according to the division of mans nature whereof the first is 1. A cleansing from the Filthiness of the Flesh And good reason is there to begin with it For though Sin be properly the Souls act yet by the Body it first appears nay this Body of ours being joyned with the Soul becomes rather a Minister than an Instrument in its working such a Minister that continually provides fewel for the Hearts lusts and makes the corruption of them visible to the world If then the Murdering Sword be justly cast off and the Cup broke whereby the man hath been poyson'd how much more ought this Principle of Flesh to be cleansed and subdued that so deeply shares in the Souls guilt and proves an active Executioner in it ruine I need not mention the several works of it which the Apostle tells us are manifest because they discover themselves with outward stains and inward impressions upon the consciences of men Those acts of the outward man that express themselves in worshipping an Idol in Murder Sacrilege Revellings Lasciviousness and the like pollute the Body that commits them and convey farther the taint of that pollution to the Soul Nor can Men with all their art so colour and disgrace what is convey'd there as that the nature of its deformity should be changed but the Corruptions of Flesh will still abide frightful even in the midst of their Conquest Sin then carrying its own Conviction the great Query is How we should purge it But to this the Assistance of Grace and Mans Resolution is required the former will not fail if the latter be present nor will the latter be wanting if Gods Promises be the Object Where these are stedfastly beheld they will surely melt and dissolve us powerfully break our rocky hearts and engage us anew in a Life of Holiness Goodness is commanding in its own nature and enthrones it self in Mans Will nor needs it other force for keeping its Soveraignty but what it continually carries by charming the affections And this Goodness is fully seen in Gods Promises all the Vail is taken off which is generally cast upon Providence and instead of glimpses and half-lights we are allowed a full discovery of their glory such a one in its working that can joyn surprize delight and victory together For all the Graces of a Saviour are here shown and al the Riches of Eternity are here manifested which must needs take away the resistance of Flesh provided we be fixt in our Contemplations Why then are we not serious in weighing these things why does not Love nor Mercy constrain us I am sure no carnal Temptation can be endued with such strength It is seated in Flesh which is weakness and only conquers that Heart which is unprepar'd The Question that was put to Pyrrhus when he had in his head the design of conquering many Kingdoms may be put to the pursuers of Sin in those various forms and fashions of Appetite what it is they intend by all the Travel they make through a World of Corruption Perhaps they will say as he did when we have compassed our designs we will the be quiet and live to our selves but to this the reply is strong and forcible why will they not be quiet now and live to themselves in a service of their God when that knowledge of evil they seek after is purchased with trouble and manifest danger of their Souls Therefore whether we would consult our own Interest or witness our Gratitude to God for his Promises we are bound to be resolute and speedy in the cleansing of this Flesh which at the best is but a burden and sin gives it a farther weight to crush and destroy us But that we may perform this Duty aright Two Rules are to be observed by us which are here intimated in my Text. 1. That the Object of our cleansing be all Filthiness of the Flesh 2. That the work which refers to it be so effectual as that no Filthiness should return The first of these is necessary because indeed without it there is no cleansing for wherever Filthiness is but in part washed off the whole is still denominated impure Who will call that Body sound where the disease shifts places but is not altogether removed No more can we call that Flesh cleans'd where Vice changes its seat but never loses its commanding power It is true an Hypocrite may look fair in the worlds eye after a superficial purging of some corruption but that cheat he puts upon others alters not the uncleanness of his own temper The Character of things remain fixt how changeable soever be mens Judgments It is said of Myriam the Leper that she appeared white as snow but none could conclude from that whiteness any thing except the malignancy of her disease where the mass of blood being tainted the Body became wan and pale like a Dead Carcase Such is the whiteness of some Professors in those half-acts of outward Purity It is but a Leprous Hypocrisie which argues deadness and rottenness within But in Gods and Scripture account none are truly clean in the outward man but those that purge out every thing which defiles it in whom the health and complexion is found by a vigorous expelling of all corruption In these the Spirit truly worketh and they show their sanctifying Principle to rule in them by an universal effect that follows it For thus Gods Spirit acts in Believers diffusing its vertue through all parts nor can any deed pass it uncleansed But when men solely act by their own spirit which has a partial influence then they single out some enormous Vice some provoking Goliah to kill which were a happy Conquest did it make an impression upon the gross of an Army but alas here execution is done and not at all followed with any weakning in the Body Again the second is necessary because a Relapse into Filth spoils the fruit of the former cleansing and withal doubles the stain Therefore to prevent a guilt of that kind in this Body of flesh it must be our continued work to subdue it The only way to assure us of Sins Death is by persevering to destroy its Dominion that Sampson within must be continually shav'd nay the razor must pierce deep to the very roots otherwise his strength is not gone Little severities upon a remorse are no better than a Drunkards soberness in his qualms which he then dies to but not to his sin short penances upon check are but an Adulterers Whip whereby he lets out Blood to cool a present Burning but not to end the Disease O the Art of a Professor in thus subduing his carnal motions when he chooses for a while the method of Rigour only to give him ease in new sins Many can turn Hermits that way with whom a suspence of their lust is but a preparative to fresh vigour they endure much to sin more and make use of hardship to become helpful to their corruptions as Frosts and Snows
