Creatures that have been made sensible how Matters stand with them There is a miserable Want and Emptiness in them in whose Flesh there dwelleth nothing that is good but there is an All-fullness in Christ. And if there be an All-fullness in Him then of Righteousness as well as of Wisdom and Power and Grace and Love. He hath as much Righteousness as the guilty undone ruined Creature doth need or can desire There are in him unsearchable Riches of Righteousness an inexhaustible Treasure of it and it dwells in him it is inseparable from him There was in him not only Righteousness enough for those who lived in former Ages but there is enough now as much for us who live in the present Age And so there will be for those that shall live hereafter to the end of the World. The Fullness which is in Christ is an abounding and an abiding Fulness Heb. 13.8 Iesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever Secondly As the Lord Jesus is the King of Righteousness so He is the Prince of Peace He is called the Peace This Man shall be the Peace He made Peace by the Blood of his Cross and if you have in sincerity given your selves up to him and are become his Subjects indeed then you shall be not only washed with his Blood and justified by his Righteousness but likewise interested in and blessed with his Peace God is now reconciled Fury is not in him you need not run from him as an Enemy but approach to him and converse with him as a Father For He himself is at peace with you and so are all his Attributes How terrible an Aspect soever some of them have upon christless graceless obstinate and impenitent Sinners they all look sweetly and smilingly upon you As his Patience doth spare you though you have deserved to be cut off and his Bounty doth supply you though you are less than the least of Mercies and at his Hand did never merit a crum of Bread and his Bowels do vern over you in your Falls as well as in your Sorrows and his Mercy passeth and seals your Pardon when you repent and turn from your evil Ways So his Holiness which stands at an infinite and eternal distance from Sin is reconciled to you Therefore is that command Psal. 97.12 Rejoyce in the Lord ye Righteous and give thanks at the remembrance of his Holiness And so is his Justice likewise reconciled to you That will vote for your Discharge and Salvation that will pass the Sentence on your side so that when you are judged you shall not be condemned For your comfortable and full assurance hereof read and rejoyce while you read Rom. 3.25 26. Iesus Christ God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the remission of Sins that are past through the Forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his Righteousness that he might be just and the Iustifier of him which believeth in Iesus And again 1 John 1.9 If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Unrighteousness His doing this for us is in him an Act of Faithfulness upon the account of his own Covenant and Promise and an Act of Justice upon the account of Christs Obedience Sufferings and Satisfaction And as all the Attributes of God are thus reconciled and at peace with us so likewise are all his Providences not only comfortable Providences but cross ones too His most smarting Rods upon your Backs blossom with love When he seems to afflict in Fury He really doth it in Faithfulness And while he speaks and writes bitter things against you He doth earnestly remember you still All come upon an errand of Mercy upon a design of Kindness And We know saith Paul all work together for good Rom. 8.28 We believe it to be so yea by our own Experience we know it to be so And the Creatures are at peace with you Though wicked Men hate you yet their very Enmity and the Effects of it shall befriend you They may do you a great deal of wrong but they shall do you no hurt While those Plowers make long their Furrows God will in those Furrows sow that precious Seed which shall spring up and yield to you the peaceable Fruit of Righteousness By their adding to your present Exercises they add to your future Crown they will make Heaven the more sweet to you and your Glory there the more exceeding weighty And as for the good things which you now enjoy they are all sanctified all pure your Tables shall not be Snares to you Riches shall not be laid up by you to your hurt you may rejoyce in the Mercies you have for they all are Mercies in mercy and all come to you in the Blood of a Saviour and with the Blessing of your Father Your common Blessings are Covenant-Blessings And there will be no After-Reckonings to your cost all hath been by Christ and is freely given to you And therefore while you are in the way of your Duty you may sleep quietly in the Night and walk comfortably in the Day and eat your Bread with a merry Heart for God takes pleasure in your Persons and accepts your Works Once more Conscience is at peace with you too and as you shall be satisfied so you shall be cheared and comforted from your selves Conscience which is mille testes a thousand Witnesses will speak to you and for you and in the testimony