but be sure to carry away the Victory If the Devil assault you resist him till he flee from you Are you persecuted troubled and afflicted maintain a Christian Courage and Magnanimity bear all with an invincible Patience and suffer the utmost rather than do what is dishonourable what may offend God or wound your own Conscience Doth the wind of false Doctrine blow from all quarters let us take heed that we be not carried away therewith let us search for the Truth and never suffer Lyes and Falshoods to have any Impression upon us And that other Errors may not find entrance let us shut out that great and gross one and the Mother of many viz. That it is no matter what Men think or believe that Opinions are not dangerous for the Apostle tells us That there are some Heresies damnable All Truths are not to be alike accounted of nor are all Errors dangerous But certainly some Truths are of such importance and are delivered with such evidence that to deny or question them is to resist God and question his Veracity and there are some Errors which debauch the Understanding as much as Vice doth the Heart and the one doth alienate from God as well as the other If we be tempted to mingle our Devotions with Idolatry and Superstition that the Worship of God may be splendid and magnificent let us not yield for God is not to be Worshipped with that which pleaseth him not nor must we study to Honour him by ways which he has forbidden Neither out of a pretext of shunning this let us be carried to the other extreme of Indecency Irreverence and of a nasty Familiarity Whatever be in vogue among others let us both in publick and in private keep up that Worship which is grave serious and deliberate which is suitable to the Majesty of God and proper to beget in us great and worthy thoughts of him which kindleth our Love to him heighteneth our Reverence and Esteem for him which instructs us in his Will and quickeneth our Obedience to his Commands Finally and particularly let us with all care escape the Pollution that is in the World thorow Lust let us stave off Vice and withstand the wicked Practices of this Age we live in and study to be found the Children of God without all rebuke even in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation whatever be the practices of others let us make it our business to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearance of the Son of God If we do not strive to overcome in this last particular our Victory in the rest will be to little purpose What will it avail us to stand out against Persecutions to resist Errour and Heresies Idolatry and Superstition if we be Slaves to Lust and suffer Sin or any manner of Impiety to reign in us All our Zeal for Christ's Kingdom without will profit us nothing if we do not set it up within us Though we Prophesie in Christ's Name and in his Name cast out Devils and in his Name do many wondrous Works yet if we do the works of Iniquity he will say to us in that day Depart from me I never knew you Thus you have seen your task and what as Christians is required of you Your task indeed is great but your Assistances are as great and if you resolve to acquit your selves well you must be active and diligent There is no place for Idleness or Loitering You have much to do but however do not despond for there shall be strength given you from above He that is with you is greater than any that can be against you If you have the heart be ready and willing God will enable you to overcome the greatest Goliah of the Philistines And if at any time you should faint look unto Iesus the author and finisher of your Faith let his Example direct and encourage you and as he did also look unto the Recompence of Reward consider what shall be done to you if you overcome You shall not be so meanly rewarded as they were who obtained the Mastery in Olympick Games who only got Crowns of Flowers Laurels and Myrtles nor yet as the Romans when they returned Victorious over their Enemies who only had the Honour of a days Solemnity and Triumph nor is it a Crown of Gold which shall be bestowed on you which is the greatest reward to be expected in this World but it is a Crown of Life Glory and Righteousness I have fought a good fight saith St. Paul I have finished my course and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness Nothing is reckoned more August and glorious than a Crown some have been at great Pains and have run many Hazards to win one But there is no Crown so glorious as this which awaits us in the other World The splendor of it is represented by the Whiteness of the Stone in the Text Its Excellency and Magnificence by the weight thereof and its Duration and Continuance by the firmness of it Be ye therefore stedfast and immoveable and abounding always in the work of the Lord Forasmuch as you see that your labour is not in vain And unto him who is able to make you overcome and who has promised thus to reward you if you do overcome be Glory Honour and Praise for Ever and Ever Amen SERMON X. On LUKE VI. 46. Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say THE Name of Lord is not only a title of Honour but it implies Dominion and Authority so that to call one Lord is to acknowledge him Superiour and to profess Subjection to him Christ is called Lord by David Psal. cx And is almost always design'd so in Scripture This Name is due to him both by vertue of his Nature and Office so that to call Iesus Lord is to receive and Acknowledge him for the Son of God the Messias or Christ and the Saviour of the World For these Reasons he is our Lord and is called so in Scripture and they do not understand what they say who do not mean these things when they call Iesus Lord. By the things which Christ saith is to be understood the whole Doctrine of Christ as it respects both Faith and Manners A true Disciple will receive whatever his Lord saith and will own all that his Authority is concerned in But he is disobedient and rejects his Authority who rejects either the Truths required to be believed or the things commanded to be done To do then what Jesus saith is to frame both the inward Temper and Sentiments of our heart and our outward Conversation according to the Doctrine of Christ it is to receive by a Sincere Faith all the Truths revealed by him and to make Conscience of observing what he has commanded The Credenda or things to be believed are
good will and only holds off because he wants sufficient Instruction or that the Truth appears not to him with clearness and evidence there is place for Charity for in that case the defect is in the Judgment and not in the Will the Head and not the Heart is to blame But there is no place for Charity it self when one will not lay aside his Prejudices against the Truth when he employs his Wit to raise Objections and to find Shifts when the plainest Assertions will not prevail but rather than yield will do violence to his own reason and other Mens Such were the Scribes and Pharisees of old they would not receive Jesus as the Messias tho' he came at the time appointed and with all the Evidence that could be desired The Socinians now are rather more guilty they also wilfully resist the Truth and the holy Spirit of God who is the Author of it and therefore deserve to be abhorred they are among the Number of those false Teachers who privily bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and therefore bring upon themselves swift destruction as St. Peter speaks I wish what he subjoins there may not hold true of these times we live in especially amongst our selves viz. That many shall follow their pernicious ways There is a time of which it is said that every Man doth whatsoever is right in his own Eyes and there is a time not much unlike the other in which Men take liberty to speak what they please to teach and vent whatever Fancies come in their Head When the Order and Unity of the Church is broken when its Pastors and Governours cannot exert their Authority then the Enemy steps in and sowes his Tares then false Teachers arise and diffuse their Poisonous Doctrines We have not only reason to fear this but cause enough already to bewail and lament it for it is actually done This and other Damnable Errors came in with the late Troubles and they spread and grew up mightily under Cromwell his Usurpation which made Maresius utter these remarkable words O deplorandam conditionem Anglioe quoe post Reges exactos ipsi Christo Regi Regum mandat exilium nec videtur majorem libertatem magno cruore redemptam anhelasse quam ut Licentiam consequeretur faceret quidlibet audendi quidlibet scribendi quidlibet credendi O the deplorable Condition of England which having driven out their Kings now constrains the King of Kings to be Banished and it seems that they have panted after a Liberty even at the expence of much Blood only to obtain a Licence of Hearing Writing and Believing what they please I would not make this Remark if it was not necessary if these Errors were not Dangerous and Damnable if they did not strike at the root of our holy Religion and did not overturn all the hopes which the Catholick Church have been Building for near these Seventeen Hundred Years The Deity of Jesus Christ is not an idle Speculation which one may be safely ignorant of and which no body is obliged to know believe or profess as an insolent Unworthy Author in a late Blasphemous Pamphlet is pleased to talk No certainly it is a Truth of the highest Importance which shines in the Scriptures with all clearness and evident Splendor and where every one that reads may see the express Belief and Acknowledgment of it required as absolutely necessary to Salvation Wherefore let us take care to build our selves up in this Faith and to do it this Day is not improper nay it is very proper for we cannot commemorate his Birth with sufficient Admiration and Thankfulness if we do not believe the Dignity of his Person our Joy and Gladness will fall low and vanish into nothing if we be not perswaded that the Child which was this Day Born and given unto us was truly Immanuel or God with us And what small hopes can we raise to our selves from the Sacrament which is to be Administred if we be not assured that by it is communicated and applied unto us the Merits of one who is God as well as Man and so both able and willing to save to the uttermost such as come unto him For evincing of this Important Useful and Comfortable Truth I need not go beyond the Text for there it is plainly and fully asserted For 1. You see that here the Apostle declares Jesus Christ to have pre-existed or to have had a Being before he was Man for unless he had subsisted before it could not have been said that he took upon himself the form of a Servant and that in so doing he made himself of no reputation for what is not in being cannot assume to it self an Existence