needs be weak and groundless that our blessed Saviour is the true Messias whom God hath long since sent forth into the World and that none other is to be expected by us and this I have done according to my propounded method chiefly by those Arguments with which my Text furnishes us taken from the Consideration of the time when the manner how and the reason and end wherefore he came into the World And in the doing of it I have insisted more or less upon all the material Circumstances mentioned by the Prophets as it were so many infallible Notes and Characters by which the Messias was to be known and discerned from all the rest of Mankind and shewed you that every one of them is exactly fulfilled to a tittle in the person of our Saviour and that it is absolutely impossible that they ever should agree to any other person whatsoever the time prefixed by God for the coming of the Messias being long since past so that it is now beyond the Power of Omnipotence it self to recal it If then our blessed Saviour be the true Messias whom God out of his great love to Mankind hath sent into the World to reconcile it unto himself redeem us from the Curse of the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons and that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life woe be to all those that receive him not as such How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but that of the Lord Jesus Christ In him therefore let us stedfastly believe committing the keeping of our souls unto him in well-doing as unto a faithful Redeemer that is both mighty and willing to save us owning him to be our great Prophet that hath revealed unto us the whole Will of God by our firm Belief of all his Divine Doctrine owning him to be our great High Priest who by the Sacrifice of himself once offered hath made an atonement for our Sins and ever liveth to make Intercession unto God for us by our relying wholly upon his merits for Salvation owning him to be our Soveraign our Almighty Lord and King able to defend and protect us in this World and to reward us in the next by yielding a constant impartial and universal Obedience to all his most holy Laws and Commandments Thus if we own him here before men he will hereafter own us before his Father which is in Heaven and when those that have rejected him shall be covered with eternal Shame and Confusion blacker than that darkness into which they must be for ever banished from the Presence of the Lord he shall cloath us with the glorious Robe of his own righteousness and admit us into the everlasting Happiness of his heavenly Kingdom to those Pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore SERMON IV. 1 COR. VI. 20. For ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods INgratitude is a Crime so base and unnatural so repugnant to the Dictates of reason that no Man of a generous Spirit can endure to be guilty of it The slightest Favour we receive from any of our Friends if it proceed from an hearty Intention to do us good deserves at least our kind acceptance and thanks But such a Signal and extraordinary Obligation may be laid upon us even by an earthly Benefactor that we can do no less than devote our lives and fortunes to his Service and think it little enough for an acknowledgment of his kindness But still the greatest Benefits that we can receive from the hand of Man are nothing in comparison of the least of those which we receive daily from the hand of God from whom alone comes every good and perfect gift Every Favour of his is inestimable that we breath his Air that we drink his Water that we tread upon his Earth that we seed upon his Creatures that we behold his Light that he created us and brought us out of the dark Abyss when before we had no Being and that he still preserves and protects us these Mercies sufficiently declare that all that we have all that we are except what we made our selves by sin we have and are from him and that therefore he most justly Challenges a right both to our Bodies and our Souls all that we can do or suffer for him is inconsiderable in comparison of the good we have received from him And yet all these Mercies which I have already mentioned are nothing to that which is behind his Redemption of us by the Death of his only begotten Son whereas otherwise we had been lost and undone for ever This surely was the utmost Effort of infinite Love and Goodness a Mercy which the more it is considered the more it will be admired and will be the eternal Subject of our wonder as well as of our Praise and Thanksgiving in Heaven And now what doth God require of us as an acknowledgment of this unconceivable Favour Not thousands of rams nor ten thousands of rivers of oyl 't is only this that we will glorifie him that hath redeemed us For ye are bought c. Which words contain these three things 1. God's Mercy towards us he hath bought us with a Price and so we are his by right of Purchase 2. The Duty which thereupon he requires us to perform to him we must therefore glorifie him 3. The manner how we must do it in our Body and in our Spirit forasmuch as he hath redeemed and purchased both of them and both are his For ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods Let us take a view of God's mercy towards us first and when we have had a true Prospect of that we shall be the better enabled to discern how great an Obligation lies upon us to perform that Duty which thereupon the Apostle in the name of God requires of us To take a view of God's mercy is an hard Task though it is a very pleasant one to take a full view of it is indeed impossible for either Men or Angels since his mercy is as himself is infinite and the greatest instance of his mercy which the Scripture makes mention of is that which he hath shewed to Mankind 'T is true he created Creatures of an higher order and nobler nature than Man even the glorious Angels of Light whom he ordained to be the immediate Attendants about his Throne and advanced to the highest Honour and Felicity in his heavenly Kingdom These as they were the First-born of the Creation so they received a double Portion from their Creator and whereas he made Man only the Lord of his Footstool here below he admitted them to be Inhabitants of his Palace above and assigned to them everlasting Mansions of Light and Glory Thus far God's Love