thereof you may and shall rejoice It will make you sing in Prison and smile at Famine and Destruction and laugh alone and if you have at any time by your foolishness anger'd it and made it to chide and take on at a strange rate Christ will upon your humble penitent believing application to him reconcile it to you There shall be the gracious Sprinklings of his most precious Blood upon it by which it shall be purged from dead works and pacified too made good and quiet too the Wounds which you made in it by Sin shall be healed and then it shall not be your Tormentor but your Comforter And if your Dejection being so great and your Fears so many that Conscience alone cannot do the work it shall have powerful and effectual Assistance from above The Spirit of Adoption will come in and bear witness with your Spirits that ye are the Children of God and so enable you in the strength of Faith to cry Abba Father Rom. 8.15 16. Therefore upon these Encouragements be persuaded to submit your selves to the Government of Christ and to take his Yoke upon you Exh. 2. Let us now come to the second Exhortation wherein I do entreat and with utmost earnestness beseech you not only as before to bow to Christ but also to appear for him every one of you to your utmost in those several Stations and Relations in which Divine Providence hath set
A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir IOHN SHORTER Knight Lord Mayor OF THE CITY of LONDON AT GROCERS-HALL By Samuel Slater Minister of the Gospel Published by his Lordships Command LONDON Printed for Thomas Cockerill at the Three Legs in the Poultrey 1688. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir IOHN SHORTER Knight Lord Mayor OF THE CITY of LONDON My Lord THIS Sermon was not preached nor is it published undesir'd Your Honour hath had a very great stroke as to both Tho many others did come with their auxiliary hands to help the Midwifeing of it into the World. It hath stuck long in the birth because I cared not to expose it and my self now that the comfortable ease which God and his Majesty have graciously granted us who were before unmercifully run down doth make too many very uneasie and wickedly angry as if to shew kindness to the Oppressed were not becoming of a great King nor to accept of it fit for a groaning Subject But my Lord contrary to mine own Inclinations I am constrained to yield at last to Importunity What entertainment it will find with many I neither know nor am sollicitous Probably they will slight and laugh at it and so let them till they are weary methinks however they may please to let this and some other Works of my Reverend Brethren pass as tolerable since done by the clumsy Fists of Pedlars and Tinkers c. as some out of their abundant civility and good manners have been pleas'd to call us But we can laugh as heartily at their Abuses as they can at our Discourses so long as there are no Fists about our Ears we shall be contented You are not My Lord without Reproaches which for the sake of Righteousness are more Your Honour than Your Chair or Chain these things are frankly given out by men ready at any thing but what is good Let us My Lord give them to understand if they have leisure enough to throw dirt we have none to be concerned at it No let us mind the duty of our several Places and be the more industrious in the doing of it as the Moon holds on her journey notwithstanding the bawling of Dogs En peragit cursus surda Diana suos That God would direct succeed and strengthen the heart and hands of Your Lordship and worthy Brethren that God would make Your City a City of Righteousness accompany this Sermon with a blessing that it may reach its wished-for end Private and Publick good That Truth and Peace may be in our days and descend as a blessing upon the head of all following Generations is the hearty Prayer of My Lord Your Honour 's most Humble Servant in our Dearest Jesus Samuel Slater March 30.88 A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir IOHN SHORTER Kt. c. PSALM 11.16 Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion OUR dear and precious Lord Jesus is the great and blessed Potentate King of kings and Lord of lords his Kingdom the most noble and glorious his Government the most excellent in its self and most easy to his Subjects yet never did any meet with greater Opposition than he hath done both in his own Person while he was conversant upon Earth tabernacling among Men and in his Interest Power and Authority ever since He strikes not at the just Prerogatives and Sovereign Rights of Princes nor at the Peace and Prosperity of Subjects but hath been and still is carrying on designs of Mercy Grace and Love seeking the good welfare and happiness of Mankind yet black and cursed designs have been hatched in Hell and vigorously carried on by some of the Sons of Men against him He saith in Joh. 18.36 My kingdom is not of this world Such a Kingdom as is not terrene decaying and fading but spiritual and abiding Such a Kingdom as is not of the same nature with those of this World is not inconsistent with them doth not