purge by Confession They conceal the True Tenet of Christs full satisfaction whereby both sin and punishment are taken off that they may make an Exchequer of Mans Pardons They destroy the nature of Good works and make them to be nothing else but an Art of Compounding The Creature is set up by them as it was by the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 besides the Creator They drive at Universal Empire and Soveraignty and in order to this all worldly Stratagems are made use of so that it is hard to judg whether their Capitol or their Church be better founded A Mans Head we know did denominate the one and I am sure it lies at the Foundation of the other except you 'l say the Old Serpent gets in to help the Subtilty of it and to mix his poyson with the Invention Indeed they may boast of their Politicks thus improv'd But whoever will survey the whole Model of their Religion or impartially view their Discipline and Practice he shall find Truth is hid by them for carnal ends which adds new height to the sin 3. The third and last aggravation is drawn from the effects that follow this violence offer'd to Truth Whoever shall suppress the power of Religion in himself does thereby contract a hardness in his soul to commit iniquity and lives a continued scandal to his Brethren but whosoever shall suppress Truth by a Law he thereby proclaims his defiance of it and employes all his force to six Error and Corruption in the World How can Injustice rise higher than this case for it is a flat war against Heaven a publick Invasion of each mans privilege it is a digging of the Eyes out of that Head which should be general in its shine and a reducing of things to a strange Chaos where the confusion is far worse when Truth and Falsehood Good and Evil are not known than when Heaven and Earth lay undistinguished O how sad and deplorable is Mens case to be left in ignorance of their way to Eternal Happiness Who can possibly attain to Life without a knowledge of it before hand or be brought from the power of Satan unto God except their eyes be first opened and their Spiritual Blindness removed There is no altering of Gods Methods to save nor of the course of his Spirit to convert men who begins in an act of Conviction upon the Understanding and conveys by it to the Will its sanctifying operation so that without enlightning there can be no renewing of the inner man and by consequence no fitting or preparing of him for Glory So then look where Truth is hid there so many souls are buried and descend by degrees from one Gulf into another Till the Prison be broke and light again restored a recovery is impossible Therefore when such a General ruine is the issue of Religions Captivity the crime of detaining it must needs be heinous and arise in proportion to those mischiefs that are caused I could alledg the same instance I before mentioned as a pregnant proof to shew how destructive it is to a people that Truth should be withheld and an Inquisition established to keep off that Tryal Hence multitudes perish for lack of Knowledg and wanting a requisite Faith which a blind Credulity takes the place of are in all the folly of it condemn'd But light they pretend wounds men and Scripture if publick deceives many wresting it to their own destruction a liberty say they of Christian knowledg is but a Curse and a rank Field for several Heresies to spring up whence it is better to root it out and thereby hinder the growth of tares But an Objection of this kind is easily answered for there was never any thing of great esteem and use for mans Life but it bred a difference in opinion As Physick intended for the cure of Bodies and Philosophy for the health of Souls are both fruitful of many questions yet none in his wits would avoid Physick or Philosophy because of different Sects and Parties they breed so neither should the free use of Scripture be condemned in regard of differences amongst men which proceed not so much from their study of contention as from a variety in their abilities to understand Farther were this charge of theirs valid to null the force of the rule let then the great Eye of the Firmament be pulled out because he raises vapours as well as enlightens The vapours that are rais'd he owes to the Earth but enlightning must be ascrib'd to his own Body Would we certainly know the reason why the Gospel is hid It is jealousie and fear of being reformed An evil eye will not bear Light nor a diseased Conscience retain it Light reproves and convinces where it comes for this cause they keep it close dealing with Truth as the Tyrians did with their God whom they fetter'd with a strong Chain lest if free he should leave their City and take the Enemies side Hitherto I have spoken of the Charge whose greatness does appear from the treason that is in the Act from the baseness of the motives and from the murdering nature of the effects proceed we to speak a little of the justness of the