said that Nemani in laureis Thebani in virtutibus Graeci in eloquentia gloriantur And we know that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was usually put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to play the Graecian and the Rhetorician come both to one effect It is certain that they were men of very great and deep knowledg and withal they were admirable speakers which seems to be implied unto us in that expression of the Apostle himself in Rom. 1.14 I am debter both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians both to the wise and to the unwise where as the Barbarians are made to be all one with the unwise so the Greeks in St. Paul's language are the same with the wise And as Barbarism is a description of rudeness so Graecism is a circumlocution of Eloquence forasmuch as it was that which was so frequent and eminent amongst that people Now this was that which they here improved to a wrong purpose Now the great Learning and Eloquence of the Greeks was occasionally and accidentally through their corruption not in the nature of the thing it self a great hinderance and impediment to them for their imbracing of the saving knowledg of Christ they were so taken with the conceits and apprehensions of their own wit and excellent parts that the Preaching of the Cross it seemed no better than foolishness to them they would believe nothing now in Religion without an Argument and a Demonstration They seek for wisdom that is as Clemens Alexandrinus well interprets it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 compelling and demonstrative reasons and such Arguments as they could not but yield to from the strength of natural reason it self where they had not these whatever was brought to them was as good as nothing with them And again they seek for wisdom that is flourishing and rhetorical expressions and all the flowers of art and eloquence in the uttering of these things This they sought in the preaching of the Gospel and because they did not find it as they desired therefore they reckoned it but folly and the Apostles so many fools for their labour to come otherwise furnisht unto them Now this disposition and carriage of theirs St. Paul does here implicitly censure as he did before that of the Jews and whiles he tells us what they did he does by consequence intimate unto us what they shuld not have done and so proportionably what we our selves should not do neither In brief there are two things especially which are here by this passage of the Apostles prohibited to us First A restraining of the Truths and Doctrines of Religion to the apprehensions of carnal reason the wisdom of the flesh Secondly A corrupting and adulterating of the great Ordinance of Preaching with the affectations of humane eloquence the wisdom of words First I say here is prohibited a restraining of the Truths of Religion to the apprehensions of carnal reason the wisdom of the flesh This was the fault of these Greeks and we are to take heed it be not ours that we make not reason the rule of faith which is a chief point of Socinianism but that we be willing to believe those things which are here above our reach in the Gospel we must not seek after wisdom in this acception And the reason of it is this because indeed Religion is a Mystery and the things which are propounded in the Gospel they are above the reach of humane wit As for example The conceiving of Christ in the womb of a Virgin The Union of two Natures in one Person And the Trinity of Three Persons in one Divine Nature For God to become Man And he which is the Saviour of the World to be crucified die himself and after this to rise again All these are very great Mysteries and such as Reason does not know what to make of when they are propounded unto it Fides non habet meritum ubi humanaratio probat experimento Our wisdom it must here vail and couch and submit it self and cry out with the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thus 1 Cor. 3.18 19. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a fool that he may be wise for the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God And 1 Cor. 2.6 We speak wisdom among them that are perfect yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the Princes of this world that come to nought but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery Why but then must we lay aside all kind of reason in matters of Religion is Christianity an unreasonable business and does the Gospel deprive us of our wits and ordinary understandings No no such matter Religion itis not against Reason but it is above it There 's nothing in Religion which Reason can say any thing against as opposite and contrary to it self though it cannot always speak so punctually to it as Faith can and this is that which again we maintain against the Papists our adversaries for they abuse this present Truth which we are now upon and they do it again in their Doctrine of Transubstantiation as concerning the Sacrament of the Lords Supper here when we argue against them that it is against the nature of a Body to be in divers places at once and the accidents of Bread and Wine without the substance here they tell us that we must not look to reason but must appeal to faith Though Religion be above reason yet it is not contrary to it now this is plainly contrary to it to make both parts of a contradiction true at once to be and yet not to be is that which is impossible in the nature of the thing it self and therefore we say God