usurp upon them doth not prejudice or infeeble them hath nothing in common with them needs it not seeks it not Yet for all this in the Psalm before us we find the World in a ferment and violent Heat about it great Consultations and Endeavours among all sorts and ranks of Men high and low rich and poor honourable and base for the wresting of the Royal Scepter out of his hand the shaking and overturning of his sacred and highly-exalted Throne In short tho he be the best Friend that ever the World had not a Destroyer but a Saviour yet he had and hath a world of Enemies who would break his hands asunder and cast away his Cords from them which is egregious folly and ingratitude in the height But the question is Why do they so Why do they rage and set their Wits at work Why do they combine and unite together against him Why is all this stir and bustle Why cannot Men be quiet Why do they thus bid defiance to the God of Love to the Prince of Peace You find no Answer in this Psalm returned to this Question and surely no other reason of this aversness from him can be assigned but this viz. His being an irreconcilable Enemy to the lusts of Men and their sinful Practices his Government whereever it is erected not allowing the reign of Sin which the hearts of the Sons of Men are so much devoted to and mad upon that they will not be divided from it but prefer it before the Lord of Life and Glory and if they are fixedly resolved so to do let them go on till Divine Vengeance overtake them However these their actings upon Earth are taken notice of by one in Heaven There the Great Iehovah the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ sits as a strict and curious Observer of the Spirits and Ways and Doings of men He sees what is the matter of their Debates what the issue of their Consults what is agreed upon in their greatest Privacies and what is done by them in their open Hostilities and as he observes all so he doth it with a perfect Serenity without any trouble or afflictive commotion without any undue concernedness for his Son's interest and honour Notwithstanding all the Confusions that are and will be here below all the attempts of wicked and unreasonable men he enjoys himself as becomes a God in undisturbed Peace and Quietness and a plerophory of Satisfaction as to his own Counsels and the success of them For his Understanding is Infinite so that he cannot be out-witted nor over-reached and his own Arm is sufficient for him so that he cannot be mastered and over-powred There is not any possibility of defeating any of his everlasting Purposes or frustrating any of his glorious Ends his Counsels shall stand and the thoughts of his heart to all Generations Hence it comes to pass that while they rage he laughs and while they are putting forth the utmost of their skill and strength he looks upon them with an holy
Power enough to Protect and Defend them from all their Enemies so that they shall give them no more trouble than will tend to the Honour of God to the advantage of their Cause and to their own eternal Good. Power enough to perform all things for them and to save to the utmost all those that come unto God by him In a word he hath in him all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling bodily So that since the Goverment is laid upon his Shoulders there is a full and compleat suitablenss or parity between the Shoulder and the Government The Government is fit for such a Shoulder and the Shoulder is fit for such a Government Secondly This Anointing or setting up of Christ doth signifie God the Fathers designation and appointment of him for this Office the Commissionating and Authorizing of him For what he doth in this donative Kingdom he doth by virtue of his Fathers Commission and Authority derived from him It is the Father that placeth him as King upon the Throne and puts the Royal Scepter into his Hand Ephes. 1.22 and hath put all things under his Feet and gave him to be Head over all things to the Church He is given to be Head By whom is he so given If you look back into the 17 th verse you will find it is by the God of our Lord Iesus Christ the Father of Glory That God who is infinitely Glorious and the Author of all Glory the Fountain of Honour hath put this Honour upon Christ and given him to be Head so an Head and in such a manner as there is none other beside him Mat. 28. All Power is given to him both in Heaven and in Earth Authoritas disponendi omnia in Ecclesia circa Ecclesiam An Authority of ordering and disposing all things in and about the Church This All Power is given unto him singly and solely He hath indeed his Delegates and Officers under him but he is Supream He only Plenipotentiary The Fulness of Power is in his hand and in his alone Therefore it is said Rev. 3.7 That He hath the Key of David He opens and no Man shuts He shuts and no Man opens i. e. He hath supream and absolute Power in the Church both Militant upon Earth and Triumphant in Heaven so that He receives and rejects admits and excludes whom he pleaseth One Ieanes a late Learned and Reverend Writer observes the Fulness