Sentence that is here denounced against those who hold the Truth in Unrighteousness It may perhaps be counted a disproportionable reward by some that wicked mens finite Acts should be everlastingly punished But did they farther regard them as Acts of Strength where the Will governs Acts of Enmity where Revelation is oppos'd they would not so readily complain of the rigour of that Judgment Besides there is an absolute necessity for such a Sentence to secure Religion in the World since the bounds of Christianity would be quickly past over were not infinite terrors the fence to keep Travellers in And what seems more loudly to call for it than the sin I have already discours'd of or how shall the authority of Truth be maintain'd the honour of God vindicated and the injuries done to our Brethren aveng'd but by so signal a punishment Take thy measures of the offence from the Object in that Glass thou mayst discern its full stature He that quenches Light strives to destroy the God of it which being so high a provocation the same God is sollicited to exercise his Omnipotence in a revenge The Princes of this World would be satisfied to the utmost when their Subjects daringly rebel only their want of power causes a weakness in their blows God that can take the extremity of a payment when an affront is offer'd him pursues but the will of a Soveraign in doing so Did he indeed hide Truth from us we might likewise be hid from his Justice but when he clearly propounds it to us and enables our Wills to close with it here we inexcusably offend Now we say we see therefore our sin remains now we confess we are assisted by Heaven therefore Heaven is absolv'd when it punishes May we not with shame own that
reproof which God delivered against Israel Your destruction is of your selves May we not apply what he had spoken against Jerusalem What could have been done more for my Vineyard that was not done For he has taught us by his Word awakened us by his Rod invited us by his Bounty offered himself to us by his Grace while we desperately forsake our own mercy Even the worst of men taste of his Goodness They find his Spirit in their Consciences to check in their Minds to guide in their Wills to allure them he wooes he sollicits he waits all our Faculties he besets that he might draw us over to the Government of his Laws He is always free and communicative of his Treasures but it is mans guilt cuts off the spring Tax not then the Method of Gods proceedings that summons into an extraordinary Court the gross abuser of his Talents but reflect sadly upon the sinfulness of thine own ways that causes Grace to alter its shape and the face of a Saviour to be transfigur'd with darkness I shall close this point with an Inference from the whole I suppose none will expect in this place I should attempt a description of Divine Wrath which though it be revealed from Heaven is yet hid in the manner of execution So Lightning is discerned by its brightness when it strikes though the way of its working is not seen How the Fire below by an Almighty breath will be kindled and yet kept by the same breath from consuming the Sinner it is not for us to explain but certainly the Wound the Smart the Plague is intolerable where-ever the weight of Gods Justice falls And they of all men will feel its burden that bring Light to their punishment whereby they are forced to acknowledge the double calamity they are prest with namely Wrath not to be shunn'd and Sin not to be pleaded for Here the Sword cuts deep enters the very marrow and spirits and renews continually its edge with piercing Who is able to meet Vengeance in its assaults and Light in its convictions Is not their force strong nay irresistible where they come Behold the one makes and the other quickens our Hell the one binds us fast and the other heats our Furnace I know the Theme I now insist on is not suited to a Scoffers ear because not suited to his designs What have we to do says an Epicure with a warning of Gods Justice that chastises all our delights and mingles gall with our pleasures If Religion must be preached up let Grace and Mercy be revealed Those have a healing quality in them and like Beds of spices refresh with their opening but Treasures of Wrath and the Pains of another World these like noysome pits do punish us in our searching Thus he would secure his way of sinning to himself and remove all sting from his conscience But alas his arts are in vain were he freed from any outward sounds of the Ministry of the Word yet his mind is still checked with a future Judgment and by fits submits to the Revelation Indeed how can it be otherwise for the notions of God and his Justice are twisted together in our Souls and the same impression that convinces us of his Being convinces us too of his Wrath against sin nothing remains but that the eternity of it appear and when that is effected the Soul necessarily yields and witnesses its surrender by those pungent acts of reflecting We suppose now adayes Atheism to abound and fortifie that supposition by our frequent discourses to confute it but if there be such a Leprosie amongst Christians it does not so much seize the head as the heart which is the seat of the Devils Disease and he cares not to spread it farther in his Children All our crime is not that Divine Characters in us are lost but only hid in our souls Truth we bury by our practice though we feel it lives to our torment And God grant we be not punished for our Ingratitude with outward darkness by a removal of his Candlestick from amongst us Do we now pride our selves in this that we enjoy mercy but let us also regard the dangerous neighbourhood of Vindictive Justice when that Mercy is despis'd What Attribute is there can rescue us from the stroke when Goodness will not defend Is it