shines the brighter when others are unsettled by the turn of the Times or by the crafty subtilties of Schismaticks and Hereticks And the honourableness of such stedfastness will appear more at large by these few Particulars 1. This Steadfastness is an Argument that men have formerly taken just pains to inform themselves about matters of Religion As Ignorance is a Stain to Human Nature so Knowledge on the contrary must be the Honour and Glory of it This is one of the greatest perfections of the Soul without which as Solomon tells us the Mind cannot be good and as Knowledge in the General is thus honourable so no Knowledge is so Honourable as the Knowledge of Religion Religion is the chiefest concern of Mankind and consequently ignorance of this is the most shameful brand and yet such ignorance as this for the most part are they guilty of who prove unfaithful to the Church of God Hence St. Paul 2 Tim. 3. 6 7. speaking of some who suffered themselves to be perverted by Seducers he calls the silly Women such as are ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth Nay elsewhere he styles them Children in understanding who are tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrin For a man therefore to be steadfast in the Truth must needs be Honourable because it argues him to be a Knowing Man and that in matters of the highest importance 2. Stedfastness in Religion must needs be honourable because it is an Argument of the greatest Wisdom To be accounted wise is a piece of Honour men have always been covetous and ambitious of and there are none think they have a better title to it than such as change their Religion to serve their Temporal Interests Indeed our Saviour tells us That the Children of this World are in their Generation wiser than the Children of Light It must be acknowledged they are wiser as as to worldly Affairs and by renouncing their Religion they may make better provisions for the remainder of their Life here But alas What is a man profited if he gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul Esau in the judgment of St. Paul was a very prophane Person when he sold his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage and Iudas made but a sorry Bargain when for thirty pieces of Silver he betrayed his Saviour and his Soul together such worldly Policy is not the best sort of Wisdom He is truly the wisest man who prefers his Soul before his Body Heaven before Earth and Eternity before a Moment Now none is such a Wise Man as this but he who adheres stedfastly to the Church of God and values his Religion above Estate Life and all the fading Enjoyments of this transitory World 3. Stedfastness in Religion must needs be Honourable because such shall be honoured by Christ in an especial manner at the day of Judgment God has promised that those that honour him he will honour Now we have no better way to honour God than by owning his Truth and adhering to his Church Religion is the great concern God has in the World for the Honour and Advancement of which all those Miracles were wrought which are recorded in the Bible It is not therefore possible to please God more than by being true and faithful to Religion Hear what Honour our Saviour promises to put upon such at the day of Judgment Whosoever shall confess me before men saith Christ him shall the Son of Man confess before the Angels of God Luke 12. 8. However sincere Christians may be reviled and evil intreated by a wicked World it seems they will be own'd and honour'd by their Dearest Saviour and if there be one Crown of Glory larger than another he will bestow it on such as are faithful to the death I might if the time and your patience would permit add several other Arguments to shew the Honourableness of those Persons who continue stedfast in the Communion of God's Church but these I am confident will suffice at present I shall therefore conclude with a word of Exhortation beseeching you to continue stedfast in the Communion of the Church of England It will not be prudence in me to make any Reflections on other Churches but this I hope may be said without offence that I know not any Church this day upon Earth with which we may more safely Communicate than with the Church of England The Church of Rome is deservedly reckoned one of the Ancientest Churches in Christendom and yet if we may believe Baronius one of the best of their Historians the Church of England is Senior to it more than five years The Government of this Church is known to be Episcopal That Government which was instituted by Christ and was the only Government in the Church for fifteen hundred years after the Times of the Apostles And as this Church is governed by Bishops so we have had a continued Succession of them from the very beginning to this present day as may be learned from Godwins Catalogue of Bishops and Parkers Antiquitates Britannicae The Faith which our Church professes may be found in her Creeds which are the Apostles the Nicene and the Athanasian Creeds the only Creeds which were owned by the Primitive Church so that if we may be saved by that Faith which was thought sufficient by the Apostles and the best of Christians we need not seek a new one from any Church in Christendom No Church can pretend to more Loyal Principles or recommend it Self more to the Favour of Princes by the constant Fidelity of its Members than the Church of England This also is that Church which enjoyed Lucius the First Christian King and had the honour