that are in the World are held up by God's hand They do not subsist by their own Nature so much as by Divine Manutenency He upholds all things It is an allusion to a weighty Body that is held up by the hand of Man which if loosned it falls to the ground so the Creature would fall to nothing if not kept up by God Now what an Almighty grasp hath he that holds up all things He that feedeth so many mouths with the opening the hand of his Bounty Psal. 145.15 16. The eyes of all wait upon thee and thou givest them their meat in due season Thou openest thy hands and satisfiest the desire of every living thing He that sustains and guides so many Creatures that preserves the Confederacies of Nature that sets bounds to the Sea and makes Decrees for the waves to obey beyond which they shall not pass Ier. 5.22 Which have placed the sand for the bounds of the Sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it and thô the Waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not prevail thô they roar yet can they not pass over it He that holds the Winds in his Fist is not not he mighty and strong And therefore if God should but loosen his hand the World would soon fall into Confusion and nothing Thus his sustaining and preserving all things speaks him an All-powerful God 2. His Internal Providence The Providence of God is chiefly seen in his Power over the Spirits of men that are voluntary Agents He hath such a Power over them that they are not Masters of their own Affections and Dispositions but act contrary many times to their intended purposes Prov. 21.1 The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of waters he turneth it whither soever he will Look as a Man by cutting a Channel draws the water this way or that way hither and thither so doth God move the Hearts of all men in the World nay even of Kings and Princes Prov. 16.7 When a man's ways please the Lord he maketh even his Enemies to be at peace with him Strange thing that God can put a Bridle upon the Spirits of men and they shall be at peace with him whom they hated their Hearts are turned many times to what formerly they resolved against Esau is an Instance he had vowed Iacob's Death and meets him with purpose to destroy him but when God brings them together Esau falls embracing of Iacob Gen. 33.4 And Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him Egypt dismissed Israel with Jewels Balaam comes to curse and he falls a blessing Israel This bridling turning changing the hearts of men it is a notable discovery of God's Omnipotency Look as there is more Power seen in governing a skittish Horse than in rolling a Stone so in ruling those Beings which have a Principle of Resistance doth the Lord shew forth his Power Angels Men and Devils can do nothing but as God will and as God gives them leave The Devils are fain to ask Christ's leave to enter into the herd of Swine Mat. 8.31 and therefore how may the flock of Christ's Sheep rest secure under the Power of his Providence when those damned Spirits are held in by the irresistible Providence of God that they can do nothing but what God will As Tertullian said If the Bristles of Swine be numbred much more are the Hairs of the Saints God hath such a mighty Power that not a Creature can be troubled without his leave even by those Spirits that are most opposite to him so that his Power over the Affections and Hearts of men shews he is a great and mighty God 3. That God is Almighty appears by the strength that is in Creatures which is an effect and shadow of the Power of God All the Power that is in Creatures is from God and he wastes not by giving as we do That expression suits to this Case God took from the Spirit of Moses and put it upon the Elders and yet Moses had not the less because of their participation We cannot communicate to others but we lessen our selves but God remaineth in an Infinite fullness and therefore if he hath given Power to Creatures he hath more power himself Now there is great Power in Creatures Iob 41.8 Iob tells us of great Whales that have Bones as Brass and strong as pieces of Iron And David tells us of Angels that excell in strength Psal. â—33 20 so that one of them slew a hundâ—ed fourscore and five thousand in one night in Senacherib's Host And if there be such strength in Creatures what is there in God from whom they have it For nothing is in the Effect but what was first in the Cause Secondly Let me come to Explain this Power of God by three Distinctions 1. God's Power is twofold either Absolute or Actual 1. His Absolute Power is by which he can do that which he never will do This is spoken of Mat. 26.53 Thinkest thou not that I cannot now pray to my Father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of Angels Mark 3.9 God is able of these stones to raise up Children to Abraham he can do more than ever he did or will do He can do not only what Men and Angels conceive can be done but what he himself conceiveth can be done 2. His Actual Power is that by which he doth whatever he will Psal. 115.3 Our God is in the heavens he hath done whatsoever he pleaseth And Psal. 135.6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in Heaven and in Earth in the Seas and all deep places Never shall any thing be done but what God wills and what God wills shall surely come to pass which is a notable support in all accidents 2 Distinction God's Power is Ordinary and Extraordinary 1. Ordinary is that which is according to the Course of second