cannot do it that is indeed it cannot be done unless God should deny himself which he cannot do 2 Tim. 2.13 The sum of all is this That Reason it may be improved in Religion but Religion is not to be limited to Reason Faith and right Reason do not cross though indeed they do not always meet nay indeed Religion is upon the point the greatest reason and wisdom of all because it is the reason and wisdom of God himself who is the Highest Intelligence And when a man is once a Christian his reason will be so far from hindering him that it will help him in it so much the more As for example thus Forasmuch as God is Truth it self and cannot lye therefore it is reason for me to believe whatsoever God says upon this very ground because he says it although I do not presently apprehend the particular reason of it in the nature of the things themselves nor the immediate connexion and dependance of these things one upon another And that 's the first thing which was here taxt in these Greeks in the Text their seeking after wisdom namely the wisom of the flesh in restraining Religion to Reason which is a thing here prohibited to us we may not do it The Greeks seek after wisdom The
thee He sheweth his word unto Jacob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel Psal 147.19 It is spoken as a great Priviledge and Mercy towards them And so it is for God to give us his word to acquaint us with his divine Will and Truth in all the Parts of it there is more in it than we are always aware of or do indeed seriously consider and lay to heart There is more in it then in the injoying of any outward or temporal Blessing whatsoever which yet notwithstanding we do commonly more take notice of And so does the Prophet seem to imply here in the Text. These Words in the foregoing Verses are according to some Translations rendred thus Thy rains shall be no more kept back and thine eyes shall see thy rain then it follows And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee According to which Exposition the sense seems to be this That he would not only give them temporal Blessings but also that he would heap upon them Spiritual That he would not only give them rain upon their fields which they were now sensible of as being a great while kept from them as it has been of late from us But likewise that he would give them rain upon their hearts and the showres of Heavenly Doctrine falling upon them he leads them from the one to the other that so thereby he might the more ease their Affections in it Now this word It is here Emphatically said to be behind them A word behind thee Davarme acharika Wherein the Lord does as it were compare himself to a Shepherd that puts his Sheep before him Or to a School-master that will have his Schollers in his sight that so he may the better regulate them and keep them in order To open it a little unto us It seems to carry a various Notion in it First it is a pursuing and overtaking Word a Word that follows us and comes at our heels There are many people in the World which think to escape the Lashes of the Word in the Terrors and Threatnings of it by shunning it and running away from it But the Word it is a Word behind them for all that They cannot run so fast from that as that runs fast after them and persecutes them to their very Doors and comes home to them in their very Bosoms through the power and efficacy of it It makes Hue and Cry after them when they think most of all to avoid it Thus Heb. 4.12 The word of God is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Where God is pleased at any time to set home his Word by his Spirit and to give Wings and Legs unto it as he can and often times does it will follow men and pursue them to the uttermost so that they shall not escape And though it meets not with them at one time yet it will be sure to meet with them at another Ye shall have some kind of people sometimes which are afraid to hear such kind of Preachers which deal closely and roundly with them or such kind of Doctrines which do come close to their Hearts and Consciences because they would not be troubled and molested and interrupted in their sins but they are met withal sooner or later now and then before they are aware especially if God have any pleasure or delight in them or any intent towards them for Good He will not leave them so but his word shall find them out in their greatest shunning and avoidings of it That 's one thing which it is so called A word behind thee i.e. A pursuing and overtaking word Secondly A word behind thee that is a Revoking and Recalling Word A word of Restraint when any are going on headlong in the ways and courses of sin without any heed or regard at all This word it comes behind them and fetches them back As Paul when he was riding Post to Damasous with Letters against the Church he heard a word behind him saying Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. 