to have born in it the First Christian Emperor and Empress namely Constantine the Great and the most Religious Helena These are great and signal Honours such as no other Church is able to boast of and I shall add one greater than them all namely that the Religion of our Church was sealed by the Blood of King Charles I. the first Royal Martyr that ever was in the World This certainly is a Church none of us have the least reason to be ashamed of and as little reason to be afraid to own since we are so well assured of their present Majesties Gracious Protection I shall therefore conclude this Discourse as St. Paul does the 15th Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians VVherefore my Beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the VVork of the Lord for asmuch as you know that your Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. To God the Father c. SERMON VI. Luke xxiii 39 43. And one of the Malefactors which were hanged railed on him saying If thou be Christ save thy self and us But the other answering rebuked him saying Dost thou not fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation And we indeed
enjoys the bright beams of Heavenly light whilst all the World besides groans under worse than Aegyptian darkness This is the true Gideons fleece which is watred with the dew of Celestial Grace whilst the other parts of the Earth lyes dry and parch'd not unlike some barren and cursed wilderness This in St. Austine's comparison is the true Ark in which alone we can be secure from the deluge of God's wrath Thus great is their happiness who are in the Church of Christ But some difficulty there is to find out the true Church as Tertullian observed of Old faciunt favos vespae faciunt Ecclesias Marcionitae the most dangerous Wasps have their Cells saith he even so the worst of Hereticks are ready to cry out the Temple of the Lord are we That therefore we may not mistake Leah for Rachel or embrace a Cloud instead of a Iuno we must carefully observe that description St. Paul gives us of the true Church he tells us it is founded on the Doctrine of Heaven or if you had rather take it in the words of the Text it is saith he that houshold of God which is built upon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets From the words thus far explained I shall crave leave to prove these four things First That the Doctrine of the Apostle and Prophets is the foundation on which the true Church is built Secondly That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is sufficiently delivered to us in the Holy Scriptures Thirdly That the Church of England is built upon this foundation of the Apostles and Prophets And Fourthly That such as continue in the communion of this Church are as happy as were those Ephesians of whom St. Paul says they were no more strangers and forreigners but fellow-Citizens with the Saints of this houshold of God I begin with the first of these to shew you that the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only foundation upon which the true Church is built The Church of Ephesus if we 'l believe St. Paul was the houshold of God or a true Church of Christ and it seems it was so because built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets we are sure these inspired Ministers of the Holy Iesus preached and planted none but the true Religion and we may be sure it can be no bad Church which owns and professes the same Religion I know there are several marks given of the true Church such as Unity Universality Antiquity Succession Sanctity and the like but tho' these where they are found are Great Ornaments to a Church yet the best and most infallible mark to know it by is its conformity to the Doctrines delivered by the Apostles For the true Church as the Apostle speaks elsewhere is the ground and Pillar of Truth but it will not deserve this honourable Character if its Doctrines be repugnant to the Doctrines delivered by the Apostles It 's said of the best and most Catholick Christians Acts 2. 42. That they continued stedfast in the Apostles Doctrine And therefore such as follow the Primitive example will be far from deserving the brand of Hereticks Does not our Saviour himself tell us that his Sheep will hear his Voice and not the Voice of Strangers And where is this voice of Christ to be heard but sounding in the writings of these Apostles and Prophets This therefore is the sure word of Prophecy whereunto saith St. Peter ye do well if you take heed nor is this any other mark of the Church of God then what is generally own'd by the antient Fathers Tertullian brings in the Church speaking such words as these Sum Apostolorum sic teneo sicut illi testamento caverunt I am Heir saith she to the holy Apostles whatever Truth they left me in their Writings whatever Doctrines they bequeath'd me in their Testament these I firmly believe these I will constantly hold Ireneus calls the Gospel columnam firmamentum Ecclesiae the Ground and Pillar of the Church St. Chrysostome treating at large upon this Question How the true Church may be known returns this answer more than once The true Church is best known by the holy Scriptures saith he that is the Christian Church which agrees with these sacred Oracles and that is the Heretical which is repugnant to them None speaks more largely or more excellently to this point than the great St. Austine who in his admirable Book against the Donatists writes thus The question between us and the