Merciful Father that the perfect Image of this thy Son may be so formed in our hearts that we may live the life of Christ serving him in righteousness and holiness all the days of our Pilgrimage here that we may not defeat the ends of his death but strive to compleat the joy of our Lord. To which end we see God spared not his Son but a Manger is his Cradle behold the Bread of life appointed for the Provision and nourishment of our souls he came to fetch home the lost Sheep and to cure and heal the infirm and weak He came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance And what shall we rob our selves of our share in this so glorious an enterprise shall we ruinate the purposes of Christ in delivering us out of that misery wherein we were so unhappily plunged For had not the Father sent him on that errand how had we been broken in peices like a Potters Vessel Whips Scourges and Scorpions had been our portion had not a Rod sprung from the Root of Jesse to save Sinners from the lash Let us then return our thanks to this Redeemer of Israel and say O blessed Jesu who about this time was born of a pure Virgin we return thee our praises and thanksgivings for that thou would be pleased to subject thy self to the miseries of flesh that flesh might be capacitated for the joy of eternal bliss It was our gluttony O Bread of Life which caused thee to hunger our intemperance O fountain of living water which caused thee to cry out I am athirst thou wert made as we are that we might be made as thou art with all the powers and faculties of our souls and bodies we return thee all honour and praise singing with the heavenly quire All glory power and dominion be ascribed to the Lamb and him that sitteth on the Throne for ever and ever Amen And so I descend in the Second place to consider their quantity whom God so loved that he gave his only begotten Son for them God so loved the World He did not give his Son for some choice and select persons only the glorious Son of Righteousness did not dart his radiant beams on the Land of Goshen only but he arose with healing in his wings over the superficies of the whole earth that all mankind might receive benefit by his influence For by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the text is meant all the world both Jew and Gentile and so St. Paul useth it saying that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself 2 Cor. 5.18 now what is signified by reconciling the Word is interpreted by St. Paul Rom. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole Creation or all the Gentile World in opposition to the Jewish Enclosure not all the creatures absolutely but all men of all sorts particularly those Gentile Idolators mentioned by the same Apostle whom he stiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you who were alienated and strangers to God hath he reconciled to himself Colos 1.21 for he sent him into the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to save all men that were lost to ave all men that were lost to heal the smarting sores not of some few polluted souls only but of all descended from the loyns of Adam For by Adams offence God had concluded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things all his posterity under the guilt of sin Ephes 1.10 and therefore to satisfie his Justice and to manifest his Mercy he hath given us his Son that in the dispensation of the fulness of time he might gather into one all things both which are in Heaven and Earth where is intimated no more then the people who dwell under the Canopy of Heaven For though the mercy of God and the Merits of our Saviour hath so confirmed and established the Angels in their Stations of glory that it is impossible for them to fall and slide away yet this cannot be said to be by Redemption but by Christs gratious uniting them to God so that I conceive the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot refer to them but only to men because Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did not come to take hold of reduce or reconcile the Angels but only mankind for the Angels in Heaven never fell and therefore what need had they of a Reconciliation so that the Apostle only endeavours to explain to us that Christ is the universal Redeemer of Man-kind of the Gentiles as well asof the Jews which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an act of free undeserved mercy imputable to nothing but Gods meer grace For by our Original depravation we became prone to do evil and are not able to think a good thought insomuch the most righteous of the Sons of men had need of a Saviour to make an Attonement and Expiation for them For the Royal Prophet informs us God looked down from Heaven Ps 14. and none did good no not one Shall the disease then he epidemical and common to all and shall not the cure be the same shall Eves transgression be capable of ruining and destroying all and what hath not Christs all-healing bloud virtue enough to save all Is God a respecter of persons or if we do well shall we not be accepted is not he willing that all should come to salvation why do the Church stile Adams sin an happy sin if our Redemption and the Merits of Christs Sacred Passion was not extended to all even the greatest criminal and highest