forgive Sins This saith St. Paul is a faithful saying and worthy of all Acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief 1 Tim. And if the chief be saved others have no cause to fear The blood of Iesus Christ saith St. Iohn cleanseth from all sin 1 Joh. i. This is that Fountain which was opened to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Ierusalem for Sin and Uncleanness The Reason why Jesus can ease us of the Burden of Sin and take away the Guilt and free us from the Punishment of it is because he hath in his own Person born our Sins and satisfied for them he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities and by his stripes we are healed and God laid on him the Chastisement of us all Isa. liii The Iust died for the Unjust and he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through him In the next place as Jesus Christ taketh away the guilt and burden of our Sins so he freeth us from the fear and terrour of Death For asmuch saith the Apostle as the Children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil and deliver them who through fear of Death were all their life time subject to bondage Heb. ii 14 15. Jesus Christ hath brought Life and Immortality to Light he hath discovered a Life far better than this a State in which there is fulness of Joy and Rivers of Pleasure for evermore a Life which admits neither Hunger Thirst Nakedness Cold nor Heat and where all Tears are wiped away And he hath made Death the necessary Passage to this blessed State so that instead of fearing Death Men desire to Depart And whereas before it was reckoned a loss to die now it is counted gain O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Iesus Christ 1 Cor. XV. 55 c. He hath purchased to himself the Keys as of Hell and Death so of Life and Immortality and has Power to admit whomsoever he pleaseth It is he that hath the key of David that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day saith Christ. And again I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me tho' he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die But Thirdly Jesus Christ not only giveth rest to the Soul and ease to our Minds by begetting in us a lively hope of future Bliss but also he greatly refresheth us at present by settling our Minds in Peace and giving them a secret Pleasure which cannot be uttered The Happiness of a Christian is not all in Reversion he has some in hand that the deferring of his hope may not make him faint he has a present Possession given him which yields abundant Satisfaction to stay the longing of the Soul and to prevent its languishing That Contentment which Men do in vain seek among the Creatures is only to be found in him therefore St. Paul counted all things but loss and dung to the knowledge of Iesus Christ He is a Fountain of living Waters and none but he can quench or satisfie the thirst of the Soul Whosoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again but whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to eternal life said he in his Conference with the Woman of Samaria Joh. iv 13. My flesh saith he is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed that is true Meat and Drink which both nourish and satisfie for it is proper and well suited to our Natures Every Creature has its proper Food nothing but that can satisfie it when that is wanting it languisheth So our Souls which are of a spiritual and heavenly Nature cannot feed upon earthly things nothing can be Food to them but that bread which came down from Heaven The Contemplation of Christ and his Doctrine can only cheer them up These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full which St. Peter saith is a joy unspeakable and full of glory Lastly Jesus Christ giveth his Disciples rest under Afflictions Indeed he doth not promise them an exemption from Trouble and Affliction nay on the contrary they are forewarned to look for this more than others but he makes them very light and supportable by the Strength and Instruction which he gives He doth not suffer them to be tempted above what they are able and with every temptation sends a way by which they may escape that they may be able to bear it 1 Cor. X. he abates the Grief and Molestation which Troubles and Afflictions were wont to procure by clearing the Divine Oeconomy in disspensing them by shewing the Nature and Use of them and by giving Rules how to improve them to our Perfection and Happiness So that what was wont to fright Men is now become matter of Joy and Gladness Count it all joy saith St. Iames when ye fall into divers temptations Thus you see what a blessed and desirable Rest may be expected by coming to Christ. O fortunatos nimium O happy we if we knew our own Happiness Here is the place where we may put off all that burden which lieth heavy upon us Here is an opportunity of being eased of all the Misery which we are born to Bodily or Spiritual Temporal or Eternal Here we may refresh our wearied Minds and get that perfect rest we would be at there is nothing to let or hinder us there is nothing to obstruct this Happiness but our own carelesness and contempt We are freely invited and shall we refuse Do we sit still unconcernedly Will we delay so great Happiness Shall we be so ungrateful to him who makes the offer as to slight it Shall we be so cruel to our selves as to neglect rest when it may be had Will ye thus requite the Lord O O foolish people and unwise O ye sons of men how long will ye love vanity and seek after leesing How long will ye spend your Labour for that which profiteth not How long will it be e're ye have pity on your own Souls Turn ye turn ye why will ye die Why will ye weary your selves in a vain and dangerous Chace The World where you have been all this while hunting is a dry and barren Wilderness in which you may perish before
bear the Punishment inflicted by the Law or make that Satisfaction which the Honour and Justice of God required Angels could not for their Spiritual Nature makes them incapable And what Man could have made an Atonement for the rest Seeing every Man was guilty in the sight of God What Man was sufficient for or worthy of the office of Mediator Suppose one had all the Advantages and Excellencies which Nature could bestow and free of Sin too which must necessarily be supposed in this case yet it would have been too much Presumption even for such an one to take upon him to Mediate betwixt God and his Rebellious Creatures Mediators and Arbitrators ought to be either Superiour to both Parties or at least equal to the offended Party and independent in some manner from it for without this Qualification they have not sufficient Authority nor a powerful enough Influence to oblige the Parties to agree and accept of Peace And this requisite Qualification excluded not only all Men but Angels and all Creatures from being Mediator and Umpire betwixt God and Man As therefore it behoved our Mediator and Saviour to be Man that he might do and suffer what was proper and incumbent and have the Interest good Will and Concernment necessary to such a Person so it behoved him to be God that he might be worthy of so high and honourable a Function and to the end his Mediation might be meritorious and effectual And as it behoved our Mediator and Peace-maker to be thus and thus qualified so the Wisdom and Goodness of God has provided us of one with these Qualifications and so contrived it that he who thought it not Robbery to be equal with God should be made into the Likeness of Men. For this end the Eternal Son of God became Man who is this Jesus the Text speaks of by whose Name we are all called O! the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Iudgments and his Ways past finding out Rom. ii 33. The Socinians who reject this Mystery and deny the Divinity of our Saviour and the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ which I have made most evident from Scripture now and at the last Occasion they make the Oeconomy of the Gospel to signifie little or nothing either for the Glory of God or the Comfort of Man And as they give God the Lye who has attested the Truth of this so clearly and fully so they rob him of the Praise which is due to the greatest Manifestation of his Goodness and to the most wonderful Contrivance of his Wisdom From which and such damnable Heresies good Lord deliver us Having considered who the Person is of whom our Text speaks and what is his Character it follows next according to the Method proposed that we take into Consideration what he did and suffered which is here represented in these Words he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross. From which Words we may First observe That all which happened to Jesus Christ in this mysterious Oeconomy was his own Choice His Sufferings as well as Actions are the pure Effect of his own Will there was no force or necessity upon him to oblige his Obedience and Subjection to these things We must not think it was with Jesus Christ as with other Men. The Birth and Quality the State and Condition the Death and Exit of other Men fall not under their own Cognizance nor is the same any part of their Choice But all is unknown to them and imposed upon them by Nature or Providence or those to whom Nature and Providence have subjected them And the greatest Praise due to any Man is that he can bear his State and Circumstances thus imposed patiently and chearfully though he neither would have desired them nor yet made Choice of them if it had been in his own Power But as to Jesus Christ all was his free Choice his voluntary Act and proper Deed The meanness of his Birth the Contemptibleness of his State the Troubles of his Life and the Shame and Bitterness of his Death were all known before-hand to him and set before him and he freely and willingly submitted himself to them and therefore there is more Merit and Praise due to him than can be to any from meer Patience or Passive Obedience Therefore doth my father love me saith Christ because I lay down my life that I might take it again No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again And again he said to Pilate thou couldst have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above Secondly It is to be considered that the Humiliation of Jesus Christ in this Verse referrs to some other thing than that which is made mention of in the former When before it is said he made himself of no Reputation that referrs to his Pre-existent State and God-head and thereby is set forth his Debasement by his Incarnation For by becoming Man his God-head was put under the Veil of Flesh and the Majesty and Glory which belonged to him were for so long time eclipsed which was certainly a stupendous Debasement and an astonishing and most wonderful Instance of his Love to those for whom he was thus debased But the Humiliation in the Text is posterior to the Incarnation and referrs to what he did after he was become Man therefore it is said being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself What is meant by humbling himself is explained by what follows viz. That he became Obedient unto Death that is he entirely subjected himself to the Will of God and all the Methods of his Counsel and all the Contrivances of his Wisdom for manifesting his Mercy and good Will to Mankind and for effectuating their Redemption and Salvation to which he was not otherwise obliged than by his own voluntary Undertaking Jesus Christ by his Divine Nature being equal to God was therefore free independent and subject to none And though as a Man he owed Obedience yet being altogether free from Sin he was not liable to the Curse of the Law nor obnoxious to those Evils Troubles and Calamities which for Sin are inflicted on other men Therefore it was a great Act of Humility in him to submit to those things who might have pleaded an Exemption from them It was great Humility in him to put himself into a State of Subjection and Obedience who by Nature was subject to none but as God himself supream Lord over all in Heaven and Earth What Humility would it be in a free-born Prince one whose Birth gave him Right to a Scepter Crown and Sovereign Command and whose State and Circumstances put him in a Condition of keeping the same against all Rebellion Encroachment and Usurpation
was set apart to be the Sacrifice for Sin he bears the Iniquity of Men and that is from the beginning wherefore he is called the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World that is appointed to be slain And therefore our sins come in among the rest and consequently we have all Reason to deplore his Death and to bewail our own Wretchedness and Sin which was in part the Cause of it O ye Children of Men ye of the sinful Race of Adam come and behold the wretched and deplorable State of your Nature look upon the Cross and let thine Eyes see Jesus bleeding and dying on it and then consider that Blood was shed to wash away thy natural Filthiness and his Life taken to redeem thee from Death O how unreasonable How insolent a thing is Pride in Man Art thou Proud who hast an evil Disease cleaving to thee and inherent to all thy race which cannot be cleansed but by the precious Blood of the Eternal Son of God Art thou vain who art born such a slave that nothing could have ransomed thee except the Death and Sufferings of the Lord of Life and Glory Pride Arrogance and Boasting are no wise suitable to Persons of our Condition but Mourning and Weeping are very proper especially considering the guilt we have contracted since our coming to the World the heinousness of which the Cross of Christ will also shew us for that heavy Cross was laid on him to take away the guilt of those Sins which we daily commit The Son of God was humbled and Crowned with Thorns to make atonement for our Pride and Ambition he was stript naked because of our Covetousness he was unmercifully treated that he might bear the Punishment of our Revenge and Cruelty towards our Brethren The inward agony of his Soul was occasioned by our wanton Mirth and Lasciviousness and that he might be a Propitiation for our Excess and Riot there was nothing left him but Vinegar and Gall to drink His Bowels his Hands and Feet were pierced upon the account of our Oaths and Blasphemies In a word he was mocked had no pity shewed him was Scourged and put to Death contrary to Law Justice and Equity because we are false and treacherous and have no respect to the Commands of God Ye Fools who make a mock of Sin and who think it but a Sport to commit Iniquity come hither be instructed and learn to be Wise. Is the Shame and the Pain Is the Agony and Grief Is the Death and are the unspeakable Sufferings of Jesus the Son of God only a Sport Are these things only matter of Laughter Has any the Impudence either to say it or to think it No sure But then if these be bitter Sport what shall we think of our Sins which produce it for the Sufferings of our Lord are only the Effects of our Sins Doth it not trouble every honest and thinking Man when he is so unfortunate as to be the occasion of any Evil and Mischief to another Casual Murther or Manslaughter by an accidental Rencounter the throwing of a Stone the shooting of a Bow or Gun or the like do not infer guilt the Actors are innocent when they have no design of that Nature in their head and yet no Man who hath not lost Humanity but will be affected when any such Misfortune falls in his hands and his Grief will be so much the greater as the Person whose Death is occasioned is worthy and deserving What cause of Grief then have we who not accidentally but wittingly and willingly by our deliberate Sins and Transgressions have drawn Death on the Innocent and Righteous Jesus and that too the worst of Deaths the most shameful the most painful and the