Donatists is where we shall find the Church What therefore shall we do shall we seek it in our own words or in the words of our Lord Iesus Christ I think we had rather seek it in his words who is the truth and best knoweth his own Church Let not therefore these Speeches be heard amongst us This I say and this thou sayest but let us hear Thus saith the Lord There are certain Books of God to whose Authority we both stand we both consent we both believe there let us seek the Church there let us try our cause I will not have the Church demonstrated by Man's teaching but by the holy Oracles of God Setting therefore aside all such matters let them shew forth the Church if they can not by the speech and rumours of the Africans not in the Councils of the Bishops not in the Writing of any Disputer not in Visions and Revelations not in Signs and false Miracles because God's word has abundantly prepared us and made us ready against these things But let them declare it out of the Prescript of the Law the predictions of the Prophets the Songs of the Psalms the testimonies of the Apostles the words of the Pastor himself whether they have a Church or no let them declare only by the Canonical Books of the holy Scripture these be the instructions these be the foundations these be the supporters of our cause Thus far St. Austine and because he is so clear and so full to this case I shall not need to trouble you with any further Authorities especially since the Church of Rome doth acknowledge in her Trent Catechism that no Church is Catholick that does not profess that faith which is built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles She must not hold any new faith say they but that which was delivered of old by the holy Apostles And it follows in the same Catechism the Nicene Fathers did well to add the word Apostolick to their Creed saying I believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church namely that all might know that is the only true Catholick Church which is Apostolick That therefore must needs be the truest mark of the Church which both Romanists and Protestants own to be so and indeed without this all those other marks which are pretended will signifie nothing Unity without Apostolical Doctrine is so far from being a mark of the Church that it may not only be found in the Societies of the worst of Men
us VVhat Plots and Descents has he detected and defeated How has he baffled the profoundest Policy of the subtilest Achitophel and made him prove according to his name in Hebrew no better than the Brother or Cousin-Germain to a Fool Oh then let us praise our God according to his excellent Greatness and being wonderfully delivered from the hands of our Enemies let us serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life This God of his infinite Mercy grant for the merits of his dearest Son c. SERMON XII Preached November 27. 1692. the Sunday before the Author died Heb. ii 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation SAint Paul in the former Chap. displays the excellent Glory and Majesty of our Saviour He styles him ver 2. the Son of God the Heir of all things and Maker of the Worlds He tells us us farther ver 3. that He is the brightness of his Fathers Glory the express Image of his Person and the upholder of all things In the following part of the Chapter he shews how far Christ transcends all the Holy Angels These he says are but Servants and Ministring Spirits but Christ he is the Eternal and only begotten Son of God These are all commanded to fall down and worship Christ but He has á Throne a Scepter a Scepter of Righteousness yea the Scepter of his own Heavenly Kingdom Thus great thus glorious a Person is Christ Heaven it self has nothing greater and yet as great as glorious as He is his Father thought fit to employ him in the work of Mans Salvation O the wonderful Condescentions of Heaven We may be sure God is most willing to save poor Sinners seeing he sends to them and that his own Son to beseech and entreat them to accept of Salvation Hence is that of St. Paul in the beginning of this Epistle God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son Had God spoken to us by the meanest of his Prophets it had been strange and wonderful Condescension but that he should send his own Son to preach the Gospel and intreat Rebel sinners to be reconciled to Heaven and accept of Eternal Happiness this is such an instance of stupendious Love and Mercy as does as much exceed our imaginations as it does our Deserts St. Paul having thus dispiayed the Excellent Majesty of Christ and the infinite Riches of Gods Free Grace and Mercy in that he sent his Eternal Son to be the first Preacher of the Gospel and tender Salvation to lost and undone sinners he begins the 2d Chapter with a serious and passionate Admonition We therefore saith he ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip If God had conveyed the Gospel to Christians as he did the Law unto the Jews by the Ministry of Angels we could not have slighted it without gross ingratitude and our Disobedience as we are told ver 2. would have received a just recompence of reward Of how much sorer punishment shall we now he thought worthy seeing the Eternal Son of God condescended to be of the Order of Predicants seeing Christ Jesus himself vouchsafed to be the first Preacher of the Gospel how should we then honour and value this Gospel What earnest heed should we give to the things contained in it or