Joh. 3.16 In the prosecution of this Point I might be very large for I should insist first upon that blessed Estate that Man enjoyed at his first Creation in innocence the Consideration of which would give us a truer prospect of that Misery which he afterwards brought upon himself by his disobedience for none can be so miserable as they that were once happy and lastly I should shew you how great Glory this price hath purchased for us which would appear likewise the greater after the sight of that Misery from which it hath redeemed us for rest is most welcome to the weary ease and liberty is by none so highly valued as by those persons that have been long detained in Bondage and Slavery and Joy and Happiness doubles its sweetness to them that have drunk deepest of sorrow But who is sufficient for these things How can we that are all conceived and born in Sin apprehend the Happiness of the state of Innocence Who is able to describe the horrour of the infernal Pit or to tell what it is to lie in Chains of darkness exiled for ever from the Divine Providence Who can ascend into the holy Hill of the Lord that he may give us an account of those Pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore Even St. Paul himself tho' he was bred up at the feet of Gamaliel and abounded with Learning and Eloquence yet wanted words to tell us what he heard and saw when he was caught up into the third Heaven and could say no more of that wonderful Vision than that he heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words or things unutterable And in another place he tells us that eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him No these Subjects are all of them too great either for our tongue to express or for our thoughts to comprehend Let it suffice us then to know in short that whereas by Sin we had rendered our selves obnoxious to the greatest Misery that could possibly befal us had sold our selves to be Slaves and Vassals of Satan to be the most forlorn Objects of the eternal Scorn and Insolence and Cruelty of the Devil and his Angels God in his infinite Mercy hath been pleased by paying an inestimable price for our Ransome even the precious Blood of his only begotten Son to redeem us out of this Bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God He hath bought our Bodies from the everlasting torment of those Flames which never shall be quenched and our Souls from the gnawing of that Worm which shall never die to be the Temples of his holy Spirit here and hereafter to be fellow-citizens with the saints and of the houshold of God in the heavenly Jerusalem We are bought with a price And hath God thus bought us with so invaluable a Price out of so dreadful Misery unto so unspeakable Felicity What returns then ought we to make unto him of praise and thanks for such infinite Mercy How can we chuse but stand astonished and break out into the Psalmists Exclamation Lord what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him What was Man being in Honour when he was but a degree lower than the Angels that God should regard him above the rest of his Creatures that he should make him have dominion over the works of his hands and put all things under his feet But when through his own fault he fell into Dishonour and became like the Beasts that perish what was he then or what else could he expect but that God should cast him for ever out of his Presence as the filth of the Creation And when after all this he meets with Mercy instead of Vengeance when God himself becomes his Advocate instead of his Enemy and instead of condemning him to Hell sends his only begotten Son to purchase for him the adoption of Sons and to make him more than ever the Darling and Favourite of Heaven what Testimony of gratitude ought we to shew for so incomprehensible Love What can we say what can we do to this Preserver of men The Apostle tells us in the following words of my Text we must glorifie him Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods And so I pass from God's mercy to our Duty He hath bought us with a price we must therefore glorifie him How easie an acknowledgment of how great a Mercy What could God do more for us than he did and what could we offer to him even for the least of his Benefits less than what he requires of us for the greatest The slightest Favour that we receive from the bountiful hand of God surely most justly Challenges from us the Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and he requires no more of us when he hath given us the highest Demonstration of Love that ever he shewed to any of his Creatures when he hath redeemed us from the lowest Abyss of misery into which our Nature could sink unto the most glorious and unspeakable Felicity of which it could be capable and hath done all this by paying for our Ransome the richest and most precious Jewel that was to be found in all the Treasury of Heaven still he asks but the same thing of us that he did before viz. that we will glorifie him And is it possible that there should be any man found that can refuse to perform so reasonable and pleafant a Service as this to so great a Benefactor Is it possible that when the blessed Son of God hath for our Salvation shed his most precious Blood laid down his Life and poured out his righteous soul unto death and made it an offering for our sins we should after all this think much to offer unto him the calves of our lips and refuse to sing an Hymn of praise to our Redeemer saying with the Saints in the Revelation Salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord our God Yes it is so possible that this black Ingratitude should be found amongst us that the greatest part of Mankind are guilty of it How many thousands are there amongst the Sons of men that instead of glorifying God in their body and in their spirit even in the very face of the glorious light of the Gospel that shines about them against all the strength of Reason the universal Consent of Mankind in all Ages and the secret Reluctancies and dreadful Checks of their own Consciences impudently deny both the being of God and the immortality of their own Souls How many thousands are there more who though they own the name of Christians and acknowledge one eternal and omnipotent God yet instead of glorifying God because they are bought with a price against the express words of the Apostle in my Text and the concurrent Sense and Harmony of the whole
Almighty Creatour But though the reasonableness of this Duty must needs be apparent to all Men that believe that there is a God and they that believe not that though they may seem to be Rational Creatures are certainly most notorious Fools yet all Men are not so clearly agreed how to perform this Duty and that is the next thing that falls under our Consideration and the last Particular to be handled in my Text the manner how we must glorifie God we must do it in our Body and in our Spirit forasmuch as he hath redeemed and purchased both of them and both are his For ye are bought with a price c. First We must glorifie God in our Spirit that is in our Soul and in this all Parties are agreed even the very Quakers themselves the most stupid and senseless Fanaticks that have surfeited upon Religion and overwhelmed and oppressed their Reason by that very thing which was designed to refine and perfect it will all of them acknowledge that God is to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and that their Soul ought to bow to him though their Body be as inflexible as a Pillar of Marble And indeed this is the chief and main thing that we are to take care of in the worship of God that our Soul be zealously and earnestly intent upon what we are about for God sees not as Man sees he regards not so much the outward Gestures of our Body though as I shall shew hereafter he expects these from us too but he looks especially upon the inward Thoughts and Intentions of our Heart and if these be not right all our bodily worship is nothing worth If we draw near to God with our Lips and our Heart be far from him if