tho' joyn'd in one Person with the Godhead Submit No it provok'd their Contempt their Hatred Rage and Madness against Man and this carrying them still farther from the Sight and Participation of Love consequently Remov'd them far away from the sight of God who is Love 1 John iv 8. And that is the proper definition of Sin and Hell and Misery for Sin and Hell are in Effect the same there is Hell that is Misery involv'd in the Nature of every Sin because all Sin consists in our withdrawing our selves from God who is Happiness Essential and in his Absence only is any Misery or Vnhappiness And consequently the farther we Remove from Him the Greater is our Misery This frees Us from an Objection how God who is all Love can be a Consuming Fire and Inflict Hell For Hell is the Natural Product of Sin But that it proceeds from God is so Untrue that it can only be where He is not But God is every where He is in Hell That is He comprehends Hell and Understands the Nature of it for that is the Seeing of a Spirit or the Manner of its being Present But Hell does not see Him that is Understand His Nature aright which is the Original of Pride and is the being Absent from God and therein Consists their Misery Can Love be said properly to Inflict those Torments which proceed only from the want of Love Or does the Straightness of a Rule Cause the Crookedness of that Line which will not keep to the Rule He that hides his Adultery or his Murder in a Cave may as justly Curse the Sun for the Darkness and the Damps which he Endures as the wicked Blaspheme the God of Love for the Envy and Malice and Vexation which attend upon their Pride Let Us be Judge by our Selves whence do the Terrors of Conscience proceed They proceed from the Sense of Good we have Omitted It is not then the Good which causes those Terrors but on the Contrary the Omitting of that Good The Nature of Love like that of Fire converts every thing into its Self But a Proud Spirit even from thence will draw Arguments of Envy and afflict its Self but this proceeds not from the Nature of Love but from the Nature of Pride therefore Pride in its own Nature is Miserable and Love is always Victorius If any say how is it that Love overcomes Pride after what Manner Let him observe how Light overpowers the Darkness without Noise but Irresistably And the Grosser the Darkness is the Greater does appear the Power of the Light and its Extent the Greater As Death gives place to Life and Truth prevails against Error with such Arms does Love fight against Pride Love is Light and Life and Truth And by whatever Degrees Love does Advance by the same is its Conquest Secur'd and Joy lifts up his head and Sorrow and Shame and Pride fly before his Face Now the Incarnation being the greatest Extent of Love is consequently the greatest Shock and Humiliation of Pride that is possible to be Imagin'd and so most contrary to the Devil the Father of Pride the Greatest Destruction and Ruin of his Principles as it Unites gives Peace and Intire Satisfaction to the Angels of Love so it Distracts and Runs contrary to all the thoughts of Proud Spirits Thus Love which is Happiness in the Abstract becomes a Torment to those who Understand it not by being seen thro' a false Prospect And in their Madness they Blaspheme that Love which is their only Remedy And Curse it because they have Parted from it and the more it Invites them to Return the more do they Fret themselves and in Spight run farther from it which still does more Incapacitate them to Return and this is that makes Hell Immortal And thus it is that the Virtue of Christ's Incarnation and Death wrought down from Earth to Hell to the Confirmation and Perpetual Increase of Misery to the Damn'd Spirits who have stood out proof against the last Remedy the strongest Charm of Love that 's possible the Incarnation of Christ and have seperated themselves from His Love and Pine away a sad Eternity in the Ruins of their Pride Irreparable which grow more Obdurate from its being overcome and from that Triumph of Love in the Incarnation so far beyond all that it looked for or cou'd beleive and which therefore being fulfilled it Hates and Reproaches with an Impotent Despair which is the Anguish of Hell This was the Issue of the War but let us now take a View of the Battle As Korah and his Company were bold to appear before the Lord and Appeal to Him whether Moses or they were in the Right so both Armies of Angels being perswaded of the Justice of their Cause went forth to Battle and were bold both confident of the Victory to Appear and Plead before the Lord for whose Honor each Party did pretend to Fight as it is still with Us which proceeded from the Different Notions they had of God Satan Argu'd the Majesty Soveraignty and Omnipotence of God The Poor Dejected worthless Condition of Man And hence how Absurd and Blasphemous it wou'd be that God shou'd be a Man