Causes and Law of Nature when he preserves the Creatures and works by them according to the Order which he himself hath established Psal. 119.91 They continue this day according to thine Ordinance for all are thy Servants All the Creatures Sun Moon and Stars do keep the Track and Path which God hath set unto them and God preserves the Beings of all things and keeps the Covenant of night and day as it is called in the Prophet 2. There is God's Extraordinary Power by which he can suspend the whole Course of Nature as he hath done sometimes upon eminent Occasions as when the Sun stood still in the Valley of Ajalom Iosh. 10.12 13. or when the Sun went back ten degrees on the Dyal of Ahaz 2 Kings 20.11 His interdicting the Red Sea that it should not flow Exod. 14.21 22. His causing Iron which is a heavy Body to swim upon the top of the water at the Prayer of Elisha 2 Kings 6.6 His suspending the burning of the Fire when the three Children were in the Furnace Dan. 3.27
by his Death of Salvation by Faith in the Mediator this depends not upon the Connexion of natural Causes but the free Pleasure of God therefore the Angels knew it not till it was revealed in the Church Ephes. 3.10 To the intent that now unto the Principalities and Powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God The Gentiles by looking into the Order of Causes could never find it out They might find a first Being and the chiefest Good but not a Christ not a Saviour there they sat in the shadows of Death and did not understand nor desire Eternal Life Acts 14.17 Nevertheless he left not himself without Witness in that he did good and gave us Rain from Heaven and fruitful Seasons filling our Hearts with Food and Gladness Much of God may be seen in the known courses of Nature Rain from Heaven and fruitful Seasons but nothing of Christ. The Apostle speaks it there to disswade them from the Worship of Iupiter and Mercury and other of the Vanities of the Gentiles he argues from the Grace of Nature and common Benefits which they had received this were enough to make them acknowledg a Divine Power Pray mark the Apostle saith He left not himself without a Witness yet he suffered them to walk in their own ways because he did not reveal his Gospel nor give them his Spirit Psal. 147.19 20. He sheweth his Word unto Jacob his Statutes and his Iudgments unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any Nation and as for his Iudgments they have not known them Rom. 16.25 26. According to the Revelation of the Mystery which was kept secret since the World began But now is made manifest and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the Commandment of the everlasting God made known unto all Nations for the Obedience of Faith Ephes. 3.4 5. Whereby when ye read ye may understand my Knowledg in the Mystery of Christ which in other Ages was not made known unto the Sons of Men as it is now revealed unto his Holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit Col. 1.26 27. Even the Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and from Generations but now is made manifest to his Saints To whom God would make known what is the Riches of the Glory of this Mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in them the Hope of Glory But God suffered them to serve their own Lusts and to carry on that Religion which they had feigned to themselves But then he left not himself without a Witness for they had many corporal Blessings from whence they might easily collect that they should not worship Stocks and Stones and dead Men but the living God by whose Providence those Blessings were dispensed Though he gave them not the Gospel yet he gave them the Light of Nature and the Looking-glass of the Creatures There is much ado whether this were auxilium sufficiens Gratiae a sufficient Help to convert them or to bring them to such a Condition that they might gain the Grace of God It was enough to oblige them to seek after God and to convince them that they did ill in worshipping the Creatures but it was not sufficient to find out the true God and enjoy him Saving-Grace is not granted by any Promise to the improvement of Nature Well then though the whole Earth be full of the Goodness of the Lord that is of the Fruits and Effects of his common Bounty yet nothing of his Saving-Grace is known till it appeared and broke out in the Gospel 2. To the Jews this Grace began to dawn but it was veiled in Figures and Shadows that they could not see clearly The Substance of their Doctrine was the same with ours but there is a great deal of difference in the manner of Dispensation they had the dark Text and we the Exposition There was Grace and Shadow by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Iesus Christ John 1.17 because here all the Types were revealed and we have the Substance it self Christ is the Light of the World The Sun the farther off it is from rising the less Light it gives Christ was not then risen therefore there was but Twi-light and full of Shadows Grace is opposed to the Condemnation of the Moral Law and Truth to the Shadows of the Ceremonial Law Christ's Offices his Benefices his Person were but darkly propounded to them Take but one place for all Of all the Ministers of the Legal Dispensation Iohn Baptist saw the clearest yet saith Christ the least of Gospel-Ministers knows more than he Matth. 