then stand against all the opposition that arises from men and Devils for why should not Christians be as ready to defend truth as others are to oppose it Christ Jesus the Captain of our Salvation hath led us the way for when all conspired against him because he spake the truth yet was he with his life ready to justifie the truth saying To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world c. In which words consider these two general parts 1. An Engagement 2. A Designe 1. An Engagement he was born he came into the world 2. A Designe to bear witness to the truth But since the end and the Object denominate every action here is 1. The action Christs incarnation 2. The end to bear witness 3. The Object the truth to bear witness to the truth Or if you will take them in this order 1. The end and that pointed at and pointed out 1. Pointed at for this cause and to this end 2. Pointed out by being born and brought into the world 2. The action to bear witness 3. The Object the truth to this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world c. But since the end is first in intention though last in execution I shall begin at the end yet the right end and that pointed at for this cause and to this end came I into the world c. The lives of most men are mispent only for want of a certain end to run at because they shoot their arrowes and know not at what mark they levell and direct their proceeding by they know not what rule therefore it is that they reach not to perfection and end not in comfort Some levell at the right end but levell amiss To levell without an end were folly to a false end were losse true Christians onely finde the right way for a wise Christian amidst the many changes of this mortal life still presses on to one steddy end by holy endeavours for the more he is unshaken in his resolutions the nearer he cometh to the great exemplar of life Christ Jesus who stood firm unto the end and continued stedfast in the truth witnessing the same with the losse of his most precious life as himself affirmes To this end was I borne c. It would be both needless and unprofitable for me to undertake the calculation of our Saviours Nativity or to make a discovery unto you of those signes which did accompany it in a most miraculous manner or to tell you the wonderful effects thereof set down in the Gospel which though they were above the ordinary course of nature yet you must know that those Celestial constellations did not contribute any thing to the producing of that glorious Birth but only in an admirable and unusual manner were made to bear witness unto this great truth that is in my Text said to be born that he also may give testimony to the truth Indeed there is a no lesse impious then foolish Proverb taken up by men in the world upon the event of any action or thing to lay the cause thereof upon the Stars and Planerary influencies and thereby men think when guilty to excuse themselves saying a fatal necessity brought it upon me or they were compelled to it saying irreligiously I was born to this or the Stars designed me to it as if some extrinsecal necessity did draw men to sinne as if the Stars were the causes of mens iniquity yet of the two those are better though justly to be condemned also that would excuse themselves by laying the fault upon the influence of malignant Planets or their own corrupt nature then those that inferre the cause from a necessity in the peremptory decree of Almighty God as if Holiness it self should take pleasure in making men criminal Such a principle imbibed is enough to bring a man to that opinion of the Stoicks at least if not to think that there is a good and an evil God yet that the one Almighty Essence acts as if he were divided by saying though God would have men otherwise then they are yet he hath decreed a certain end of misery to the greatest part of men without any respect of good or evil in their persons and so make the evil actions of men determined by Gods Decree and what will this come short of them that attribute the good actions of men to a good God and their evil actions to an evil God Yet those Stoicks that make two Gods and these Planetists that lay the fault of their actions upon the Stars are much better then those that say all things are absolutely necessary and that all their ends are undeterminable by any actions of men whether good or evil it will be better to raise the evil accidents from an evil then from a good God But that we are under a fatal decree of necessity as to event or that we were born to commit this or the other evil we utterly deny and that 1. First by considering the evil consequences that will follow upon asserting a peremptory decree for if Gods peremptory decree hath designed sin to come into the world then men sinne not in deed but in opinion onely necessity hath no law and where necessity bears sway there the will hath no power and so man becomes equal with the beasts of the field with the Lion whose unbridled appetite cannot be restrained by the rigor of the severest law and the reason is because they cannot upon admonition do otherwise they cannot use principles of reason and therefore is it that mad men and children are under no law because not capable of rational actions for no man is commanded to do those things necessity requires as for example no man is bidden to eat drink and sleep because these actions and affections are necessary for the preservation of life the will may govern but not suppress them indeed charity is of necessity whether it be considered as a free principle within or without and we are careless of those things that are without if necessity have no law for if actions in themselvs have no law then they are not sinful for where no transgression of the law is there can be no sin if all things be ruled by destiny then they are of necessity and so by consequence our actions are neither good nor bad in themselves but onely are good or evil as esteemed by us and in our opinion and if it be so then to what purpose was the Son of God made man and so became a sacrifice for sin to what end are exhortations and means used to hinder men from sin if they are but fancies a Christians calling and Christs dying are meer fables if sin be not sin if sin be nothing it matters not let men live how they list and whither tends this principle but to the subversion of all religion when a man layes the ground of all his actions upon the peremptory