Subject to Infirmities and Death Against whom Michael Fought from the same Consideration of Gods Omnipotence that therefore God might Incarnate Himself and the more Difficult it did appear to Created Minds the Greater Glory did it bring to God That the ways were Unsearchable by which God did Communicate Himself to His Creatures whose whole Being was a Participation of God and that it was Unexcusable Presumption for a Finit Power to Determine how Intensly an Almighty Love might bestow of its self even to denominate what it Loves to be one and the same Person with its Self Satan tho' Dazzl'd with the Refulgence of Almighty Power yet still pursues his Pride and Contests that if God shou'd Choose a Creature to make one with Himself it sure must be the Worthiest That the Nature so ioyn'd to the Divinity must be Adorable And that it were against the Justice of God to make Noble Spirits serve a Baser than themselves That therefore if any 〈◊〉 must be the Nature of Angels and not the Impure â—eed of Man that God will assume And if an Angel who â—as pretentions beyond Lucifer the Brightest Son of the Morning the Glory of God's First Creation And in this sense he might be said to aspire to be Equal with God even Literally i. e. to be One and the same Person with God Which cannot Rationally be made up of any other Scheme that we hear yet Advanc'd concerning his Rebellion for no otherwise is it possible for Us to imagine how a thought so seemingly Absurd even to Us shou'd arise in the mind of an Angel of being Equal with God But as we have here Deduc't it why might he not think that God might be an Angel as well or rather then a Man And this we may reasonably conjecture
be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the Breadth and Length and Depth and Height And to know the Love of Christ which passeth knowledge that thus ye may be filled with all the fulness of God Observe how the Inspir'd Apostle Rejoyces even to Extasie upon this Subject The fulness of God that is all we or any Creature can hold of Him consist's in what we Understand of the Nature of Love And then to our Eternal Comfort the Love of Christ passes all Knowledge that is no Knowledge can comprehend it all and therefore it can afford still new Matter of Joy and Rapture to all Created Understandings for Ever and Ever And may not this Contemplation raise us to the Courage of an Apostle it will certainly if we let this Good Seed stay in our hearts till it take Root if we do not choke it with the foolish Principles of Pride or make it give place to Cares and Riches and Pleasures of this Life it will bring our hearts to the firmness of an Angel and make Us see nothing that can Terrifie Us We will be ready to joyn with St. Paul in his holy Exultation and say Who shall seperate Vs from the Love of Christ shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword as it is Written for thy sake are we kill'd all the day Long we are counted as Sheep for the Slaughter nevertheless in all these things we are more then Conquerors through Him who Loved us for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor Height nor Depth Rom. viii 35. nor any other Creature shall be able to Seperate Vs from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And now as a Conclusion to all that has been said we may learn this that the best Guard we can have against falling into Heresie is to Watch carefully against all the Inroads and Temptations of Pride which I have shewn to lie at the bottom of all Heresies as the Source from whence they Spring It Corrupts the Will and by that Viciates the Vnderstanding and Inclines them by a strong Byass to the side of Error and in Prejudice of the Truth which is always Founded upon and Accompany'd with the opposit of Pride that is Love and Goodness which is Naturally Productive of a Sweetness and Humility of Temper that Renders us Docible and Vn-prejudic'd without which Truth cannot be Duly Discern'd but is Clouded from Perverse and Obstinate Minds And as the Humility of Love is the best Preservative against Error and Heresie so is it the surest Defence against most sort of Sins in our Private Conversation especially it Enables us most Effectually to Perseverance in the Faith against that Fiery Tryal of Persecution which in one sort or other 2 Tim. 3.12 comes to most Mens share that will live Godly in Christ Jesus But there is an higher Pitch of Perfection even than this And that which I wou'd raise Men to and desire to Imitate my self is that whereof the Dayly Exercise and Improvement is by Gods great Mercy and Goodness afforded to every one of us which is not only to bear the Persecution or the Pride of others which some may do even out of Pride Obstinacy or other Vicious Principle But chiefly to banish Pride out of your selves to look upon the meanest Man in the World as a Member of Christ and so equal to your self And therefore