most bitter Death of the Cross Have we not reason to weep for our selves Can we ever bewail enough either our misfortune or wretchedness by Nature or our guilt through our actual Transgressions Certainly we should lament our condition on all occasions should set apart times for it and especially at occasions of this Nature when our guilt and the sad Effects of it is represented to us we should mourn and weep This is the only way to clear our selves to lessen our guilt and to keep innocent Blood from being charged upon us Blessed are they that thus mourn for they shall be comforted They who sow in tears shall reap in joy Jesus shall bear the Iniquities of those who regret his Death and their own guilt which caused it and made it necessary his Blood shall wash away their guilt and his Death shall prevent their Eternal Death for he who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through him 2 Cor. v. But as the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ procureth Mercy to the humble and Penitent so his Blood calleth for vengeance upon the hardned and impenitent Which leadeth me to the last thing in the Text for upon this account he added and weep for your Children for behold the days are coming c. by this intimating that the Imprecations of the People were ready to light upon them for as they cried out and wished his blood be upon us and our Children so to revenge it sore and heavy Calamities were impending over the City and the whole Nation Jesus spoke not these words from any Spirit of desire of Revenge nor out of any complacency at those sad Evils which were to befall them for the Injuries done to himself It is a fault which too many are guilty of when they think themselves wronged and cannot at present either revenge or remedy it they delight and please themselves with the thoughts of God's revenging their quarrel But Jesus was far from this temper for we find in the 19th of this Gospel That when he beheld the City he wept over it out of Compassion of those Evils which he saw would come upon it And they who have the same Mind in them which was in him will neither desire the destruction of their Enemies nor rejoice at it but will both pray against it and fear and tremble when they see it unavoidable But our Lord uttered these words to testifie his Divinity and Godhead and his Love and good Will even to those sinful Men his Divinity in that he knew what was to come for none knoweth future things but God alone his Love and good Will in that he forewarned them of their Danger that being forewarned they might if possible either prevent it or obtain a delay and suspension of it When he bids them weep for their Children he doth not mean the Children of these Women only or particularly but the whole Generation of the Iews for he speaks to those Women in the Name of the whole Inhabitants of Ierusalem or rather of all the People of Iudaea therefore they are called Daughters of Ierusalem which is as much as to say Israelites for Ierusalem was the Chief or Mother-city and to
times Father if it be thy will let this Cup pass from me and from these disconsolate Words which his inward Sorrow and Anguish extorted while he hanged upon the Cross My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The Sufferings of Jesus cannot be reckoned up no Man can describe no Tongue can express all the Particulars of his bitter Agony and bloody Passion and cruel Death The Words of the Prophet are applicable to him and as they were spoken prophetically of him so in him only they were fully accomplished Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger From above he hath sent fire into my bones and it prevaileth against them he hath spread a net for my feet he hath turned my back he hath made me desolate and faint all the day Who then that beheld this could Or who that hears and lays it to heart can refrain from weeping Tears indeed are due to the Memory of Christ's Death and Passion But yet our Lamentation and Weeping must not be as that in Rama spoken of by the Prophet Like Rachel weeping for her children who would not be comforted because they are not We may and should weep at the Remembrance of what Christ suffered but our Sorrow should not run to an Excess meerly on his Account Wherefore you see that our Lord turned about and checked the excessive Sorrowfulness of these Women saying Daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me which was the Second thing I promised to speak to This is not a total Prohibition of weeping for Christ the Negative Particle Not is not always to be taken so peremptorily for frequently it imports only Rather or not so much as when it is said I will have mercy and not sacrifice the Meaning is Mercy rather than Sacrifice or not so much Sacrifice as Mercy So here weep not for me but for your selves is only as much as to say weep for your selves rather than for me or not so much for me as for your selves Thus all Weeping is not forbidden And as I have shewn it to be very just proper and suitable so we find it made both a necessary and an acceptable Duty Zach. xii 10. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of Grace and of Supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born However we should so bewail his Death as to keep within a certain Measure Not as those good Women in the Text who apprehended that all their Hope and all their Comfort would have perished in his Death The Death of Christ is not to be lamented like the Tragical end of Pompey Caesar and other Heroes of the World whether Ancient or Modern whose Deaths were sad and convincing Instances of the Changeableness of Fortune of the Vanity of the World and of the Uncertainty of humane Affairs When they died their vast Designs and Projects were defeated and the Expectation of their Friends frustrated in that very Day all their Thoughts perished they instantly ceased to be either the Hope of their Friends or the Dread and Terrour of their Enemies and left nothing behind them save a faint Memory and uncertain Conjectures But the Death of Jesus Christ is quite another thing As our Lord still liveth so he reigneth and it was by his Death that he advanced and secured his Kingdom His Death was glorious and the Issue of it was eternal Praise to God and himself and everlasting Advantage to all the World Never any Triumph was so illustrious as the Death of Christ The greatest triumph in the World was only over Beasts and weak Men and set forth with the Spoils of earthly Kingdoms But Jesus at his Death triumphed over Devils he conquered Hell and the Grave made Spoils of Principalities and all the Powers of Darkness By his Death he quenched the Fire of God's Wrath blunted the Edge of the Law weakned the Strength of Sin loosned the Bands of the Grave ransomed Sinners and opened the Kingdom of Heaven to Penitents and Believers His Death gave Life to the World and renewed Nature so that the Face of things is altered ever since Thus as upon one Account there is Reason to lament the Death of Jesus Christ so upon another there is no less Reason to rejoice for by it God is glorified Jesus exalted and Mankind saved But when we leave off to mourn for Christ we should continue to mourn for our selves So you see here that our Lord biddeth the Women moderate their Grief upon his Account but still requireth it for themselves which was the third thing proposed Weep not for me but for your selves And very good Reason alas There is more than sufficient Cause for this Mourning For tho' Jesus Christ has merited Salvation for us yet our natural Wretchedness our Original and Actual Guilt is no less than it was both which are deplorable and neither of them can ever be enough lamented And if we are not sensible of the heinous Nature of these let us look upon the persecuted reviled mocked buffetted scourged and crucified Jesus let us call to mind his bitter Death and Sufferings and these will instruct us For all these things befell him for our sake and upon our Account The Jews who crucified him and put him to so vile and shameful a Death were only the Instruments But otherwise every one of us as well as they were the Cause and Occasion of all that evil which befell him They are to be considered only as the common Executioner who executeth the Law and the Will of the Judge and consequently our Rage and Indignation should not be against them but against the Crimes which caused and required so heavy a Punishment Now they were not his own Crimes for which he suffered for he knew no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth he was a Lamb without Spot and Blemish But he was made Sin for us Surely as the Prophet speaks he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him and he received stripes that we might be healed Let us not go about to clear our selves of all Accession to the Death of this good and righteous Person because we are come to the World so long after it fell out and are not of the Race of those who laid wicked and violent hands on him For though Jesus died but once yet he did bear the Sins of all and was charged with the Sins of all that went before or shall come after From the time that he
are like deep Wells which are also top-full so that the weakest may draw good pleasant and refreshing water out of them Our Religion was design'd for all and it is fitted for all sorts of Men And seeing the Auditories either in City or Country are neither all of the meaner sort nor yet all of the better but mixt with both therefore the Art of preaching is to captivate both to the Obedience of the Faith and who hath this Art is truly Master of his Profession The Subject of most of the following Sermons is peculiarly Christian that is the things treated of in them are only delivered by the Gospel We should study these at all times but rather now considering the Attempts of Atheists Deists and others who endeavour to dwindle away the Christian into Natural Religion by divesting it of its Peculiarities which to them who understand are not only admirable and excellent but also matter of greater Comfort and Satisfaction than what is possible to be drawn from Nature Reason or any thing else As these things are only discovered by the Gospel so they are only discernible by the Light of it Philosophy and humane Reason do but obscure them And certainly neither the Truth of them had been so much questioned nor had there been so many Heretical Notions about them if some arrogant and presumptuous Men both in this and former Ages had not endeavoured to accommodate them to the several Systems of that vain Philosophy which they espoused Philosophy and humane Reason are not proper Standards for divine Wisdom by those we can never know the Perfection of this and yet the Christian Religion does not require us to lay aside our Reason but rather calls us to use it Nor can our Reason be improved by any Study or Speculation so much as by that of the Gospel How I have handled those important Points of Christianity which are the Subject of some of the following Sermons I leave others to judge The required Brevity of a Sermon and the confining my self to the particular Argument of the Text have caused me to give only short hints of that which may satisfie any reasonable Person about these Matters But what is wanting in them shall be made up and more fully extended in the third part of the Enquiry into the Nature Necessity and Evidence of Christian Faith This which I promised before would have been published before this time if some unforeseen Accidents had not hindred it And it must yet be delayed a little longer to give way to another Task which is imposed upon me which is thought fit to have the Preference not because the Subject is better or more important but because it is believed that none has undertaken it He who gave an Advertisement of this is notwithstanding of his Complement more capable of performing it as appears by his accurate and laborious Treatise in which he hath fully discovered the gross Errors and Delusions of the QUAKERS which were hitherto much neglected and little enquired into And that was one Reason why they spread so fast But I hope in God they shall spread no more And that his Labours shall be blessed to be the happy Means both of preventing their further Growth and also of drawing off some of the more honest of that deluded Party And I have good Reason to hope for this because he was engaged into this Affair by a visible Providence The Province given me is somewhat of the same Nature to lay open the Errours and Delusions of another Party but which are a little more subtile and refined and therefore the less discernible By these I mean the Enthusiastical Delusions of Madam Antonia Bourignon and her great Disciple Monsieur Poiret who have not many Admirers and Followers in their own Country but too too many in this Island This contagious Distemper hath seized several Persons especially in Scotland whose Iudgment Learning and Sence one would have thought might have preserved them But alas What are the Wisest and Greatest when left to themselves They are as soon and as easily seduced as others when they do not hold by the certain and stable Rule of Truth the Scriptures but grasp at other things which it does not propose There is so much Disposition at present to the entertaining of Errors both Ancient and Modern that it would seem these Nations are lying under that fatal Doom threatned 2 Thess. ii 11. When temporal Iudgments are ineffectual God inflicteth spiritual and then his Anger is kindled to a high Degree The final Ruine of that People is not far off who are delivered up to Lyes and Delusions therefore all who have any Concernment either for Truth or their Country should contribute their utmost Endeavours to suppress and extirpate those manifold Errors Heresies and Delusions which have been sown amongst them I am not so vain as to think that my Labours may be more effectual than others But seeing I am engaged to give the two Treatises presently mentioned I will do all I can to hasten them if God grant me Health and Life Both which were lately in Danger Nor am I yet well recovered The first Seven of the following Sermons were never printed before The rest were published at Edinburgh some six Years ago I heartily wish that they who are at the Pains to read them may receive some Profit and Advantage by them The CONTENTS SERMON I. MAtth. XI 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Page 1 SERMON II. Matth. XI 28 29. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls p. 27 SERMON III. On Christmas-Day Phil. II. 6 7 8. Who being in the form of God thought it not Robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became Obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross. p. 64 SERMON IV. Phil. II. 8. And being sound in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became Obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross. p. 95 SERMON V. On Good Friday Luke XXIII 27 28 29 30 31. And there followed him a great company of people and of women which also bewailed and lamented him But Iesus turning unto them said Daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and your Children for behold the days are coming in the which they shall say Blessed are the barren and the wombs which never bare and the Paps which never gave suck Then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us for if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in the dry