9.4 The word of God it serves to this purpose to curb men and to put a check upon them in all their loose and exorbitant courses and to recall them in all their extravagancies Like the Shepherds whistle that does call back the straying sheep from its wandring from the flock It is said of Christ that he can have compassion on the ignorant and on them which are out of the way Heb. 5.2 And this Compassion he does manifest in the revoking and reducing of them and bring them right again It is a main End and Intent of the Ministery To recover men out of the snare of the Devil who are taken captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 And it is a mercy to enjoy it to such a purpose as this is Thirdly a word behind thee that is An Impulsive and Provoking Word A word that puts thee forward that furthers thee and promotes thee in thy way There 's a great deal of slackness and sluggishness oftentimes in Christians from whence they are more remiss and negligent in their Duties than it becomes them to be For which cause they have need of some body to excite them and to put them on Now the Ministery of the Word it is here exhibited and represented to us under this Notion likewise It is a word behind thee So as there where thou keepest behind to set thee on going This it is in the several Doctrines and Instructions of it where it shews our several Duties and the things that God requires at our hands which so lay as we see we cannot for shame be neglectfull of them Thus in all these considerations is the Word of God a Word behind us And this for the Opportunity it self Now the Second thing is the closing with it Thine ears shall hear it Though the word be behind us yet we must not put it Behind us we must take heed of that we find a censure laid upon this in Psal 50.17 Seeing thou hatest Instruction and casteth my words behind thee It is the Character of a Wicked person and such an one as God will can to an account Therefore t is added here Thine ears shall hear this word God must not only provide a Word but he must likewise provide Ears or else there will no good at all come of it let his word be what it will be This is that therefore which he does here graciously undertake for his people Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee which is not only to be understood of the advantage and opportunity it self but likewise as well of the improvement and closing with it This Hearing it is to be understood Emphatically cum effectu without which the Blessing is not full and compleat Look as meat is not a perfect Blessing except there be a
it is a converting and saving Doctrine it is such as in the nature of it is apt to work upon the hearts of those which are acquainted with it As he spake this they believed on him So it was in the fore-named Auditors of St. Peter Acts 2.37 When they heard this then c. Therefore it is that the Apostle Paul stands so much hereupon in all his Ministery 1 Cor. 1.22 23. The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness But unto them that are called both Jews and Gentiles Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God Christ crucified is God's wisdom and power Hence it was that the same Apostle made this the chief work of his Ministery 1 Cor. 3.2 I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified This is the Doctrine which is most useful First as it implies in it the greatness of mans misery by reason of sin Those Doctrines are most effectual to conversion which do most discover a man to himself shew him his ill condition by Nature now such does this implicitely it discovers the grievous nature of sin which nothing would expiate but the precious Blood of the Son of God himself it shews us what we did deserve by that which He did actually endure Secondly it is the most mollifying Doctrine as it implies in it the great love and bowels of God in Christ towards us Greater love hath no man than this to lay down his life And how much is there in this to melt us and to work upon us What should we now do for him who hath done so much for us and how should we love and embrace him and entertain him with all affection that may be by way of requital Thirdly It is the most Reforming Doctrine it carries amendment it self in the very bowels of it yea it instructs us and directs us to it Christs dying for us teaches us to kill sin in our selves and to mortifie our strongest corruptions by a power fetch'd and derived from his death According to that of the Apostle in Rom 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin Therefore we should study this Doctrine and be well verst and acquainted with it Ministers we should much inculcate it and People we should very much hearken and attend unto it And that was one branch of these words to wit Christs death and sufferings His lifting up c. The second was his Calling and Authority in the next words I do nothing of my self but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things and he that sent me is with me Whence we learn That the Authority and Calling of the Minister is a special ground for the success of his Doctrine When these Jews heard and heard it demonstrated that Christ came by the designation of his Father who knew him and was conversant with him now they presently believed on him Therefore we see what those who take upon them the Ministery should especially look unto viz. That they find it to be thus with themselves that they are such whom God himself does imploy and send about this work otherwise they can never expect assistance in their work nor yet success upon it Whereas thus being they may look for both And so much for the second thing the Determination of the Doctrine As he spake these words The third and last is the Determination of the Time As he spake that is in his very speaking inter loquendum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is another thing observable of us as to the efficacy of the Ministery that though not always yet oftentimes it proves effectual in the very dispensation This preaching of the Word and the success of it they now and then go both together so they did