of Christs Office is signified by the Power of the Keys The Keys of an House Town or City are the Badges of Power and Authority And therefore the yielding up of them is a sign or token of delivering up all to the Conquerour In Garisons the Keys are every night deposited with the Governours of them The Steward of an House hath the Keys of it committed to him And as Learned Deodate saith Christ's having the Key of David doth signifie his being the Sovereign Lord and Governour of the Church whose Will is to be its standing Law and whose Commands and Orders are to be Universally observed and obeyed not subject to any Contradiction Opposition or Dispute Those Keys which were given in common to Peter and the rest of the Apostles were no more than the Keys of Ministry The Key of Royal Magistratical Power was put into the hand of Christ and there it doth rest and shall immovably remain whoever they be that would wrest it out of his Hand Isa. 9.7 Of the increase of his Government and of Peace there shall be no end upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom to order it and to stablish it with Iudgment and with Iustice from henceforth even for ever The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this I now proceed to the last Question which will be this Quest. 5. What is the import of that Particle in the Text Yet Yet have I set my King upon my Hill of Sion What may we gather from thence I answer Though it be but a very little word it is full of Matter of Weight and Sweetness And I shall give up to you my Thoughts concerning it briefly in these four following Particulars First It doth hold out to us that singular Contentment and Delight which God the Father takes in the thing that he hath done the disposal which he hath made He is most highly pleased with the Choice that he hath made of his Son and with that superlative Honour that he hath put upon him His Soul is at rest things are now as God would have them Let Men think and say what they will let them fret and murmur as much and as long as they will yet have I set him up yet I have given him a Name above every Name that at his Name every Knee shall bow be it never so proud and stiff I have done it and I am fully satisfied Time was when it pleased the Lord to bruise him Isa. 53.10 and to put him to grief Though he did infinitely love the Person of Christ yet he took pleasure in his Sorrows and Agonies the shedding of his Blood was a delightful Spectacle to him as it was the repairing of his own injur'd Honour and the price of his Peoples Redemption When he made his Soul an Offering for Sin it was a Sacrifice of a sweet Savor And now he is as much pleased in his having exalted him You know what is said with reference to his Sacerdotal Office Psal. 110.4 The Lord hath sworn and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek He will never retract that He hath resolved and determined it with an immutable Will. And we may say the same as to his Regal Office The Lord hath sworn and will not repent Christ is and shall be a King for ever No no God doth not repent of any thing that he hath done for Christ He doth not repent of the Glory to which he hath advanced him nor of the Power with which he hath invested him And the truth is He hath no cause to repent and which is more He never shall He was fully and eternally sure of that Such a Power could be no where better disposed of no where so well as it is The Royal Robe sits neatly upon the back of Christ the Crown becomes his Head. Go forth O ye Sons and Daughters of Ierusalem and behold King Iesus with the Crown wherewith his Father crowned him in the day of his Inauguration and in the day of the gladness of his Heart It is a most lovely Sight He a most glorious Object The Father himself counts him so and loves to look upon him As it did greatly please Christ to obey his Father and to honour Him the doing of the Fathers Will was his Meat and Drink He was straitned till it was accomplished So it doth as greatly please the Father to honour Christ. Therefore He saith Yet have I set my King c. I rejoyce in the Thoughts of it in a Reflexion upon
and all of you Children of the most High. They are Gods Vicegerents Gods Representatives they are Terrestrial Gods. But be not proud of that be not high minded but fear and to that end he whispers in their Ear or rather tells them upon the House-top but ye shall die like Men. You may ask what may be the meaning of that I Answer You may take it thus They shall die like Men i.e. they know no more when they shall die than other Men whether some years hence or to morrow or to day and they can tell no more than other Men how they shall die whether a natural or violent Death whether on a sudden or by some lingering and tedious Distemper And again they die like Men as to the Consequences of Death They must be stript of all their Ornaments and Royal Robes and their Bodies must return to Dust and both Soul and Body must come to Judgment Kings that are Supreme and all Inferiour Magistrates must stand before the Tribunal of Christ and there be judged their Rule shall