11.11 Verily I say unto you among them that are born of Women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he Iohn drawing nearer to Christ had a clearer knowledg of the Meaning and Application of the Types than others had But now those that have lived after the pouring out of the Spirit upon Christ's Ascension under the Gospel-Dispensation have a clear insight into the Doctrine of Grace far more clear than it was in the days of Iohn II. What and how much of Grace is now discovered I answer 1. The Wisdom of Grace The Gospel is a meer Riddle to Carnal Reason a great Mystery 1 Tim. 3.16 Great is the Mystery of Godliness There we read of God and Man brought together and Justice and Mercy brought together by the Contrivance of Grace Here we only see this Mystery that is without Controversy great for these Things could not come into the Heads of any Creatures If Angels and Men had been put to study and set down their Way of Reconciliation to God how it should be they could never have thought of such a Remedy as the bringing of God and Man together in the Person of Christ and Justice and Mercy together by the Blood and Satisfaction of Christ this came out of no Breast but God he brought the Secret out of his own Bosom When the Question was put in the Counsel of the Trinity How Man that was fallen might be brought again to God from the Depth of Misery to the Height of Happiness Grace interposed and propounded Christ to be God-Man in one Person O the strangeness and wonderfulness of this Contrivance If you consider the Weakness and Vileness of Humane Nature the Infiniteness and Excellency of the Divine Nature certainly such a Plot could not enter into the Head of any Creature Upon what Grounds could any Creature expect such a Condescention that Mortal and Immortal Infiniteness and Finiteness should come together And as the Person of Christ is wonderful so also is his Work and Business which was to bring Justice and Mercy to kiss each other that Justice might have full Satisfaction for Mens Sins and Mercy have full Content in procuring their Salvation that Grace might be glorified and yet Justice be no Loser When God redeemed the World he had a greater Work
it was sold was it not in thine own Power still they kept a Property to dispose of it as they saw cause And pray mark it is not said that they did equally divide among them all the things that were sold but Acts 2.44 45. All that believed were together and had all things common and sold their Possessions and Goods and parted them to all Men as every Man had need Here was no levelling but an orderly Charity there was great necessity and they believed the Destruction and Desolation of Iudea and therefore in wise fore-sight took this course And therefore it is notable that it is not said that they sold all they had but only their Possessions and Inheritances Acts 4.34 35. As many as were Possessors of Lands or Houses sold them and brought the Prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the Apostles Feet c. And still it was free yet it was not taken from them but freely given by them it was not catch who catch can but Distribution was made unto every Man according as he had need ver 35. Some good People kept their Houses still as Mary had her House Acts 12.12 He came to the House of Mary 2. Have wicked Men any Right in what they do possess or may they be spoiled as the Canaanites were and outed of all their Possessions I answer Wicked Men have a civil Right and that is Banck enough against Violence and Invasion of Property or suppose there were no other Title but Grace and a Man that had not Grace were an Usurper what a World of Inconveniences and Confusions would follow If one Man were made Judg of another Man's Grace how should we know who had a Right Give unto Cesar the things that are Cesar's if it were so we could not trade with them but Abraham bought the Field of Mamre Wicked Men have a civil Right but that is not all they have a Right before God a common Right of Providence so that they are not Usurpers of what they do possess it is their Portion Psal. 17.14 From Men of the World which have their Portion in this Life and whose Belly thou fillest with thy hid Treasure It is true they have made a Forfeiture as to God and deserve to lose all but the Sentence of the Law is not executed upon them and therefore by the Gift and Indulgence of God they have a just and free use of such things as fall to their share and portion There cannot be a better Title than God's own Gift now God in the general course of his Providence giveth wicked Men many things as he gave Tyrus to Nebuchadnezzar He that giveth them their Lives giveth them Meat and Drink they do him common Service and God rewardeth them with common Mercies But they have not such a Right as God's Children a Right from the Covenant of Grace from God's Love and for their good but their Blessings are salted with a Curse 3 d Rule of Justice If Wrong be done Restitution must be made It is not enough to reconcile your selves to God if you have thriven by unjust Gain but you must make Restitution to Men else the Sin remains There is in all such Acts the Sin and the Injury Now many seek to take away the Sin while the Injury remains but that cannot be and some may seek possibly to do away the Injury while the Sin remains they do not reconcile themselves to God In the Law of Moses he that wronged his Neighbour was to make Restitution Levit. 