here and so likewise in some other places as to take one for all Acts 10.44 While Peter spake these words the holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word There 's two things at once in this passage First the suddenness of this success and secondly the seasonableness The suddenness of it that it took presently The seasonableness just in the very speaking First Here 's the Suddenness presently all upon the sudden Here 's the Return as soon as the Venture Christ did no sooner preach than the Jews did believe This is one thing which God is pleased sometimes to order to give speedy success upon endeavours in the work of the Ministery Generatio fit in instanti it is so not onely in Nature but in Grace In Regeneration and the work of the New-creature nay 't is here more especially wherein many at once and without succession or leasure are brought home to God and have his image stampt upon them all in a moment Secondly Here 's the Seasonableness of this success just in the very speaking This is not so always but sometimes it pleases God now and then to concur with our Ministery in the very time and moment of its execution Look as it is on the other side in Prayer and our speaking to God God answers us whiles we are speaking to him nay in some manner before as it is exprest in Isa 5.24 And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and whiles they are yet speaking I will hear So is it likewise in Gods speaking to us he makes it to be so also with our selves that we shall hear whilst he is speaking to us His Word and his Spirit go together and the latter to put an efficacy in the former This should make us all with so much the more diligence to attend these Means of Ministerial Dispensations for they are the gales and breathings of the holy Ghost who delights for the most part to convey and communicate himself in them both in regard of his first entrance and slipping into us as also to his further progress and perseverance in us Both the beginnings and confirmations of Grace are upon such occasions So much for that And so I have done also with the second General Part of the Text which is the Occasion or Season of the success of Christs Doctrine upon these Jews in these words As he spake those words So much for this whole Verse SERMON XIV JOH 8.31 Then said Jesus to those Jems which believed on him If ye continue in my word then are ye my Disciples indeed There is nothing commonly more suspitious than sudden changes from evil to good which have usually this disparagement upon them that they are not for the most part so lasting and of so long continuance But as they are fruit which are quickly blossom'd so they are likewise as quickly blasted and come to decay It is so both in Temporal and Spiritual in
by it who can pity him or think charitably of him and how is he not indeed guilty of his own destruction To set home this Point yet a little more effectually upon us we may consider besides the willingness which is in Christ to receives us upon condition of our coming to him the great benefit and advantage which will accrue unto us upon our coming it self To come to one who is willing to entertain us and when we come hs nothing at all to entertain us with this is but small encouragement for our coming But now in Christ it is far otherwise whosoever comes to him they shall not repent of their coming to him they shall be no losers at all by it but be very great gainers from it in sundry respects There are three benefits especially which I will name and instance in First Pardon and Forgivness the life of Sentence and Justification Those that come to him they shall have this by him Thus in the place before cited Isa 55.7 He will abundantly pardon Is not a Pardon worth coming for to a man which is condemned to die and shall he not get well by it who upon his coming does procure and obtain it This is our case in our coming to Christ Do but submit to him acknowledge our miscarriages engage our selves for time to come against them and we are sure to receive pardon of them If we turn he 'll turn and forgive us and have compassion upon us Mic. 7.19 If we do not retain our sins he will not retain his anger That 's one benefit we have by it Secondly Power against sin the life of Holiness and Sanctification Those that come to Christ they shall have virtue from him as it was with the Woman that had the bloudy issue in the Gospel he sends none empty away from him but bestows some grace or other upon them He instamps and imprints his own likeness and image upon them He subdues their iniquities for them and heals their backslidings Thirdly Comfort and Peace of Conscience Come unto me and I will refresh you or give you rest Christ takes off the burden of their sins from those that are oppressed with them and are desirous to leave them As long as men hold any affinity or correspondence with their corruptions they can never have true peace in themselves There is no peace to the wicked saith my God The way to true peace and comfort is to abandon and to take our leave of sin and to take Christs yoke upon us which is easie and his burden light Now further we may enlarge this Point concerning our coming to Christ a little beyond what we have hitherto said of it and that is not onely to our coming in Conversion but likewise to our coming after it There is a coming to Christ at first in our beginning of living to him and of that we have spoken all this whil those that come to him thus he will in no wise reject but will receive