Liberty of the Sons of God By dying he destroyed him that had the Power of Death and triumphed over Principalities and Powers on the Cross. We have Freedom of Pardon and of Grace and the natural and necessary Consequence is that we cheerfully serve him that set us free This is expressed by Zacharias in his divine Thansgiving that being delivered from the Hands of our Enemies we might serve him withour Fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the Days of our Lives In what a holy Extasy does the Psalmist break forth O Lord truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant and the Son of thy Handmaid thou hast broken my Bonds Yet this was but the rescuing of him from some temporal imminent Danger How much dearer and stronger Ingagements bind us to serve our Redeemer who has freed us from the Power as well as Punishment of Sin Love should correspond with Love As Love descends in Favours and Benefits it should ascend in Thankfulness and Duty St. Paul had such a lively apprehension of our Saviour's Love that it had an absolute Empire in his Heart and Life he expresses it in the most significant manner The Love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again The Word constraineth signifies properly to be intirely under the Power of another As the Prophets inspired by the Spirit of God only spake and acted according to his extraordinary Motions in them Thus the Love of Christ had such an absolute Empire in his Heart that his whole Life was spent as a vowed Oblation to his Service and Glory And whoever does not live a spiritual Life as the Servant of Christ never yet felt the Misery of this Bondage of Sin nor the sweetness of that Liberty which the Son of God has purchased for his People Lastly We are the Servants of Christ by solemn Covenant and the most sacred Ingagement In the Covenant of Grace God and Man are the Parties And such was his condescending Love that he came down from Heaven and assumed our Nature on purpose to seal his part in his own Blood the Promise of his pardoning Mercy of his sanctifying Spirit and his rewarding Goodness to all that with unfeigned Consent and firm Resolution will seal the Counterpart of their Duty and Obedience to him We are entred into his Family and the Relation of his Servants in Baptism and vowed universal Obedience to our new Master in defiance of all Temptations whether inviting or terrifying in the World For this reason Baptism is called the Answer of a good Conscience towards God We wear his Colours are distinguished from the Heathens by the Title of Christians We ratify in a most solemn manner our Covenant by the Seal of the Lord's Supper wherein we sacramentally eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Now from hence arises a new Obligation to serve Christ He had a Soveraign Right in us antecedently to our dedicating our selves to his Service but from our voluntary Consent accrues another Title whereby he claims our perpetual Service The Law of God binds us without our Consent but our Consent increases the Obligation and if we are careless of our Duty and desert his Service we break double Bonds and are guilty not only of Disobedience to the Law but of perfidious Violation of our Covenant 'T is observable in the Parable of the Talents they were committed to Servants from whence a double Obligation springs to employ them with intire Fidelity for the Master's Profit A Merchant sends Goods to his Correspondent who is bound to make faithful returns upon the account of commutative Justice that reaches all but a Servant is under a special Obligation and if he wasts or neglects the improving his Master's Goods he does not only break this Trust reposed in him but violates the Duty of a Servant that obliges him to manage them according to his Master's Will and for his Profit The Account will be particular and exact for all our Talents at the last None so high that shall be excused none so mean that shall escape that strict Inquiry For he that knows all things shall be our Judg. The Servant that had but one Talent was called to account for it and condemned for neglecting to improve it He pretended that he hid it out of caution lest it should be lost knowing his Master's Severity but his vain excuse was retorted upon him to aggravate his Sin and Sentence Cast the unprofitable Servant into outer Darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth A Judgment as righteous as terrible For the Guilt of his Rebellion in not using his Talent according to his Master's Order and Unthankfulness in despising his Gifts and an unrighteous depriving of others of that Benefit that was by the Master's Will due to them 3. We are to consider the final Reward of Christ's Servants under two Heads 1. The Order of the Reward 2. The Excellency of it 1. The Order in giving it after the Service of Christ faithfully and constantly performed 'T is the revealed Will of God that all Men should honour the Son as they honour the Father The Son is the Heir of his Love and Glory and in serving him the Father is honoured and obeyed And as our Saviour reigns eternally in Heaven after the finishing his Work