6.5 He shall restore it in the Principal and shall add the fifth part thereto and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth in the day of his Trespass-Offering That Law speaks of Wrong done against our Will The Thief that wronged with set purpose was to restore fourfold but if a Man did by chance and against his Will wrong another when he was convinced of it he was to restore the Principal and the fifth part in the day of his Trespass-Offering Our Lord renews and repeats this Sentence of the Law Mat. 5.24 First be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift It is an Allusion to this Law where on the day of their Offering they were to make Restitution this is the only way to retract the Wrong As long as you retain the use and fruit of your fraudulent Practices the Sin and the Injury is continued and there can be no true Repentance In the very counterfeit Repentance of Iudas there was a kind of Restitution it is a necessary Fruit of Grace When Salvation was come to Zacheus his House and he was converted he offers the Restitution of the Law If I have taken any thing from any Man by false Accusation I restore him fourfold Luke 19.8 ' Therefore the continuance of Gain gotten by Fraud upbraideth the tender Conscience with the Sin Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum and if you should be disabled from Restitution your acknowledgment must be very serious and humble and take Shame to your self and do what you can And if Servants have purloined from their Masters or if any have thriven by Iniquity of Traffick restore as far as possibly you can He that can rectify the Injury and doth not doth not repent and God will not accept him If the Party wronged be not living it must be given to the next Heir if none of the Line be found it must be given to God for as long as it remains with you it is an accursed thing and will bring a Curse on all the rest If you have wronged others in their Names make them all the Satisfaction you can Christ drew from Peter a treble Profession of his Love to answer his threefold Denial By all publick Vindications you should seek to heal the Wound you have made Take an Instance of one that accused a Bishop at Ierusalem falsly God touched his Heart that he wept his Eyes blind 4 th Rule of Justice You must bear the Injuries of others with Patience rather than revenge them If Patience be not a part of Justice I am sure private Revenge is a part of Injustice because you take God's Work out of his Hands and you make your selves Magistrates without a Commission Rom. 12.9 Dearly beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto Wrath for it is written Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. You must leave it to God and his Deputies It is an Usurpation and against all right to avenge your selves that a Man should be Accuser Judg and Executioner and all in his own Cause where Self-Love is is apt to make us partial If we are fit to be an Accuser certainly not to be Judg and Executioner â—t crosseth the Ends of just Revenge which are to right the Party wronged or mend the Party offending or to provide for publick Safety He that avengeth his own Quarrel doth but more and more enrage his Adversary
Every Sinner is as a mad Gamester he ventures a Kingdom the largest and fairest that ever was at every throw and he is fure to lose it too Then consider the pains of Hell they will set out the greatness of Sin and consider them either in regard of Gods Ordination or Appointment or in regard of your own feeling 1. In regard of Gods Ordination and Appointment That the good of God who is meekness and sweetness and Bowels it self should adjudge his Creature to Eternal Torments certainly there is some cause We pity a Dog if he should be cast into a furnace for half an hour yet those tender Bowels of Mercy shrink not up at the sight of Sinners though Man be the work of his own hands and though the Creature screech and howl under these pains yet he will not lessen and take them away Surely there is some great evil in Sin that hath tyed up the hands of Mercy 2 Consider it in regard of your selves and your own feeling Oh for a short Temporal Pleasure thou runnest the hazard of Eternal pains We that cannot endure the scratch of a Pin or the aching of a Tooth how shall we endure the torment of so many thousand years and yet still to look for more Heb. 10.31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Mark the Attribute the living God who Lives for ever to see the Vengeance accomplished as long as God is God Hell will be Hell there can never be any Hope that Gods Being can be destroyed or that there will be aâ—cessation of those torments and pains God ever liveth to reward the Godly and to punish the wicked 3. The third sort of Arguments are from the aggravations of Sin that may enhance it and show the greatness of it to your thoughts 1. It is natural to us It is necessary to reflect upon this Circumstance because it is the hardest matter in our Humiliation to be sufficiently affected with our Birth-Sin Evils that come by Accident are Objects of Pity but Evils of Nature are Objects of Hatred we pity a Dog that is poysoned but we hate a Toad that is poysonous by Nature oh how may the Lord hate us that have Evil in our Nature it is not accidental to us It is the great fondness of Men to make that an excuse which is in it self the greatest aggravation Some will say when they are reproved for Sin I cannot do otherwise it is my Nature this will be the cause of thy ruine without an Interest in Christ. The Waters that come out of a pure Fountain may be soiled and dirtied but