be inspected their Government examined all their Words and Actions considered and all the Sentences that have been here past by them all the Punishments that have been inflicted by them by their Authority and Order shall be curiously and exactly weighed in the Ballance of Justice Oh! be wise and consider this and remember your latter end But though Christ died once He died but once He shall not die a second time Death hath no more Power over him This Friend may fall and that Comfort may wither and that Prince may die under whose Shadow the People rejoyced but so doth not Christ He abides for ever Psalm 102. Thou hast laid the Foundations of the Earth the Heavens are the work of thine Hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a Garment as a Vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end Secondly Christ shall reign as well as live He shall live and that like himself in State and in Power and Glory His and our Father who hath set him up for King upon his holy Hill of Sion hath settled him there and fixed him there the Sacred Scriptures do abound with Expressions to this purpose that we might have a full assurance of Faith in the Matter which is so important As to instance in a few Ps. 45.6 Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever So Ps. 110.1 2. The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine Enemies thy Footstool The Lord shall send the Rod of thy Strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine Enemies He now rules in the midst of them and in spite of them and the Father will subdue them all Christ sits expecting till it be done And as the Father was not failed in his Expectation from Christ so Christ shall not be failed in his Expectation from the Father All his Enemies shall be brought to an under either in a way of gracious Conversion or in a way of most dreadful Confusion Either they shall willingly bow to him in the day of his Power or else they shall against their wills be broken by him in the day of his wrath either they shall submit to his golden Scepter or they shall be dashed in pieces like a Potters Vessel by his Iron Rod. In a word Either they shall by a chearful Resignation put themselves into his hand to be moulded guided and ordered by him or else they shall be under his Feet to be trampled upon with Scorn and Indignation and at last kicked to Hell as fewel for those unquenchable Flames And yet further He must Reign till he hath got the actual and full possession of all that unto which he hath an unquestionable Right by virtue of his Fathers donation i.e. till the Heathen and uttermost parts of the Earth be brought in to him Of the continuance of his Kingdom and the increase of his Government there shall be no end till that happy time come wherein all the Kingdoms of the World shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ i. e. they shall renounce all Idolatry and false Worships and embrace the Gospel and walk in the Light thereof and according to its Rules Yea it is said Rev. 11.15 He shall Reign for ever and ever till time shall be no more Thirdly Rejoyce in this That the Church of the living God shall be preserved and continued in the World. Though there have been dreadful concussions and are so at this present and are like to be till all be shaken down that God hath not set up yet there shall be no overturning of this House no ruining thereof The Ship may be and frequently is sorely tost with Tempests but it shall live since Christ is Pilot and sits at the Helm and steers the Course I say it shall live as the Ark did in the Deluge when the Waters were at the highest Notwithstanding all the Rage and Malice all the Power and Plots of Men and Devils Christ will have a Church upon Earth Though they may prune this Vine which Gods right Hand hath planted yet they shall never be able to pull it up by the roots It may bleed grievously even to Fainting but not to Death It is true this or that particular Church may fail The Church of the Iews did though once dearly yea only beloved and so have the seven Famous Churches in Asia And so may others Therefore that was excellent and no more than necessary Counsel which Paul more likely to be an Apostle to them than Peter gave them Rom. 11.20 21. Because of unbelief they i. e. the Iews were broken off and thou standest by Faith be not high-minded but fear Which Counsel he followeth with this weighty Reason For if God spared not the natural Branches take heed lest he spare not thee That was Pauls advice to the Church at Rome when he wrote this Epistle to them But whatever hath become of Her or may of this or that particular Church our Lord Iesus will certainly take effectual care that there shall be a true Church upon Earth And though at first it be but as a little Stone yet shall it smite the Image upon his feet and break them to pieces and become it self a great Mountain and fill the whole Earth Let every one look to it that they be true and living Members of that true Church and continue so without turning aside to any Synagogue of Satan or having any Fellowship with Devils The End.