injoyned him by the Father so according to his Example we receive the Crown of Life after the course of our Obedience This is the Tenor of the Promise To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father in his Throne The Order in dispensing the blessed Reward does not in the least eclipse the Honour of God's Grace or afford the least shadow of presuming upon any Merit in our best Services The Wages of Sin is Death 't is the just Desert of it but the Gift of God is eternal Life in Jesus Christ our Lord. The eternal Election of Persons to Life the preparing of them by sanctifying Grace for Glory and the actual possession of it is from the most free Favour of God Election is the first Fountain of Water springing up to eternal Life For what could induce God when all Mankind was equally involved in Guilt and Misery to choose some to be Vessels of Grace and of Glory but his soveraign Pleasure and pure Grace The Elect were in the Eye and Heart of God from Eternity appointed to supernatural Happiness but that free and insuperable Decree is accomplished according to the Law of Faith the unchangeable Order of the Gospel and that is that Heaven shall be the Reward of the faithful Servants of Christ not for the true Desert of their Service but the most gracious and rich Bounty of God The
the pure Possibility of Being without the giving actual Being to us The natural Law that shines in the Minds of Men in the Knowledg of what is just and good and in the Conscience of what is evil binds them with the deepest Humility to acknowledg the Greatness and Goodness of our Creator and in the sense of this first and fundamental Benefit to consecrate our selves for ever to his Service 2. We are his Servants not only upon the general Title of Creation but in a more peculiar manner by Redemption Man by his Disobedience was fallen into a woful Bondage his Guilt subjected him to the threatning that contained two Deaths in one Sentence the temporal and present of the Body and the eternal of the Soul The righteous Judg of the the World whose Law was broken required an honourable Reparation of it the most costly Sacrifices of Beasts a Sea of Blood could never atone his Displeasure Nay the Obedience and Sufferings of Men and Angels were of no value to satisfy his injured Justice Thus Mankind was desperately lost our Ruines if I may so speak were sowed with Salt we were concluded under his most righteous and fearful Wrath If the Love and Wisdom of God had not accorded to find out that astonishing expedient of uniting the eternal Son of God with the human Nature in one Person that as Man he might voluntarily submit to bloody Sufferings and as God give an infinite Merit and Value to them and thereby purchase our Redemption This is accomplished by Jesus Christ The Lord laid on him the Iniquity of us all he gave his Life a ransom for us From hence a new Right springs of his Dominion over us as the Apostle invincibly argues Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your Bodies and in your Spirit which are God's The naked representing of this to the serious Mind must awaken a dear Sense of our Obligations to our Saviour but if we solemnly and deliberately contemplate this amazing Benefit out of what Rock is the Heart framed that is not soften'd and melted in Love and Obedience to our Blessed Redeemer To heighten the Sense of our Obligations Consider 1. A more excellent Goodness is visible in the redeeming Man than in creating the Angels upon the account of the distance of the Terms and the Difficulty of the way to effect it In the Creation of Angels Goodness was rich indeed there being no Possibility of desert in pure nothing but it was simply free whereas in our Salvation it is merciful beyond all Imagination for by our Rebellion we were justly fallen under the Wrath of God Their Creation was without the least strain of his Power He spake and it was done But there was a legal Bar against our Restitution To remove it his Son endured the Curse of the Law for us and bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree Divine Love in our Redemption not only exceeds what was shewed in the Creation of Angels but is admirably illustrated by a higher comparison For the Father seemed to love us above his only begotten Son whom he spared not but delivered him up for us all and the Son loved us above his Life which he laid down for us 2. By the way of our Redemption he has infinitely honoured our Nature that was so vilified by the Fall Man whose Soul was an immortal Spirit stamped with the lively Image of God capable of everlasting Communion with him in Glory was sold for nought Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be very desolate That Man who had the two great Lights of Natural Reason and Divine Faith should prefer the pleasing an irregular Appetite before the Favour of God and for a vain Fancy lose the most substantial Happiness Thus Man being in Honour and understood not became like the Beasts that perish nay viler than the Earth And all the Children of Adam sin according to the Similitude of his first Transgression O the cheap Damnation of Sinners For transient