offendor if he seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him whilst he is near For as by the offence of one Rom. 5.18 death came upon all men unto condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life whence it is clear the remedy brought to us by Christ reached as far as the disease How doth St. John entitle him a Sun which giveth light to every one that cometh into the World John 1.9 There is none overshadowed with so dismal a Cloud of sins who may not if they will take in the rays of his mercy the blackest soul may find the bloud of Christ ready to cleanse her stains and exchange them for a pure die of innocencie if she can with a sincere heart and tongue cry out Have Mercy upon me O God For by the bloud of Christ is conveyed to all men a capacity of Salvation but if they neglect so great Salvation and afterwards come to perish it is through their own default in misusing his gracious endearments and proving refractory to his commands For this is a faithful saying 1 Tim. 1.1 and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save sinners Sinners indefinitely without the exclusion of any And so again He tasted death for every man Heb. 1.9 and is risen again for their Justification that is as verily as all men have sinned by
one should perish and so again God himself hath sworn that he delighteth not in the death of a sinner But perhaps some may contest that if it be the intention and will of God that all should be saved how comes it to pass so many fall short and miss of the reward designed by God glory everlasting I answer The Holy Scriptures have recorded Gods will to be two-fold his Absolute and his Conditional Will The former God used when he framed the goodly Structure of the World and said let there be light and there was light let there be a Firmament and there was a Firmament So likewise when he created those incorporeal intelligencers the Angels he spake the Word and they were made he commanded and they were created This is the absolute and only irresistable Will of God But in matters relating to the Salvation of Men he made use of the Second his Conditional Will And those Conditions were three The First was in Paradise eat not and thou shalt live but how soon did we forfeit this Covenant by an hankering and prurient desire after the Tree of Knowledge The Second was under the Law do this and thou shalt live And here though the spirit was never so willing yet so many were the weaknesses and infirmities of the flesh that we groaned under its weight and were not able to perform it until Christ the fulfiller of the Law came to ease us of its burthen and then he made a third and new agreement with us under the Gospel and that is believe on the Son of God and thou shalt be saved To the performance of which he hath afforded such powerful aids and encouragements that we may observe the tenour of his Laws and live for ever For the ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace But if we will not observe his Laws but break our bonds asunder we justly forfeit our right in Christ and may charge God foolishly but thank our selves for damnation For though our Creation was the work of Omnipotency alone yet the salvation of our souls can never be effected without our endeavours He hath opened a fountain for us to bath in but if we refuse to wash and be clean who is to blame for the continuance of our Leprosie Nay further he doth not only to our Justification add the invitations of his grace and holy Spirit to dispose our selves for it promising to ease and refresh such as are weary and heavy laden with the burthen of their sins but positively declares he stands at the door of our hearts knocks and solicites to enter but if we will not fuffer the King of glory to come in may not he justly defie the World to object the least fault and blame on his side since he hath done to his Vineyard whatever could be thought requisite to make it thrive and prosper and if they finally perish as I shall shew more at large by and by are they not the authors of their own perdition by their rejecting those abundantly sufficient graces he hath offered them to accept So that in the extremity of their misery they will be forced to confess thou art Righteous O Lord and thy judgments are just But some further object that though the satisfaction Christ made was sufficient for the whole World yet say they it was not effectual that is I conceive he did not intend all should participate of the benefit thereof And what is this but by the worst kind of enclosure to circumscribe his All-sufficient goodness to set banks and shores to that unlimited Ocean of mercy which cannot consist with the wisdom and goodness of Christ for if he paid a full and plenary satisfaction for the offences of all men was it not as easie and more agreeable to his mercy to communicate the benefits to all than to appropriate them only to a few and little parcel of men Any in the shape of a man would censure it a meer delusion for the King of Great Britain to proclaim himself Redeemer of all the captivated Christians under the Tyrany of Ziim and Ochim Turks and Infidels if he should send over Ransom large enough for all yet afterwards cashiere the poor Captives hopes of liberty by interpreting himself though I