Power we may flee to but that determines it self to destroy Is it Wisdom but that contrives the way of destroying Is it Holiness but that justifies the proceeding whence Goodness alone is the security of the Sinner That Altar of Refuge God himself has set up to stop the course of his own Vengeance And yet even here we are not safe because our abuse forfeits the Privilege all the protection of it is lost through our stubbornness of offending whereby we become guilty of a mad Sacrilege when we pull down the Sanctuary that might save us There is no sin so aggravating as what strikes at God in an Evangelical Revelation for here we offend against his last and best method of drawing us to him You are all diggers in Truths Mine and have your toyl paid with those pleasures you find there but where ought it to be seen in its greatest beauty if not amongst those that chiefly discover it All kind of Truth has charms upon its face to get Lovers but the Truth of Religion has a Divine Image upon it to win Souls and an Eternal Dowry to hold them Blind are we if we resist absurd if we refuse such a Temptation The Duty I here press is very seasonable for the Object you see deserves Love ay and the courage of Love to pursue it How can Lusts or Fears take room in a Christian that has such high Motives to govern him Propound to thy self Good and Evil in their full latitude here swell them to their biggest bulk dress them in their choicest colours and shows they sink to nothing with a religious comparison Heaven melts away all the paint of a present delight and Hell renders all the Vizards of outward danger contemptible so that neither the one nor the other can stir a passion in the Soul when our thoughts are well planted Therefore if either the Mercy of a God can move or the Wrath of Almighty can bind us if the Scepter of Grace can perswade or the Lightning of Justice terrifie if Life if Death be of any moment to us let us be fast maintainers of the Truth and commend our Profession to the world by that Infallible stamp of our lives The Second Discourse 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these Promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God IN the last verse of the preceding Chapter to which these words chiefly refer we find what a gracious promise God makes to his People when He assures them if they separate from sin in what a glorious manner He will receive them allowing them the noblest Privilege a
and our Hope the one freeing us from all jealousies of a deceit the other from all dread of a disappointment How can we distrust or fear Gods failing us that is every way qualified to save First the Covenant He makes is fram'd by his Love then Truth writes it down afterwards Power comes in to seal up the Assurance so that no room is left for any doubt or scruple since all his Promises are sure nor will Mans expectation ever shame him if Sin does not the onely blot of our hopes as well as the stain of our pleasures Nothing but Sin can possibly defeat us it is Sin which undermines all our Blessings alters our claim and property in Bliss and gives the Threatnings in Scripture Authority to succeed In him the Promises are Yea and Amen that is firm and stedfast and when we fall off by a wilfull Apostacy their stedfastness still remains in their own nature only the benefit of Application is lost to Us. But if we once turn to our God by a true Repentance if we approve our worship of him by the sincerity of our hearts and the holiness of our lives lo they are firm and stedfast to us also God cannot in that case exclude us from Heaven for we bring him the condition of happiness he requires from us we produce the Grace that leads thither and know it is impossible He should either deny his own terms or refuse the likeness of his Perfections The last thing to be considered in Gods Promises is That He has provided against all Temptations from other offers by dispersing a Vacuum in things and leaving nothing here below fit to stir or move us except you 'l say defect of Substance and want of Certainty are charms Were any Good upon Earth adequate to our souls had it worth and certainty to attract our desires then I grant we might justifie the byas of our inclinations that way because the vifibleness of what is offer'd us is a farther motive to turn them thither but when vanity nay vanity of vanities is superscrib'd upon all the Creation here is not the least colour for our adherence What is there I pray in this World can be exhibited to us but some Scenes of Good and Images of an Inheritance Thus Christ by the Great Tempter was entertained with Landskips and Shows and Kingdoms that were drawn in Airy Figures where the Delight could not recompence the Emptiness of the Prospect The like emptiness is spread through every thing here and for any one to reckon upon a setled Possession it is like casting anchor upon a wave or binding the wheels of Times motion In a word such a Task that has an impossibility in the Act to baffle the Design But where the Promises are of God there is weight and stedfastness to perswade us weight that can fix all the extravagancy of desire and stedfastness strengthen our patience of expecting Thus you see the force of the Motive to confirm that Inference he makes from it I proceed now to handle in the second place 2. The Duty which contains in it the best Preparations for receiving those Promises Let us cleanse our selves from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit Where we may take notice 1. Of the Act Cleanse 2. Of the Subject about which it is employ'd Flesh and Spirit that is Body and Soul so that a thorough Baptism of the whole man is required and such a washing in the Fountain of Repentance that purges away inward and outward defilements 1. The Act is