them Again there 's a coming to Christ afterwards when we are already brought home and converted and it holds true likewise of this Those that come to him here in this sense he will net reject them nor cast them out neither but they shall have favour and acceptance with him Those that come to him for assurance of his love for greater measure of grace for strength against corruption they have good hope to speed and to prosper in their accessos to him upon this Promise which we have here before us It is a part of Gods gracious Covenant which he has made with his people that where he has bestowed grace upon them already he will bestow also upon them more upon their seeking and repairing to him for it Therefore let us not be wanting to our selves in this particular let us never spare to speed for sparing to speak but let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need as the Apostle speaks Heb. 4.16 Christ keeps open house for all true comers to him he refuses none though never so mean as to their outward and worldly condition and therefore when he does not exclude us let us take heed we do not exclude our selves or neglect so great salvation And especially now upon this occasion that we are to come to the Lords Table let us put this point in practice here more especially to come to Christ indeed for this is the main end and scope of this present Ordinance We are in the nature and institution of it invited to Christ that we would repair to his Dainties and Preparations Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price It is coming which is here call'd for But yet by the way we must not take it absolutely and indefinitely in any fashion whatsoever it is not such a coming which will serve the turn Those that come in their sins and their vanities and their ignorances and their non-attendances they cannot expect acceptance in their coming Those that come thus Christ will cast them out as we see he did in the Gospel with the man that had not on his Wedding-garment Friend how camest thou hither Matth. 22.12 so he will say to many more in such addresses as these are those that come unpreparedly and negligently and remisly without fear and reverence he will not onely deny them the benefits which he does hold forth in the Ordinance it self to worthy Receivers and Comers but he will likewise challenge them and call them to an account for their very coming it self as having nothing at all to do with such sacred things as these are being themselves wicked and prophane but do eat and drink to themselves their own judgment as St. Paul tells us 1 Cor. 11.29 And so much for the first thing impli'd in this expression viz. Admission or Reception Christ will receive all that come to him The second is Custody and Preservation I will not cast him out that is I will keep him and preserve him still by me I will not cast them out i. e. I will not drive them out Those which are once admitted into Christs service and ingrafted and incorporated into his Body they shall always so abide and continue he will never cast them out Those which are his children and Servants once they shall be his Children and his Servants always This is that which is here signified to us and it is the Doctrine likewise of other Scriptures besides Thus Hos 2.19 I will betroth thee unto me for ever and Jer. 32.10 I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good c. and Joh. 8.35 The Son abides in the house for ever This is a great incouragement to the Servants of God that they have to deal with
to digest every truth which we hear and to make it our own or else we can have no benefit by it There must be a turning of our spiritual nourishment into the substance of our souls as of our corporal nourishment into the substance of our bodies and that suitable to the several parts of it now this is the work of Faith Faith it makes every truth ours by appropriating it and bringing it home to our selves And that in a proportion suitable to the nature of the Doctrine it self If it be a Doctrine of Information Faith makes it ours by framing and conforming our judgments thereunto and setling us there If it be a Doctrine of Consolation Faith makes it ours by closing and complying with it and so drawing comfort from it If it be a Doctrine of Threatning Faith makes it ours by trembling at it and reforming for it Thus Faith is active in all as that Grace which does apply all to us The consideration hereof may be thus far useful to us As first It may teach us how to address our selves to the hearing of the Word namely by labouring to prepare our hearts by a spirit of faith Oportet discentem credere we must come with a resolution to imbrace every truth of God which he propounds unto us Preaching will do us no good without believing if we had all the Preaching in the world without it we make the Ordinance but a Complement and meer word of course unto us Why but then may some say If Preaching does no good without believing why then we should preach only to Believers and none but them To this I answer No for by Preaching we make them Believers through Gods blessing upon it Preaching is a means to work that Faith which does improve it self and without which it is ineffectual as wine enables the stomack to work it self to the good of the body Secondly Seeing Preaching does no good without believing let us here then see why there 's no more good done by Preaching many times than there is we are apt when we profit not by the Word to lay the fault on other things the