we lift up our Eyes and our Hands to Heaven and our Mind be wedded to the World if we prostrate our Bodies upon the Earth and lay our Mouths in the Dust yet if our Spirit be not proportionably humbled all this is no better than gross Hypocrisie a downright mocking of God who cannot be deceived with counterfeit shews and shadows of Religion If therefore we desire to glorifie God aright we must be sure chiefly and principally to glorifie him in our Spirit and as Solomon advises us we must keep our Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life Prov. 4.23 Now this glorifying God in our Spirit implies briefly thus much That we make a free-will-offering of our Soul unto God committing the keeping of it unto him as unto a faithful Creator permitting him to guide and govern it according to his own good will and pleasure throughout the whole course of our life in whatsoever circumstances both in Prosperity and Adversity so that every thought and motion of it may evermore tend to his Glory He that hath made such an Offering as this unto God will always remember that he is not his own but that his Body and Soul are bought with a price and that both of them are God's and consequently will be careful to direct all his Thoughts Words and Actions to this one end that the Glory of God may be advanced by whatsoever he undertakes He will have God always in his thoughts as the only Object of his highest Love and Adoration and this will make him watch continually over his Soul and keep it pure and undefiled that no unclean thing may enter into that Spirit which is wholly devoted to the God of Purity For certainly nothing can be a more powerful motive to induce us to keep our Heart with all diligence than the consideration of God's Omnipresence and Omniscience that he sees us perpetually in our most private Retirements and searches and knows our most secret and hidden thoughts Hence it was that God himself gave that command to the Father of the Faithful Gen. 17.1 Walk before me and be thou perfect He that walks before God that is he that orders his whole Life and Conversation as knowing and considering that God's Eye is always upon him cannot chuse but endeavour to keep both his Soul and his Body blameless and undefiled and strive to be perfect as his Father which is in Heaven is perfect Again he that hath made such an Offering as this of his Soul unto God will be careful that in all things his Soul be obedient and conformable to the Will of God In his Health and Prosperity if Riches increase he will not set his Heart upon them but with Humility and Thankfulness will receive them as knowing himself not to be a Proprietor but a Steward only of the manifold Blessings of God and will accordingly dispose of them so that God may have the Glory and his distressed Brethren the benefit of his Wealth On the other hand if God sends Trouble and Affliction unto him if he deprives him of his Estate or his Health or both together whatsoever Calamity befalls him he will still bless and praise his Name as well when he takes away as when he gives when he smites as well as when he heals knowing and considering that whatsoever he either enjoys or suffers in this World comes to him from the Hand of an infinitely wise and good and gracious Father that will be sure first or last to make all things work together for good to them that love him Thus will the blessed Will and Pleasure of God be unto him as it were the Load-star to guide and direct his Soul how to steer its course towards the Haven of everlasting Happiness streight and steddy through all the Changes and Chances of this mortal life teaching him that hard Lesson which so few can learn how to separate Riches from Pride and Poverty from Impatience that neither the one may prevail with him to forget God and worship Mammon nor the other to repine at the Divine Providence and to fret and vex himself at the Prosperity of his Brethren If God blesses him he will acknowledge himself to be less than the least of all his Mercies and if he afflicts him he will receive it as the Correction of a tender Father that pities and loves his Children even when he chastizes them Lastly He that hath made this Offering of his Soul unto God whensoever he is in God's House in order to the celebration of his Publick Worship or whensoever he is in his Closet performing his Private Devotions will be exceeding careful to set his Heart and Affections then especially upon those things which are above he will be sure to banish all worldly thoughts out of his Mind and study to behave himself so as becomes one that is admitted to appear in the Presence-Chamber of the King of Kings either to put up his Petitions to him or to receive his Commands following that excellent Counsel of Solomon Eccl. 5.1 Keep thy Foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools for they consider not that
they do evil And how few there are that do follow this Counsel is but too evident from that vain and loose Deportment of many persons which we daily see in the Church to the great scandal and grief of all pious and devout Christians who cannot chuse but be exceedingly troubled and offended to see God publickly dishonoured and affronted in his own House by persons that pretend to come thither on purpose to joyn in the Celebration of his Publick Worship and Praise But of this I shall have occasion to speak more anon when I come to shew you how we are to glorifie God in our Body which I proceed now to do And First as before I observed That we are to glorifie God in our Spirit by keeping it pure and undefiled by sin so must we do in our Body too For it is impossible that a clean Soul should dwell in an unclean Body but if the one be foul the other will certainly partake of its Pollutions Indeed it is impossible that the Body should sin without the Soul since it cannot act but by the Command and Concurrent Assistance of the Soul whereas the Soul may sin without the help of the Body and we may commit Adultery or Murder or Theft in our Heart though our Body never be concerned in the perpetration of any such Crimes And therefore whosoever truly and sincerely glorifies God in his Spirit will by a most inevitable consequence glorifie him in his Body also He that hath banished all unchast thoughts out of his Mind will make a Covenant with his Eyes too that they shall not cast a wanton glance upon Beauty He whose Heart is free from all covetous Desires after his Neighbour's Goods will keep his Hands also from picking and stealing He that is perfectly in Charity with all Men and is not only ready to forgive but heartily loves his Enemies will not only fetter his Feet that they shall not be swift to shed Blood but he will also bridle his Tongue and keep it from evil-speaking lying and slandering and will be so far from hurting any Man by word or deed that he will most gladly embrace every opportunity that is offered him of doing good to any that stand in need of help He therefore that hath devoted his Soul wholly to the Glory of God will devote his Body likewise to the same end he will be careful to cleanse his Hands as well as his Heart to purifie his whole Man and since God hath bought his Body as well