to Condescend to the Lowest Offices that may do him Good to bear his Infirmities and Injuries with Patience which is the true Magnanimity as Christ also did bear ours And that you think this so far from being Dishonorable as that you may esteem it the Greatest Glory and Praise of Love wherein the Happiness of Heaven does consist And if Angels were thrown out of Heaven for Despising Man and Christ Died to Redeem Man and is Himself a Man and Loves and Values the meanest Man what is that Man that Despises another And if even in Heaven there was War and Folly and Blasphemy among the Angels there and misunderstanding the Nature of God how shou'd this make us Patient to one anothers Infirmities How Solicitous and careful to Secure our selves How Reasonable will it hence appear to keep a watchful Eye upon the least progress of Pride or Self-conceit which was Potent to Disturb the Seat of the Blessed and overthrow Spirits which were Heavenly-Born That therefore you shou'd justly abhor the Pride of this World to see a Man Despise not only his Inferiors which was the Sin of Angels but his Equals and Superiors To think himself beyond every Man he meets and that it is below his Greatness Forsooth to receive an Injury from any this is the Character of a Hero so much courted in Romances and Plays the Gospel of this Worlds Honor a Fool swell'd with Pride even to Blasphemy Is it not Nauseous to see Him brave Thunder whose Scull is not proof against the sliding of a Tyle from a House top a weak piece of Flesh whose Foundation is in the Dust the food of Worms that is crushed before the Moth A man that is not able to Encounter a Disease to hear him Railly against God! and to think this either Wit or Courage that Men of Spirit as they call themselves shou'd be fond of a Vice which proceeds Meerly from want of Sense And not rather to follow the Advice and Example of a God which is that you wou'd think it your Greatest Honour to become Innocent and Harmless Loving and free from Pride as little Children are which is taught in the Gospel for this Day and that with such Courage that you wou'd rather Choose to Pluck out your Eyes and Cut off your Hands than to Offend the Least the most Inconsiderable of Mankind who are Created by God after His own Image and are the Price of the Blood of Christ That you wou'd believe the Argument of Honour to be Decided which has been Bandy'd by the Angels of Heaven and Determin'd there by God Himself that it Consist's in Love and not in Pride but more sensibly by the Incarnation and Sufferings of Christ which makes it as it were Visible to our Eyes That you wou'd therefore suffer your selves to be perswaded by your own Reason which will shew you the restless Miseries which attend upon Pride and the Beauties and Great Glory of Love in the which if â—â—u can 〈…〉 selves you have already tasted of Heâ—â—â—â— and are Heirs of Immortal Honour Amen And let this Comfort us in our Faint Longings Languid Attempts and many Failings in our Spiritual Warfare And let this silence all our weak Murmurings at the Providence of God which has for Infinitly wise Ends not Fathomable by us Permitted the Fall of Man and Wars and Divisions upon Earth since for this End no Doubt among many others He has made known to us that There was war in Heaven And that as the Conquest can be only by His Strength and Grace in us so it will End in Infinit and Eternal Victory and Triumph to those who Trust wholly in Him by Faith in Christ Humbled and Crucifi'd for us and who follow him Manfully to the end of that Race which He our Great Prophet and Guide has not only Pointed out to us but as our Captain has Led us and Run before us and Fought the same Fight which He wou'd have us to Fight and wherein he will Assist us and Protect us that the Gates of Hell shall never Prevail against us And has already in Our Cause and in in our Name and Nature Triumphed over every Power of the Enemy and taken Possession of Heaven for us as our Head the Soul and Life of that Body whereof we are Members And as the Soul do's Actuate all the Members of the Body consequently it must Raise all the Members with the Body So that all who Partake of the Spirit of Christ are sure that that Spirit must Raise up their Bodies as Certainly as it did Raise up the Body of Christ Rom. viii 9.11 Now if any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His But if the Spirit of Him who Raised up Jesus from the Dead dwell in you He that Raised up Christ from the Dead shall also Quicken your Mortal Bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you Amen FINIS