Death their imagination of things to come and the day of death trouble their thoughts and cause fear of heart said the Son of Sirach Eccl. xl 2. And the Apostle tells us that through fear of death they were all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. ii 15. They saw it was appointed for all men to die they understood that the Sentence of Death was passed upon all Men and none knew how soon or after what manner this Sentence was to be executed upon himself so that they stood in jeopardy every Hour Neither Youth nor Health nor Strength nor Vigour nor any natural or acquired Vertue and Endowment could secure Men from Death and what was to come after it they knew not their hopes of another better Life were faint for it was not yet revealed Therefore as they were daily liable to Death and had cause continually to apprehend it so the fear of it and the uncertain consequence of it as every one's Experience witnesseth damped their Joys and filled them with Melancholy and embittered their Life The terrours of the Mind are more burdensom and grievous than outward weights and pressures upon the Body Now nothing is so terrible to Men as Death it is called the King of terrours Iob xviii 14. And again it is said Chap. xxiv 17. they are in the terrours of the shadow of Death My heart said David is sore pained within me and the terrours of death are fallen upon me Psal. lv 4. Aristotle and other Heathens have declared that it is of all things most terrible and certainlv it is and shall be and must be so to all who believe not in Jesus who are Strangers to him his Doctrine and Promises until Men come to him take his Yoke upon them and learn of him the fear and terrour of Death must make them to labour and be heavy laden Fourthly The great Evil which Men labour under and which is the Cause of all other Evils is Sin As this lyeth upon all Men for there is no Man who hath not sinned except the Man Christ Jesus so this indeed is a heavy burden and most grievous whether we consider it in it self or in its Consequences The load of Sin which is upon us is great enough to press us down to Hell and to crush us in pieces It is Sin which maketh us to travel all our days with pain the guilt of this is uneasie to the Mind and disturbeth its rest and also maketh us liable to the Wrath of Almighty God which is a weighty burden too heavy for the strongest Shoulders This burden of Sin tho' it be of all others the heaviest yet few are sensible of it many do not feel it tho' it be ready to sink them because the weight of it has benummed their Senses and stupified their Spirits But they who are sensible of it complain most heavily O wretched man that I am saith St. Paul who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. vii 28. And David upon this account uttereth this grievous Lamentation Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long Fools make a mock of sin but who have a due sence of it find it is not to be sported with or set light by for certainly it is the greatest and saddest of Evils No Misfortune which befalls us is so great as that of Sin He that is not sensible of this let him take a view of our Saviour in the Garden and repair to a dying Person and consider what inward Agony and Torment such suffer for Sin And if this do not affect him he must be very insensible The guilt of Sin is unsupportable no Man has sufficient strength to bear it Therefore saith Solomon the spirit of a man may sustain his infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear Thus you see that all Mankind is liable to a fourfold Misery Four several Burdens are lying upon every Man that cometh into the World viz. The Burden of Affliction the want of true Satisfaction in things relating to this Life the fear of Death and the guilt of Sin each of which is enough to bear down the Spirit of Man and to crush or break it O then how heavily are they laden when they have the weight of all these upon them how weary may they be how much stand they in need of Rest and Ease how desirous should they be of it And how thankful to him who offers it unto them And thus I come to consider the gracious Promise which our Lord here makes to miserable Men whom he invites to himself come to me and I will give you rest Rest is very desirable but no rest so desirable as this An ease of those Burdens which were presently set before you would exceedingly lighten the Mind and quicken and cheer up the Spirit But none can give this Ease but Jesus who here promiseth it Some Philosophers have proposed some Antidote against Afflictions but for the most part they talked impertinently when they spoke of the other Three But as the greatest and truest Comfort under Afflictions cometh from Jesus Christ so it is he only who can satisfie the large Cravings of the Soul who can take away the Fear of Death and the Guilt of Sin And as he can so he will for he hath promised it here Come and I will give you rest This rest must certainly imply a full and perfect Ease of all Misery which lieth upon Men For if all were not taken away if any part of it did remain the Soul could not be at rest Now because the very News of Rest is Matter of Comfort and it is yet more comfortable to be assured of it I will confirm this gracious and comfortable Promise by other Places of Scripture and also shew the Reasons why we may expect and look for Rest from Jesus with a Respect to that Fourfold Misery which is upon us I will invert the Order which was used in enumerating those Burdens we groan under and will take the last first because it is the greatest and that the Removal of it prepares the way for taking the rest away That the Burden of our Sins shall be taken away by Jesus is evident from his Name and the Reason why he got that Name for he was called Jesus because he was to save his people from their sins therefore also he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the world when one sick of the Palsie was brought unto him he said to him Son be of good chear thy Sins be forgiven thee And he said so that they might know the Son of Man had power to
Company doth not cure it only seemeth to give ease so when it is gone when the Night comes that the Sick is left alone then the Person grows weary because he feels his Trouble and is sensible of his Pain and gets nothing to divert it Just so if Men would retire from outward Diversions if they would seriously look into themselves and consider their Condition they should find themselves very loathsome they should see in themselves great Cause of Grief and Sorrow this would make their Souls restless and weary then would they turn from side to side and cry out of their wretchedness then the words of Rest and Ease to the Soul would be acceptable and heard with delight then our Text would be received as a Sovereign Cordial and indeed it is prepared only for such It speaks of rest shews where it is but none are invited but such as are sensible of their Misery the weary they who labour and are heavy laden And if such please to listen if such will receive these words and obey them their Minds shall presently be disburdened they shall be eased of all their Grief For the Words of Jesus cannot fail his Advice cannot chuse but be Proper and Effectual and he hath said Come unto me take my Yoke upon you learn of me for I am meek and lowly and ye shall find rest to your Souls In the former Discourse on this Text I shewed what was meant by labouring and being heavy laden and upon what account this Appellation may be given to all Mankind I shewed that all are under the Burthen of a four-fold Misery viz. Affliction Vanity and Dissatisfaction the Fear of Death and the Guilt of Sin As also that a due sense of this Misery was required as a Disposition to the Cure and a necessary Preparation to the obtaining true Rest and Ease to our Souls I intend at this time to consider the other Conditions required which you see are Three viz. 1. Coming to Christ. 2. Taking his Yoke 3. Learning of him The Conditions are not many and they are very reasonable I will begin with the First which is Coming to Christ. None can be so ignorant as to understand this of the Approach of our Bodies towards Christ for they to whom he spake could not come nearer unto him And we now cannot approach him with our Bodies The Rest to which we are called is a Rest of Soul and therefore to obtain this the Motion of the Soul and not of the Body is requisite and proper By this First is meant the giving our selves up entirely to his Counsel and Management The Sick are bidden go to the Physician and they who are injured and oppressed to the Lawyer The meaning of which is not that they should gaze upon their Persons look them in the Face and hear them talk for what Ease or Relief can that be either to the one or the other But thereby is understood the receiving their Instruction and following it And it is Folly to make Application if one be not resolved to take Advice What good can the Physician do if the Patient be willful if he will only receive the Potions which relish with his vitiated Palate and not what the Physician judges best and most proper If one desire to be cured throughly and speedily he ought to yield himself absolutely to the Physician 's Skill Even so if we would have our Souls cured if we would have them eased of all the Trouble with which they labour we ought to apply our selves to Jesus Christ who is the true and only Physician who only can restore Health and give Peace But then our Application ought to be an entire Resignation to his Conduct and should be attended with a full Resolution to be guided by him in every thing We ought not to carry towards him as some peevish and humoursome Patients to their Physician who judge his Prescriptions approve and condemn them as if they had studied the Art and did understand all the Rules of Medicine as well as he Alas Many are of the same unreasonable Temper and do behave themselves thus toward Jesus the great Physician of Souls They come to him but they bring their Humours with them which they will not part with And if his Advice and Prescriptions agree not with their Humours they reject and condemn them And hence it is that they are not the better by coming to Christ. Indeed when we have to do with Men there is no Reason that we should altogether lay aside our own Judgment and follow them in every thing for the most knowing is fallible But Jesus is Infallible he cannot be mistaken Can he err in whom are all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge And can any doubt of his Concernment for our Health Will not he love us who hath done so much for us Will not he seek our good who spared not his own Life for our sakes He has all the Skill and Knowledge and Affection and Concernment which can be desired Therefore we ought to come to him and to come without Reserve we ought to lay aside all Prejudice and should yield our selves wholly to his Conduct and Management that we may the sooner be sensible of his Skill and feel to our Comfort that he is a Physician of great Value But Secondly By coming to Christ is meant believing in him for so we find it expounded in Scripture as appears by these Places Heb. ii 6. He that cometh to God must believe that he is I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst And as by this and other places it appears That coming to Christ is to be understood of believing in him So the absolute Necessity of Faith in Christ in order to the Participation of his Benefits may be made evident many ways First From express Texts of Scripture I shall instance but in a few of some Hundreds which might be produced Thus Iohn iij. 14. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life ver 16. For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting live ver 18. he that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God 1 John v. 12. he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life To whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest but to them that believed not so we see that they could not enter in because of Unbelief Heb. iij. 18 19. There is not a Chapter in all the New Testament in which the Necessity of Faith and the Danger of Infidelity is not held
fitly joined together here a proud Man can never be meek and he who is lowly in Heart cannot be of another Temper So if we would learn Meekness we must study Humility And we may soon be perswaded into this if we but hearken unto Reason for that demonstrates that we have nothing to be proud of because we have no good but what we have received and therefore if we glory we should glory in the Lord. Humility is not to undervalue ones self but not to think above what we ought to think And if the Thoughts of our selves be just not higher than they ought they will not be high nor lofty nor will they shew others at the distance of Contempt and Scorn for we all stand upon the same Level have the same Original Nature Frame Constitution and End And as this makes the Condition of every Man much the same so it does not afford Matter of boasting to any our Extract and Original is from the Dust and to it we must return our Frame and Constitution is frail and easily disordered our Strength and Beauty like the Flower of the Field is withered before Noon We carry our Breath in our Nostrils and it goes out as a Vapour We are Children a Third part of our time and the other Two parts are consumed in Sin and Vanity all our Actions are either grossly Evil or to little Purpose our Righteousness is as the Morning Cloud and as the early Dew that passeth away not being able to endure the Heat of the Sun Men of low Degree are Vanity and Men of high Degree are a lye lay both the one and the other in the Balance and they will be found altogether lighter than Vanity Surely every Man even the best of Men in their best State is nothing but Vanity and Emptiness when set in the Sight of God Sin is indeed Matter of true Humiliation but the deepest and truest Humility arises from the Contemplation of the Infinite Nature and Perfections of God He who proposes himself as a Pattern of Humility and Lowliness here knew no Sin he had all the Weakness of Flesh and Blood he was surrounded with the Infirmities of our Nature but he was altogether free from the Corruption of it and never did any thing amiss and yet he was lowly in Heart because of his intimate Union with God and did bear about with him a full Idea of his glorious Attributes For as the Glory of the Sun extinguishes the Glory of the Stars so all created Excellencies must disappear upon a View of the uncreated Glory of God whose Perfections can never be found out When even the most perfect and upright Iob does see this with his Eye he abhorreth himself and doth repent in Dust and Ashes Iob xlii 5 6. If we have these two Vertues Meekness and Humility we will not murmur at the Commands of Christ as if any of them were grievous then we shall be sensible of the Reasonableness and Equity of them then we shall find his Yoke easy and his Burthen light For besides the new Strength and Vigour that we shall receive from above for the bearing of it we shall then clearly discern that it is most just and reasonable admirably adapted to our Nature and well accommodated to our Interest wisely contrived to give us all Peace and Satisfaction at present and to prepare us for perfect and Eternal Happiness hereafter Now the God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus Christ that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well pleasing in his Sight through Iesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON III. ON Christmass-Day PHIL. II. 6 7 8. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross. THERE are in our holy Religion two Sublime Mysteries which as they can never be fully comprehended so they can never be too much or too frequently thought upon For nothing can make more for the Glory of God nothing can be of more Comfort and Profit to our selves they enlighten the Understanding warm the Heart add vigour to all the rational Faculties and so cherish and strengthen the Spiritual Life that by these means we may become able to walk straight and to run with Patience without fainting the Race that is set before us By these I mean the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God and that of his Passion and Death both which are jointly spoken of in the Text as the Day and the Action we intend to set about call us to consider both the Day being by the Appointment of the Catholick Church the Anniversary of our Lord Jesus his Birth therefore the Incarnation is a proper Subject for it But some of us intending at this time and others against the next day to make that solemn Address to God by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper this also makes it fit to think upon his Death Nor is it Unsuitable to commemorate his Death upon the Festival of his Nativity for the one was the End and Reason of the other His Birth was in order to his Death and if he had not died his Birth could not have profited us This Sacrament is a proper Christmass Feast to feast devoutly by Faith upon the Sacrifice which Christ offered upon the Cross is the best Entertainment we can give unto God or make for our selves This will put more Joy into our Hearts than either Wine or Oil or any of the Delicacies of richest Banquets By this it appears that the Text is suitable but before I enter upon the Explication of it it will be fit to shew you the scope of the Apostle in this place and upon what occasion he utters these words In this place the Apostle sets himself to perswade the Philippians to Humility and a generous Charity or such a mutual concernedness for each other as might make every Man ambitious to serve his Neighbour as himself and even to prefer others to himself This is an excellent temper of Mind and the very height of Vertue but withal the Practice of it is hard and the Attainment very difficult This gives a true resemblance and conformity to the Divine Nature and therefore is not easily arrived at seeing now by the corruption of our Natures we are removed to a great distance from God The things which St. Paul requires here are directly opposite to the Nature of Man in his present Natural or Corrupt state for in this state the Soul of Man hath no generous Expansion or Enlargement towards others but is almost altogether pent up
