Mankind and people in the World Thus St. Mathew useth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wo unto the World because of Offences Mat. 18.7 Yes thus our Saviour himself interpreted it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the World cannot hate you but me it hateth where is meant the People or Inhabitants of the world After the same manner Satan is frequently stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prince of the World because he rules and governs in the affections of men and enthrones himself in their hearts But indeed Expositors are various in their constructions thereof some translate it Sic Deus hominem dilexit God so loved the little World Man some hominem ad imaginem Dei factum Man made after the Image and Similitude of God others hominem lapsum et mundanum fall'n and worldly-minded-man all which Translations contribute to extoll and magnifie the wonderful Love of God For is it not worthy our admiration to see light and darkness enter a League To see the torrid and frigid Zone unite and embrace each other To see JEHOVAH and the Gods of EKRON the Ark and Dagon reconciled to see the God Israel and Baal meet together and the Prophets of the Lord and Sons of Belial kiss each other Yet all these was fall'n man compared to him who is nothing but purity it self yet still how does he court this depraved and sinful creature to a reconciliation Shall we not envy his honour and admire his love who will lay down his life for the sake of a righteous man shall we not then be rapt with wonder when we consider the Immensity of the Divine Love to laps'd man to see the eternal Son of the Most High God descend into the lower parts of the earth and in a manner embrace a Dunghil nay beyond that to expose and submit himself to the cruel stroke of the most ignominious death that he might snatch sinful man from a lamentable downfal and mount him from a miserable earth to the Regions of Immortality and Bliss Herein is love John 4.10 not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our sins O thou great and All-seeing eye of Heaven what moved thee to glance so favourable a countenance on us miserable sinners what moved thee to send so kind an Embassage of peace to us vile worms to us who were unworthy thy compassion though never so earnestly implor'd to us who had deserved thy wrath more than thy smiles thy Thunder and Lightning thy indignation and anger but not the least drop of thy mercy How comes it to pass thou inexhaustible Fountain of Love thou showr'st down thy goodness upon us in so plentiful a measure 't was thy mercy O God Oh! praised be that mercy which saved us from destruction 't was thy pity and compassion not our tenderness to thy Laws which sheltred us from thy fury 't was thy love and goodness alone Oh! for ever magnified be that love which induced thee to be so bountiful unto us with all thankfulness and reverence O God we desire to join with those Sons of Glory and bright Morning Stars in singing according to our abilitie and power Glory be to God on High for his unspeakable love in giving his only begotten Son that whosoever do believe on him should not perish but have eternal life for thou sent not thy Son into the World to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the Wonders which he doth for the Children of Men. Which is no more then Justice and our bounden duty to perform for if we consult what we are by nature what shall we conclude our selves but Children of wrath the finful Offpring of disobedient Adam made obnoxious to the worst of deaths before we were entituled to life by sinning against God without whose Reconciliation we cannot but perish For though it is true Man at his first creeping into the World was placed in the Regions of felicity and favoured as one of the Darlings of God yet was he not as quickly disobedient to the commands of his Creator how justly therefore was his Crown forfeited and he deprived of all that happiness God had conferred on him when he was banished Paradise and in the sweat of his brows to earn his bread And if he fell so did we by being in his Lovns for since the advantages of that blessing God promised him if obedient had respect to his Posterity then certainly the curse which was the consequence of his disobedience did not relate to his particular interest alone but was of universal influence and he propagated infection to the last and utmost of his Posterity From our First Parents therefore we derive a curse whose Legacy bequeathed us was sin and damnation and all Man-kind were Joynt-heirs of the same Inheritance the wrath of an incensed God Thus holy David confesseth it Ps 51.5 in sin did my Mother conceive me and in iniquity she brought me forth Now what had been the wages of this sin but eternal death what had been the fruit which they plucked from the Forbidden Tree in the disguise of an Apple but everlasting ruine had not the wonderful mercy of God found out an expedient to salve his Justice and save us For had he not dealt thus graciously with his Creatures what could we have in reason expected but to have been swept away in the Deluge of Divine indignation that he should have dipt his Arrow in the Poyson of that Serpent which gull'd and mocked us and exhaust were it possible his whole Magazine of Thunderbolts that he should have girded his Sword upon his Thigh and take Vengeance upon us making us to suck the Lees and dreggs of that intollerable potion reserved for the Sons of Perdition This was the fruit flourishing on the Tree of Knowledge this was that miserable plight and woful condition into which we had brought our selves we had deserved the worst of Gods fury by breaking our bands and Covenant with him Stand still therefore all ye that forget God and admire his goodness and tell me if there be any God like unto our God or any Father like unto our heavenly Father who forbore to enter into the Armory of his wrath or to affright us with the furrows of a contracted brow for notwithstanding we were born Heirs Apparent to calamity without end yet loe he sent his only begotten Son to cut off the entail We have sinned O Lord and dealt wickedly but this Lamb of thine what hath he done that he should be thus battered and bruised wounded and bloudy to save us from the Stripes we had justly deserved how great was thy love to us to send him who was in Heaven with thee to us on earth in the likeness of sinful flesh Oh! what charming love was this how pretious are the thoughts of it to us Grant then O