remarkable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us cleanse a word mentioned in the Heathen Schools by way of Speculation but prescribed to the Jewish and Christian Church as a rule of Practice The Heathens were not altogether ignorant of it when they styled Vertue it self to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Cleansing which the Platonists give us this account of namely That it is a retirement of the Soul within and a separating from the Body in its motions when Reason acts freely and undisturbedly nor has any tincture from the Passions to defile it such a state say they of the Soul is pure and divine This I confess may in some sort be call'd a Purgation but it is very defective in another sense where they suppose no guilt to be washed off which both Soul and Body have contracted They regard onely a refining of the Intellectual Powers but seek no purifying of any sinfull uncleanness And this must be chiefly imputed to that natural pride they all had that they would not allow of a corrupt spring as we must owe it wholly to their ambition that they studied to advance Reason in its actings therefore the Fountain of sin being unsearch'd we cannot admit them for Judges here but ought to consult the Jewish and Christian Church for the true notion of Cleansing In the Jewish Church the outward Ceremony was enjoyn'd but withal Typical of the inward whence we read in Exodus of an express Command before the delivery of the Law That they should sanctifie themselves and wash their cloaths from which Precept their Doctors gather that Tenet and Custome they had for Baptizing all whom they admitted to their Church and Covenant Now that they should thus be wash'd in order to receive the Law that was published it argued both a greatness of guilt in the parties and an absolute necessity of repenting when not so much as a spotted Garment was allowed to be near that Mount that quaked and trembled lest the Lightnings of the place should break forth to consume and the Trumpet there heard proclaim nothing but Execution If such a preparation were requisite for hearing Gods Will much more was it for obeying whence those Sacrifices of old He commanded were first to derive their cleanness from the Offerer and so had their force of Legal Attonement Were the Offerer not sanctified beforehand all his Worship was spoil'd by reason of the spots and blemishes that overspread it The foulness of his hand laid a Curse upon the Expiation and by slaying the Beast he destroy'd the Sacrifice Therefore a strict way of Cleansing was observ'd in the outward man whereby God led them to the Spiritual Duty as he taught them by Temporary Promises to have a taste and rellish of the Heavenly And lest they should at any time forget what was signified their Purifyings were frequently repeated on them representing to them in the same washing New Guilt and a New Obligation But the Christian Purifying is of a higher nature as being outwardly but once to shew We are buried with Christ by Baptism into Death that like-as He was rais'd from the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life Here is no need of sprinkling Garments and Vessels nor of separating from the Camp upon an Uncleanness when the whole work of Holiness is fully exhibited and one solemn Rite introduces the performance The work divides it self into two parts
with that contemplation no more than we are with the prospect of Shores and Havens that receive us safe from a Storm How is the soul quieted to think that those evils it suffers are passing away and a settled rest is prepared With what peace does it apprehend a moments danger when a perfect Liberty is the recompence This and much more does a blest Eternity import and through that encouragement is a Christian arm'd to encounter any affliction And so we read what a stoutness of spirit was rais'd in the Primitive Professors that preach'd up Christianity and ventur'd all upon it A bare Faith did not carry them to that act but a Faith that was grounded upon the Heavenliness of the Doctrine Courage of Martyrs and Power of Miracles strong Promises that will infer as strong Conclusions except wee 'l say Heaven and Earth were combin'd together in a plot to abuse and the abuse too must be this viz. a cheating of an Idolatrous world into good living Let the Scoffer count it madness to quit Sense for a Good that is yet hid from him I could tell him that even a Present Good is invisible for we want time to discern it for its shortness we want a Substance to be discern'd for its emptiness whereas an eternal one is invisible for its transcendent fulness Thither does right Reason drive us and a true principle of Self-love it being our interest to seek a Treasure that will not fail us But should we take the opposite state to This Life namely Eternal Death which is the Curse he threatens to those that deny him here we are ty'd to our Masters service by a sure chain which the dread of Omnipotence puts on Earthly Powers can awe their Subjects and justly too with what they are able outwardly to inflict yet Death being the utmost stroke of that Justice seems indeed but a retreat from it But the Grave how free and quiet soever it be is no Sanctuary to keep us from Gods hand It dissolves our Bodies but not his Government who watches every particle of our dust and locks it up safe for an after-summons but the Soul He makes the the immediate subject of his Tribunal Therefore the highest homage may be well demanded of us upon whom the highest Soveraignty is shown I confess none come up from the dead to tell us this news no they cannot for the Judges Sentence binds them to their seats where their great part is suffering and if they could 't is useless no ways tending to settle our Faith but rather confirming our suspicion that