preached from it Whatever Admonitions Exhortations or Reproofs Ministers give us out of these Sacred Oracles should not be look'd upon as the Words of frail Men but as they are in truth the Words of God and Christ. Christians therefore will be most inexcusable They of all men will deserve the severest Punishments if they shall neglect so great Salvation And because the danger is thus great our Apostle is the more earnest and passionate in his Exhortation He employs all his Divine Rhetorick to make Christians sensible of their greater Priviledge and consequently of their greater Obligations to obey the Gospel How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Having by this short Preface led you into the very Bowels of the Text I shall fetch from thence these Three Observations First That the Salvation which is published by the Gospel is exceeding great Secondly That those Christians which neglect this great Salvation must expect the severest Punishments in Hell Thirdly That Ministers may very well be allowed to be mighty earnest and passionate in their Exhortations of Obedience to the Gospel First I begin with the first of these namely to shew you that the Salvation which is published by the Gospel is exceeding great It is called Great Salvation in the Text yea the Apostle puts an Emphasis upon it and calls it So great Salvation Learned Men render it Eximiam ut mire magnam salutem i. e. Most admirable and most excellent Salvation And it will appear at large to be so from these following Considerations 1st The greatness of this Salvation will appear if we consider the greatness of the Price that was paid for it The worth and excellency of a thing is usually measur'd by the greatness of its price Now how great was that price which was paid for this Salvation St. Peter tells us we were not redeemed with such corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of the Son of God Had we offer'd a thousand Rams and ten thousand Rivers of Oil Had we given the fruit of our Bodies for the sin of our Souls yea had it been possible for us to have sacrificed whole Hecatombs of Angels to the Justice of Heaven they would not all have been sufficient to atone for our Sins and purchase this Salvation Nothing could purchase it but the Blood of Iesus and that not only as he was Man but as he was God too Hence we are said expresly to be purchas'd with the Blood of God Act. 20. 28. We see an Infinite price was paid Heaven to purchase this Salvation And therefore we may well allow the Apostles Emphasis of so great Salvation 2ly The greatness of this Salvation will yet further appear if we consider the greatness of those evils it delivers us from It is an excellent saying of Seneca Lenocinium est gaudii antecedens metus the greatness of the danger uses to commend and inhance the greatness of the deliverance Now how great was the danger we were in how great those Evils we were exposed to The Prophet Esay gives us a most Tragical Description of the Infernal Tophet which was to be the Portion of the Rebellious Sinner Chap. 30. 31. Tophet saith he is prepared of old the Pile thereof is Fire and much Wood and the Breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it continually See how each word is arm'd with Terror It seems there is an eternal Tophet prepared for all
the Enemies of Heaven It seems the Torments of this dreadful place is set forth by Fire one of the cruellest of the Elements Nay give me leave to observe farther to you that this Fire of Tophet can be no ordinary material Fire seeing we are told it was originally prepared for the Devil and his Angels For since they are Spiritual and Immaterial Beings they cannot be Tormented by any ordinary material Fire The Fire therefore of Tophet must be of such a strange and dreadful Nature that this Fire we use is only fit to be a cold and faint emblem of it and well may we conclude so much seeing it is said to be kindled by the Breath of the Almighty The fiery Furnace of Babylon was dreadful enough tho' it was kindled only by the breath of an Earthly King how dreadful then must the Furnace of Hell be which has all the Ingredients of Torture Omnipotent Vengeance can furnish it with This Fire of Tophet of Hell is said yet farther to be prepared for the Devil and his Angels Now we know these Hellish Fiends are the most malicious Enemies of Heaven These ambitious Spirits endeavoured at the very first to dethrone their Almighty Creator and since they failed in that black design they have ever since discovered their inveterate hatred of God by tempting Mankind into the same cursed Conspiracy against him Sure then that Fire which is prepared for these malicious Enemies of Heaven cannot possibly want any Ingredients of Torture Infinite Wisdom can invent or Infinite Power inflict Now such devouring Flames as these were prepared for obstinate sinners as well as for these fallen Angels There is one Consideration still behind which will make these Torments appear more dreadful and that is the Eternal Duration of them For here it is that the Worm never dies here it is that the Fire is not quenched When the sinner has lain in Hell as many millions of years as there are Sands on the Sea-shore he will be no nearer an end of his Torments than he was the first Moment of his entrance into them Who can read without trembling what St. Mark tells us Chap. 9. 