Pleasures and mean Profits they venture upon eternal Death This guilty and woful Folly not only defiles but debases Men to Hell Now the Lord of Life and Glory by suffering an ignominious Death for us has with the clearest evidence discovered the true Worth of Souls That they are precious beyond comparison since the whole World is not a valuable Compensation for them We are not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without spot and blemish That sacred Treasure of Heaven that was laid down for us exceedingly increases our Obligations to the Blessed Redeemer 3. By giving himself for us he has not only freed us from the Wrath of God but restored us to his dearest Favour We are translated from the fearful State of being God's Enemies into the amiable joyful State of his Children And consequently our Redeemer has purchased for us not only Salvation from Hell but eternal Glory a Life more divine and durable than the natural Life in Paradise How can we seriously think of this transcendent Benefit without a rapture of Affection He infinitely deserves our Love and Service who has bought us with so dear a price and purchased for us a glorious and incorruptible Inheritance 3. We are his Servants by his Deliverance of us from our Spiritual Enemies Satan Sin and Death Since the Devil obtained a woful Victory over us in the Fall of Adam great was the Triumph of Hell And though he be an Usurper of God's Right which could never be extinguished yet by our Overthrow he has a kind of a Title to us and keeps us as the Spoils of his Victory And having revolted from God we are justly though miserably under the Powers of Darkness We are chained in the lowest and the vilest Bondage The Soul and Body are under his tyrannous Dominion and suffer the deepest Wounds of Infamy and Cruelty He fetters our Minds with dangerous Delusions our Wills with divers Lusts and Passions and leads Men Captives in the ways of Sin till they fall into Hell the Centre of Misery Now as in redeeming a Captive there must be the paying the Ransom and the breaking his Chains that he may be restored to Liberty So besides the Price that was payed to God the Supreme Judg for our Discharge our Saviour has broken our Chains he by the sanctifying Spirit dispels the Darkness of our Minds softens the Hardness of our Hearts subdues the Rebellion of our Wills rectifies the Disorder of our Affections that we may be freed from the Domion of Sin as well as from the Obligation and Terrors of the Law He has broken the Powers of Darkness that conspired to keep us fast in the Intanglements of our Iniquities he has freed us from the spiritual Pharaoh and his cruel Task-Masters the imperious violent Lusts that are seated in the Heart and restores us to the glorious
mighty Influence upon those about them Now the Deportment and Expressions of this Servant of Christ in his long languishing Condition were so holy and heavenly that though his Life has been very useful yet he more glorified God dying than living When he was summoned by painful Sickness his first Work was to yield himself with resigned Submission to the Will of God When a dear Friend of his first visited him he said I am in the use of Means but I think my appointed time is come that I must dye If my Life might be serviceable to convert or build up one Soul I should be content to live but if God hath no work for me to do here I am let him do with me as he pleaseth But to be with Christ is best of all Another time he told the same Person That now it was visible it was a determined case God would not hear the Prayer to bless the means of his Recovery therefore desired his Friend to be willing to resign him to God saying It will not be long before we meet in Heaven never to part more and there we shall be perfectly happy there neither your Doubts and Fears nor my Pains and Sorrows shall follow us nor our Sins which is best of all After a long continuance in his languishing Condition without any sensible Alteration being asked how he did he replied I lie here but get no ground for Heaven or Earth Upon which one said Yes in your Preparations for Heaven O yes said he there I sensibly get ground I bless God An humble Submission to the Divine Pleasure was the habitual Frame of his Soul Like a Dye that thrown high or low always falls upon its Square thus whethe hope of his Recovery were raised or sunk he was content in every Dispensation of Providence His Patience under sharp and continuing Pains was admirable The most difficult part of a Christian's Duty the sublimest degree of Holiness upon Earth is to bear tormenting Pains with a meek and quiet Spirit Then Faith is made perfect in Works and this was eminently verified in his long Trial. His Pains were very severe proceeding from a cancerous Humour that spread it self in his Joynts and preyed upon the tenderest Membranes the most sensible Parts yet his Patience was invincible How many restless Nights did he pass through without the least murmuring or Reluctancy of Spirit He patiently suffered very grievous things through Christ that strengthned him and in his most afflicted Condition was thankful But what