from what is Reveal'd to Us Heb. 2.16 in these Words He took not on Him the Nature of Angels but he took on Him the Seed of Abraham Which argues as if there had been some such Contest at least gives Us leave to think whether it might not be and from such a suppose you see not wholly Unwarrantable I have Endeavour'd to reconcile the common Notion of Lucifer's aspiring to be Equal with God and brought him in arguing for himself as you have heard Thus did he Exalt Himself in his Pride and thought his Arms Invincible Which yet were not proof against the Mighty Argument of Love wielded by St. Michael who stood Victorious in his Constancy on his Contemplation of the vastness of the Nature of Love which can Endure no Limits and when it Gives knows no Reserves whose Glory therefore is Extended by the Greatness of its Condescentions and therefore Infinite Love must find Infinite Condescentions to Exert it self And Man being the Lowest of Rational Beings which only are Capable of Union with God that must needs be the Creature which Infinite Love will choose to Exalt to the Extremity of Almighty Power to make it even one with God that so Love which is God may be All in All may be the First and the Last And in Man Spirit being joyn'd in one Person with a Body compos'd of the Four Inferior Elements God does by this advance into an Union with His own Nature the very lowest of his Creatures Gross Matter it self as far as possibly it can be made Capable That as all things Spring from His Love and from thence do perpetually flow so do they in this Misterious Incarnation for ever Return thither again He is Α. and Ω. the Highest and the Lowest for that he Ascended what is it but that He first Descended into the Lowest parts of the Earth For Descending and Ascending being Relatives they must hold the same Proportion Eph. iv 9.10 and therefore none can Ascend more than first he did Descend Now Jesus who Descended even into Hell is the same also that Ascended far above all Heavens that He might fill all things But such Glory of Love cou'd not arise from God's advancing the Highest Creature because that wou'd not be so great a Condescention and the Supream Angel might perhaps Attribute something of Merit to himself and Despise all below who might think themselves left behind or forgot by the Eternal Providence who yet had the same Original pretences being all brought from out the same Mother Nothing But in this wonderful Oeconomy of the Incarnation all Disparity of Creatures is taken away like that of Stars in the presence of the Sun Eternal Love having Gather'd together in one all things in Christ Eph. i. 10. both which are in the Heavens and which are on the Earth even in Him who by this has made Heaven and Earth into one Family iii. 15. and of whom they both are nam'd And Christ the Head of Both from whom Both being made thus into One the whole Body fitly Joyn'd together iv 16. and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the Effectual working in the Measure of every part maketh Increase of the Body unto the Edifying of it self in Love So that the Glory of Almighty Love shines alone in the many Members of this Great Body that an Angel cannot say to a Man or to a Worm there is no need of you more then the Hand can Despise the Foot or the Eye reject the assistance of the Ear That therefore it is no Dishonor for the Greatest Creature to serve the Least since they are all Members of one Body and United in the Incarnation of God Therefore Michael and his Angels thought it not only Indispensible to Adore the Manhood in God but that it was the Pitch of their Glory the Sum of all possible Bliss to contemplate such Love as was Vnfathomable to the Eternal Increasing of flight of Abstracted and Enlightn'd Spirits And not only this but they Rejoyc'd to be made Ministring Spirits to the meanest of Christ's Members upon the Earth Heb. 1.6 7. And to take their Name of Angels or Messengers from that Office assign'd them even to little Children as you are Instructed from the Gospel for the Day Mat. xviii 2.10 Nay farther they were content to Learn of their Pupils and to be Taught by the Church the Manifold wisdom of God Eph. 3.10 But this Humility of Love Satan Despis'd and instead thereof accused Man before God as unworthy of His Union And both Parties appeal'd to God And what cou'd be the Event when Love was Judge The Accuser of our Brethren was cast down who Accused them before God day and night as you have heard in the Epistle And Michael was Justified who maintain'd the Cause of Love in that Almighty Condescention of it in the Incarnation and Death of Christ They overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb says the Epistle that is that High Instance of Love in Defence of which Michael fought did out shine all the pretended Glories of Pride and left the Devil Overthrown Astonish'd and Desperate and in this did appear the Strength and Salvation and Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ that is Love in its utmost Condescention which is its Victory and most Noble Glory the Riches and Superabundance of its Grace it 's Natural and Belov'd Conquest And now Rejoyce O ye Heavens ye Angels of His who do His pleasure