they will be clear again but a puddle that runneth out of a Dunghil will be alwaies nasty and filthy Our Sins are not by Accident but by Nature they are not like the muddying of a clear Fountain but like the unsavoury liquor that comes out of a Dunghil Original Sin however you think of it is the sin of sins we are born with such a Sin and it is worse than any other Sin Actual Sins are but as a transient Act whereby there is a violence offered to one of Gods Commandments but this is a constant rooted abiding contrariety to Gods own Nature Actual Sins are a blow and away but this is a remaining Enmity Actual Sins are like a fit of Anger and Displeasure soon up and soon down but this is a rooted hatred This is the cause of all other Sins the bitter root that diffuseth a poyson into all the branches All other Sins that a Man commits are but Original Sin acted and exercised Look as in the Art of numbring the greatest number that can be numbred is but One multiplyed so the whole fry of Actual Transgressions is but Original Sin multiplyed this Spawn diffused and spread abroad all those Traiterous Actions that we are guilty of in the course of our Lives are all summed up in this sinning Sin 2. Our Sins are many We sin in praying in eating in ploughing in trading and any one of these is enough to undo a World The Angels became Devils for one Sin for one Sin of thought a proud thought against Gods Empire and Greatness and for this they were thrown into places of Darkness what ruine then will a great many Sins procure to thy Soul If single Sins seem light in themselves yet what are they all together There is nothing lighter than one Sand and yet nothing heavier than Sand in a great quantity A Gnatt a Fly a Locust are poor inconsiderable Creatures yet when they come in multitudes they are called Gods great Army and destroy whole Countreys Ioel 2.11 The Lord shall utter his voice before his Army for his camp is very great If every pore in the Body were but pricked with a Pin the veins would soon be emptied of Blood One Sin was deadly but what are they altogether when from Top to Toe there is nothing but sores and putrefaction Herod was eaten up with Lice a small inconsiderable kind of Vermin yet the abundance of them destroyed him so though Sins seem small in themselves yet when they come in clusters how soon will they devour and eat out the life and comfort of the Soul Psal. 40.12 Innumerable evils have encompassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of mine head therefore my heart faileth me And if David may say so may not we much more Nothing can be little that is committed against the great God but suppose them small yet they are a Company oh this will make your hearts fail The little finger of Sin is weighty but when all the loins of it are laid upon the Soul how great will the Burden be Lok upon all the troubles of the Servants of God and you will find they were first occasioned by a small Sin as Mr. Peacocks by eating too freely at a Meal but when innumerable evils shall compass you about that wherever you look there is Sin if you look on Duty there is Sin if you look on your Calling there is Sin if you look on your Recreations there is Sin if you look on the hours of your repast there is Sin Oh this will make your hearts fail indeed 3. If they have been such as have been committed against Knowledge There is more of the Nature of Sin in such Acts for the Nature of Sin is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a transgression of the Law now the more we know the Law the greater is the Transgression according to the sense we have of the Law so the offence is elevated and raised He that hath Knowledge is magis particeps legis the Law is a piece of himself it is impressed upon his Conscience and he offereth violence to the Principles of his own Bosome This is the Reason why the Children of God use this aggravation as David Psal. 51.6 In the hidden part thou shalt make me
afraid to be damned it is not God's displeasure they care for but their own safety The youngman went away sad and was grieved for he had great possessions Mark 10.22 Because he could not reconcile his Covetous mind with Christ's Institutes So Felix trembled being convinced of Sins which he was loath to discontinue and break off 3. They differ in their effects many men tremble at the word of God coming in upon their Hearts with power but this awakning worketh diversly Sometimes to a solicitous Anxiousness about the way of Salvation and then it is good as those Acts 2.37 And when they heard this they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles Men and Brethren what shall we do That was a kindly work to desire to be further instructed and directed into the way of Life and Peace Sometimes to rage Acts 7.54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth they were vexed at the galling truths which Stephen delivered and the conviction that was upon them kindled their rage against him Sometimes it produceth nothing but dilatory excuses as here in Felix go thy way for this time when I have a more convenient season I will send for thee II. The cause of this trouble and Agony was the word wherein the matter and the manner is considerable 1. The matter is to be considered both generally and particularly 1. Generally the word of God or the Doctrine of Faith in Christ. It hath a convincing power 1 Partly because of its Author the impress of God is upon it it partaketh of his Properties Heb. 