Disease or Death could disturb the blessed Composure of his Soul which was kept by the Peace of God that passes all Vnderstanding Such was the Divine Mercy he had no Anxieties about his future State but a comfortable Assurance of the favour of God and his Title to the Eternal Inheritance He had a substantial double Joy in the reflection upon his Life spent in the faithful Service of Christ and the Prospect of a blessed Eternity ready to receive him This made him long to be above He said with some Regret Death flies from me I make no haste to my Father's House But the wise and gracious God having tried his faithful Servant gave him the Crown of Life which he hath promised to those that love him His Body that poor Relick of Frailty is committed in trust to the Grave His Soul sees the Face of God in Righteousness and is satisfied with his Likeness The Hope of this should allay the Sorrows of his dearest Friends When the Persons we love and have lived with are to be absent a few Months it is grievous but at the last lamenting Separation all the Springs of our tender Affections are opened and Sorrows are ready to overwhelm us But the stedfast Belief of the Divine World and that our Friends are safely arrived thither is able to support our fainting Spirits and refresh all our Sorrows The truth is we have reason to lay to heart the Displeasure of God and our own Loss when his faithful Ministers are taken away When the Holy Lights of Heaven are Eclips'd it portends sad Things When the Saints are removed from Earth to Heaven their Souls freed from the interposition of their dark Bodies they truly live but we that remain dye being deprived of their Holy Lives their Examples that are a preservative from the Contagion of the World A due Sense of God's afflicting Providence is becoming us But always allayed with hope of our being shortly reunited with our dearest Friends for ever in the better World O that our serious Preparations our lively Hopes and the Presence of the great Comforter in our Souls may encourage us most willingly to leave this lower World so full of Temptations and Trouble to ascend into the World Above where perfect Peace full Joy and the most excellent Glory are in Conjunction for ever FINIS Rom. 12.11 Luke 1.74 75. Et si adhuc viliorum materiarum obtulisses fecisset quod ex illa fieri optimum possit Sic sapiens virtutem si licebit in divitiis explicabit si minus in exilio Quamcunque fortunam acceperit aliquid ex illa memorabile efficiet Senec. Ep. 78. Tit. 2. Rom. 13. Acts 26.18 Col. 1.12 Rom. 1. Phil. 1. 2 Tim. 2.14 Mat. 13.52 Mat. 24.45 1 Tim. 4.14 15. Cui ideo reor veteres pagani tam speciosae appellationis titulum dederunt ut quia in eo non erat numen vel nomen esset Et quia non habebat aliquam ex potestate virtutem haberet saltem ex vocabulo divinitatem Salv. de Provid l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippoc. Aphor. Lib. 6. 2 Tim. 4.1 2. Col. 1.28 Acts 20.24 Miser ego semper aeger caloribus impatientiae Confiteor ad Dominum Deum satis temere me si non etiam impudenter de patientia componere ausum cui praestandae idoneus omnino non sim. Esa. 44.12 Psal. 103. Dan. 9. Psal. 118.181 Idoneus sui operis aestimator magno pretio nos redemit Arnob. Luke 11.21 Acts 18.5 1 Pet. 3.12 Rev. 3.21 Deut. 7.8 Col. 3. Nam ut mens per diem veris visionibus avocatur ne dormiat ita falsis nocte ne excitetur Lactant. de Opific Dei c. 18. Quae in ipsis visceribus medicaments epotis Originem futuri hominis extinguunt paricidium faciant antequam pariant Minus Fel. 1 King 2.38 Jussisti Domino sic est ut poena sit sibi omnis inordinatus animus Aug.
shines in Glory that infinitely exceeds all the most solemn and magnificent Representations of Earthly Majesty all the Trophies and Triumphs of the most famous Conquerors To raise our Thoughts by a distinct Comparison of them consider The Glory of Saints is substantial and solid 't is inherent in them The Apostle says 'T is a Glory that shall be revealed in us A plenary Infusion of all glorious Endowments both in Soul and Body shall conform us to the Son of God The Glory of this World is but an aiery Opinion a verbal Sound without Substance empty Titles external Appearance and confers no real Dignity to the Person that receives it There is no Greatness in worldly Honour 'T is Fancy heightens some by comparison with those that are below them But Heaven is the Kingdom of true Glory and every Saint there is truly glorious The Psalmist declares God's Judgment of all the Honour and Prosperity of the World As a Dream when one awakes so O Lord when thou awakest thou wilt destroy their Image They are painted Shadows splendid Toyes What difference there is between the clear and sound Judgment of a Person throughly awake and the vain fugitive Fancies of one that dreams there is and much more between the swelling Images of Worldly Honour and the real Heavenly Honour of the Saints The Heavenly Glory brings entire Satisfaction As for me saith David I will behold thy Face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy Likeness When the Morning of Glory arises and the Soul awakes from the heavy Eye-Lids of Flesh