49. Namely that the Damned shall be salted with Fire Such it seems is the dreadful Nature of the Infernal Flames that they do Torment but not Consume Like Salt they preserve those wretched Persons they seem to devour O cruel Mercy of Hellish Flames O Preservation worse than the most dreadful Destruction Thus great are those Evils we are delivered from and you will easily conclude how great that Salvation is which delivers us from them The Children of Israel did exceedingly rejoyce when they were delivered from the Tyranny of Pharaoh and the Slavery of Egypt But sure Hell is a more dreadful kind of Bondage than Egypts and Satan a worse sort of Tyrant than Pharaoh therefore the Salvation of the Text which delivers us from these dreadful and infinite Evils must needs be exceeding great 3ly The greatness of this Salvation will appear yet further if we consider that Infinite and Eternal Happiness it brings along with it This Salvation does not only deliver us from Hell and Eternal Damnation but it gives us also a Right and Title to the endless Joys of Heaven Even those Joys which Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the Heart of Man to conceive If the sweet society of Saints and Angels if the most ravishing enjoyment of the Blessed Trinity if an uninterrupted and eternal fruition of the most desirable Pleasures if all this be sufficient to make the Salvation in the Text exceeding great then we may pardon St. Paul's Emphasis and allow him to call it so great Salvation for this is that Salvation which Christ has purchast and the Gospel publish'd to the World Hence Christ is styl'd the Author of Eternal Salvation Heb. 5. 9. and is said to have obtained Eternal Redemption for us Heb. 9. 12. Ioshua was deservedly accounted a mighty Saviour because having delivered Israel from their malicious Enemies he gave them a quiet Possession of the Earthly Canaan How great a Saviour is our Ioshua or Jesus who having vanquished our Spiritual Enemies has purchased for us the possession of the Heavenly Canaan 4ly The greatness of this Salvation will further appear if we consider the Extent and Amplitude of it This Salvation is an universal Salvation all Men have a Right and Title to it tho' Salvation of old was only of the Iews yet now Christ is a Light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the Glory of his People Israel God is now no respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him They are highly injurious to the goodness of God and to that Salvation which was wrought by Christ who would have it restrained to a certain number of Persons For it is most plain from Scripture that God would have all Men to be saved Hear what the Angels said unto the Shepherds Luke 2. 10. Behold I bring you good Tidings of great Ioy which shall be unto all People Hence Christ is said to give himself a Ransom for all 1 Tim. 2. 6. as St. Iohn speaks 1 Epist. 2. 2. He is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World If these places of Scripture be not full and clear enough St Paul will tell you that Christ tasted Death for every Man Heb. 2. 9. I shall add but one Text more to convince you of this Truth and it shall be that of St. Peter 2 Epist. 2. 2. where he speaks of False Teachers such as privily bring in Damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift Destruction It seems Christ bought those that are Damned as well as those that are Saved and consequently the Salvation or Redemption which he wrought must needs be Universal None are excluded from it but such as exclude themselves by their Obstinancy and Impenitency Now if we lay these Four Cnsiderations together namely The greatness of the Price which was paid for this Salvation The greatness of those Evils it delivers us from The Infinite and Eternal Happiness it brings along with it And Lastly The Extent and Amplitude of it which is so great as to include both Iew and Gentile we may safely conclude with St. Paul that it is great Salvation Thus I have dispatched the First General I proposed and proceed now to the Second Secondly Namely To shew you that those Christians who neglect this great Salvation must expect the severest punishments in Hell This may be gathered from the words of the Text where St. Paul delivers himself in these Emphatical Expressions How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation As much as if the Apostle should have said Christians who disobey the Gospel must never hope to go unpunisht nay these of all others must expect the severest
punishments He tells Christians in the foregoing Verse that the Iews for transgressing the Law of Moses were to receive a just recompence of reward how then saith he shall we escape if we neglect the much greater Salvation of the Gospel fairly intimating that Christians as they have greater Priviledges and Advantages than others so the abuse of them will bind them over to proportionably greater Punishments It is the observation of Menochus that Ioshua when he aggravates the sin of Achan plays the Herauld and gives an account of his Pedigree for we are told Jos. 7. 1. that Achan was the Son of Carmi the Son of Zabdi the Son of Zerah of the Tribe of Judah Had Achan been a poor Ignorant Heathen his sin even in these lower circumstances would have kindled the Wrath of Heaven and have pulled down heavy Judgments upon him But Achan that was a Iew and that no mean Iew but of the Royal Tribe of Iudah and descended from such Noble Progenitors as Carmi Zabdi and Zerah All Honourable Persons for him to commit a Trespass of this Nature his Priviledges and Advantages loaded his sin with the heavier Aggravations and rendred him obnoxious to a double Punishment to wit that of Lapidation and the other of Burning which were both inflicted on him as we read Ios. 7. 