who have overcome in this Noble Contest and for your Reward feed Eternally on that Unexhaustible Fountain of Love whose Cause you have so truly maintain'd But wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth for the Devil is come down unto you having great wrath and he Deceiveth the whole World and is come to make War with the Remnant which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ You see the same War is carry'd on by Him upon Earth which He fought in Heaven But before we enter into this Second part of the Battle there is a Proeliminary to be adjusted which will be necessary to the carrying on of this War and that is that we find a Reason why the Devil did not Acquiesce in the Judgment which God gave since we suppose that he Appealed to it as Korah and his Company appealed to God against Moses and Aaron and appear'd with Censers in their hands before the Lord which Cause I have made instance of as a Copy of the Rebellion of Lucifer Towards Satifaction in this difficulty let us first consider the Nature of that Obstinancy which is generally found in Error Non persuadebis etiam si presuaseris is a true and common saying and we read in the Gospel of those who seeing see not and who close their Eyes lest they should see We know that Spight and Malice will provoke that Rage which it knows too strong for it and which will torment it and will
thereby make himself Guilty of any ill Arts which the Principal might have us'd either in Procuring or Spending of the Money But very slender Hooks will serve to Catch the Smalâ— Frie. And the Devil has not us'd Greater Pains and Skill in Oppugning any Article of our Faith than in this of the Main End of the Incarnation Sufferings and Death of Christ as a Sacrifice to make Satisfaction for the Sins of the World Against this Satan has spent his utmost Force as being the Greatest overthrow of his Kingdom among Men. And this Doctrin is so closely link'd with that of the Trinity and Incarnation they do so Mutually suppose and Depend upon each other that those who Deny any One of them are seldom Sound in the other Two And the surest means to Corrupt Men in the Doctrins of the Trinity and Incarnation is to Prejudice them against the Doctrin of Satisfaction which is the Result of the other two and cannot be without Supposing of them both 4. These are the Doctrins which the Quakers call The sandy Foundation and Dispute against them with the Socinian Artillery There is another Squadron lately Inlisted in this Cause led by the Famous Madamosel Antonia Bourignon who has been Seduc'd her Self and has Seduc'd Many others with the Semblance of her own Flights and Devotion which shew from whose Inspiration they came by that Insuperable Pride which runs throw all that she and her Disciples have wrote of her Advancing her above all the Prophets and Apostles above all Born of Women not excepting our Lord Jesus Himself I refer the Reader for a full Account of her and her Doctrin to Bourignionism Detected by Dr. Cockburn Printed this Year 1698. But as to the Particular Subject we are now upon she flatly Denys and Disputes against the Doctrin of Satisfaction As shewn in the Preface to The Snake in the Grace 2d Edition She says p. 139 140 142. of her Book there Quoted call'd The Light of the World that there was no need of God's becoming Man in order to our Redemption That He took Flesh not to Suffer or Dye but only to Converse with Us That His Sufferings and Death happen'd by Accident that is beyond His Intention And her Arguments are the same which we have heard before from Lucifer That it was Beneath the Greatness and Majesty of God And that His Glory cou'd not be Advanced by being Crucify'd betwixt two Thieves as she words it Here I must tell the Reader that the Arguments which I put in the Mouth of Lucifer were not borrow'd from this of Bourignon with which they so exactly agree but were wrote many years before I saw any of her Books or had so much as heard of her Name But when I Read them in her it was a Great Confirmation to me of the Truth of my Reasoning when I found the same Arguments made use of by one whom the Devil had Deluded and Possess'd to as High and perhaps a Greater Degree of Enthusiastical Madness Blasphemous Pride and Wilde Heretical Notions than any Age can Produce since Simon Magus who Boasted Himself to be The mighty Power of God and in many things she Exceeded him I have Mention'd her because her Infection has spread strangly in Holland that Soil Fertile of Religions and the Adjacent Countrys Has lately taken Root in Scotland and at last has come to London where her Book before-mention'd was Printed 1696. and too much Recommended and has Travell'd into several Parts of the Country Insomuch that the Bourignonists Deserve now their Class in the first Forme of the Hereticks They have Gain'd some Learned Men who have Drawn their Pens in their Cause both