and sees the King of Spirits in his Beauty and the Impression of the Divine Excellencies conspicuous in it self what a joyful Satisfaction as sweet as Life is diffused through all its Powers What a Heavenly Sabbath composes all its vast and restless Desires The Glorified Saint sings with the Psalmist Return to thy Rest O my Soul for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee But how unsatisfactory is all secular Greatness and Honour Of this we have the fullest Testimony from some who ascended to the top of Worldly Glory Solomon whose calm and flourishing State was scarce ever parallel'd yet declares that all was Vanity And the Roman Triumphs wherein the World was represented in its highest Glory was but an empty Shew Vespasian the Emperor in his triumphant way often reflected upon his Folly in being induc'd to suffer such a tedious Vanity 'T is true the dreaming Minds of Men are deceived with vain complacence in it for a while and this makes them unwilling to be convinc'd of their foolish prizing it yet they cannot find any solid true Satisfaction They are charm'd with a superficial Pleasure that cannot reach to the Center of the Soul To sum up all The Honour of the Servants of Christ is Eternal They will shine like the Stars that never faint in their Watches and Influences with a durable Glory But the Glory of this World like a blaze in Straw presently vanishes Not one Ray of secular Glory shall enlighten the highest Monarchs in the shady Valley of Death nor in the Regions of Darkness beyond it The proper and main use of what has been spoken is 1. To direct our Ambitious Desires and Endeavours to seek Heavenly Honour Nature has instilled the Desire of Praise and Glory And this is like some Plants that in their native Soil have a poysonous Quality but transplanted into another Soil and Climate are not only innocent but healthful Pride ruines both Worlds The Angels were expelled from Heaven and Adam from Paradise for their Pride And ever since 't is a seminal Sin productive of innumerable Evils and Mischiefs Pride of Life is one of the great Corrupters in the World 'T is the cause of Envy and Emulation Of Envy that would degrade those that are above of Emulation that urges those who are below by any guilty means to ascend higher 'T is one of the great Destroyers of Men here and hereafter The Affectation of the Praise of Men makes so many ashamed of the Gospel of Christ of owning its Truths or subjecting themselves to its pure Rules This Account is given of the Infidelity of some in our Saviour's time they sought the Honour of Men and not the Honour that comes from God only But let the Desire of Glory be consecrated let our Aspirings be transported to a new and heavenly Object to the Incorruptible Crown and 't is a Saintly Ambition becoming the Breast of a Christian. The changing of the Object will be an excellent means to rectify our inordinate Desire of Honour of what is pompous and specious in this World There is some Resemblance in curing the Diseases of the Mind and those of the Body A Disease is not only cured by what is manifestly contrary but sometimes by what seems like to it yet has a secret Contrariety The feverish Heat is not only spent by cooling Julips but by Cordials that fortifie the natural Heat that consumes those Humours that are the inflamable Matter which foments the Fever Thus the sensual Desire of worldly Honour is extinguished by a pure Aethereal Affection the Desire of that Honour that comes from the God of Glory who is the absolute and eternal Fountain of Honour 2. Let us be effectually excited our selves to choose Christ for our Master and devote our selves to his Service for ever Tho his Dominion is Supreme and his Right in us unalienable yet he will be glorified by our free Obedience Our Resolution and Consent to serve him that it may be acceptable must be deliberate intire and everlasting 1. Deliberate from the Conviction and Sense of our Duty and Interest For the Ignorance and Deception of the Mind the suddain Surprisal of the Will is contrary to that clear Consent that is requisite to establish a Covenant There is a Competition between the Son of God and the God of this World who shall reign over us One we must serve 't is therefore our highest Wisdom to choose a gracious Master and most just to serve him who by full Right may claim due Service If with free Judgment we ponder things if our carnal Senses and Passions have not the decisive Vote we shall readily yield our selves to Christ who by so many dear Titles has a Right in us For to this end Christ dyed and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living He is the true Vine that left his Sweetness the good Olive that left his Fatness to reign over us and shall we choose the Bramble to domineer He requires our Service not for his Profit but that his Love and Bounty may take a rise to reward us But Satan will torment them most who are most obsequious to him And what Charm what Impression upon the human mind can induce us to prefer a Murderer before our Saviour 2. Our Consent must be intire without exception against any of his Laws or his Providential