only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have ever lasting life SUCH was the unexpressible goodness of God Heb. 1.1 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having in many parcels and in divers manners as the Apostle phraseth it revealed to men the things to come sometimes by Visions and Dreams as he frequently appeared unto Abraham and Jacob sometimes by the coming of his Spirit upon the Prophets 2 Pet. 1.21 for St. Peter informs us how holy men of God spake as they were taught being moved by the Spirit of the Holy-Ghost such were Isaiah Jeremiah and others sometimes by dispatching unto us those immaterial Embassadors of his the Holy and Blessed Angels on their Embassies of love to mankind that he might reconcile them unto himself and at last bring them to Glory But in this latter Age of the World he hath spoken unto us by his Son he hath vouchsafed a mercy of such a quality and noble extent it cannot but incite the most dull and fordid spirit to a pious commemoration of the Nativity of this Mediator betwixt God and Man especially if we reflect on our own unworthiness the nobility of the Person or on this as the only means for lapsed Mans recovery to his Primitive nay to a better state of happiness then that which our First Parents enjoyed Upon which account our Holy Mother the Church hath appointed this day for that solemn purpose that all devout Christians should meet together to celebrate the Birth of our Redeemer and to return our praises and thanksgivings to God for his unspeakable love to Mankind in sending his Eternal Son to assume our nature and to teach and give examples of holy life and at last to die for them rise again and ascend to Heaven All on this one design that every person in the World that shall receive and obey him shall be rescued from eternal death and then made partaker of everlasting life For this gift of his only begotten Son is a mercy of such a weight that we cannot sufficiently admire and esteem it We with the Husband-men in the Parable did evilly entreat the other Messengers he before sent unto us He now therefore sends us his Son saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they will reverence my Son Amongst the constellation of all the Glorious Attributes of God none shine with a more Orient Lustre than that of his Mercy This is his Benjamin in which he takes the greatest pleasures and most refined delight Insomuch that he would not manifest himself unto us in the Thunder-claps and Lightning-flashes of Mount Sinai but in the Mount of Olives a Mount of peace and sweetness for he so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that every one believing on him and receiving him should not perish but have everlasting life In which words I consider First The impulsive or efficient cause of Mans Redemption the love of God God so loved Secondly the persons to whom he express'd this love the World God so loved the World Thirdly The Instrument or Person by whom this Reconciliation was wrought the only Begotten Son Lastly The end or design of this Gift that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have life everlasting We begin with the First The word God is variously taken in Holy-Writ Exod. 22.28 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abusively when it is attributed to Angels or Men. to express the grandeur and dignity of their office and place thus it is used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou shalt not revile the Gods So again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is a Judge amongct the Gods Ps 82.1 v. 6. ib. and so again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have said ye are Gods Sometimes the word is used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 falsly when they are erroneously stiled by this name and reputed as God as the Heathen Idols who were the Workmanship of men and thus it is used by Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Turn ye not unto Idols Levit. 19.4 nor make to your selves Molten Gods and so likewise by holy David Psalm 96 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For all the Gods of the Heathens are Idols but it is the Lord who made the Heavens But the word God is taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a true and right sense when it is either used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the whole Sacred Trinity as that of St. John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 4.24 God is a Spirit and so again by St. Paul Rom. 8.31 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If God be for us who can be against us Where is not meant any particular single Person but the Whole Trinity or Three Persons together And so when it is used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when one only of the Divine Persons are signified and St. Paul useth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord and so again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 17.3 This is life eternal that they know thee the Only True God and whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ Acts 20.21 Where by the word God is not meant all the Three but only the first Person the Father So also St. Luke useth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Church of God which he hath purchased by his own bloud So again by St. John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God manifested in the Flesh in both which places is only meant the Second Person the Son So also St. Luke use it in another place only to signifie the Holy-Ghost Acts 5.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast not lied unto Men but unto God By the word God in the Text is chiefly understood the Father for though it may be applyed to all the three Persons yet because God the Father is the Fountain of action he is most properly understood by this term both in this and also in some other places of Scripture as that of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 4.4 When the Fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law Rom. 8.3 and so again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God sending his own Son in the likeness of Sinful Fiesh Nay Our Saviour himself was so far from a scribing this action solely to himself that he doth not disown his mission that he received his authority from his Father to come into the World and save Sinners Thus you may may hear him declaring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am not come of my self but he that sent me is true John 7.28 whom ye know not And thus you have had the various readings of the word GOD in sacred History and the definition according to St. John is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is love and what Justice is it for all men to conclude the same For our Creation was an act of the Almightys which proceeded not from any constraint and tye