as his Soul with a price since one as well as the other is a Temple of the Holy Ghost and a Member of Christ he will endeavour to the best of his power that both of them may be preserved blameless and undefiled and unspotted of the World knowing that God will in no wise accept of a polluted Offering And this is the direct sense and meaning of the Apostle's Argument from the fifteenth Verse to the end of this Chapter whereby he labours to disswade the Corinthians from Fornication and all manner of Uncleanness Flee Fornication saith he every sin that a Man doth is without the Body but he that committeth Fornication sinneth against his own Body What know ye not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own For ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are God's But further if we will glorifie God in our Body as we ought we must not only be careful to keep it chast and undefiled by Lust and Wantonness but we must study to adorn and beautify it so that it may be acceptable in the sight of God by Temperance and Sobriety and Moderation in all things endeavouring to preserve it free from all manner of Luxury and Excess whether in Meat or Drink or Apparel or Recreation or whatsoever else with which it is concerned Meat and Drink in this mortal life are so necessary to us that we cannot live without them but if we indulge our selves in the immoderate use of either of them instead of preserving our Health it will most certainly destroy it So likewise modest and decent Raiment is in a manner as necessary for the covering our Nakedness and defending us from the Injuries of the Weather but still at the best it is but the Devil's Livery which we had never worn had it not been for the Disobedience of our first Parents and which it much better becomes us to be ashamed of than to glory in If therefore we affect vain and pompous Attire if we long for every fantastick Dress as fast as the apish Fashion-mongers can invent them till we have array'd our selves so that we think we may vie both for Smell and Beauty with the Lilies of the Field by so doing though we may hide the Nakedness of our Body we shall most certainly discover that of our Soul and we shall appear loathsome and deformed not only in the Eyes of God from whom nothing can be hid but in the Eyes also of all godly and sober Christians and shall stink in their Nostrils amidst all our precious Odours and Perfumes And therefore our Blessed Saviour hath commanded us not to take any care for the Provision either of Meat or Drink or Raiment any further than what Necessity and Decency requires Matth. 6.31 Take no thought saying What shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithall shall we be cloathed for after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your Heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Such care as this much better becomes an Epicure that expects his Portion in this life than a Christian that owns himself to be but a Stranger and a Sojourner here upon Earth and whose Treasure and Heart and Conversation is in Heaven Therefore as our Apostle exhorts us 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do let us do all to the Glory of God Again we are to glorifie God in our Body by labouring daily in some honest Calling that so we may provide for our selves and our Families and be useful and serviceable to our Country It was a Command as well as a Curse that God laid upon all Mankind in the person of Adam immediately after his Transgression In the sweat of thy Face shalt thou eat Bread And if we yield a consciencious Obedience to this Command labouring as God hath ordained in a lawful Employment we may turn this Curse into a Blessing and provide for our selves not only that Meat which perishes in this World but that which endures unto everlasting life in the next And on the other hand whosoever thinks to exempt himself from the force of this Command until some natural or accidental Infirmity hath dispensed with him shall not
escape the Sentence of the Curse but if he will not sweat here he shall be sure to burn hereafter he shall have no Bread in this World or at least none that he can justly call his own and he shall want Water in the other wherewithal to cool his Tongue Not that all Men are obliged by this Command to the same measure and Degree of bodily Labour this were to degrade the States-man from the Council-table to the Threshing-floor and the King himself from sitting upon his Throne to grind at the Mill but that all Men are obliged in their several Stations and Capacities to employ their Body as well as their Soul to the Glory of God and to the Service of the Country wherein they live And this may be done by him that manages but a Pen as well as by him that holds a Plough and if he orders his business well of the two the former undoubtedly doth not only do the greatest service both to God and Man but takes the greatest pains also and doth most hurt and prejudice to his Health for the wise Man hath told us That of making many Books there is no end and much study is a weariness of the Flesh Eccl. 12.12 Therefore as our Apostle exhorts us again 1 Cor. 7.24 Let every Man wherein he is called therein abide with God But further We must glorifie God in our Body not only by our Sweat but if we be called to it by our Blood too which we must be always ready patiently and chearfully to shed for his sake whensoever he is pleased to require it of us The Cross of Christ is a Burden that every Christian is obliged to bear and none ought to think it grievous though many now-a-days are ashamed of the very sign of it And Persecution tho' it be a thing at which Flesh and Blood is apt to startle yet it is no more than what every Disciple of Christ must expect to have his share of Our Saviour himself hath told us as much Luke 14.26 If any Man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple And whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple And St. Paul tells us That all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer Persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 This indeed is the hardest Task that God requires us to perform but as it is the hardest so it is the noblest that which of all things tends most to the Glory of God and to our own Happiness and therefore we should be so far from fearing it that above all things we should most earnestly desire it and as our Saviour commands us and as we read that the Apostles and Primitive Christians did we should rejoyce and be exceeding glad whensoever God calls us to suffer Persecution knowing that great is our reward in Heaven and that our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory Lastly for I do but name these Particulars designing to insist something more largely upon that which I am now propounding We must glorifie God in our Body by an humble reverent and decent behaviour of our Body in the House of God especially in the time of the Celebration of his Publick Worship This is a thing so undeniable that one would think it should be very needless to produce any Arguments to enforce the practice of it and surely that Man must either have lost the use of his Reason or at least must have