Abysse of Majesty exhausts in a moment all Encomiums and our adorations what are they before thy Divine Essence Could we render our selves uncreated in deference to thee the Fountain of all Beings it were a poor Homage to thy ineffable Greatness Nay could we annihilate the World and bring all Creatures into their old postures of nothing for thy Glory yet what is this compar'd with what thy immensity might justly expect But while we labour with our Poverty finding nothing created worthy thy acceptance Oh astonishing Mercy behold the perfect oblation of thy Son which thou hast given us the prodigious Effect of thy Love Him we offer unto thee and through him we hope to be accepted None can speak our Gratitude but that word who can only satisfie thy Justice Since by this Gift the very Treasury of Heaven was emptied for a time and the Earth enriched with that pure Sacrifice wherewith thou wert well pleased and the Odour thereof draws upon mankind a continual Floud of Mercies This is a Sacrifice O God thou wilt not despise him we offer unto thee and with him our selves and all that we have beseeching thee to accept of us for the sake of thy Son who was offered up for us all And so I come to consider the Gift it self His only begotten Son Son is a Name by which men oft endeavour to express their endearments and affection to us Thus when Cushi told David of his Sons unfortunate though just 2 Sam. 18.33 death the Text tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latine Commotus The King was troubled and much moved and went up to the Chamber over the Gate where Judgment was administred and wept and said O my Son Absalom my Son my Son and refused to be comforted for his death nay he wished death had been subject to a mistake and took him instead of this rebellious Viper who sought the usurpation of the Kingdom and Death of his Parent And if a Son was so dear to David how dear must he be unto God And consequently what a Noble and Royal Gift must this be of our Heavenly Father It had been too great an Honour to have dispatched unto us the meanest Servant in his Heavenly Court to visit us or if he had deputed an Illustrious Seraphim to proclaim to the World That He who is King of Kings the Great God of Heaven and Earth would be reconciled to his Rebellious Subjects Should we not have been startled at the news of such a Message How much more then when he sends his Son the Prince and Soveraign of the Heavenly Host to be had in no reputation and take upon him the form of a Servant But then 2dly It was his own Son and not anothers He was not an Adopted Son who raised himself by his merits to the Title of the Son of God as Photinus and his Followers would have perswaded the World but he was God of very God and Light of very Light Or was it his Son by Nuncupation and name only as others did imagine but his own Son for otherwise we destroy our belief of the Trinity and conclude the Father Son and Holy Ghost not three Distinct Persons but Names Therefore 3dly Mat. 12.18 It was the only begotten Son of God conceived in the Womb of the Virgin Mary by the powerful overshadowing of the Holy Ghost Here is Love in its Zenith the Son in whom his soul was well-pleased Nay his only begotten Son This is that great Mistery the Apostle speaks of God manifested in the Flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 where we may behold the Eternal Father giving up his only Son in behalf of Mankind polluted and depraved by corruption vitiated by sin disobedient to his Lord and insolent to his King a Worm and no Man a poor scantling of putrifaction and a prey for