of uncleanness oh that thou wouldest sanctifie and beautifie them by thy glorious presence they cannot be happy or blessed one minute without thee yet shall be as thou art if thou comest but into them but alas we are many of us as the Bethlemites that would not entertain Christ in the inne for there was no room for them in the inne Which brings me to the 4 thing viz. the peoples inhospitality 4 There was no room for them in the Inne What was the suddenness of the journey any cause of the virgins speedy travail or her sudden travail rather a cause of the Bethlehemites uncharitableness poor virgin and yet happy mother of so blest a babe she comes too late to be lodged in the Inne that came too soon to be entertained of her kindred but too late for the Inne and all the room was taken up before she came and therefore must be in the stable rather then an honest traveller will be burthensome the meanest room to his humility shall be great satisfaction indeed some had their delicates and fed onely for wantonness though she wants necessaries the Carpenter that had built many a house now wants a house wherein to rest himself and almost wearied traveller contentedly accepting the beasts for his companions rather then want a lodging just so the God of heaven and earth having left heaven was glad to shrowd himself in this clay of ours Ioseph came to his City and the Citizens received him not because they knew not that the Lord of glory was with him thus the Ox knows his owner and the Asse his masters crib but Israel did not know the Bethlemites did not consider Esay 1.3 Whom have you rejected you Bethlemites Will ye rather reject God in a stranger then entertain a stranger for Gods sake What do you throw God into a stable Know you not that out of you shall come the ruler of Israel Mich. 5.2 And are you so stupidly ignorant that now you will lose the accomplishment of that promise How unlike art thou to Bethlehem the house of Bread in regard thou neither affordest him house to harbour nor bread to succour him But alas woe unto us we censure thee O Bethlehem but if we had lived in thy dayes we should have been worse and now can expect nothing but that Bethlehem should rise up in Judgment against us for in this she is more righteous then we for Christ came but once to them and in humility but he comes often to us in power and we regard not How often doth he knock at the door of our hearts by his Word and by his Spirit yea and that untill his head be filled with dew and his locks with drops of the night but we will not entertain him O! if those rude heaps have had the dust of his feet shaken against them for their inhospitableness how shall these hard hearts of ours that will not receive him be ground to powder Matth. 21.24 when that great milstone shall fall upon us for our hardness and impenitency do not your hearts tremble to hear the sad doom I was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye clothed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not therefore ye shall go into everlasting punishment S. Mat. 25.43 46. With what sadness of countenance shall we hear this woe denounced and that by Christ himself and certainly without repentance it will be our portion how then should we pray oh that our hearts were worthy the harbouring of so rare a guest With what diligence and care should we sweep our houses set open our doors and make us in a readiness when we heard of some earthly monarch that were coming to us and thus we should by repentance and holy devotion prepare our hearts that they may be meet Tabernacles for him and labour to get all those graces his Spirit confers on those that love him that so our Lord might not come before expected nor passe by uninvited but freely turn unto us and dwell by Faith in us that we may dwell in him by the same Spirit that Christ dwelling in us here we may dwell with him for ever hereafter In whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore A Funeral Sermon SERMON IV. 1 COR. 15.19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable THere is a time to be born and a time to die saith Solomon Eccles 3.2 And the day of a mans death is better then the day of a mans birth for he is born to misery and trouble as the sparks flie out of the fire but by death he is delivered out of the misery of this sinfull world to enjoy true blisse and happinesse therefore why should we hang down our heads like a bulrush and afflict our souls or rather why should we not were it not that we know that God will give us beauty for ashes Isa 61.3 and the spirit of joy for the garment of heaviness or give us the felicity of his chosen and make us rejoyce with the gladnesse of his people or with S. Paul 1 Cor. 15 32. Why should I fight with beasts at Ephesus or contend with unreasonable men Why should I subdue the beastly lusts of the flesh or overcome sinfull corruptions or rather not run to all excesse of riot were it not that after this life there is laid up a crown of glory 2 Tim. 4.8 which God will give to them that love and serve him Why should we arraign and judge our selves for to bring these dayes to an end were it not that upon this moment hangs eternity which we shall be possessed of when death shall be swallowed up of victory 1 Cor. 15.54 and mortality shall put on immortality or why should we account all things loss and dung for the excellency of Christ Phil. 3 8. but that besides the hundred-fold which we shall receive here below God will reckon us among his precious Jewels Why should we not embrace liberty and freedom rather then abide a furnace of trials were there not the Son of God to comfort us and a fiery Chariot whereby to escape the fire that never goeth out And who can dwell with everlasting burning or who can abide with devouring fire Isai 33.14 Why should we not be discouraged at the death of friends and with great despondency hang down our heads in discomfort when we see the lives of our relations are cut off and withall remember that we our selves must shortly turn to dust were we not assured that he who out of stones can raise up children unto Abraham Mat 3.9 will from among these stones raise us again and give us a crown of righteousness And set this crown aside well may the world think Christians the most miserable Take away the hope of a better life I say take away the hope we have in Christ of a