of other Mens For he was no less than others subject to Hunger and Thirst Cold and Heat Fainting and Weariedness and all the other things which Nature or Providence has made us liable to As he espoused our Nature so he espoused it with all its Weakness and Infirmities and with all the Trouble which ordinarily attends it Nay which is more he not only submitted to all the unavoidable Infirmities of our Nature but also to all the Misery which attends the meanest Condition of Men which the Apostle points at by the Form of a Servant The form of a servant implies somewhat more than the Nature of Man simply for every Man is not a Servant Jesus Christ has carried his humane Nature to Heaven but he is not there in the Form of a Servant for he is exalted above all When therefore St. Paul saith he took upon him the Form of a Servant he remembers us of the low and contemptible Condition in which he appeared For he came not to the World in Pomp and Splendour in the Form of a King or some great Person Nor did he aspire after a State of Grandeur Power and Command over others but chose to be born of mean and poor Parents who were totally divested of the Glory which by their descent they might have pretended to He was lodged with a Carpenter brought up in his House learned his Trade and wrought with his own hands for his Bread And though it be lawful for Men to endeavour to better their Condition if they take honest means yet he never made a Fortune to himself the foxes had holes and the fowls of the air nests but the Son of Man had no place or possession of his own where to lay his head When he entered upon the Exercise of his Ministery his Retinue was a dozen of poor Fishermen instead of splendid Walls and Schools he taught in Desarts on the Tops of Mountains and from the sides of small Ships and Boats He was born under the Law and subject to it he wore the heavy Yoke of Moses and religiously observed all his Laws He was also subject to the Romans and obliged to pay them Tribute though he owed them none In a word while he was in the World his outward Condition was base ignoble and contemptible and in that Condition he was treated like a Slave forced to endure more Hardship and Misery than ever any Slave was put to He was mocked beaten and cruelly and unmercifully used he was loaded with Contempt Injuries Reproach and all the Evils which Men or Devils could invent And yet like a good and faithful Servant he never declined his Duty nor shifted the Commands which were laid upon him but humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross This is the last Point of the Text. But I cannot enter upon it now I must pass it till another time The two Points I have handled are sufficient for the present to add more would perhaps be too great a burthen to our weak Minds I have laid before you a Mystery which was hid from the Foundation of the World but is now revealed by the Gospel a Mystery which the longest and most profound Meditation can never exhaust A Mystery which may give to all Eternity matter of Admiration both to Angels and Men A Mystery which as our Apostle saith to all that are Perfect sheweth both the Wisdom and Power of God These Divine Attributes were never so admirably manifested The Power of God is clearly seen and evidently set forth in the Creation of the World the erecting such a vast Fabrick out of Nothing the conconjoining its Parts so that they neither interfere nor breed Confusion and the adorning those various Parts with an infinite Variety of Creatures to Inhabit them is a great instance of Divine and Almighty Power So is the Production of Man the Contrivance of his Body the Faculties of his Soul and the Union of two so different Species as Matter and Spirit into one Composition But yet it is more astonishing and more incomprehensible to see the Creature Deified the God-head Embodied and the Humane and Divine Nature united together in one Person And as the Power of God is hereby seen so his Wisdom in contriving this Way to confound Satan to destroy Sin to save Mankind to declare his own Justice and to keep up the Authority of his righteous Laws Lord what Admiration may this breed How ought the Contemplation of this to transport us But Admiration ought not to be the only Effect of this Contemplation it should also engender Love and indeed if our Hearts be not hard as an Adamant and as insensible as a Stone it will enflame them with ardent love to God who hath so highly regarded us as to dignifie us beyond the Angels and any Creature in Heaven or Earth He is infinitely above us and standeth not in need of us and yet he hath had a particular Concernment for us and hath honoured us beyond Expression And that too when we were Rebels and Apostates and guilty of a Thousand Indignities done to the Deity If he had cast some Pity upon us or shewed some Commiseration after we had crouched and humbled our selves and bewailed our Sins with weeping and sorrowful Hearts it had not a little shewed his Goodness even in this Case his Mercy would have been abundantly declared But what superabundant Mercy was it to seek us first nay to court and wooe us when we hated him and were running away from him and that too by no meaner Person than his own Son God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the Fathers hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the worlds Lord how little did Man deserve this And what Obligations doth this lay on Man to love fear and serve God! Again how should our Hearts cleave to Jesus Christ What a strong and passionate Affection should we have for him Who for us and for our sakes made himself of no Reputation Who to serve us and procure our good laid aside the Glory which he had before the Foundation of the World and being in the Form of God and in a State in which he thought it not Robbery to be equal to God did yet take upon him the Form of a Servant All this was his own proper deed and the meer effect of his free Love You see all is ascribed to himself and indeed there was no Force to constrain him wherefore so great and so free Love in him requires the greatest Measure of Love from us Do you think what he has done nothing Seems it little to you to exchange the Form of God for the Form of a Servant The Glory of Heaven for the Miseries of Earth Is it nothing think you for Omnipotency to be confined to the Weakness of a Child For
the Lord of all things to toil like a Slave and to wander up and down as a Beggar For him whom the Angels worshipped to be reproached injured and ill treated by Men What stupendous Humility was here What wonderful Condescension was this Especially when the profit did not redound to himself but to others who little deserved it at his hands Has not Jesus by this shewed himself a kind and loving Lord Is not he that careful Shepherd who to get the strayed Sheep left the Ninety and Nine who never went astray Is it not time now to ask what shall we render to the Lord for all this Love and Kindness Alas We cannot requite him though we give our selves and endure the greatest Hardships for him it is but a small and a sorry Recompence Yet such is his Goodness that he will accept of any sincere Returns of Kindness from us And we cannot make a better Return to him than by preserving the Dignity of our Natures which he hath now consecrated by this Assumption of it unto the Divine Indeed this layeth indispensible Obligations on us to sanctifie our selves to put away all Filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit and to adorn our selves with all manner of Holiness To walk in sin to give way to Ungodliness and worldly Lust to pollute our selves with Excess Uncleanness and other Vices is not only to debase our selves but to dishonour Christ. These Sins are become now more sinful To let the Devil the World and the Flesh reign in us and as it were incorporate with us by the entire Possession of our Hearts is to rob Christ and to give away what is his Right For though the Son of God be only united personally to one yet he has thereby purchased a Right to all Mankind And will ye thus requite the Lord ye foolish people and unwise Finally The Incarnation of the Son of God may afford great Comfort to us both against Temptation to sin and all the Afflictions which in this Life we are liable to He who has taken our Nature upon him and by that means is become our Kinsman and Brother is the Almighty and all-sufficient Lord who can help us in the time of our need He knows by becoming Man our Weakness and will pity our Infirmities and will not suffer us either to be tempted or afflicted above what we are able but with both will send a way whereby we may escape that we may be able to bear it If we do not surrender our selves to Sin it can now never prove our Ruine if we do not yield basely no Temptation can prove over strong if we do not betray our selves into the hands of the Devil he cannot hurt us for Christ is stronger than he Ye who are afflicted consider That Jesus the Eternal Son of God knows by his own Experience what such a State is and cannot but have a fellow-feeling with all that are in it and therefore will not fail to afford suitable Comfort and seasonable Relief And if he suffer any who love him to fall under the hand of their Enemies and Persecutors let us not therefore conclude That he has deserted them it is only that they may have the greater Conformity with himself and be more capable of triumphing with him in the Kingdom of his Father He may suffer his Servants to die but he will not let them perish for he has Power to raise them up at the last Day Now unto him who was in the Form of God and who for us made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the Form of Man even to Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God with the Father and Holy Ghost be Eternal Praise and Glory Amen SERMON IV. On PHIL. II. 8. And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross. WHEN Men reflect on their own Souls and seriously consider them they are sensible that they stand in need of some better Support and Comfort than these outward things of this World for the Nature of these things are not adapted to the Spiritual Nature of Man and are not sufficient to procure quiet and satisfaction to the Mind In reference to Man's inward Peace which is true Happiness Haman's Verdict holds certainly true of all that is in the World all these things avail me nothing But what the World cannot give the Scripture discovers and shews the way to therefore the Psalmist saith in the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts only delight my soul that is his Soul neither had nor could find true Delight but in that light and instruction those Divine Consolations and Promises wherewith his Word abounded and if the Word of God was so Useful and of such Advantage to the Psalmist it may be yet much more to us for its light is brighter it shines more fully and clearly abounds with greater Discoveries and reveals what was then kept hid The Divine Oeconomy of the World and the Redemption of Mankind are now clearly revealed from which only we have clear Instructions about our Nature and Happiness It is the Contemplation and Belief of these which only can ease the Conscience and pull out the sting of Sin it is this which can only disburden the Heart of Cares and Fears ballance the Soul and keep it equal and strengthen it to endure the toil labour and trouble of Life without fainting and wearying In a word who would have at present Peace of Mind and the Comfort of a good Hope against the other World should enlarge his Knowledge of these things and Confirm his Faith in them For this end I am resolved to entertain you at present both with a Discourse of what is so very profitable and necessary and also with sensible Signs and Tokens of it which alas now adays we have seldom occasion to receive And I pray God upon whom the success of all things depends to grant us his Blessing that the present Ministry of his Word and Sacraments may prove Effectual for our present Peace and future Salvation As the Text is suitable to the Design and Occasion of our present Meeting so that it may be handled more profitably I shall first shew you the Person of whom the Text speaks with the Character which is here given him Secondly I shall consider what is here said of him that is his Actions and Sufferings Thirdly I shall endeavour to set before you the End and Reason which moved him and the Good which we may draw from the Consideration of what he is here said to have done As to the First It is evident from the 5th and 9th Verses that the Person here spoken of is none other than Jesus Christ it is of him that it is here said he was found in fashion as a Man that is he was truly and really a Man by all the Evidence Proofs and Demonstrations that others appear to be Men having a Soul