4.12 13. For the word of God is quick and powerfull and sharper than any two edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Neither is there any Creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do God searcheth the Heart and the word searcheth the Heart God is powerful and his word is powerful in discovering a Sinner to himself and bringing a Sinner out of his lurking Holes and taking off all disguises 2 Partly because of its clearness and evidence to a natural Conscience if it be not strangely stupified and blinded by fleshly Lusts 2 Cor. 4.2 3 4. By manifestation of the truth commending our selves to every Man's Conscience in the sight of God But if our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them This Scripture sheweth that the Gospel is light which will discover its self if Men do not shut their Eyes And if men refuse the Converting power they cannot withstand the Convincing power of it for the work of bringing home Souls to God lyeth more with their Lusts than with their Consciences 3 And chiefly because of the Concomitant Blessing God hath appointed the Word to be the great Instrument of Convincing and Converting the World and doth accompany it with his Grace and Spirit sometimes to one effect sometimes to another To Convincing Iohn 16.8 The Spirit shall convince the World of Sin and of Righteousness and of Iudgment If it doth no more it shall leave them under a conviction of the truth Sometimes to Conversion as 2 Cor. 4.6 God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ. God concurreth with his own ordinance by his omnipotent and creating power 2. Particularly the Day of Judgment is to be insisted upon in our Ministry The Apostles in planting the Faith observeth this point of Wisdom to insist much upon the Judgment Day Acts 10.42 43. And he commanded us to preach unto the the people and to testifie that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of Quick and Dead And to him give all the Prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth on him shall receive remission of Sins This was the great point which his chosen Witnesses were to insist upon So also Acts 17.30 31. But now commandâ—th all men every where to repent because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the World in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance to all men in that he hath raised him from the dead The Apostles observed the Tempers of those they dealt with when with the brutish multitude they invite them by Arguments of Providence Acts 14.15 16 17. Sirs Why do ye these things We also are men of like passions with you and preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God which made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that are therein Who in times past suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways Nevertheless he left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons filling our Hearts with food and gladness When with the Learned he speaks of the first Cause and chief Good Acts 17.28 For in him we live move and have our being And binds all by his coming to Judgment ver 31. So he deals with Felix here he urges principles of known Dignity and Sobriety from the day of Judgment See also 2 Cor. 5.10 11. For we must all appear before the Iudgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the Body according to that he hath done whether good or evil Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men This was their great and powerful Argument Reasons 1. Because this made their access into the Hearts and Consciences of Men more easie because of its suitableness to natural Light That Man is God's Creature and therefore his Subject is evident by Reasons drawn from our dependance on the first Cause and Fountain of all Being That Man hath failed in his Subjection to his Creator and Lord is evident by daily experience that therefore God may call him to an account and Man should fear his wrath is a principle as evident as the former and justified by the guilty fears incident to Mankind because of their offences Rom. 1.32 Who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death Divine Justice must once publickly appear and rectifie the disorders of the World Now because of the sentiments of Nature the Doctrine of the final Judgment doth easily enter into the Thoughts and Conscienâ—ces of Men. 2. This doth most befriend the great discovery of the Gospel which is justification by Christ and pardon of Sin by submitting to his instruction If
Remission I shall look upon this Prayer under a twofold Consideration 1. As an high Moral Act of an holy Man 2. As a Tast of his Mediation and Intercession where we shall consider the publick Relation he sustained upon the Cross. First Let us look upon it as a Moral Action he doth not threaten fearful Judgments but prayed for his Enemies there was no stain of Passion and Revenge upon his Sufferings 1 Pet. 2.21 Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps And wherein Vers. 23. Who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously One great Use of Christ's Death was to give us Lessons of Meekness and Patience and humble Suffering In this Act there is an excellent Lesson Let us look upon the necessary Circumstances that serve to set it off 1. For whom he prays 2. When he prays 3. Why he prays 4. In what manner 1. For whom he prayeth for his Persecutors Men that had done him the greatest Contempt and Villany which their Spight and Malice