and all that is within me praise his holy name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thy iniquities and healeth all thy infirmities which saveth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with mercy and loving kindness who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles for he will not deal with us after our sins nor reward us according to our iniquities Testis fidelis OR A faithfull Witness SERMON VII St. IOHN 18.37 To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witnesse unto the truth Introduction THe words of my Text are like the eye of a well-drawn picture that still which way soever you go looks towards you for which way so ever you consider the words they still have reference to all the parts and circumstances of Christs coming in the flesh if you look upon his conception which coming was foretold by an Angel as witness thereof S. Luke 1.31 yet there it was but the preparation to that coming which is in my text viz. his Nativity which is not left without a witness neither in that St. Stephen one of the twelve who was to testifie of him is joyned next unto the birth-day of our Saviour he being the first that suffered for him and therefore called by the Holy Catholick Church St. Stephens day but that Protomartyr who here is a witness to that witness in my Text did witness what the great witness did both do and suffer but that this truth might be established by more then a single testimony our Mother the Church doth celebrate St. Iohns day in commemoration of that beloved Disciple whose faithful affection begot in him an Eagles eye wherewith to behold those glorious mysteries which none else of all the Disciples were able to reveal and that we might not be without occasions of stirring up our affections also God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son and here is the onely begotten Son so loving that he gives himself for us and as his Disciples testified the truth of Christ living and dying so the innocent babes slain for his sake by cruel Herod did witness to the truth not by speaking but by dying but he who is the great witnes both by speaking dying did bear witness for us while himself was an infant antedating his cruel passion by a bloody circumcision instituted as a pledge of our interest in his covenant which was wonderfully effected by his own person when manifested in the world hence the Epiphany is famous for the wise men who first made discovery of this blessed babe by the guidance of an unusual light and here now is that star of Iacob which leads to the rising in his birth and by this was the King of the Jewes first found out that afterwards by his people was betrayed into the hands of enemies to be condemned as a malefactor and as an enemy to Caesar and that with the greatest formality of justice being brought before a President and arraigned for his life and yet notwithstanding their malice and cruelty he still asserted his innocencie though he knew he should die for it and therefore he saith To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness of the truth Look upon the words once more and they present you with the faithfulness and constancy of our blessed Saviours testimony even then when he was deserted by his most intimate friends and servants and at that time especially wherein as man he stood most in need of them being now had in examination before the Judgement-seat of Pilate wherein you have fulfilled that saying of his that he came to his own and his own received him not Nay he was so far from being received by them that he was forsaken by all despised of most and pitied by few and yet herein also he came to do his Fathers will by a willing death witnessing to that truth which some had foresworn and others denyed saying To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness to the truth In which words you may remember I have observed these parts 1. An action 2. An end 3. The object 1. The action he was born he came into the world 2. The end 1. pointed at 2. pointed out 1. Pointed at to this end and for this cause 2. Pointed out to bear witness 3. The object the truth And whereas the end in every action is first in intention though last in execution I did begin with the end the right end and that pointed at To this end and for this cause c. and I came to the second thing namely 2. The action which was Christs incarnation and his coming into the world To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world and come now to the third thing the end of the action wherefore he came and why he was born and that is 3. The object the truth to bear witness And to bear witness to the truth and in this third part there are two things considerable 1. The end 2. The object The one in reference unto Christ the other unto Christians 1. In reference unto Christ as the primary intention of them and so the words concern our Saviour as he was a witness unto the truth in his own person 2. In the extent of them so they concern us for we also are to bear witness to the truth and as in the testimony of our Saviour so in ours there must concurre to demonstrate our fidelity 1. The end 2. The action 3. The object For we are in our particular station to bear witness to the truth as well as others for Christ in all the ages of the world hath still had some faithful servants to witness for him though they continually met with opposition For though under the Law witnesse was given unto him at divers times and in sundry manners c. yet not onely the vain errours of the Gentiles but also the careless perversness of the Iewes led multitudes of people into a disbelief of God himself and the truth of our blessed Saviours coming into the world insomuch that the Prophet Esay saith Who hath believed our report Esay 53.1 Yea the people changed the truths of God into lies and caused the way of truth to be evill spoken of endeavouring by all means if possible to banish truth out of the earth but notwithstanding all their malicious oppositions the truths of God were not left without record for there is not any one person in the Sacred Trinity but bears witnesse to the truth for there are three that bear record in Heaven The Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one St. John 5.7 The Father promising the holy Ghost preparing and the Son assuming or taking what was