in Satans Errand some Ghost may be employed If Scripture which St. Peter calls a light that shineth in a dark place be with all its evidence of Divine Witnesses disown'd how can we believe a testimony from the Damn'd that would be sure to bring with them all their night to deceive This then can be no objection The true one is form'd by our own corrupt hearts and we are apt to question the Evil-day because we would not be checkt nor controll'd in our finning In the mean time we baffle that design by starting such a doubt which unsettling the soul in its pleasures does thereby hinder it from enjoying them We labour to be Scepticks that we may offend and after we are so we find our selves pain'd with that Uncertainty Oh let us be wise for our latter end and choose to serve our God by a true Faith since our endeavouring to shake it does but wake Conscience to torture us Hitherto I have handled the Argument St. Peter lays down for following his Lord and by the way toucht upon the Sinners Judgment I have shown the nobleness of Faith the authority of Truth and the excellent manner of revealing it by Christ above all those discoveries that were made The natural result from all is this that we would seriously inquire whether we can better our life under another service and if that be not possible then immediately list our selves his Disciples in all the watchfulness of Devotion As to the matter of Inquiry it becomes us as men not to take any Master upon trust or the custome of others Credulity is proper to Children that are weak and want sinews but the strength of Wisdom consists in this to prove all things and not be easily govern'd in our actings Yet this childish weakness are most men subject to in their main end when they relinquish their own Faculties that would lead them to Christianity and suffer themselves to be led by a Customary Discipline that destroys it What that teaching is and how far it extends every one knows The mind is not taught here but the brutish part and some transient reward propounded to encourag it Transient I call it with respect to those two Masters that rule over us Flesh and the World which pretend to nothing higher in their offers of Good for all the colour they have to invite us is only the gratifying of our senses for a few moments onely Satan makes bold to counterfeit our Lord and wears his shape in a full promise that so his hook may the better fasten and catch our appetite when he tempts us He has therefore in readiness for his followers words of Eternal Life as he had for Eve but those very words prove fatal for with the same breath he kills the Sholar that hears him What other effect can be look'd for from a Serpent condemn'd who delights in the spreading of his plague and knows no other liberty from torment than that pleasure he takes in enlarging his Hell To this end he continues down the poyson of that Doctrine Eat and live sin and be happy in the mouths of his False-Prophets who are very busie to reconcile Faith with an Evil Conscience and would fain compound up a Religion of Flesh which are arts indeed to draw many after them in regard they bribe their Sensuality But let us see the issue of all this and what fruit there is in obeying such Doctrines when the Good there promised is blown away with our breath and instead of light we find darkness On the contrary under Christs rule we have an Eternal Life tendred to us in all certainty and the condition He requires of us is an excellent part of that Life since it gives us a proper Eye to enjoy it The condition I mean is Purity of Heart a Grace that doubly profits the Soul first in refining our natures next in strengthening us to see Glory Who would not endeavour to be thus qualified for Heaven Can any corruption move us to forfeit Security and can there be greater security than the Good here promised Mans Knowledge you will grant is much exalted in foreseeing future things but his Reason is more advanc'd in pursuing them And whither would we go from our Lord Other Offerers of happiness do betray us He onely can save To him Nature has subjected us as being made Gratitude as being redeem'd Interest as
Wilderness whence he never return'd but Christ that bore the sins of the World and entred the Wilderness not inhabited the Grave came out thence to bring us the news of his Expiation and so made us certain of the benesit It was not enough with him to work our Redemption except we were further enlightned to know it Thus He doubled the mercy of that act when we whose state He recover'd by dying had our Fears too heal'd by his Resurrection 2. It is an efficient cause of our rising with an identity of Body as He rose for we fall not in respect of our Souls but our Bodies if therefore the same Body does not rise the notion of a Resurrection is destroyed This power and right He has to raise us is part of that Dominion he receiv'd when He rose whereby He became Lord of the Dead as well as the Living Rom. 14.9 and He gave a pregnant instance of it at his rising when He caus'd the Stone to be remov'd not onely from his own but from others Sepulchers for He had many Bodies of Saints with him They had long before slept in the dust and perhaps were so far from being dry bones that the question might be put Can this dust live yet were they quickly fashioned in the earth and built up by vertue of their Masters breath to attend him in his Triumph If our rising be later than theirs yet it is as sure for in him says the Apostle shall all be made alive He is become the First-fruits of them that slept Now the First-fruits do not so go before other Fruits but that they are in being though not brought to the same maturity so though the Resurrection of the Dead be not ripe yet it really is begun because Christ is risen Whatever alterations