Doctrine and the Preacher and the like but we should confider whether it lyes not in our selves in our own hearts It may be we come not to the Word with that faith and expectation from God as it becomes us to do and then no wonder if we profit not by it Thirdly Let us hence not glory in the means that we have the Ordinances and the Word Preached unto us but let us consider what faith our selves have for the receiving and entertainment of them And that 's the first restraint None have benefit by Preaching but Believers The second restraint is this That none have the benefit of Salvation but Believers Salvation is restrained to Faith He that believes shall be saved but he that believes not shall be damned Mark 16.16 No Faith no Salvation They could not enter in because of unbelief Heb. 3.19 Of them that believe to the saving of the soul Heb. 10.39 Faith is the saving Grace as infidelity is the damning sin Not but that there are other saving Graces and other damning Sins but those which are so they are in the strength of these as being prinoipal and most effectual hereunto These are so by a special quality and property in them either to save or damn And for saving because that 's to our purpose faith has it here attributed to it self First as the radical and fundamental Grace and that which puts a life and vigor into all the rest And therefore ye shall find in the Eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews how all 's ascribed to this By faith they had a good report for every thing else which deserved good report If they had love or patience or humility or self-denial or zeal all was from faith In Enoch in Noah in Abraham in Moses and the like By faith they are said to do all whatsoever they did Secondly Faith has it attributed to it because it is that whereby we please God Without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 Thirdly It is Faith which lays hold upon Christ who is the Author of Eternal Salvation Gal. 2.20 I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me c. This knits and unites us to him asour Head and when he is saved we are saved too by this union Fourthly It is Faith which gives most glory to God Rom. 4.20 Giving glory to God And 2 Thes 1.10 To be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe Fifthly Faith is that which does most conquer temptations and subdue all the enemies and adversaries of our salvation Ephes 6.16 Lastly Faith is said to save as the condition which God requires and will have in them which shall be saved and this were enough though nothing else to give account of it In all these respects is Salvation attributed hereunto But what is this Faith which we speak of all this while and wherein does it consist Sure it is not a meer assent to the truth revealed though that be somewhat which belongs thereunto yet this is not all the Devils thus believe which yet tremble as knowing that they are sons of wrath Jam. 2.19 But saving faith is quieting faith too Being justified by faith we have peace with God Rom. 5.1 Now what faith is this this is no other than a taking and receiving of Christ upon those terms in which he is offered in the Gospel for a Saviour and Lord too To as many as received him c. Joh. 1.12 As we must be willing to be saved by Christ's Blood so we must be willing to be ruled by Christ's Spirit Now this Faith has this also in it an assent to the whole truth of God which is revealed unto us Historical faith is comprehended in Justifying-faith as the less in the greater as the Vegetative and Sensitive soul in the Rational But the proper act of Justifying-faith is to lay hold on Christ Ens incomplexum est object um sidei justificantis Thus we see what Believing it self is The close of all for our selves is but to find this in our selves for our own particular And as we love Salvation accordingly to make good our Faith This we may discern and discover by the rise and fruits and workings of it For the rise of it it comes by Preaching and is suitable to the Doctrine of the Word Those which contemn the Ordinance they have none of the Grace For the fruits of it it works by love p1 It makes us afraid to displease God p2 It makes us couragious for God p3 It makes us love the Children of God p4 It quite changes and alters our converse from evil to good And so I have done with the fourth particular the extent of the work it self To save them that believe And so likewise with the second General in the Text Gods supply of the worlds defect
Christ crucified But why Christ crucified rather than Christ exhibited in some other consideration why not rather Christ incarnate forasmuch as that was the first news of him or why not Christ risen again or Christ ascended which was a great deal more glorious Why does the Apostle fasten upon this mystery in Religion and Christianity above the rest Christ crucified Surely there 's very good reason to be given for it First because he would give them the worst of Christ at first that he might shew he was not ashamed of him nor of that Gospel which made him known but that hereby he might the better prepare them for other Truths and make them the welcomer to them Christs Cross is the first letter of all in a Christians Alphabet and they that can take out this lesson they will learn the other fast enough Gods beginnings with us are commonly most tedious His conclusions and closings are for the most part very sweet and comfortable and so here Secondly Because Christ crucified it is vertually and implicitly all the rest