proclaimed and sent sufficiently for all yet I meant Redemption only to a few Would not this renew our griefs and augment our sorrows and if it was so with God what anxieties and fears what troubles and scruples would it move in our minds whether we were the persons whom the King delighted to honour for if we conceited we were the Children elected by God and God had resolved from eternity to save us what licence would it give to our unbridled desires by presuming too much on the Patience and long-suffering of God when we believe we cannot be dis-inherited from being Coheirs with the Son of God and so make us neglect the working out our salvation knowing that our labour is in vain because before we were God had determined we should not miss of our Diadem of glory But blessed be God no mans state is fixed or unalterable before he hath a Being much less from eternity or before the foundations of the earth were laid nay now we have a being it is possible to pass from the state of death to the life of grace 'T is true when we are cut off from the Land of the living and are arrived at our long home then our condition and the decree of God is unchangeable for where the Tree falleth there it lyeth Eccles 11.3 They that die in peace shall arise in glory with the King of Peace and they who die in their sins shall be raised 't is true but receive small comfort from the Sun of glory for they shall be banished from his presence Let this consideration rouze us from the Lethargy of sin that we may work whilst the day of salvation lasteth before the night cometh when no man can work What we do let us do quickly for though the marrow may seem to swell in our bones our bloud hot and boyl in our veins though we pride our selves in the strength and flower of nature yet still is not our time in the hand of God who can tell what a day may bring forth Seeing then God hath expressed so high a Love to us let us not turn his grace into wantonness for he that believeth on him that sent me saith Christ hath everlasting life And St. John tells us He is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world This was an Act of Oblivion out of which none was excepted He came to revoke the general Sentence the Decree gone out against all men For as I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the Death of the wicked but that he turn and live He hath set before us life and death Oh! let us choose life that we may
live for ever and let us put up our Prayers and say O Almighty and most Merciful Father we adore thy Mercies and admire thy Love to the Word in the Gift of thy Son O blessed Jesu how worthy is thy Love to be had in reverence over all the World for thy voluntary susception and affectionate suffering such horrid and cruel Tortures the Waters of bitterness entred into thy soul and the Storms of Death and thy Fathers Anger broke thee in pieces What shall we do who by our sins have tormented our dearest Lord What contrition and tears can sufficiently express those sad accidents which they have produced Lord have Mercy upon us Christ have Mercy upon us and pity our distress And seeing thou hast done so much for our Souls only speak the word and thy Servant shall be whole Suffer us not to neglect that great Salvation which thou hast purchased for us Dispose us by Love Thankfulness Humility and Obedience to receive the benefits of thy Incarnation and Passion Enflame our Affections more and more towards thee and God the Father whose goodness was not contented in barely loving us but to love us so as to give us thee the only begotten Son of God And so I come to the Organ and Means by which our Redemption was effected the gift of his only begotten Son Wherein we consider both the Action he gave and the Gift it self His only c. We begin with the Action And first He gave it gratis freely and of his own accord for he was omnipotent and could not be constrained by any force all Creatures depending on him alone Acts 17.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In him we live move and have our Being It was not therefore any compulsion but love only which was so generous as to transport it self up to Heaven and assault the Divinity in its Throne drawing from thence the Eternal Son of God 2dly God so loved the World that not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he delivered him and so St. Paul useth it He spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all Rom. 8.3 He was delivered up to the malice and fury of evil men and thence delivered up to the ignominious death of the Cross 3dly Nay God did not only deliver him up but also sent him For saith the Apostle in this was manifested the Love of God because he sent his only begotten Son into the World 4thly And to augment his Love if perfection will admit of addition This Mission is the more to be accepted by us because it was by way of commutation and exchange for us Commutavit filium suum unicum He exchanged his only begotten Son It was the Worlds Price was set to sale and how dearly did he purchase it What reason then have we to spend every moment of our Life in loving praising and glorifying him And when we contemplate these admirable contrivances of his Wisdom and Mercy can we do less than say O God what shall we return thee in requital