extreamly impaired it by Prejudice and a bad Education that will not readily acknowledge that God is to be glorified and worshipped by us as well with our Body as with our Soul But yet if we consider the prophane and graceless deportment of many especially of the vulgar sort of People in our Country Churches now-a-days that are so far from worshipping God with a bended Knee that they will not vouchsafe so much as to uncover their Heads before him but most irreverently and impudently sit themselves down upon their Seats and put on their Hats even in the very Face of the Lord of Hosts as if they came into his House rather to defie him than to adore him and to publish to the World that Dust and Ashes dares presume to sit unconcerned in the presence of that infinite Majesty before whose Throne Angels and Archangels and all the glorious Inhabitants of Heaven cast their Crowns and fall down and worship it cannot but be granted that it is both seasonable and needful to prove the necessity of Bodily Worship in the House of God and to exhort all Men to the practice of it which I shall do as briefly as I can from these following Considerations And first that we must worship God with our Body as well as with our Soul is evident from this one Consideration because God hath redeemed our Body as well as our Soul from Hell and designs to glorifie the one as well as the other in Heaven which is the Apostle's Argument in my Text and is abundantly sufficient of it self though there were no more to back it For ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are God's What hath God redeemed our Bodies as well as our Souls from everlasting Misery and hath he promised to raise our vile Body out of the Dust and to change it into a Glorious Immortal and Incorruptible Body and to admit it together with our Soul into the Regions of Eternal Joy and Happiness and shall this Body as if it were utterly insensible of this inestimable Favour shew no demonstrations of Gratitude to so great a Benefactour What can be more ungrateful What can be more unreasonable Secondly That God requires that we should worship him with our Body as well as with our Soul is plain from the Second Commandment wherein he hath forbidden us to bow down our Body before an Image for this very reason because he is a Jealous God i. e. jealous of his Honour which he declares that we rob him of whensoever we bow our Body thereby intending Religious Worship to any other but himself alone And therefore we find in the Revelation that when St. John offers to fall down and worship before the Feet of the Angel the Angel forbids him See thou do it not for I am thy fellow Servant and of thy Brethren the Prophets and of them which keep the Sayings of this Book worship God Rev. 22.9 Whosoever therefore neglects to pay Religious Worship unto God with his Body transgresses the Second Commandment as well as he that pays that worship to any other thing or person but God only Hence is that pathetical Exhortation of the Psalmist O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker which our Church hath appointed daily to be repeated
TWELVE SERMONS UPON Several Occasions BY SAMUEL SCATTERGOOD Late Vicar of Blockley in Worcestershire LONDON Printed by J. Heptinstall for John Hartley over-against Gray's-Inn-Gate in Holborn 1700. Collegium S. S. et Individuae Trinitatis in Academia Cantabrigiensi TO THE READER Courteous Reader I Here present thee with Twelve Sermons being Part of a greater Number which the Authour some time before his Death permitted me to Print According to thy kind Acceptance of these I may perhaps be hereafter encouraged to present thee with the Rest I shall not trouble thee with any Account concerning the Authour nor offer to fore-stall thy Judgment in commending his Works to thee I shall onely beg of thee to believe that if I had not great Reason to hope that thou would'st think these Sermons well worthy of thy Perusal no private Interest could ever have induc'd me to have made them Publick J. S. THE CONTENTS SERMON I II III. Gal. IV. 4 5. But when the fulness of the Time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law To redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons Page 1 16 32 SERMON IV V. 1 Cor. VI. 20. For ye are bought with a Price therefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are Gods P. 47 66 SERMON VI. Heb. IV. 14. Seeing then that we have a great High priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our Profession P. 85 SERMON VII Matth. XI 28. Come unto me all ye that Labour and are heavy Laden and I will give you Rest P. 100 SERMON VIII Col. II. 18 19. Let no Man beguile you of your Reward in a voluntary Humility and worshipping of Angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly Mind And not holding the Head from which all the Body by Joints and Bands having Nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the Increase of God P. 115 SERMON IX Matth. V. 20. For I say unto you That except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven P. 133 SERMON X XI 1 Pet. IV. 18. And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and Sinner appear P. 148 164 SERMON XII 1 Cor. X. 12. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall P. 180 SERMON I. GAL. IV. 4 5. But when the fulness of the time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons THE Galatians unto whom S. Paul writes this Epistle had in his absence been perverted and seduced from the true Doctrine of the Gospel which he had preached unto them by some false Teachers that had crept in among them and had perswaded them that tho' they did believe and that rightly that Jesus was the true Messias whom the Prophets foretold should come into the world yet still it was necessary for them to be Circumcised and to conform to the Law of Moses which they thought was never to be abrogated as well as to the Law of Christ unto which they had so lately vowed Obedience This Doctrine S. Paul confutes in this Epistle and thunders an Anathema against whosoever he be that teaches it though it were an Angel from Heaven Though we saith he or an Angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed chap. 1.8 And afterwards in the close of the Epistle he proves to them at large that the Ceremonial Law was totally abrogated by the Law of Christ and that by Faith in him not only Jews but Gentiles were the children of Abraham and heirs of the Promise Know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham and the Scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the Heathens through faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying In thee shall all Nations be blessed So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham chap. 3. 