25. It seems God proceeds with Sinners according to the Rules of Distributive Justice He proportions his Punishments according to their respective Priviledges and Advantages Such as have enjoyed lesser Priviledges shall be beaten with fewer Stripes The poor Gentiles still find a cooler place in Hell than the Iews and the Iews than the Christians Hear what St. Paul saith Rom. 2. 12. As many as have sinned without the Law shall perish without the Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law As St. Austin speaks the Law of God which Moses delivered to the Jews as it did more clearly discover and forbid all manner of Sin so it did ingeminate or double their guilt The poor Gentile who wants the advantages of the Mosaick Law will have the Law of Nature only to answer for But the Iew at the day of Judgment will find himself condemned both by the Law of Nature and the Law of Moses and consequently his Guilt will be double and his Punishment so much the greater Hence St. Paul tells us in that same Rom. 2. 9. That God will render Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth Evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile It seems the Iew shall have the precedence of the Gentile in Hell a cursed kind of precedence and such as I fancy few will be very ambitious of Thus you see the Iew shall in Hell be beaten with more stripes than the Gentile And the Condition of the disobedient Christian will be worse than the Iews He has enjoyed greater Advantages than the Iew and must expect greater Punishments He has the Law of Nature the Law of Moses and the Law of the Gospel to answer for and therefore if the Guilt of the Iew be double in respect of the Gentile the Christians Guilt will be treble and render him worthy of much sorer Punishment Hence it is that our Apostle Chap. 10. of this Epistle Vers. 28 29. If he that despised Moses's Law died without mercy of how much sorer Punishment shall he be thought worthy who has trampled under Foot the Son of God It 's plain the Christians Punishment will be greater than the Iews even as great as the Salvation which was offered him in a word so great that St. Paul who had the gift of Tongues was not able to express it otherwise than in these most Astonishing Expressions of how much sorer Punishment shall he be thought worthy Thus you see that as there are diversity of Torments in Hell so the greatest of them will be the Portion of such sinners as do neglect the Salvation of the Gospel and you will more easily believe this Dreadful Doctrin when I have given you the true Reason of it And 1. The Gospel which bringeth this great Salvation was first Preacht and Publisht by Christ the Eternal Son of God and this does mightily aggravate the disobedience of Christians God he sent his Messengers his Prophets yea sometimes his Angels to publish and deliver the Law unto the Iews But he has sent his own Eternal Son to Preach and Publish the Gospel to the Christian World and sure such a wonderful Instance of astonishing Mercy and Condescention cannot but load the sins of Christians with the most dreadful aggravations Hear what our Saviour himself saith John 15. 22. If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin but now they have no Cloak for their sin The same Argument is here urged by St. Paul in the Text How shall we escape saith he if we neglect so great Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord As much as if the Apostle should have said the Gospel which we the Ministers of Christ Preach unto you it is Christs Gospel the very same that he in his own Person first Preacht and Publisht to the World Sure then you will reverence this Eternal Son of God Sure ye cannot but think it your Duty to obey his Gospel As he is the Lord he may command your Obedience and as he is your Saviour who died for you he does most deserve it Ye cannot therefore offend against this Gospel but you must affront the highest instance and demonstration of God's Love And what Punishments can be great enough to punish such Ingratitude The Heathens the Jews and Devils themselves who are now howling amidst everlasting Burnings they never sinned against such stupendious Mercy as Christians do Of how much sorer Punishment shall they be thought worthy who trample under Foot the Son of God 2. Another Reason why Christians must expect the severest Punishments if they neglect this great Salvation is because the Light of the Gospel is greater and clearer than that of the Law Esay Prophecying of the times of the Gospel Chap. 11. 9. Says That the Earth shall then be full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea St. Peter 2 Epist. 1. 19. Compares the Light of the Law to a dim Light shining in a dark place alluding as 't is thought to those Candles which were always shining in the Temple because it was a dark place as having but very small Windows to let in the light of the Sun But the Light of the Gospel he compares to the Day intimating that the Light of the Gospel does as far exceed the Light of the Law as the Light of the Sun does that of a Candle We know the Vail was upon the Face of Moses and the weighty concerns of Religion were then wrapt up in obscure Types and Shadows But the Shadows being now vanisht the Sun of Righteousness is risen and Christ has