I say what Humility would it be in such a Person for the good of his Subjects to divest himself of Majesty to lay aside the Pretensions to Royalty and Sovereignty and to put himself in the State of a Subject in which he should be obliged to obey the Laws and Orders which he had Right to give and which were in force only by Virtue of his own Authority How would men stand amazed at this And yet such and greater Humility has Christ shewed for us men for while he was Heir of all things he made himself empty and poor for us When he had a sovereign Authority over all in Heaven and Earth he became subject and obedient both to the Laws of God and men And it was for this very end that he became man therefore it is said of him Psal. 40. mine ears hast thou opened or bored alluding to that Custom of boring the Ears of those who resolved to be Servants for ever Which St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews Chap. X. 5. to render the thing clearer hath expressed thus a body hast thou prepared for me And in both it is added Lo I come in the volume of thy Book it is written of me to do thy will O God I take delight And as Obedience was the end why he became Man so from his Birth he payed a ready sincere and punctual Obedience to the Laws of Nature the Decrees of God the Acts of his Providence and the Statutes of Men. In his Infancy he was subject to his Parents when he was grown up he was obedient both to the Roman Governours and Jewish Magistrates he observed all the Law of Moses and was both in Civil and Religious Matters the greatest Example of a chearful and universal Obedience which ever the World saw He did all things without murmuring without Reluctancy he never disputed the Reasonableness of the divine Commands or the Justice of his Providence But knowing That God has an absolute Authority over Men and that he can command nothing that is not just therefore having put himself in the Condition of other Men that is in a State of Subjection to God he obeyed his absolute Authority without Reserve Nay rather than give Scandal or Occasion to any to refuse Obedience he would render it when it was not due and where it could not be without Rigour exacted nay when he could easily have avoided it Thus he would be baptized of Iohn the Baptist for fulfilling of all righteousness though Iohn refused it and that there was no need of it for him Therefore also after he had convinced Peter that he ought not to have payed Tribute notwithstanding said he to him lest we offend go thou to the sea and cast an hook and take up the fish that first cometh up and when thou hast opened its mouth thou shalt find a piece of Money that take and give unto them for me and thee Matth. xvii 27. It was his meat and drink to do the will of God Nor did he take Pleasure therein only when it was easie and about pleasant Matters but also when the Commands were severe heavy troublesome such as Nature struggled with and was averse to When his Soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto Death upon the sad Apprehensions of his Sufferings he went and prayed O my Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt And again O my Father if this Cup may not pass away from me unless I drink it thy will be done Sometimes free and independent Princes have subjected themselves to others but then it was for some noble Employment and general Command under them whereby they had a Prospect of getting to themselves Glory Praise and Renown in the Earth But behold Jesus submitted himself to the Condition of the meanest Servant to Misery Pain Shame Reproach Disgrace and all the evil vile and unjust Usage which the most barbarous and most wicked could invent and which an ingenuous and noble Soul would abhorr He yielded himself to be a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief to be smitten of God and afflicted by Men to be despised set at nought oppressed and killed And yet he never opened his Mouth he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth He was obedient to the death And that we may the more admire this Obedience of his the kind of Death to which he submitted is set before us even the death of the Cross. This was a Death well known in those times in which the Apostle lived and wrote this Epistle And it was known to be the very worst kind of Death that the Laws of Men could inflict on the greatest Malefactors It was a painful Death and the more painful because it was lingering It was so vile and shameful that by the Laws none could be put to it except Slaves not a free man or any of honest Birth whatever might be their Crime This was the Death to which Jesus surrendered himself and he yielded to this Death not only when there was no Mitigation of the usual Pain Shame and Bitterness but also when extraordinary Pain Shame Torment and Agony were superadded Let any take a View of our Lord his Death and Passion what went before and what accompanied his Cross what Treachery and Ingratitude he met with with what Malice and Cruelty he was pursued what base Calumnies he was loaded with what horrid Crimes of Blasphemy Sedition and Conspiracy against Church and State were falsly charged upon him how he was deserted by his Friends mocked by his Enemies and despitefully used by every Body it will be found that never any Sorrow was like unto his Sorrow nor any Cross so grievous as his He sustained the Wrath of God the Weight of Sin the Malice of Devils and the Spite of Men. His Death was both base and bitter sad and shameful beyond all Expression But withal it was voluntary Which leads me to the last thing proposed Which was to shew the End and Reason why Jesus who was the Son of God thus abased and humbled himself and became obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross. In Prosecution of this it cannot be expected that either I can mention all or insist at large on any for the time allowed will not suffice for such a Task I shall propose briefly some few which may satisfie and leave the Prosecution of them to your private Meditations In general then all this was done for setting forth the Glory of God and for effectuating the Redemption of Mankind therefore it is called the Mystery of Redemption and the Gospel which declareth it is called the word of Salvation And for this cause that admirable Person of whom we have been speaking is called our Saviour and Redeemer Behold said the Angel to the Shepherds I bring to you tidings of great joy
which shall be to all People Unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord Luke ii But to be more particular This was done to declare and demonstrate the infinite Love and Mercy of God who rather than that Mankind should perish would suffer his own Son and his only Son to be thus abased and humbled God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son unto it that the world through him might not perish but that those who believe might have eternal life John iii. 16. and Rom. v. 8. It is said That God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Mankind is but one part of the Creation And though he make a considerable Figure in this lower World yet if we knew all the other parts of the Creation and their Inhabitants perhaps we should find him contemptible and inconsiderable he is certainly inferiour to the Angels what a Demonstration therefore is it of the Mercy of God to his Creatures that he would not suffer such inconsiderable ones to perish But to prevent their eternal Ruin was pleased to give his Son to do and suffer so many things for us And how doth it heighten his Love to us the Sons of Men that he has shewed more Kindness to us than to the Angels who by Nature are so much better than we He passed by the Angels and has had pity on us he has left them to perish in their Apostacy and Disobedience but has sent his Son to save us Secondly Hereby God hath declared his Justice his uncontroulable Authority the Vigour of his Laws and the Certainty of his Threatnings By this it appears that God is just and will not clear the guilty that he will not suffer his Authority to be contemned nor his Laws to be broken and that what he peremptorily threatens to the breakers of them shall come to pass Heaven and Earth may pass away but one Jot or Title of the Law shall not fall and rather than the Transgression of it escape unpunished he will make his own Son an Example Like that King who having threatned the Loss of both Eyes to such as should be guilty of Adultery And his Son having committed that Crime he to keep his Royal Word to maintain the Vigour of his Laws and to strike Terrour into his Subjects but withal to shew some Mercy to his Son pulled out one of his Son's Eyes and gave another of his own God would not remit the Punishment of Sin but to save Sinners he laid the Weight of the Punishment on his own Son Thirdly Hereby is declared the heinous Nature of Sin how odious it is in the Sight of God how impossible it is to be reconciled to him or to expect his Favour unless it be expiated Let Fools now make a mock of Sin if they dare Let Men consider what the Son of God hath done and suffered to take away the Sins of the World let them call to mind what Obedience what Agony what Shame and Pain the Holy and Innocent Jesus hath been put to what it hath cost him to take away the Guilt of it and to free Men from the Punishment of it And when they have seriously considered all this let them say if they can whether Sin be to be sported with whether it may be safely cherished and indulged Fourthly This setteth forth the Dignity of the Humane Nature How highly is that to be esteemed which God has thought worthy of so strict an Alliance with himself and to save which the Eternal Son of God the Second Person of the blessed Trinity he who thought it not Robbery to be equal with God even he was pleased to make himself of no Reputation to take upon him the Form of a Servant to humble himself and to become obedient unto Death This is Immortal Honour unto Mankind which the Devils envy and which the highest Angels admire and therefore it is said that even they desire to look into it This is the Glory of Man and that which sets him farthest above all his Fellow Creatures in this World The Bodies of other Animals are not much inferiour to ours for they are all of almost the same Nature Composition and curious Contrivance and whatever be the inward Principle of their Life and Actions whatever it be that guides them their Actions are more regular than ours and certainly the Effects of greater Reason Knowledge and Wisdom than what we can by Speculation Study or Experience arrive at But neither Cherubim nor Seraphim nor any of the Celestial Order of Intelligent Beings can boast a Privilege above or even equal to what Man hath by the Incarnation of the Son of God and what followed upon it He took not on him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham God has espoused our Nature and thereby made us more honourable than other Creatures and as we have by this the highest Honour so all the Happiness that can be desired For what greater Happiness What can we desire more than what the Love and Friendship and Favour of God can bestow Fifthly As this shews the Dignity of the humane Nature so wherein the Perfection of it consists even in a perfect Obedience unto God such as we shewed that Jesus Christ did pay unto him Adam ruined the humane Nature by his Disobedience Jesus Christ has repaired it by being entirely obedient even unto Death and no Man can arrive at Perfection but by the Imitation of Jesus in a perfect Subjection to the Will of God To make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof is never to aim higher than Beasts and inferiour Animals to walk by Sense will stifle our Reason to follow the Imaginations and Devices of our own Hearts or only what our own Reason suggests we shall never surmount a natural imperfect State nor have any other Perfection than what cometh from our selves But if we give our selves up to the Conduct of God if we will follow his Will and Providence and never dispute or cavil at his Pleasure we shall far out-grow our natural State our minds shall receive the Light of Divine Illumination our Spirits shall be fortified by the Almighty Spirit of God and we shall at last become Partakers of the Divine Nature which is as high as any can aspire Sixthly I will only give one Instance more which is that the Incarnation of Jesus Christ his Obedience and Sufferings were appointed to the end that he might merit the Glory Honour and sovereign Power which God had design'd for him before the Foundation of the World Wherefore as it follows our Text God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus
of God to give us either Comfort or Instruction So this Constancy and generous Publick Concernment of the Women must not pass unobserved For as the Revealing of his Birth to the Wise Men in the East was a Comfort to the Gentile World and a sign that they were to be called to a share of that Salvation which he brought with him So God ordered the Behaviour of these Women for a Comfort to all their Sex God gave them this tender Love to his Son which prompted them to wait upon him even to the last minutes of his Life when he was deserted by all the rest of the World to bewail his Sufferings when Men were mocking and scoffing him and finally to seek him early the Third Day at his Grave that they might do him honour there They were made Compassionate Witnesses of his Death and the first Messengers of his Joyful Resurrection to assure the Faith of Women and to confirm their Hope of Salvation by Christ tho' it was by Woman that Sin entered amongst Men. The Devils who were the Authors of Sin are Reprobated and are never to find Mercy but Women have found Grace in the sight of God And tho' Adam was not deceived but the Woman being deceived was in the transgression notwithstanding she shall be saved by him that was Born and died if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety 1 Tim. ii 14 15. Again This passage informs us of the wise Providence of God who never leaves himself without a Witness amongst Men but always even in the times of greatest Defection either from Truth or Holiness in the midst of the greatest corruption of Doctrine and greatest wickedness of Manners he preserves a Remnant pure from the publick Contagion and also moves some more or less to reprove such General Apostacy from the Principles or the Practice of Religion either directly by open and plain Rebukes or indirectly by their own manifest Stedfastness At this time the Rulers Priests and People were combined in a Conspiracy against the Lord and against his Anointed they were all of them persecuting him to Death as an Enemy to God Church and State and the common Interest of the Nation So bent was the Multitude upon this Wickedness that to shew their Inclinations and to press the Roman Governours to it they gathered themselves together tumultuously and not only officiously consented to his Death but sought it as a favour to themselves and the Nation Such was the Malice and Prejudice against Christ that like a torrent it carried all away with it some few only excepted and they were but very few who kept their Integrity and detested this Villany But the few who did so lurked in private and as they did not concur so neither did they oppose the Multitude nor their wicked Designs But behold while Courage and Integrity failed amongst Men some few Women appear abhorr the Villainy and by publick bewailing and lamenting testifie against it Fear might have detained them if they had considered their own weakness and the madness of the Multitude at this time they might have apprehended that their tears would have provoked the Multitude to trample them under foot but Love knows no Difficulties nor did these Women consider the Difficulties they run by paying their Just respects to their hated and persecuted but very Innocent Lord. And from the Example of those Good Women let us learn how to behave our selves in times of Danger and Difficulty let them teach and encourage us to a stedfastness in the Truth and to a constant adherence to that which is Just and Right tho' all the World about us take a contrary course and that Error and Iniquity have the common Vogue Politicians will tell you that Dum furor est in cursu cedendum est furori that it is Wisdom to yield to the Evils which are not in our power to remedy that it is safer to comply with Peoples inclinations when