7 8 9. And tho' indeed the Jews had most glorious Privileges and Favours conferred upon them by the bounty of God under the Mosaical Oeconomy beyond what he had vouchsafed to any People upon earth besides for unto them were committed the oracles of God and they received the Law by the disposition of Angels God had chosen them to be his own peculiar People his only visible Church upon earth until the coming of the Messias So that the Psalmist had great reason to confess that he had not dealt so with any Nation yet for all this our Apostle assures them that how great soever these Privileges of the Jews might seem and indeed really were in comparison of what God had vouchsafed to other Nations during the time of the Law yet they were far inferiour to those which the Church was afterwards to enjoy under the Oeconomy of the Gospel the glorious and everlasting Kingdom of Christ Whereupon he resembles the Law to a School-master which was to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith chap. 3.24 But saith he After that faith is come we are no longer under a School-master For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus And in the beginning of this fourth Chapter he compares the Church under the Law to an Heir in his Minority but the Church under the Gospel to an Heir now come to Age and in Possession of his inheritance Now I say that the Heir as long as he is a Child differeth nothing from a Servant though he be Lord of all but is under Tutors and Governours until the time appointed of the father Even so we when we were children were in bondage under the Elements of the world But when the fulness c. Thus ye see the coherence and scope of the Text and ye cannot chuse but apprehend at the first view of it that it is very sutable to this present Season and that it will furnish us with excellent Matter with a most magnificent and heavenly Feast of fit and proper Meditations to entertain our Souls with at this great Festival which we celebrate in Memory of the wonderful Incarnation and Nativity of our blessed Saviour Indeed it is hard to instance in any other Text of Scripture wherein the whole Mystery of our Saviour's Incarnation is so amply and fully explained in so few words as it is in these which I have now made choice of for the Subject of my Discourse which evidently contains all these important Truths 1. Here is our Saviour's Divinity implied in these words God sent forth his Son 2. Here is his Humanity together with the manner how he became Man and how qualified made of a woman made under the law 3. The
Gospel absolutely deny that there was ever any such purchase made disowning both the Divinity of Christ and the satisfaction of his Sufferings As if the God of Truth had studied to impose upon the credulity of Mankind and when he tells us most plainly in his word that he hath purchased his Church with his own blood that we are bought with a price and that our blessed Saviour gave himself a ransome for all and that not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full sufficient and satisfactory Ransome yet all this while he means quite otherwise than what the words seem to import and none but these few sagacious Sophisters are ever able to discover the Divine Fallacy How many thousands are there yet even amongst us Christians who instead of glorifying God in their body and in their spirit openly dishonour him in both glory in their shame and by their wicked and profligate Lives crucifie afresh the Son of God and blaspheme that worthy Name by which they are called Lastly how many Myriads how many Millions are there besides all these that yet sit in darkness and in the shadow of Death Who never heard of the glad tidings of the Gospel nor have had their understandings enlightened and their hearts revived and awakened out of the deadly Lethargy of Pagan Ignorance and Superstition and Idolatry by the benign and salutiferous influence of the Son of righteousness Who instead of glorifying God give away his Glory to his greatest Enemy and do Sacrifice unto the Devil These are sad Considerations that infinite Mercy and Love should be received with such prodigious Scorn and Ingratitude that so invaluable a price as God hath given for us should be paid in vain for the greatest part of Mankind that but a small and inconsiderable number in comparison of the whole Race of Adam should wash their robes and make them white in the blood of that Lamb that was slain for the sins of the whole World and was a Sacrifice every way sufficient to make an atonement for them all Who can reflect upon these things without sorrow Since then the Case is thus with us that most of us are liable to lose the benefit of this Price by neglecting to perform this Duty of glorifying God to which it hath indispensably obliged us let us briefly consider the reasonableness and necessity of this Duty that we may be the more encouraged unto it upon these following Accounts First this Duty of glorifying God is exceeding reasonable forasmuch as God himself is the only Object in the world that is in and for himself glorious and adorable It is a Maxim in Heraldry that the King is the Fountain of Honour how much more then is that Prerogative peculiar unto God By whom Kings reign and Princes decree Justice From whom all Honour both in Heaven and Earth is derived and unto whom it returns again and centers it self as the Rivers in the Ocean When we look upon the Moon shining in its full strength and beauty we cannot but confess that its Light is very pleasant and comfortable to behold but it diminishes much from its Excellency when we consider that all its Lustre is borrowed and that should the Sun withhold its influence the other would be nothing else but a dark invisible Globe So likewise when we consider the Angels and Archangels and all the mighty Powers of Heaven that excel in Strength and Goodness and Holiness we must needs acknowledge that these are Creatures beyond all our thoughts happy and glorious but when we consider further that as great and good and happy as they are yet still they are but Creatures and that all these rich Endowments that they have received they owe to the father of spirits from whom alone comes every good and perfect gift all the Praise and Glory redounds solely to the Almighty Creator Who makes his Angels spirits and his Ministers a flaming fire and to whose Soveraign Will and uncontrolable Power the highest Archangel is as subject and subservient as the most despicable Insect that we trample under our Feet Since therefore it is most plain and undeniable that God is the only Object in the world that is in and for himself glorious and is the Spring and Fountain of Glory and Honour to all his Creatures that do in any measure participate of it reason dictates to us and we need enquire no further that it is our Duty to glorifie him and that should we do otherwise even the very stones under our feet might justly rise up in Judgment against us and condemn us Secondly as God is the only Object that is in and for himself glorious and that in an infinite and incomprehensible manner so he created all things at the first for the manifestation of his own Glory and requires this Homage to be paid him by every one of his Creatures in their respective Capacities For any of the Creatures even for the greatest of them to love himself above all things or to make his own Glory and Honour the end of his Actions is Folly is Injustice is Sin is such foolish and unreasonable Pride as cast the fallen Angels out of Heaven and Man out of Paradise But for God to do thus is both wise and just seeing that Wisdom and Equity requires that nothing less than infinite Perfection should be the adequate Object of infinite Love and Glory and therefore it would be a manifest piece of Injustice of which God can never be capable for him to give that Love or Glory to another which is due to none else but himself alone And accordingly he himself hath told us that he never will do it I am the Lord saith he that is my name and my glory will I not give to another Isa 42.8 No he hath reserved it wholly to himself and for the manifestation of it he hath created all things So the four and twenty Elders confess Rev. 