befall us in death they are but changes of Figure no particle of us is lost the very least mite of our Frame is put into the Treasury whence it will be one day taken out and restored An excellent privilege Christs Members enjoy to be thus quickned by their Head otherwise the benefit of their reconciliation were small had he not proved their Life as well as their Sacrifice It is a poor stopping of the Plague to enter the Gulfe and not keep it by that Entrance from swallowing but to open it that it shall yield up its dead and no longer devour them here is a rich Atonement All our hopes depend upon the success of such an Undertaking which we have confirmed to us by the rising of our Lord who has abolisht Death broken the tyranny of that Oppressor and made it a Servant to convey us to Glory But this is all upon supposition that we are qualified for his Members then we are raised by a Power inherent in us whence we receive the influence of salvation if we are no part of his Body we shall however be raised but by a power without us the power of a Judge that will sit over us as Slaves and pronounce the Sentence of Execution Therefore the carnal liver can take no pleasure in this word Rise 't is like a Rack to stretch his limbs on and represents to him all his parts new set that they may be fitted for torment All his joys are plac'd in a life here which is the Senses Portion but the life of another world cuts him in reflecting on it as a Curse that is attended with pain Would we then make it our interest to rise let us live like Children of the Resurrection purge out all corrupt humours of Flesh and Blood mortifie our lusts keep our Souls pure and our Bodies clean that when they are quickned they may be raised to those Heavenly Mansions where the Honours of the Place the delights of Vision and the cloathing of Immortality will satisfy our utmost desires and show us the vanity of this Worlds good that holds us 3. It has procur'd the Assistance of Gods Spirit whereby we are sanctified and enabled to obtain the Promises of Eternal Life Had not Christ rose the Comforter had not been sent indeed the promise of the Holy Ghost was made before but it was shed upon none till after his Rising Then we read of his breathing upon the Apostles Joh. 20.22 which showed the Authority He had to bestow it and the Gifts that should afterwards follow upon his Ascension How necessary the coming of the Spirit was and consequently how great the Advantage of his Rising will appear in this That thereupon Ministers were impowred Wonders wrought a Church gathered and the Word made so powerfull in the hearts of the hearers that they were not able to resist the Doctrine of the Resurrection whereof the Apostles were ordain'd to be Witnesses See this exemplified in St. Acts 1.22 Peters first Sermon on that Subject which the Spirit accompanied with such efficacy that those who heard it were pricked to the heart and the same day there were added to them about three thousand Souls Where by the way the Temper of these new Converts is remarkable for it is said They continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and and in breaking of Bread and in Prayers They were no lovers of Novelty or Schism but close adherers to the Truth and united together in Worship A rich Draught this which Peter had figur'd out to him in a former one when he drew the Net to land full of great fishes and for all there were so many yet was not the Net broken By the same Spirit Christ still rules in his Church in order to mens Conversion whose work is to enlighten and convince us by the Word to prevent us by his Grace in all our doings to encline our wills and further them in good without which assistance we could never by any natural strength of our own either rightly believe or repent and so be made capable of the Promises I have here given a short view of the Benefits of Christs rising which if we compare with the Vertue of his Death we shall find good reason for that Emphasis in the Apostle Yea rather is risen again What are the proper effects of each I have already mention'd How his Death in particular contributes but more eminently his Rising to the Saints freedom from Condemnation may be easily collected from what I have said so that I need not handle my Third Particular therefore I shall now onely in a few words apply this Truth to our selves Gods Justifying Grace we read in the former verse is restrained to his Elect or which is all one his peculiar people that are zealous of Good-works the Benefits of Christs dying and rising are restrained likewise to the same persons For He is become the Author of Salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 Others are excluded from that Purchase whence this Point obliges us to a duty of working that as He died to Nature and rose again in the Body so we might dye to Sin
and live unto Righteousness which is the Souls Resurrection The great design of his rising was to bless us in turning away every one from his iniquities Acts 3.26 which implyes the very nature of his Blessing consists in the cleansing of us from sin as our Taste of hereafter consists in being purified No unclean liver can enter Heaven for he wants the condition of Bliss no nor relish it if granted him because of the unsutableness of that Glory For the vast disproportion which is betwixt those objects that are pure and spiritual and such a mans desires that are filthy and carnal would turn the very Joyes of Heaven into a Punishment so that either way he is miserable in the Denyal of Heaven he has no hope in the Gift no pleasure We see a sanctity of nature is necessary to the fruition of Happiness and need we motives from some powerful example to encourage our obedience I can produce no greater than in my Text the manner of Christs love