violent tho' Unjust and Unreasonable than to resist them for by opposing them we provoke their Fury and hazard our own Ruin whereas by complying we leave our selves in a capacity of rectifying things at another occasion And so by these and the like Maxims Men are taught to turn with every Tide to serve different and contrary Interests notwithstanding of particular ties and obligations and to give way to the greatest Injustice for pleasing Men and diverting the Wrath and Fury of a prevailing Party But these Maxims are calculated with a respect to Mens temporal Interest rather than for keeping a good Conscience for they who would do that and please God must resolve never to turn their Back upon that which is right or to consent to that which is Evil. Indeed every one has not a Call to resist a wicked Course or to punish the Authors and Promoters of it nor is it in the power of private or particular Persons to do it but it is in every Man's power to withdraw his consent and refuse his concurrence Tho' we cannot hinder others yet we ought to keep our own hands clean and as Prudence directs us according to the Nature and Importance of the thing we should own that which we are perswaded is right and good which if we cannot favour otherwise we should at least with the Women here bewail and lament the loss and miscarriage and the wickedness of Men which occasions it to be so though by this we incurr a popular Odium and run other Inconveniencies Plutarch tells of a certain Woman that being questioned how she could attempt a thing Prohibited by the Tyrant under whom she lived and which would highly incense him She answered resolutely It pleaseth the Gods with whom I intend to live longer than with the Tyrant If our Design be to live with God for ever if Eternal Life or his Favour be our Expectation we should search out his Good Perfect and Acceptable Will and cleave to that whatever the World think of it And if the fear of Men begin to prevail we should consider how much wiser it is to fear God I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them which kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him Luke xii 4 c. But to return to the Women who are said to bewail and lament Christ as they followed him The words in the Original import the greatest measure of Grief and Sadness and are never used but when the very height of it is expressed the Consternation of Sinners at the Day of Judgment their sad Apprehensions of the Terror of that Day and the Melancholy Effects it worketh in them are set forth by the same words Matth. xxiv and Rev. i. 7. So that it seems the Sorrow of these was not small nor the Expressions of it mean
be stiled after it did import their relation to and interest in that state The word Behold denotes the certainty of what he foretells by saying the days are coming he lets them know that the Calamity approacheth and is not far off as indeed it fell out within Forty Years The greatness and dreadfulness of that Calamity he holds out by telling that it shall be then said Blessed are the barren and the womb that never bare and the paps which never gave suck For these words are not to be taken absolutely but with a respect unto these Evil days In times of Peace in the days of Prosperity it is a great Blessing and Comfort to have Children and especially it was thought so among the People of the Iews But in times of grievous Trouble and sad Calamity when War or Famine or Pestilence rageth they who have Children are more heavily afflicted than those who want them for besides the Evils which they suffer in their own Person they suffer also in the Persons of their Children and are affected with their Misery Moreover Women who are either with Child or who have young Ones sucking at their Breast cannot so easily escape Calamities or provide against them as others Some also do think that this may have a particular reference to what afterwards fell out at the Destruction of Ierusalem viz. That during the strictness of the Siege some were reduced to that strait that to preserve their own Lives they Eat the flesh of their own Children which could not but be very grievous to Parents However it is to be interpreted not with any relation to Peoples Spiritual or Eternal State for in respect of that there is no difference betwixt the having and wanting Children but it is to be understood wholly as to this Life and that too only in relation to Times of great Trouble and sad Calamity As to what follows that then they shall begin to say to the Mountains fall on us and to the Hills cover us This is a further intimation of the dreadful Calamity of these Days for People shall then be in such Consternation and Fear that they shall wish Death rather than Life and any kind of sudden Death rather than to live to see and feel such unspeakable Misery And as all this was foretold here and Matth. 24. so whoever is pleased to read Iosephus his History will find That all was actually accomplished upon Flavius Vespasian and Titus his Son their Invading Iudaea Besieging and Sacking of Ierusalem For if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in a dry As it is a Proverbial Speech so it is here used by our Lord both for a Proof of the Prediction and also as a Reason why such Evils are inflicted Green Wood is neither proper nor profitable fewel but sure if they be forced to cut it down and make use of it they will not pass by what is dry and withered and good for nothing so seeing God has suffered his own Son to be thus treated who never displeased him they might assure themselves that such gross and notorious Sinners would not escape As St. Peter says If the Righteous scarcely are saved where shall the Wicked and Ungodly appear Our Lord by comparing himself here to a green flourishing and fruitful Tree doth point out the greatness of their Sin who thus treated him and persecuted him to Death with such Malice and Cruelty And he also clearly intimates to them that for this Cause all these Evils would come upon them A little before this time he laid it more plainly home to them by the Parable of the wicked Husband-men who when they saw the Son said This is the Heir come let us kill him and seize on the Inheritance And accordingly they caught him and cast him out of the Vineyard and slew him The Doom of these Husband-men the Iews pronounced with their own Mouth for when our Lord asked when the Lord of the Vineyard cometh what will he do unto these Husband-men They replied He will miserably destroy these wicked men and will let out his Vineyard to other Husbandmen which shall render him the fruits in their season Upon which he instantly added Did ye never read in the Scriptures the stone which the Builders refused the same is become the head of the corner This is the Lord 's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes Therefore I say unto you the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a Nation bringing forth the fruits thereof Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder The Application was so plain and the meaning so obvious that it is said that the Chief-Priests and Pharisees perceived that he spoke of them Matth. xxi 38 39. These Predictions and the Event which in all things answered them declare what a heinous Crime it is to be guilty of shedding the Blood of Jesus and what a Provocation it was to the great God to see his Son crucified by Men. But some may perhaps say what is all this to us This was the Sin of the Iews long since committed and which can never be acted over again seeing Jesus the Son of God has his abode in Heaven and so is out of the reach of Men and therefore it is impertinent to insist now upon it They who say or think so must give me leave to say that they are mistaken and do deceive themselves for Christ may yet be Crucified and with as great Provocation to God nay with greater than was before Doth not St. Paul tell us Heb. vi 6. of some who crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame and both by that Chapter and the 10th we are made to understand who they are that do it viz. They who Sin wilfully after they have received the Knowledge of the Truth They that undervalue the Death of Jesus and are not so affected with it as to hate and forsake Sin which was the cause of it but on the contrary cherish indulge and love it for they who do so by an after Act consent to his Death and are guilty of his Blood Not to speak what Jesus suffers in his Servants and Members by the Persecutions which they meet with for his Sake and for their Observance of his Laws Jesus still suffers immediately in himself when his Doctrine is despised his Authority affronted and his Power resisted They who question the veracity of his Doctrine confirmed by Miracles and Prophecies laugh at the Truth and Mysteries which he hath revealed and quarrel at his Ordinances and Institutions these Persons do violence to his Prophetical Office They who lessen the Merits of his Death and the worth and price of that Sacrifice which he offered they who advance their own Righteousness and put little or no Confidence in his Mediation and make the Mediation of others as necessary they
the Old nor the New found World can yield it Many Discoveries have been made of late of Plants Stones Minerals and the like which were not known before but no place is found with the Qualifications of the Text. This is only to be looked for above it is saith the Text reserved in the heavens and that it is there we are the surer of it for no destroying Fire ariseth there no boisterous Wind bloweth there nor doth Subtilty Malice Cunning and Oppression take place there it is without the reach of Men and Devils and therefore we need not fear either to be put by it or to be justled out of it O happy Inheritance How blessed are they who are called to such an Inheritance The very hope hereof doth give greater joy than the actual Possession of all Earthly things How little may one be cast down with the loss of Temporal things who hath this heavenly Inheritance ensured to him Let not thy Crosses and Sufferings overwhelm thee with Grief seeing so great and so glorious an Inheritance awaits thee But then it will be enquired how came I to know it and by what means may I be assured of it Truly this is no Delusion there is undoubted Evidence of the Truth thereof viz. the resurrection of Iesus Christ. All this is done saith St. Peter by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead Though the Resurrection be only mentioned yet all the former acts of Jesus Christ are included as his Incarnation Birth Life Sufferings and Death But because the Resurrection was the last act of his Mediatorship upon Earth gave a lustre to the rest did demonstrate the Merit of them and was an evidence of their acceptance therefore it is put here alone instead of all the rest Jesus Christ by coming in the Flesh and by what he did in the Flesh hath wrought a perfect Redemption for us he was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our Iustification Rom. iv 25. And as he died to become a Propitiation for our Sins so he arose to witness that he had made a perfect atonement and that there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift is upon all men unto justification of life Rom. v. 18. I say to all who believe for as Jesus Christ by his Death and Resurrection hath purchased Salvation for us so it is necessary that we have Faith in him his Death and Resurrection to the end we may partake of his Merits Faith in his Death takes away the guilt of our Sins and Faith in his Resurrection begets us to a lively Hope and entitles us to this Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and which fadeth not away He that believes has as great assurance as the Word of God can give him If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth Confession is made unto Salvation Rom. x. Faith unites us to Christ and brings us where he is if we believe we shall also rise with him and sit down with him in heavenly places at the right hand of God Our Thoughts therefore should much run upon the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and in particular we should frequently make remembrance of them by this Ordinance of the Lord's Supper which was appointed for this end both because those means wrought our Salvation and that the Effects of them are conveyed to us through Faith in them and the serious Meditation of them Men use to produce their Evidences and Rights to their Earthly Heritages and diligently to consider them when they are brangled or like to be justled out of their Possession Now the Devil the World and the Flesh envy this Happiness which hath befallen us and seek daily to put us by it by filling us with doubts and fears and making us question the greatness or certainty thereof Is it not fit nay necessary then to view the means by which this was effectuated and thereby strengthen our Faith in them that we may not lose our Hope but maintain it and assure to our selves this blessed Inheritance There is no place for doubting a Matter of Fact of which there is some publick Monument attested by an uninterrupted Tradition and to Commemorate which certain Days and Ceremonies are observed He who doubts after this is not to be convinced It is in vain to reason with him for he affronts both Sence and Reason by refusing his consent to reasonable things Things past cannot be seen they can be proved only by Tradition or History or some visible Effects He is most unreasonable who asks another Proof or who is not satisfied with this Now as there is an Universal uninterrupted Tradition of the History of Jesus Christ as it is witnessed by the Testimony of both Friends and Enemies to the Christian Religion so the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper which we have this day Received is a solemn publick visible and authentick Memorial of it for no other account can be given of its Institution no other Reason for the devout Celebration of these Sacred Rites from the beginning but the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ and his Death had never been so devoutly commemorated by the Apostles and Primitive Christians nay they had been ashamed of it if there had not been clear Conviction and Undoubted Proof of his Resurrection By this then it appears that the Gospel is no cunningly devised Fable that the History of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is certain and true and if this be true our Faith is not in vain nor is our Hope ill grounded then it is certain that we have an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and which fadeth not away Why then do we stagger through unbelief why are we faint and wearied in our Minds why do we suffer Afflictions to overwhelm us why are we so backward to run the Race which is set before us why do we loiter so much about the things of this World and why are we so afraid of Death which is a necessary Passage to that blessed state to which we are called That we may not marr our own Happiness that we may not deprive our selves of the greatest Consolation even of this present Life that we may have courage to encounter Afflictions and Death it self and that at last we may obtain the Possession of that Inheritance to which we have a Right and Title let us not doubt but believe let us entertain a full assurance of Faith and look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the Shame and is set down at