Here and Abroad some Translating the Books of Mrs. Bourignon and others writing in Defence of Her and Them But if seasonably and Diligently Attack'd it is to be hop'd that they may not make Great In-roads upon Christianity at least in our Parts otherwise they will in all appearence become Formidable and like the Quakers or the Saxons Grow upon us till we must be forc'd to let them Live with us and Compound at last for an Act of Toleration 5. This is the War which the Devil Manages here Below the same which He Fought in Heaven I have shewn you some of His Armys they are Discoverable by their Colours the Field is always Pride whatever other Device is wrought upon it And this misleads them into all Error first a wrong Notion of God which leads them into a wrong Notion of Christ His Nature and Office and that is Productive of all the Hydra Heresies we have Mention'd and of Many more which it wou'd be tedious to Examine in so short an Essay But those I have Nam'd are the Chief and Mother of all the Rest And Pride the Grand-Mother of all The first Tentation of the Devil to Man was That they shou'd be as Gods And he has Perswaded some since that they really are Gods even Equal to God in Equality it self as Pure and Holy as He is as Harmeless and Innocent as Christ but Preferable to all Mortals Snake in the Grass 2d Edict Sect. 11. 111. and iv Meeker than Moses Stronger than Samson wiser than Solomon c. Nay they go farther and make their Soul a Part of God of the same Substance Person and Essence with God and therefore to be Infinit in it self and without Beginning as well as Ending This is Copying after Lucifer and even out-doing of Him in His Blasphemous Pride The Pharisees Advanced themselves beyond all other Men as to Piety and Holiness but not to be Quite Free from Sin as the Quakers and Bourignon do Pretend The Gnosticks gave themselves that Gaudy Name from their suppos'd Knowledg Exceeding that of other Christians And all the way down from them to Bourignon and the Quakers All the Heresi-Archs set up upon Pride and High value for themselves with as great Contempt of other Men. Our Pharisees got the Name of Puritans from the High Purity to which they Pretended And all our Sects have arisen from those who call'd themselves Gifted-Men and Boasted in their wonderful Attainments sufficient as they gave out to Supersede all Establish'd Constitutions tho' at first Instituted by God Himself Hence that Spirit of Pride which did Inspire them Gave some of them to be Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists some Teachers and Preachers without any outward Commission Disdaining the Humility of Succession continu'd by Vicarious Ordination from Christ and the Apostles upon which the Church has been Built and Preserv'd to this Day And what vile Contempt and Despite they All have powr'd out against the Church and their Superiors has fill'd the World To Curb and subdue this Spirit of Pride was the end of Christ's comming in the Flesh who fought against him with the Arms of Humility and Love which is the Inseperable Badge of Christ and His Diciples by which they are known and out shine all the False Glories and Pomp of
will two such Combatants enter the Lists Here is a Creature so Mighty that he dares contend with God and here is God humbl'd into a Man to subdue that Spirit which had overthrown all Mankind And Christ grapples with him as a Man without interposing his Godhead for that had been no contest and to shew what Man might have done and may still do I need not here again tell you of the Quarrel upon which these two Fought it is the same we have been speaking off the same that St. Michael Fought before that is Pride and Love which of these is the most Noble and most Mighty Michael defended his Cause well and was Victorious but Christ Acted what Michael cou'd not Since the Devil wou'd not be peswaded by Arguments Christ here brings him to the Test to Experiment the Powers of Love and of Pride And that with all the Disadvantages Imaginable Love in its Lowest Condescention expos'd to Pride Inrag'd in its Altitude Christ came of Poor Parents Born in a Stable not room for him in a common Inn he liv'd Destitute and Forlorn without a place to lay his head in worse provided for than Foxes or Birds he choose poor Men and unlearned for his followers He was Despis'd Persecuted Slandar'd called a Glutton and a Drunkard a Madman a very Devil Isa 53.2 3. He had neither Forme nor Beauty a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Greifs we hid as it were our Faces from Him He was Despis'd and Rejected of Men and they esteemed Him not His Vertue was Omnibus ornamentis Spoliata void of all outward Ornaments to Recommend it according to Plato's Qualification and may be call'd a Prophesy of the Just one and of His Passion His Arms was Blessing and Praying and Instructing He never us'd His Power to Hurt any but to