to us when He dyed and the manner of his acting for us when He rose are sufficient arguments to quicken us If we consider his love to us when He dyed it is the Picture of strength in weakness which could carry him chearfully to submit to Gods wrath the Jews malice and Human frailty and worked too his end by that submission for he nail'd our sins to the Cross when He was nail'd there himself and by death cancell'd our Bond. Such was the vertue of his Sacrifice that it did not require a Second Offering what is this else but a Pattern to our Mortification that we would dye to sin as He did for it that we need not kill it a Second time If we consider the manner of his Rising here strength of love is visible in the activity of the Conqueror He rose from the dead before day so He would often rise in his life-time He lov'd Early Devotions and Early Conquests the one to show his speed in interceding for us the other in comforting How is this a Lesson to us for following his steps and rising to a life of Righteousness in the very dawn of our Time when the Morn is fresh and our day begins that as He made haste to do us good so we might to fit our selves for him Youth is as much consecrated to his service as the Morning was to his rising if we come late to him we are unthankful Worshippers and besides the feebleness of such a course takes off from the value of the performance But his early leaving of the Sepulcher wherein the quickness of our Redeemer is manifested does not so much instruct us in duty as the perfectness of his Resurrection which discovers the absoluteness of his Conquest All others that were raised dropt agen into their Graves had not life so properly as death restored to them but Christ being raised from the dead dyes no more death hath no more dominion over him That glorious Body of his has put off mortality and all signs of it except wee 'l say the wound in his side and the prints of the nails are which yet He bears for another use which is this that whereas before they were Characters of his Weakness they might now be Trophies of his Strength whereas before they were marks of the Enemies Victory they might now prove marks of his own With the like strength of Perfection should we live to him so quit the deadness of corrupt nature as never to admit its return infuse such a Soul into our Good works that may make them vigorous and lasting Thus we shall copy out his Death and Life in our selves and bring that comfort home Who is he that condemns To think salvation for us is so wrought that we need not work it out our selves is miserably to delude our expectation since all those glorious effects which issue from his Dying and Rising are appointed to be Mercies to the doers but Wonders onely to lookers on Let us then put off the Old man with his deeds and keep up the memory of our Master in the Newness of our lives that when our Earthly Tabernacle is dissolv'd we may have a Building of God not made with hands eternal in the Heavens FINIS Books printed for and sold by Richard Chiswell FOLIO SPeed's Maps and Geography of Great Britain and Ireland and of Foreign Parts Dr. Cave's Lives of the Primitive Fathers Dr. Cary's Chronological Account of Ancient Time Wanly's Wonders of the Little World or History of Man Sir Tho. Herbert's Travels into Persia c. Holyoak's large Dictionary Latin and English Sir Ric. Baker's Chronicle of England Causin's Holy Court. Wilson's compleat Christian Dictionary Bishop Wilkin's Real Character or Philosophical Language Pharmacopaeia Regalis Collegii Medicorum Londinensis Judge Jone's Reports of Cases in Common-Law Judge Vaughan's Reports of Cases in Common-Law Cave Tabulae Ecclesiasticorum Scriptorum Hobb's Leviathan Lord Bacon's Advancement of Learning Bishop Taylor 's Sermons Sir Will. Dugdale's Baronage of England in 2 Vol. Raranelli Bibliotheca Theologica 3 Vol. QUARTO THe several Informations exhibited to the Committee appointed by Parliament to inquire into the burning of London 1667. Godwin's Roman Antiquities Dr. Littleton's Dictionary Bishop Nicholson on the Church Catechism The Compleat Clark Dr. Pierce on Gods Decrees History of the late Wars of New-England Dr. Outram de Sacrificiis Bishop Taylor 's Diswasive from Popery Garissolius de Christo Mediatori Corpus Confessionum Fidei Spauhemii Dubia Evangelica 2 Vol. Dr Gibb's Sermons Parkeri Disputationes de Deo Caryl on Job compleat 12 parts Description and History of the Future State of Europe 1 s. Fowler 's Defence of the Design of Christianity against John Bunyan 1 s. Lyford's Discovery of Errors and Heresies of the Times 4 s. Dr. Sherlock's Visitation Sermon at Warrington 1659. 6 d. Dr. West's Assize-Sermon at Dorchester 1671. 6 d Mr. Dobson's Sermon at Lady Farmers Funeral 1670. 8 d. Directions for Improvement of Barren Land 6 d. Culverwel's Discourse of the Light of Nature 3 s. 6 d. Dr. Meric Casaubon's Letter to Dr. Du Moulin about Experimental Philosophy 6 d. Lord Hollis's Relation of the Unjust Accusation of certain French Gentlemen charged with a Robery 1671. 6 d. The Magistrates Authority asserted in a Sermon by James Paston OCTAVO Conold's Notion of Schism according to the Antients with Reflections on Mr. Hales The Posing of the Parts Elborow's Rationale upon the English Service Burnets Vindication of the Ordination of the Church of England Winchester Phrases Wilkin's Natural Religion Hardcastle's Christian Geography and Arithmetick Ashton's Apology for the Honours and Revenues of the Clergy Lord Hollis's Vindication of the Judicature of the House of Peers in the case of Skinner Jurisdiction of the House of Peers in case of Appeals Jurisdiction of the House of Peers in case of Impositions Letter about the Bishops Vote in Capital Cases Xenophontis Cyropoedia Gr. Lat. Duporti Versio Psalmorum Graeca