the never-dying Worm to feed upon How well therefore is it stiled a Mistery that a God most perfect in himself who stood in no need or want should love so forlorn a Creature by reason of his sin at such vast and great distances from him who could do him small service and stand him in little stead Yet still this immense Being hath out of his Infinite Bounty given us the dear production of himself coeternal consubstantial and equal to the Father in respect of his God-head though inferiour to the Father as touching his Man-hood God and Man a Problem whose solution puzzleth all the Reason humanity possesseth a Riddle which cannot be unfolded but by Faith Did we not behold it through that Perspective but employ our reason to consider it we should as soon conclude to the Suns Union with a Clod or a Thoughts Corporeity as to believe immortality incarnate spirituality turn'd body and the infinite Ocean of goodness in so small a Vessel The composure of the World and the variety of Creatures was the effect of an Almighty Power that Man should be made after the Image of God wonderful enough but that God should be made like Man is much more admirable 'T was a greater demonstration of his Omnipotency that God should be made a like Creature than his formation of all Creatures Immortality put on Mortality and Incorruption dressed in the garments of Corruption We read that the Ark of the Covenant was overlaid with Gold whilst Shittim wood was in the midst which was to Typifie Christs Humanity decked and adorned with his God-head A Mystery so fruitful in Miracles that natural Reason cannot comprehend them Nature was stopt as to the result of an humane subsistence in whose place was intimately applyed the Personality of the Divine Word and this infinite subsistence was adorned with graces virtues and privileges superiment Dost thou wonder to see the Sea divided and stand upon an heap come here then and admire this boundless Ocean contained in the narrow Vessel of a Virgins Body Dost thou wonder to see the Bush in the midst of hungry Fire and not consumed behold a Virgin the Mother of a Son and yet her Virginity spotless and undefiled Dost thou wonder to see a Moses preserved in a Cradle of Bull-rushes behold the King of Heaven in a Manger Was it strange to see the Sun go back on the Dial of Ahaz how marvellous then is it to see the true Sun Light of very Light under a small cloud and the most glorious Candle of Heaven put under a Bushel Dost thou wonder the Bread of Life became Flesh look into the Sacrament of his Supper and see how he can turn his Body and Bloud into Bread and Wine to nourish the Souls of Men Dost thou wonder at the Wisdom of Solomon lo a greater than Solomon is here How did the Wisdom of God become foolishness for us and the Word it self speechless And He who is our God is He not also our Brother Rouze up thy self then O my dull and sordid soul mount up thy self even to the Heavens above slighting the things of the World as dross and dung if compar'd with the honourable Title of being the Son of God Many an express had been sent unto us from the Court of Heaven by those winged Embassadours the Angels But Oh infinite mercy He now sends his Legat à latere his Son from his bosom expecting he would be more honourably treated by us But alas how did we entertain him 'T is true he had his brows encircled with a Crown but it was of Thorns 'T is true he was a King but annointed with his own bloud or as the Evangelical Prophet stiles him a King of sorrows 'T is true he had a Purple Robe but it was of derision 'T is true he had a Bed-chamber but it was a Stable 't is true he had a Cradle but it was a Manger to compleat the saying which was written The Oxe lodged with his owner and the Ass and the Master were content with the same Crib Was he an Isaac a Son of Laughter or rather vir dolorum a man of griefs Was he clothed in his dress of Majesty or did he disguise himself in Purples and Furrs that he might enjoy ease and govern all the Nations of the Earth or rather was he not clothed with shame and dishonour Did not Heav'n nay the God of Heav'n descend to Earth that Earth might ascend to Heaven Thy Fore-head was furrowed with Thorns O blessed Jesu yet thou wouldst not frown We did chain those Arms which thou didst stretch forth to embrace thy Enemies and those who continually provoke thee to wrath thy Bowels of tender compassion yearned towards them who were ready to rake into thine with their bloudy hands Oh! most compassionate Son of the most merciful Father What shall we render unto thee for all thy mercies How shall we pay our acknowledgements whom shall we love to whom shall we resign our Wills and ways but unto thee and the Father of mercies who hath not thought the gift of his Son too great to confer upon us Oh blessed Incarnation oh happy day never will we forget thee but entirely devote our selves to his service and worship who hath this day called us to be his Son by adoption settle our affections and confirm us in this our resolution that by the influence of thy Holy Spirit we may obtain the end and purpose of thy Incarnation everlasting Which is the last to be considered And the words are easie to be understood for by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is meant whosoever shall receive and obey the doctrine of his Gospel and frame his life according to the rules thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall not perish but be rescued from eternal death and made partaker of eternal life but on the contrary if we disown him and reject his rules we shall receive no benefits by the merits of his death and Passion for though Heaven should become a desart yet he will not people it with persons refractory and disobedient but the sentence of the first Curse shall not be repealed but still hold valid and of force for if they will work their own destruction by refusing to lay hold on Christ this inconveniency happens unto them not from the inefficacy of Christs satisfaction or a defect of his commiseration 2 Pet. 2.1 and goodness towards his Creatures but from their own default because as the Apostle speaks they deny him by whom they were bought He purchased the souls of the whole World but if they will not accept of such a Ransom by believing on him and regulating their wills by his will they may be damned though he was offered up a Sacrifice for them thus the Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 8.11 thy Brother perish for whom Christ died For he died for all yet those only receive the priviledges thereof who believe on him by their obedience to his word For though