that it answered every Man's Taste that is it relish'd according to each Man 's particular Appetite affording every one that Satisfaction in his Taste which pleased him best So the Joy afforded us upon the gaining this Spiritual Victory shall be most ravishing it shall fully answer all the Desires of our Souls and shall yield us that full Satisfaction they would be at wherefore it is called a Joy unspeakable and full of Glory and our Lord tells us that they who taste thereof shall not hunger or thirst any more Whosoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again but whosoever shall drink of this water that I shall give him shall never thirst Moreover as there was Plenty of Manna so we shall not have this Heavenly Joy in narrow and scanty Measures but it shall flow and abound beyond all Expression Therefore it is said in Scripture to pass all understanding that is the heighth and greatness thereof can never be sufficiently comprehended Finally as Manna was permanent it lasted all the while the Children of Israel were in the Wilderness that is so long as they needed it neither was it possible for their Enemies to hinder it so this Joy shall never cease our Enemies Malice and Power cannot reach it but it abideth for ever All earthly Goods are liable to Rapine and Violence our Enemies may bereave us of them But they cannot take away the Consolations of the Spirit of God here these we may enjoy in the midst of Bonds and Imprisonment and Afflictions and much less can any stay that joy and those Pleasures which shall be bestowed hereafter And as these are the Reasons why the Joy prepared for those who overcome is called Manna so it is called hidden Manna alluding to the Pot of Manna laid up in the Ark or else because the Nature and Quality and Excellency of this Joy is without the reach of Sense Our bodily Sense does not discern it nor can humane Reason scan it Strangers do not intermeddle with this joy None understand it but they who possess it Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of Man the good things which God hath laid up for them that love him But I said by Manna are not only set forth the Nature and Quality of those Delights he who overcometh is to be feasted with but also the particular Entertainment which affords such excellent Joy and Delight is pointed at And therefore by Manna here we are to understand Jesus Christ himself for Manna was a Type and Figure of him and he is expressly called Spiritual Manna 1 Cor. x. 3. And as a Pot of Manna was laid up in the Ark so Jesus Christ is kept and reserved in the Heavens which were figured by the Ark and therefore he is called hidden Manna Now they who overcome shall have Christ to feast upon not after a corporal and carnal manner eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood as some senselesly dream they do in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper nor yet sacramentally as all true Believers do in this World in the Elements of Bread and Wine For hereafter in Heaven which is here pointed at there is neither place for nor need of Types Figures and Symbols which would not be suitable Entertainment for such a pure and perfect State But the meaning is they shall feast on everlasting Bliss the Purchase and Merits of his Blood the Fruits of his Incarnation Birth Life Death Resurrection and Ascension and whatever he did or suffered to purchase Eternal Happiness for us There is no proper Food but this He who wants it is utterly miserable for nothing but the Enjoyment of Christ in Heaven can give Life or Pleasure to the Soul of Man And the Soul that is entertained in his beatifick Presence is entertained in the Fullness of Joy and cannot but be happy for there is no Grief or Sadness in that glorious Place where he is but perfect Delight Joy Pleasure and Satisfaction as will appear by what follows which is the effect of this Entertainment He who gets to eat of this hidden Manna shall also get a white Stone When St. Iohn had this Revelation he was in Patmos an Isle in the Egean or Egarean Sea and here he alludes to a Custom practised or well known there for in Asia and other Eastern Countries they were wont to give their Votes for acquitting or condemning such as were accused by casting white and black Shells or Stones the white as an Emblem of Innocency was for the Persons Absolution and Justification as the black betokened Guilt and declared for their Condemnation which Ovid has thus delivered Mos erat antiquis niveis atrisque lapillis His damnare reos illis absolvere culpa By the white Stone then is meant a Sentence of Absolution and so our Saviour here promiseth to absolve and justifie such as overcome from all that may be laid to their Charge He will take away their Guilt wash them from their Sins and deliver them from the Death that is due to them And O what a Happiness is this What matter of Joy is there in this Promise It is as Health to the sick Ransom to the captive and a Remission to him who is ready to be led forth to Execution If any be not affected herewith it is because they are not sensible of their Guilt and do not consider the heinous Nature of Sin or the Misery which attends it But they who have laid this to Heart will prize it exceedingly What would a troubled Conscience give for the least Assurance or smallest Hope of this Comfort O Who will deliver me from this Body of Death saith St. Paul and David who roared all the day long because of his Sin and on that Account found God's Hand Day and Night heavy upon him cries out Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose Sin is covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity Despair not because thy Sins are many and great for be they never so numerous or heinous Christ is able to take them away and here he promises to absolve thee Be of good cheer O Sinner thy Sins shall be forgiven thee for there is now no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit But there is here promised not only a white Stone the Sign of Absolution and a Deliverance from Death due to us but also something more which we could never deserve and which exceeds all Expression In the Stone there shall be a New Name which is still an Allusion to the Custom of these former times and Eastern Countries where Letters and Words used to be written also upon the Stones they cast into the publick Urn. What is the Importance of this New Name we will know when we have found out whose Name it is whether of him who gives it or of him who receives it
are now ashamed is not the end of these things death for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Let not therefore sin reign any more in your mortal bodies that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but your members as instruments of righteousness unto God Be not afraid or discouraged at his Laws for there is none of them grievous saith the Apostle St. John The law of the Lord is perfect saith David Converting the soul his statutes are right rejoicing the heart they are more to be desired than gold yea than much fine gold sweeter also than honey or the honey-comb And in keeping them there is great reward For if being made free from Sin we become Servants to God and have our fruit unto Holiness our end shall be everlasting Life to the which God bring us all in his good time Amen SERMON XI A PREPARATION TO THE Holy Communion HEBREWS X. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our bodies washed with pure water THese Words are an Inference or Conclusion drawn from a Doctrine formerly delivered as appears from the illative Particle Therefore in the 19th Verse And there you have also the Summ of the Doctrine it self viz. That there is now free access unto God through Iesus Christ which the Apostle declareth in figurative Expressions with an Allusion to the Jewish Temple not only because he was writing to Hebrews but also because that Temple and the way of entering thereinto was a Type of this great Truth which is revealed by the Gospel That Iesus Christ is a true and the only Mediator betwixt God and Man that by him Men may confidently draw near to God and hope for Acceptance St. Paul has asserted and endeavoured to make out in the former part of this Epistle and indeed he hath proved and made it most evident so that there can remain no doubt thereof except in those who obstruct their own Conviction not desiring to be convinc'd Now the proper and practical Improvement of this certain important and most desireable Truth is what you have in the Words of our Text For they contain an Exhortation to lay hold on this gracious Privilege and with all they shew us how and after what manner we should do it so as to obtain it I shall first speak to the Exhortation it self next of the Qualities here required of such as design to comply with the Exhortation and lastly make Application of all to the present business of the Sacrament To begin then with the Exhortation which is in these words Let us draw near To what or whom we should draw near is not here express'd but is to be gathered from what goeth before whereby we understand that it is God to whom we are here desired to draw near And seeing it is so by drawing near here cannot be meant any Motion of our Body towards God for as to his Glorious and Majestick Presence in the Heavens we cannot approach it though we would and as for his other Essential Presence neither can we avoid it though we would too for he fills both Heaven and Earth Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Or whither shall I flee from thy presence said David If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there If I make my bed in hell behold thou art there To draw near to God therefore is a metaphorical Speech and must be understood not of any natural Action of the Body but of some moral Action of the Soul viz. The Desires and Endeavours after Peace and Reconciliation with God For because those who are Enemies and at variance together use to keep a Distance and shun each other's Company therefore in Scripture they who never think of God take no Care to please him and those who make no Difficulty to offend him are said to be far from God and to go a whoring from him And on the other hand because those who lay aside their Enmity and are desirous to be made Friends usually meet and resort to one anothers Company therefore drawing near to God in the Scripture Language is put for the Inclination of our Souls toward him the seeking to have all manner of Enmity betwixt God and us quite removed and that a true firm Peace be made up with him Sin is the Cause and Occasion of that Enmity which is fallen out betwixt God and Man And one would have thought that all the Difficulties of Reconciliation with God should have been on his part That his Justice his Honour his Authority should have interposed and not only not suffered him to accept of Peace but also to have obliged him utterly to destroy those despicable silly Creatures who had the foolish Insolency to rebel against him and to counteract his Will and Pleasure But behold Jesus Christ hath removed all Difficulties on God's Part he hath found out means to satisfie the Justice and to salve the Honour and Authority of God though Man be not destroyed though his Sin be passed over and pardoned God's Wrath is pacified he now looks favourably upon Man and is willing to receive him into Favour and to renew a Covenant of Grace and Peace with him whereby he obligeth himself to deal with Man as if he had not sinned as if he had never rebelled against his Maker Now could it have been expected that such a gracious Offer should not have been readily embraced But which is unaccountable Man stands out and will not be reconciled to God God hath made great Condescension and Man will make none God wooes and intreats and Man draws back and runs away God calls and sends Message after Message and the other will not hear he stretcheth forth his Hands but no Man regardeth he waits but they will not come or draw near Thus each acts as 't were not his own part but what in all Appearance doth more properly belong to the other God acts as if he were in Man's stead and Man behaves himself as if he were in the Place of God for as if God were the poor the needy the inferiour and miserable Party he sues and humbles himself first and as if Man were an independent Sovereign and All-sufficient Being who needed no Aid from any he rejects all the Treaty and disdains this proffered Friendship O! Wonderful Condescension of God And O the Stupidity and Foolishness and Madness of Man What Words are sufficient to hold out either of these And how hard is it to determine which of the two is most astonishing Whether God's Behaviour towards Man in seeking him offering Pardon and Peace or Man's Behaviour towards God in refusing and slighting the same Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish People and unwise O ye sons of men how long will ye turn my glory
because I do not look upon them as matters of such moment in themselves or of such concernment to me But believing the Truth of the Gospel and knowing the importance of what is revealed therein I find it my duty to esteem it as my necessary Food and that it is as proper and necessary to refresh my Soul with serious and daily Meditations thereof as to give my Body those repasts which Nature daily calls for This made our Apostle desire to know nothing save Iesus Christ and him crucified and to say doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. And as such a Faith is required in all the Mysteries of the Gospel so more particularly in the Mystery of the Cross the Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ and that Satisfaction he has made thereby for Sin These we should have an Eye to all in our Addresses to God and more especially such solemn Addresses as those we are now to make For he who believes this relies thereon and by vertue thereof draws near to God does confess himself a great Sinner that it had been just for God to have damned him eternally that it is only for the sake of Christ he is saved and that the Wisdom and Mercy of God is highly to be magnified in finding out such excellent Means and Methods for the Salvation of Man and by such Acknowledgments the greatest Sinner endears himself to God and conciliates his Favour and Kindness But he who denies this or has no respect thereto when he draws near to God must either not own himself a Sinner or not think it necessary to satisfie God's Justice or to repair his Honour which is provoked and affronted by Sin or he must not believe that Jesus Christ hath done this for us and that he is the only Mediator betwixt God and Man but must fancy he can come to God by himself or through some other besides Christ and which soever of these perswasions he has he is so far from finding acceptance that he at once both exasperates God and provoketh him who had undertaken to make his Peace and who only could do it I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me therefore it 's said He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God Secondly I told you the Faith here required must also have a respect to our acceptance with God that is we must not only be firmly perswaded of God's Mercy and his good Will to save Sinners But that we our selves in particular shall find Grace in his Sight if we approach as we ought and bring no Impediment along with us and 't would seem the Translators of our Bible have chiefly respected this act of Faith in the Translation of this Text. Christ required of all those who came to him to be cured of their bodily Distempers Faith both in his Power and good Will And St. Matthew tells us He did no mighty works in his own countrey because of their unbelief St. Mark saith further that he could not do it Which we are not so to understand as if our Lord's Power could be restrained by any or that he depended upon Men for the exercise thereof but only that the want of this Faith rendred those Men unworthy of his Benefits and indisposed them for receiving them And as these temporal and bodily Benefits were not commonly conferred without this precious Faith