could invent They had mocked and buffeted him mangled his Flesh with Scourges led him like a publick Spectacle of Shame through the Streets of the City and by importunate Clamours had gotten him to the Cross and there placed him in the midst of Thieves they had cursed themselves and yet Christ prayed for them In their Rage they had even appealed to and dared Divine Justice His blood be upon us and on our children but Christ saith Father forgive them Yea and which is more they did all this to him when he came to serve the World in a Design of the greatest Love Of all things Men cannot endure to have their Love slighted Holy David when Nabal slighted his Kindness vowed the destruction of him and all his House but when Christ cometh with higher Acts of Kindness he is despised and rejected of Men He came unto his own and his own received him not Iohn 1.11 Nay his own persecuted him and despitefully used him and yet he prayeth for them They omitted no kind of Cruelty the Law saith Breach for breach eye for eye tooth for tooth Lev. 24.20 But when they cry Crucifie him he cries Forgive them Oh! how may we wonder at this who are so vindictive as we are 2. When he prayeth in the very extremity and height of his Sufferings Then when we are apt to forget our Friends Christ remembreth his Enemies in the very height of his Sorrows he mediates for a Pardon for them A Man would have thought that the sharp sense of the Afflictions wherewith he was exercised should have imbittered his Spirit if he would make Intercession for Sinners in Heaven a Man would have thought that he should not have interceeded upon the Cross. We Pardon when the Misery is over and by the course of Affairs that which was intended for a mischief proveth an advantage as Ioseph did his Brethren Gen. 50.20 As for you ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive But Christ in the very Act of his Sufferings seeketh Mercy for the Instruments of his Passion Pendebat tamen petebat saith Austin their Rage had brought him to the Cross and there Christ mediateth to bring them to Heaven 3. Who prayeth Jesus Christ With honour enough to himself he might have done otherwise he could have destroyed them with the Breath of his Mouth or with a Beam of his Glory We forgive when we cannot harm Power efferareth the Mind and makes Men fierce and cruel many would be cruel enough but they are restrained either by want of Power or Opportunity But here neither was wanting Mat. 26.53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray unto my father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of Angels In Man's Eye that would have seemed a rare vindication of the Glory and Dignity of his Person but Christ doth not pray Father send twelve Legions of Angels but Father forgive them One Angel had been enough 2 King 19.35 The Angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand It would have been more easie for Christ to come down from the Cross than to go up thither that was the greater Miracle four Nails could not have held the Lord of Glory if he had not been nailed and fastened through by his own Love and voluntary Condescention But Christ would not be Glorious now in Acts of Power but of Mildness and Charity and therefore it is not Father destroy but Father forgive them 4. How he prayeth for them he pleadeth their Case and putteth the fairest Construction that can be made of an Action so foul and enormous they are poor ignorant People led with a blind Zeal Christ pitcheth upon the only Circumstance that serveth to lessen the Offence Of all Excuses this is the most plausible 1 Tim. 1.13 I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief Acts 3.17 And now brethren I wâ—t that through ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers We are wont to strein and force Actions to the most rigorous Interpretation they are capable of Iracundia solers est fingendi causas sui furoris Seneca Anger is witty to find out Causes to justifie it self and if there be ought to justifie Censure we omit those alleviating Circumstances and necessary Mitigations whereby our Asperity may be taken off and Actions be more mildly considered But Christ saith Poor Creatures they act out of a blind Zeal they know not what to do Father forgive them I Use. Information 1. It informeth us that the Love of Christ is greater than we can think or understand much less express If we be afflicted with any Pain in the Teeth Head or Eyes we are so overcome with the sense of it that we can think of nothing else we neither admit the visit of Friends nor will we trouble our selves with any business our Pain wholly engrosseth and taketh up our Minds and Thoughts But Jesus Christ in the midst of his Agonies and painful Sufferings remembreth not only Friends but Enemies and is solicitous about their Salvation Now if he be thus affected towards Persecutors how is he to the Persecuted They cry Crucifie him Crucifie him but he saith Father forgive them He might justly have called for Vengeance but he prayeth for Mercy Nothing was so cruel but they were ready to think and speak and do against him in this blind and inconsiderate Fury but he doth not consider their Injuries against himself but their Sin against God and would have that pardoned and this at the time when they sought not Pardon for themselves but were venting their Malice against him Which surely is an encouragement to the Penitent that he will not be hard to be entreated by them that confess and