or wherewith shall we appear before thee When we would praise thee an Abysse of Majesty exhausts in a moment all Encomiums and our adorations what are they before thy Divine Essence Could we render our selves uncreated in deference to thee the Fountain of all Beings it were a poor Homage to thy ineffable Greatness Nay could we annihilate the World and bring all Creatures into their old postures of nothing for thy Glory yet what is this compar'd with what thy immensity might justly expect But while we labour with our Poverty finding nothing created worthy thy acceptance Oh astonishing Mercy behold the perfect oblation of thy Son which thou hast given us the prodigious Effect of thy Love Him we offer unto thee and through him we hope to be accepted None can speak our Gratitude but that word who can only satisfie thy Justice Since by this Gift the very Treasury of Heaven was emptied for a time and the Earth enriched with that pure Sacrifice wherewith thou wert well pleased and the Odour thereof draws upon mankind a continual Floud of Mercies This is a Sacrifice O God thou wilt not despise him we offer unto thee and with him our selves and all that we have beseeching thee to accept of us for the sake of thy Son who was offered up for us all And so I come to consider the Gift it self His only begotten Son Son is a Name by which men oft endeavour to express their endearments and affection to us Thus when Cushi told David of his Sons unfortunate though just 2 Sam. 18.33 death the Text tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latine Commotus The King was troubled and much moved and went up to the Chamber over the Gate where Judgment was administred and wept and said O my Son Absalom my Son my Son and refused to be comforted for his death nay he wished death had been subject to a mistake and took him instead of this rebellious Viper who sought the usurpation of the Kingdom and Death of his Parent And if a Son was so dear to David how dear must he be unto God And consequently what a Noble and Royal Gift must this be of our Heavenly Father It had been too great an Honour to have dispatched unto us the meanest Servant in his Heavenly Court to visit us or if he had deputed an Illustrious Seraphim to proclaim to the World That He who is King of Kings the Great God of Heaven and Earth would be reconciled to his Rebellious Subjects Should we not have been startled at the news of such a Message How much more then when he sends his Son the Prince and Soveraign of the Heavenly Host to be had in no reputation and take upon him the form of a Servant But then 2dly It was his own Son and not anothers He was not an Adopted Son who raised himself by his merits to the Title of the Son of God as Photinus and his Followers would have perswaded the World but he was God of very God and Light of very Light Or was it his Son by Nuncupation and name only as others did imagine but his own Son for otherwise we destroy our belief of the Trinity and conclude the Father Son and Holy Ghost not three Distinct Persons but Names Therefore 3dly Mat. 12.18 It was the only begotten Son of God conceived in the Womb of the Virgin Mary by the powerful overshadowing of the Holy Ghost Here is Love in its Zenith the Son in whom his soul was well-pleased Nay his only begotten Son This is that great Mistery the Apostle speaks of God manifested in the Flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 where we may behold the Eternal Father giving up his only Son in behalf of Mankind polluted and depraved by corruption vitiated by sin disobedient to his Lord and insolent to his King a Worm and no Man a poor scantling of putrifaction and a prey for
makes no serious reflexion on his ways when the hand of God presseth him sore This was the case of the Israelites for when he slew them Ps 78.34 then they sought him early Nay when God chastens man for sin will it not make him to bind himself by most solemn vows and promises that if he will remove this burthen from his Shoulders he will utterly renounce those sins which have made him so miserable and live hereafter in a stricter observance of his commands What multitudes had infallibly perished had not afflictions preserved them from it This is that Shepherds Crook whereby God returns his wandring Sheep to the Fold Thus the Prodigal Son was brought back again to his Fathers house he had never thought of the great plenty in his Fathers Family had he not been constrained to feed on Husks Thus the Prophet Jonah when he was in the belly of the Whale poured forth his prayers unto God Thus Susanna cryed unto the Lord in her distress And thus the Disciples in a Storm implor'd the assistance of Christ Master save us we perish What School more proper for the instruction of men then that of affliction when his Judgments are in the Land the Inhabitants of the world shall learn Righteousness for those evils he inflicts upon others are warning-peices for all For as the indulgent Mother loves not to behold a mote on the face of her beloved Infant but will immediately wipe the same away So neither can our heavenly Father endure the least blemish of sin on the Souls of his dear Children but will presently cleanse it with the water of affliction If thou sin to day he will afflict to morrow For great