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created The ultimate end of the whole Creation was the Glory of the Creator The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy-work saith the Psalmist Ps 19.1 whoth at considers the certain and regular Motions of the celestial Bodies can chuse but extol and magnifie the Power and Wisdom of that God that made them saying with the Psalmist Praise ye him sun and moon praise him all ye stars of light Let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created He hath also established them for ever and ever he hath made a decree which shall not pass Neither were the Heavens only created for the Glory of God but the Earth also declares the same and his wonders are seen in the Deep Even the merciless and unruly Sea obeys the Decree of him who hath shut it up with doors
themselves in the Worship of God may justly expect such an answer from him as he gives to the Priests that offered polluted bread upon his Altar Mal. 1.8 Offer it now unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy Person saith the Lord of Hosts In the Oriental Countries therefore where men never use this Ceremony of uncovering their Heads to their Superiours but stand covered even in the Presence of their Emperour neither is it practicable in their Temples since amongst them the uncovering of the Head is so far from being acknowledged to be a Demonstration of Honour and Respect that it is indeed lookt upon to be an absurd and ridiculous thing and therefore instead thereof they use to put their Shooes off their feet whensoever they enter'd into their Churches which is a Custom in those parts of greater Antiquity perhaps than Moses himself it being not at all improbable that that command which God gave to him in the Bush Exod. 3.5 was no institution of a new Ceremony but only an information that that place was hallowed by the extraordinary Presence of God and therefore he ought to behave himself with the same fear and reverence and to use the same manner of Worship and Adoration which in those Countries was usual and customary in the Temples and holy Places dedicated to the Service of God Put off thy shooes saith he from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground And had the Ceremony of uncovering the Head been in use in those Countries as it is here we may rationally conjecture that God would have altered his Command accordingly But to leave these remote Countries with which we are not much concerned and to return to our own from what hath been said it is plain that the outward Gestures and Ceremonies which we are obliged to use in the publick Worship of God are chiefly these three kneeling at Prayers Standing up at other times when it is appointed by the Church and having our Heads uncovered at all times As for sitting though the general practice of all men hath made it to be connived at in the time of the Sermon or the like yet it is a posture that is never very commendable in the Church it is certainly in the time of Prayer most intolerable and he that uses it least at other times deserves most commendation and comes nearest to the practice of the first and purest Ages of Christianity It was therefore a pious resolution of Biship Hall to this purpose in one of his Meditations God saith he is the Lord of my Body also and therefore challenges as well reverent Gesture as inward Devotion I will ever in my Prayers either stand as a servant before my Master or kneel as a Subject to my Prince I might instance in more particulars but that I may hasten to a conclusion I shall name only this one which will comprehend all the rest and that is That our Bodily Worship may be compleat we must take care that our Tongue be duly employed in bearing its part in the publick Service of God as the Church hath appointed which if we would do we should avoid that scandalous Behaviour which is too commonly seen in our Churches of whispering and laughing and playing idle Tricks which is a thing to be abominated by all pious and devout Christians Thus I have shewed you according to my ability the Summ and Substance of this duty of glorifying God in our Body and in our Spirit which that we may evermore perform effectually God of his infinite mercy vouchsafe to direct sanctifie amd govern both our hearts and Bodies in the ways of his Laws and in the Works of his Commandments that through his most mighty protection both here and ever we may be preserved in Body and Soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ SERMON VI. HEB. IV. 14. Seeing then that we have a great High-priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our Profession THERE are four several Steps or Degrees of our Saviour's Exaltation Three of which are already past and the other is yet to come The first is his Resurrection from the Dead The second is his Ascension into Heaven The third is his Session at the Right Hand of God The fourth is his coming again with Glory to judge both the Quick and the Dead The first of these his Resurrection from the Dead we Commemorated at Easter and the present time invites us now to Exercise our Meditations upon the second his Ascension into Heaven and any Text furnishes us with a very excellent Method for the doing of it to the Glory of God and the Good and Comfort of our own Souls For first the Apostle lays down the Truth of this Doctrine that our Saviour is ascended into Heaven and secondly he shews us what influence the consideration of his Ascension should have upon us So that the Text it self is an Epitome of a Sermon containing both Doctrine and Application The Doctrine that our Saviour is ascended into Heaven the Apostle takes for granted in the former part of the Verse Seeing then that we have a great High-priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God And this Doctrine he confirms chap. 9. ver 24. For Christ is not entred into the Holy Places made with Hands which are the Figures of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear in the presence of God for us and chap. 7. ver 26. Such an High-priest became us who is Holy Harmless Vndefiled separate from Sinners and made higher than the Heavens The Application which the Apostle makes of this Doctrine is in the latter part of my Text and it is this that since Christ is ascended into Heaven we ought stoutly and resolutely to maintain the Profession of our Christian Religion and to contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints Seeing then c. In speaking to which Text I shall do these three Things First I shall shew that Jesus Christ our Redeemer the Eternal Son of God is truly ascended into Heaven Secondly That he ascended thither as our High-priest And Thirdly I shall conclude with the Apostles Application and shew you how strongly this should oblige us to hold fast our Profession First I shall shew you That Jesus Christ our Redeemer the Eternal Son of God he who we own and believe to be the true Messias whom all the Prophets pointed at is truly ascended into Heaven And here it will be necessary to clear two Things by the way First What is meant by that Heaven into which Christ is ascended And secondly how and in what manner he is said to have ascended thither For the first of these not to trouble you with an account of all the several Significations of the word Heaven in Scripture we are to understand by that Heaven into which our Saviour is ascended the Heaven of