Heal His very Enemies He went about doing Good to all and Lov'd His Enemies more intensly then they cou'd Hate him and tho' they requited Him with Mischief for His Good-will yet He always return'd Good to them for their Evil. He came into his own and His own Receiv'd Him not The only Visible Church He had upon the Earth had taken Arms with the Enemy the Scribes and Pharisies were His sorest Prosecutors the Sanhedim Bought Him prefered a Thief and a Murderer before Him and procur'd His Death with violent out-crys one of His own Diciples Betray'd Him another Forswore Him as Forsook Him He was left to Tread the Winepress alone expos'd single to all the Malice and Scorn of Men and Devils the Agony of His Soul forceing Him into such an Astonishment and Exceeding Sorrow a was never heard of since the World began a Bloody Sweat making its passage through Skin and Cloths and falling down in Great Drops upon the Ground Lastly His Father Himself forsook Him in His Greatest Extremity Hanging upon the Cross twixt two Thieves and fill'd with the Reproaches of all about Him shaking their Heads and thrusting out their Tongues at Him His Father forsook Him That only cou'd make Him Cry out yet did not that it self overcome His Love for He Intirely and willingly submitted Himself He Bowed his Head in Obedience and Gave up the Ghost He Resign'd His Soul into the Hands of His Father who had forsaken Him trusting in Infinit Love that it can never fail and Dy'd praying for His Murderers showing the transcendence of His Love above their Malice And here behold the Wisdom as well as Goodness of Love That same Method which Pride and Malice suggested to destroy Christ that was it which most Advanced the Glory of His Love And let Us here Adore the Almighty Power of Love that out of all the Evils Pride was able to Invent cou'd bring such Infinit Good And by the Rule of Contraries here we may see the Folly as well as the Impotence of Pride When it is arived at the Full of its own Wishes that is always its Destruction For when Love has born all that Pride can do when it sees it can go no farther it Returns upon its self with Impatience and Rage and Madness When the Devil had nail'd Christ to the Cross he thought himself a Victor And had been so if that cou'd have mov'd Christ to Impatience or Distrust or if He had withdrawn Himself from His Sufferings either for the Shame or the Pain for then His Love had been Conquer'd it had fled the Field not being able to abide the Shock But Christ supported that Tryal with a Godlike Patience and Constancy and His Love Unshaken Remain'd more than Conqueror That Old Serpent left his Sting in the Cross and fled away Disarm'd Asham'd Confounded And the Grave of Christ which he thought to have kept shut for ever was made the Gate to open the Triumphs of Love into Hell where the Spirits of Pride did Gnash their Teeth with Unextinguishable Rage to find that Love was Unconquerable and that its Lowest Condescentions turn to its Greatest Glory for what can Conquer that which has the Vertue to bring Good out of Evil Thus you see how Christ has spoil'd the Principalities and Powers of Pride by the Arms of His Love and hath made a shew of them openly Tryumphing over them in His Cross Col. 2.15 that is in the Humilitation which is the Great Power of Love and having loosed the Pains of Death because it was Possible that He shou'd be holden of it Act. 2.24 He Arose Gloriously to the Astonishment of His Wretched Guards and all the Afrighted Legions of Hell Whom He Chain'd to His Triumphal Chariot and when He Ascended up on High He led Captivity Captive or a Multitude of Captives as our Margent Reads it And Gave Gifts unto Men Eph. iv 8. Bestow'd His Royal Donatives Liberally among His own Soldiers who had Fought under His Banner and now Attended on His Triumph and Shar'd in the Glory of it Now that He Ascended what is it but that He also Descended first into the Lower Parts of the Earth Eph. iv 9. He that Descended is the same also that Ascended up far above all Heavens that He might fill all things This shews that the Glory of Love Consists in its Condescentions And its Glory Rises Proportionably High to the Lowness of its Condesension Thus the Meanest Condescention Rises to the very Highest Glory and this Fills or Fulfills All things Includes All things for All things are Contain'd between the Highest and the Lowest And this is Fulfilling all Righteousness all the Dictats or Demands of Love towards our Righteousness making us like it self and this Includes in it the full Goodness and Power of God that is the utmost Condescention of Love So that now we see in Christ all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling Bodily And we are compleat in Him And from hence let me make the Apostles Inference and Prayer for you Eph. 3.17 That ye may be Rooted and Grounded in Love because so and never otherwise You will