are c. The Third Reason why the Lord visits us with afflictions is to make tryal whether with the Silver-smith we had rather make Shrines for Diana and well paid for our labour then to erect Temples for the worship of a crucified Jesus to meet with his Cross for our pains Yes and thus the goodly fellowship of the Prophets and noble Army of Martyrs were tryed who were so far from denying the truth that they did couragiously abide the stroak of death and choose to loose their lives in tribulation For this Rod and this Staff comforted them with the hopes of their deliverance from the servitude of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Children of God This was that which comforted these defenders of Christianity that whereon they cast their eye in the midst of all the unexpressible tortures the powerful witty malice of the World was able to inflict With what incomparable violence were their Souls separated from their bodies Nevertheless when mortal members yielded to the Sword of Persecution then they beheld though with an eye drenched in bloud and tears the bright glory which attended them Yes and saw as in a mirrour the Thorns of those prodigious sufferings disposed into Lawrels and Crowns There the Proto-Martyr St. Stephen saw the Stones which pelted him into Heaven as so many Rubies and pretious Stones to adorn that Crown which was to begirt his Brows By this fiery tryal of Persecution are the Children of God and Sons of Belial distinguished for the former will become red with bloud to preserve devotion but the latter will betray it for they depart from God in the time of Tribulation Many may with that Rock St. Peter make solemn Protestations to follow Christ and stick close to him but when they come to Pilat's Hall the faint blasts of a Virgins breath will shake the Rock and stagger their resolution But he who follows Christ for the Miracles and not for the Loaves who courts Religion for her Beauty and not for her dowry will not be ashamed to confess his Master though he is most certainly assured to be mounted on Gibbets and undergo the most rigid Tortures power is able to invent Tribulation is Vertues Furnace the stouter and more masculine it is the more it glittereth in affliction This is that rich Diamond which can endure the Wheel whilst all other things are like Pebbles somewhat glittering but little worth Let any one judge how noble and glorious a spectacle it is to behold an invincible courage counterbuffl'd with Storms and Tempests on whom it seemeth Heaven would burst and fall in peices Is it not admirable to behold him amidst the ruins of the World and threats of the Air always standing like to a great Brazen Colossus valuing them at no higher rate then Mists and small Flakes of Snow because he is compleatly taught that in the School of Vertue we learn to despise temporal pleasures and to trample on those vanities which others have so much laboured and hunted after Here we are taught mortification and the exercise of those godly and Heroick Actions which give the Soul an antepast of Heaven in this mortal life and an enfranchisement from the fear of death Jovinian a King having two Vessels of Wine in his Pallace the one sweet the other sowr Decreed that whosoever would tast of the sweet wine should first drink of the sowr whosoever in like manner would drink of those Rivers of Pleasures streaming at Gods Right Hand must not refuse to pledge Christ first in his bitter cup of afflictions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Get thee behind me Satan Mat. 16.23 for thou art an offence was the rebuke the Son of God gave St. Peter when he would have disswaded him from suffering both the most cruel and ignominious death of the Cross and then assembling his whole Colledge of Disciples together solemnly declared that as they had been the companions of his life so also must they go share with him in his sorrows as he so they likewise must suffer when the Bridegroom is gone the Children of the Bridegroom must weep as well as fast For what can be more rude and unhandsome what can we stile more unbecoming and undecent than to see the head crowned with Thorns and the Servants enwrapped with softness To see our Jesus in his Agony and Good-Friday-apparel and our selves in our jollity or Easter Robes To see Christ toyling under the burthen of the Cross and we dancing in our Sports To see him drinking Vinegar and Gall and we pleasing our foolish appetites To see Christ of his Cross make a Ladder to ascend his Throne of Glory and we to stand here with folded arms To see him travailing through Briars and Thornes and we unwilling to tread on any thing but Roses Is not this as incongruous as to see Princes walking on their feet and Servants riding on Horseback Is not this as great a disunion as to see the Master in Russet and the Servant in Purple faring deliciously every day If therefore we desire to spell out our names amongst his Servants we must learn Christs Cross over and not be ashamed of his Livery the Purple Robe but must tread the path marked out with that bloud shed for our Redemption For observe that
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
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
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