For why was Christ Incarnate it was for this end that he might be crucified therefore he was born that he might die and therefore he took flesh upon him that he might lay it down again after he had taken it Again when Christ was risen and ascended what were the terms which he was risen from was it not from death and the grave his Resurrection it pointed at his suffering and death which were conquered by him So that all upon the point is Christ crucified Thirdly This was that Mystery which did most concern us for the good and benefit which comes by it as we shall hear afterwards his death was that which pacified Gods wrath and paid the debt which was due for our sins And therefore the Apostle instances in that rather than any other Lastly Christ crucified because this was that which these people had a particular hand in as instrumental hereunto they had been active in the crucifying of Christ themselves and therefore it was most fit that they should hear of Christ crucified to chuse of any thing else Therefore accordingly we shall find that this was the practise of the Apostles in the whole course and way of their Ministry still to urge and inculcate this upon those whom they Preached unto As soon as ever they had received the Holy Ghost upon the day of Pentecost they presently fall upon this as it was that which Christ himself much spoke of That the son of man must suffer many things so it was that which the Apostles of Christ much urged as Peter in his first Sermon Act. 2.23 this was that which he inforced upon them their crucifying of Christ This was that also which he preached so boldly in the Temple Act. 5.28 insomuch as the Council told him that they intended to bring the blood of that man upon them And Act. 8.32 the Providence of God directs them to a Scripture to this purpose out of Isa 53.7 8. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before the shearer so opened be not his mouth Thus was Christ crucified the chief point which they still urged in their Ministry And so it is that which is the chief work of ours it is the Doctrine which is to be chiefly preached by us and that upon these following Considerations First As it is a Doctrine of the greatest Humiliation it is an humbling and convincing Doctrine every Evangelical Truth being set on by the Spirit of God concurring and going along with it has an answerable work upon the conscience to bring it into a spiritual frame the Incarnation to work in us desires and affections after the new Birth the Resurrection to raise us up to new activity in holy duties c. the Ascension to carry us up to Heaven and Heavenly things and so the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ to humble us and to crucifie us for sin This Doctrine rightly preached and understood and believed and imbraced has a might power and efficacy in it for Conviction and Humiliation and to cast down th strong-holds of Sin and Satan in us This you shall see in the effect which it had upon the Apostle himself Gal. 6.14 God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of the Lord Jesus whereby the world is crucified to me and I unto the world By the death of Christ was the world crucified to the Apostle And so St. Peter's Auditors Act. 2.37 When they heard this namely of Christ crucified then they were pricked at their hearts This same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was that which pierced them to the soul their piercing of Christ And so the Disciples which went to Emaus this made their hearts burn If we ask how this is done I answer by an Act of Reflection and special Consideration to this purpose namely as from hence taking notice of this grievous and odious nature of sin those which make nothing of sin in the commission of it and when they are set violently upon it in the strength of their lusts and temptations they may here see what it is now in the price which was paid for it and the pain which was endured to expiate it in Christ crucified And those which make a mock of a sin and sometimes of those which warn them of it they see how sad it is in those effects which it had upon the Redeemer and this is to be a means to humble them and lay them low in themselves Every nail which was struck into his Blessed Body it is here a piercing of our hearts every thorn which stuck in that opprobrous Crown it is a thorn in our sides every drop of blood which issued out of his sides it should fetch buckets of tears from us if we had not hearts harder than the flints This Doctrine of Christs Passion it is thus in this way of Proceeding a Doctrine of Humiliation and therefore fittest to be urged in the course of our Ministry And that because this is a main part of our Ministry to humble men and convince them of sin sutable and answerable to the work of the Spirit of God upon the Conscience for that 's a main work likewise of that The Spirit when he comes he shall convince the world of sin Joh. 16.9 Now thus it should be with Preaching which is a special conveyance of the Spirit the work of this is not to sooth men up to flatter them to give them scope to sin no but rather to humble them for it Secondly This Doctrine of Christ crucified as it has cause to be the chief work of our Ministry forasmuch as it is an humbling Doctrine so it has cause likewise to be so too because it is a comforting Doctrine and a Doctrine of the greatest comfort that can be We which are Ministers we are made to be the helpers of the joy of Gods people as we are called 2 Cor. 1. ult Now