trespassed and in his Sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die Again The Righteousness of the Righteous shall not deliver him in the Day of his Transgression as for the Wickedness of the Wicked he shall not fall thereby in the Day that he turneth from his Wickedness neither shall the Righteous be able to live for his Righteousness in the Day that he sinneth Without all Controversie by the Righteous in these Places is meant one who is truly and indeed righteous and just in the sight of God as appears by the Description which he gives of him from the 5th Verse of this 18th Chapter of Ezekiel unto the 10th where he expresly declares him to be one that hath walked in his Statutes and hath kept his Judgments to deal truly For if we should understand it otherwise viz. of one that was only outwardly and hypocritically Righteous these Texts would be down-right Non-sense and must mean this which is indeed nothing When the Righteous i. e. the Hypocrite turneth away from his Righteousness i. e. his Hypocrifie he shall die Certainly God would never threaten to punish any Soul with Death for turning away from Hypocrifie neither would he oppose Hypocrifie to Iniquity as a thing contrary to it when he hath so frequently declared in his word that Hypocrifie it self is most gross Iniquity such as his Soul abhors Since therefore we cannot suppose God here to speak of Counterfeit and Hypocritical Righteousness it must needs follow from these Texts of Scripture That he who was once truly Righteous may turn from such Righteousness and commit Iniquity may fall from Grace into a State of Damnation and that he may continue in such a State and die in his Sins Again Thirdly This is evident from our Saviour's Parable John 15.1 2. I am the true Vine and my Father is the Husbandman Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away Now no Man can ever be a Branch of this Heavenly Vine which is Jesus Christ but by a true Faith And yet our Saviour declares here that such a Branch as this that was once in him may cease to bear Fruit and thereupon be taken away such a Man may depart from the Faith and fall from Christ Fourthly This is clear from that Passage 2 Pet. 2.20 If after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again intangled therein and overcome the latter End is worse with them than the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them unto which Place that of Hebrews 6.4 5 6. is parallel From both which Places it appears that they who were once enlightened and had tasted of the Heavenly Gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and had tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come that they who have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ i. e. by a true Faith in him for none but such can enable any Man to escape those Pollutions may notwithstanding all this fall away ay and fall so too that it shall be impossible to renew them again unto Repentance I might produce many more Texts of Scripture for the Confirmation of this Doctrine But I shall content my self with those which I have already cited and for the further Proof of it I shall insist upon some few Examples of holy and just Men in Scripture who have fallen from Grace which certainly were recorded on purpose to teach us this excellent Lesson here in my Text that he that thinks he stands may take heed lest he fall And here I shall omit the Case of the fallen Angels who were once Holy but kept not their first Estate and the Case of our First Parents who though they were created by God in his own Image in Righteousness and Holiness yet quickly fell from that happy Condition into a State of Sin and Misery But the Examples I shall insist upon shall be these 1. Saul who certainly at the first was a pious and good King though afterwards he became quite otherwise and was finally rejected of God for his Disobedience The Adversaries to thâ—â— Doctrine object that Saul never was really good nor endued with true Grace But for all that the Story tells us plainly that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and rested upon him while he behaved himself well and that afterwards he departed from him and an evil Spirit from the Lord troubled him And certainly unto whomsoever the blessed Spirit of God vouchsafes to come Grace and true Grace too must needs come along with him who is the Fountain and Authour of it and if ever he departs though but for a season Grace can never stay behind him They therefore that deny that Saul had once true Grace may with as good reason deny that the Man in the Parable Matth. 25. that received but one Talent ever had a true Talent and then he had very hard measure to be condemned for not putting it to the Exchangers when he had received nothing but false Coyn. But if this Example be not satisfactory perhaps the next may and that shall be that of David who the Scripture tells us was a Man after God's own Heart and there is no Man but will readily acknowledge that God had bestowed upon him an extraordinary Measure of Grace And yet by those two grievous Sins of Adultery and Murder he fell from this Grace and continued in a state of Sin and damnation for the space of many Months together and never thought of Repentance until he was restored again by the Ministery of the Prophet Nathan St. Paul tells us expresly that Adulterers shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1. Cor. 6.9 And S. John saith that no Murderer hath Eternal Life abiding in him 1 John 3.15 It is manifest therefore that by these Sins David did fall from Grace and had he died without Repentance must have perished Eternally I might instance further in Solomon who was once beloved of the Lord and yet in his old Age became an Idolater in S. Peter who denied his Saviour in Demas who was once one of the fellow-labourers with S. Paul and perhaps one of those he means Phil. 4.3 whose Names were in the Book of Life yet he forsook S. Paul having loved this present World 2 Tim. 4.10 but by what I have said already it is sufficiently evident from Scripture that true believers may depart from the Faith and fall from Grace I shall instance only in one thing more to shew that this is agreeable to the Doctrine of our Church In the Rubrick after the Order of publick Baptism of Infants the Church tells us that it is certain by God's Word that Children which are baptized dying before they commit actual Sin are