so neither will spiritual and temporal Blessings as Mercy and Salvation be granted except to those who are disposed for them by earnest Desires and a sincere belief of God's being ready and willing to bestow them or at least if they be given to any other 't is not according to those ordinary Rules and Methods of the Dispensation of Grace which we ought to walk by For this Faith is always required as a necessary condition All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive saith Christ. And St. Iames saith Let not that man who wanteth Faith think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. This Faith is requisite both to animate our Endeavours after the means of Grace and Salvation and also to excite God's love and to encline him to be merciful to us 'T is natural to love those who put confidence in us and he has no spark of generosity who will not do his utmost for those who altogether rely on him if a Sinner can confide in God notwithstanding that he hath offended him if he throw himself at his Feet and can but believe that God has so much Mercy as to forgive him all his Sins and upon his Repentance to receive him into Favour for the sake of Christ He by this act so honoureth God and so obligeth him to Mercy by his trust in him that he will not he cannot abandon him This is set forth to us in the Parable of the Prodigal for when the Penitent Son was yet a great way off his Father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him And as this Faith enclines God to Mercy so it animates our Endeavours it excites and quickens us to a cheerful Performance of all the Means and Conditions of Salvation The Husbandman soweth when he has Hope and the Merchant Tradeth when he has Hope of Gain and every Man plyeth heartily what he believes will succeed but Men are discouraged and made to give over their Endeavours when they take up a Perswasion that they shall but labour in vain A double minded man saith St. Iames that is one who hangs in suspence who is tossed with Doubts and Fears he is unstable in all his ways Such an one is inconstant he pursues not his Enterprizes but desists he is not steadfast and unmoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord as every one ought to be and as he will be who knows and believes that his Labour is not in vain When therefore we draw near to God let us do it in this full Assurance of Faith that we may do it heartily so as to please God let us not entertain Doubts and Fears which but disquiet our own Minds and cast dishonour upon God Would not a Servant reflect either upon the Ability or Honesty of his Master if he questioned his Reward for the sincere Performance of his Service If ye who are evil and sinful think your selves oblig'd to love and be faithful to those who seek to please you will not God think you be more faithful and just to forgive us and to receive us into his Favour if we approve our selves unto him Is there any thing surer than his Word Are not
at any time prevail God will not condemn us They are innocent and clean according to the Gospel who inwardly hate and loath Sin and keep a continual War with it and who love Holiness and constantly aim and endeavour after it and he who is so clean inwardly will give an outward Manifestation and therefore it is added that we have In the last place our Bodies washed with pure water The former Clause as we have seen referred to the inner-Man and this relates to the outward Man for both must be made clean in the Sight of God We must cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of the flesh and spirit neither of them singly will do well God has united Spirit and Flesh together to make up one Person and therefore what God hath thus joined together ought not to be put asunder Our Minds and Spirits must ascend to God but the Body must not be left behind wallowing in the mire and filth of Sin and Uncleanness else the other will not speed they will not get Access unto God We ought to glorifie God both in Soul and Body for both are his therefore as under the Law Men were tied to frequent washing of their Body that they might be legally clean and fit to enter the Temple or approach the Altar from which they were debarred if they had any corporal Filthiness upon them or had touched any unclean thing so in Allusion to this the Apostle here exhorts us to purifie our Life and Actions to sanctifie our outward Conversation in the World by breaking off the Course of Sin and conforming our Words and Actions to the Word of God for that is like pure Water to cleanse us from all Spiritual Filthiness By what means saith David shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word Psal. cxix 9. Now until we be thus cleansed both inwardly and outwardly we are not fit to draw near to God nor throughly disposed for Reconciliation with him without holiness saith our Apostle no Man can see God There must be both outward and inward Holiness to render us worthy of Peace with God we must be endued with holy Minds and the Beauty of Holiness must appear in our Lives and Conversations and if the outward Man have not a holy Face and Countenance the inward Man is much to be suspected Scabs and Ulcers in the Skin betoken corrupt and impure blood in the Veins 'T is great Hypocrisie to pretend change of Heart when there is no Change of Life for Persons to say they are regenerate within when no Reformation appears without When Saul pretended a Performance of the Command which the Lord gave against Amalek Samuel said to him what meaneth then this bleating of the Sheep and the lowing of the Oxen which I hear For that was an Evidence against him So I would ask those who say their Heart is right they have a good Conscience towards God and yet walk in Sin what means their evil Speeches their Cursing and Swearing their Reviling and Backbiting their obscene Talk and immodest Behaviour Revellings and Drunkenness Injustice and dishonest Dealing Cruelty and doing Injury to others and the like Crimes For doth not our Saviour tell us that these proceed from the Heart He whose Heart is perfect and upright with God is always careful to do that which is good in his Sight 'T is true the beginnings of Conversion to God do not always visibly appear as the Recovery of the Body from Sickness is not at the first discernable to others But in Process of time a sincere Conversion will certainly manifest it self in the Life and Actions The path of the just is as the shining light which shines more and more unto the perfect day Men and Brethren Sin was the Cause why we were cast out of God's Favour and there is a Necessity of laying aside Sin before we can recover it Indeed Christ died to take away the Guilt of Sin but he has not taken away the intrinsick Evil of it that remains still he by his Death has made Sin pardonable but not allowable and therefore we must not continue the Servants of Sin We must quit a vain and wicked Conversation turn every one from his Iniquity die to Sin and live to God and yield our selves to be Instruments of Righteousness according to his Will and Pleasure and then we shall please him and he will greatly love us Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment relieve the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the Widow and then come saith the Lord though your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow though red like Crimson they shall be as Wool Isa. i. 16 c. Thus we have explained the Conditions of obtaining Reconciliation with God and if you please to make Reflections on them you will find them most just and reasonable and as easie as can be required God could not pass these without renversing the Order of Nature and laying aside his Holiness and Honour which was impossible nor could any Terms be more proper for Man nor better accommodated to the State and Condition of all If many expensive Sacrifices rich Gifts or Summs of Money had been required what would become of the poor who make the greatest part of the World But now neither the Rich are received upon the Account of their Riches nor the poor rejected for their Poverty But both the one and the other are accepted according to their Faith Repentance and Obedience Some there are who will not allow us this Privilege whatever we believe or practise because we are not of their Church But as the Italian Proverb is Better be condemned by ten Physicians than one Iudge So certainly it is better to be condemned by any Number or Quality of Men than to be condemn'd by the Word of God the Word of God you see condemns none who has the Qualifications in the Text but encourages them to draw near to God and gives them Assurance of Acceptance If then through the Grace of God we come to be so qualified in the Union and Communion of the Catholick Church we need not fear what they say who themselves are Schismaticks from the Catholick Church We have all the reasonable Assurance we can have of our Salvation we may be more sure of it than if we had the Pope's Bull for it a thousand Indulgences ten thousand Masses daily sung for us and all the Church treasure of Merits bestowed on us And if we lack this that will not cannot be compensated with Pilgrimages Processions Pennances Bowings Prostrations before Altars Crossings and Sprinklings with Holy Water nor yet the Absolution of Priests for as our Apostle saith bodily exercises profit little as to Salvation and by what hath been said you may understand that the Religion which recommends us to God must be
fighting the good fight and endeavouring to do all things commanded us through Christ that strengtheneth us More Reasons might be given but these are sufficient not only to clear the Divine Wisdom and Goodness of all Imputation but also to make them appear eminently in such Dispensations towards his best and most beloved Servants When I first entred on this Discourse I intended to have taken in the two following Verses not thinking that this one would have furnished matter enough for a Discourse but you see how far the handling of it hath carried us and how without digressing from the Purpose of the Text or doing Violence to the Words thereof several material and important Observations have been drawn From which we may see as St. Chrysostom observes the fullness of the Scripture and that an inexhaustible Treasure of Wisdom and Knowledge is contained in it when one single Verse and so barren at the first Appearance can afford so many and so useful Instructions If one Verse can do such what may the whole do Surely It is able to make us wise unto Salvation and beyond all Question is profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works God grant that this Word of his may dwell in all Christians richly in all Wisdom but especially in the Ministers of the Gospel whose Office it is to instruct others therein Amen FINIS Snake in the Grass A General Call to all Persons Joh. 5. 40. Isai. 55. 1. Rev. 22. 17. Why all Men are said to Labour and to be heavy Laden I. Because of Afflictions II. The Emptiness and Vanity of Life Ezek. 24. 〈◊〉 2. Isa. 29. 8. Eccl. 1. 5. 9. 2. 17. 4. 2 3. III. The fear of Death IV. Sin Psal. 38. 2. Prov. 18. 14. How Christ giveth rest I. From Sin Matt. 9. II. From the fear of Death Rev. 3. 7. III. Under the Vanity of this Life IV. From Troubles and Afflictions The necessary Qualification to the rest Promised I. Coming to Christ is 1st To follow his Counsel 2d To believe in him Heb. 11. 6. 2 Cor. 4. 3. Heb. 3. 12. 3d. What Faith is 1 John 5. 9. Chap. 2. 22 23. II. Taking the Yoke Gal. 5. 1. Gal. 5. 13. 1 Pet. 2. 16. III. Learning of Christ. John 13. 15. Phil. 2. I. The Scope and Coherence of the Text. II. The Truths contain'd in the Text. III. The perverse disingenuity of the Socinians in their Explication of this Text. 2 Pet. 2. 1. Hydra Socinianismi Tom. 2. Praef. * Naked Gospel IV. Of Iesus Christ his Pre-existence and Deity V. Of his humane Nature and Humiliation VI. Inferences from the Nature and Quality of Iesus Christ. 1st Admiration 2d Love III. Comfort against Tentations and Afflictions I. Of Iesus Christ his Person Nature and Quality Gal. 4. 4. Isa. 7. 14. 9. 6. II. His Actions and Sufferings They were voluntary Joh. 10. 17 18. What his Humiliation referrs to His great Obedience His Death III. Why Iesus abased and humbled himself For the Glory of God and Man's Redemption To demonstrate God's Love and Mercy His Iustice and Authority The heinous Nature of Sin The Dignity of Humane Nature The Perfection of it The Exaltation of Iesus Christ. Eccles. 7. 2 3 4. I. The Womens Behaviour A Comfort to Women An Example in dangerous times The Greatness of the Womens Sorrow The Cause of it Lam. 1. 12. II. Our Lord's Check to the Womens Sorrow The Prohibition not absolute The glorious Effects of Christ's Death III. Why Iesus Christ requireth us to mourn rather for our selves than him Is. 5. 3 4 5. IV. The dreadful Effects of the death of Iesus Christ upon the Impenitent Iesus may be Crucified again V. The Application I. The Author of our Happiness God Jam. 1. 16 17. God and the Father * Qui 〈◊〉 udam Dei Majestatem extra Christum mente concipiunt Idolum habent Dei loco sicut Iudaei Turcae proinde quisquis verum Deum verè cognoscere cupit hoc patris Christi titulo ipsum vestiat nisi enim quoties mens nostrae Deum quaerit Christus occurrat vaga confusa errabit donec prorsus deficiat Calvinus in locum II. The Motive which induced God His abundant Mercy * Posset Apostolus saith Fulgentius vasa misericordiae potius vasa justitiae nuncupare Sed si vasa justitiae vocarentur forsitan ex seipsis habere justitiam putarent Nunc autem cum vasa misericordiae dicit proculdubio quid ipsi fuerint non tacuit quare quid eis à Deo collatum sit evidenter ostendit Lib. de Praedest p. 58. III. The Benefits conferred Begotten again A lively Hope An Inheritance Incorruptible Undefiled It fadeth not away In the Heavens IV. The ground of Assurance Iesus his Resurrection I. Iesus Christ is the Son of God Philip. 2. 9. 10 11. II. What is meant by Having the Son True Faith described Matth. 7. 22. Cor. 10. 5. Gal. 2. 20. Heb. 11. Rom. 10. 17. 2 Cor. 4. 3. III. Life explained 1 Tim. 4. 8. 1 Cor. 15. 19. Why Heaven and the future State of the righteous is called Life 1. Cor. 15. 31. Mad. Antonia Borignian and some others 1 Cor. 2. 9. Revel 21. 23. 22. 5. Rev. 7. 16. 1 Cor. 15. Philip 3. 21. 1 Cor. 13. 12. Luke 19. 36. Iesus Christ the Discoverer of this Life 2 Tim. 1. 10. John 1. 7. And the Author of it Rev. 3. 7. Rev. 2. 10. IV. Faith gives a right and title to Life Joh. 5. 24. 3. 18. Joh. 6. 56. John 17. V. Practical Inferences 1. 2. Heb. 12. 2. Rom. 8. 18. 3. Rev. 2. 10. 4. I. Misery and Trouble not peculiar to a state of Christianity Job 18. 20. Isai. 57. 20. II. They are Common to the state of Mankind in this World Eccl. 4. 23. III. Christians and Good men more liable to be miserable in this Life than others And the Reason why it is so Mat. 10. 37. Luke 14. 26 27. 2 Tim. 3. 12. 1 Thes. 3. 3. 1 Tim. 4. 8. Psal. 37. 16. IV. The Force of St. Paul's Argument for the Proof of another Life V. Inferences First Second Third 1 Cor. 4. 16. Rev. 7. 16 17. Fourth Joh. 3. 36. I. All Christians are concerned in this Advertisement II. Of Hearing It s Necessity The manner of doing it Whom we should hear III. Of Overcoming Christianity is a Warfare The Nature of the Christian Warfare What Christian Victory is No Victory so honourable Prov. 16. 32. IV. Of the hidden Manna It is an Allusion to the Custom of entertaining Conquerours and to what the Iews fed upon in the Wilderness The Nature and Quality of the Entertainment appointed for Christian Conquerours Joh. 4. 13. Iesus Christ is the hidden Manna V. Of the white Stone Ovid Metam Lib. xv Psal. 32. 1. Rom. 8. 1. VI. Of the New Name VII How these words No man knoweth but he