nor make choice of the manner and condition of its Existence 2. It is clear by what the Apostle saith that the state in which he pre-existed was preferable to and more glorious than that in which he was made or found in the likeness of Men otherwise it could not be true that he made himself of no reputation when he became Man By which expression also it appears that the Apostle evidently referrs to some pre-existent state for unless he debased himself by submitting to be Born he cannot be said to debase himself by any after Act for neither his Birth nor first Years were so glorious as his last in which he appeared as a Prophet at least and a very eminent one too full of Power and Authority 3. We see clearly here his Divinity and Godhead in that it is said expresly he was or subsisted in the form of God and in that state thought it not Robbery to be equal with God By subsisting in the form of God there must be understood 1. A real participation of the Divine Nature and all its essential Attributes as Wisdom Power Goodness Eternity c. for the form of a thing is its Essence and to partake of the form of any thing is to have the Essence of that thing 2. This comprehends the Majesty Glory Authority Splendor and Dignity which agrees to the infinite and incomprehensible Nature of God and all those Acts Signs and Tokens by which the great God manifests himself to the heavenly Inhabitants for the form of a King is not the Name or Simple Right to hold that Name but it comprehends the Marks Badges and Emblems of Royal Dignity as the Purple the Scepter and Diadem the Throne and Guards and what else the Laws of Nations or the particular Custom of Kingdoms make declarative of Majesty and Kingly Power This is the form of a King and he who doth not possess this cannot be said to be in the form of a King So the form of God is the Glory Dignity Majesty and Greatness which is due to so high a Name And by ascribing to Jesus Christ the form of God is declared that he not only in himself did partake of the Divine Nature but also that
Mens Hearts is only Sin and Wickedness God saw that the wickedness of Man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually Naturally Mens Hearts are hard and averse to all good The natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned But as hard and bad as they are they may through the Grace of God be changed and improved to the better if due Pains be taken on them The Evil and Naughtiness of our Hearts will not excuse us from being or doing good tho' many pretend it What a silly Excuse were it for an Husband-man to turn his back upon his Labour that his Ground of it self yielded nothing but Briars and Thorns and other Weeds Should he not labour for all that and by Art and Industry make it do what of it self it cannot do So though our Hearts be as fallow Ground yet let us break them up and weed them let us by continued Care and Diligence bear down their natural Growth and render them susceptible of better things let us pluck up the Prejudices of our Nature throw away the choaking Cares of this Life and break off the Course of Sin Let us ply our Hearts continually with Prayer Meditation on the Word Use of our Reason the serious Consideration of our Ways and an Attendance on those Means and Ordinances God hath appointed and in Process of time through the Grace of God our Hearts will be broken and changed from their natural Barrenness to be fruitful in Holiness and good Works This is the way to break up our fallow Ground to make our Hearts tractable and obedient capable of receiving and nourishing the good Seed of the Word and unless this be done our Hearts will be as a Wilderness barren and altogether unfruitful in good Break up your fallow ground says Ieremy and sow not among Thorns What a Folly is it to sow in a Ground overgrown with Thorns and Briars and what can be expected from Men whose hearts are as hard as an Adamant who refuse to hearken and pull away their Shoulder and stop their Ears that they should not hear As the Prophet Zechariah speaks There are many Complaints now a-days against the Sower but there is more Reason to retort them upon the Ground I mean to cast the Blame of not profiting upon the People themselves rather than the Preacher you are oft-times indisposed your Hearts are not duely prepar'd therefore it is that the Word Preached hath so little effect in you Mortifie therefore your Lusts subdue your Passions daily cultivate your Hearts with Acts of Repentance and Contrition and the fore mentioned Exercises of Prayer Meditation c. That they may be softned and fitted for the Seed of the Word and that it may prosper and spring up and bear Fruit. Thus you see your Task and that we may be excited with all Speed and Diligence to go about it and also encouraged with Assurance of Success it is added For it is time to seek the Lord until he come and rain Righteousness upon you By seeking the Lord is meant the seeking his Favour which is the Ground of all our Comfort and Happiness or his Help and Assistance without which we labour in vain and all we do is ineffectual And we then seek both the one and the other when we heartily practise the Duties enjoin'd us for his Favour returns upon our Repentance and Obedience and his Grace and Assistance is bestowed as we labour and endeavour he worketh together with us Now saith Hosea It is time thus to seek the Lord which implieth first a proper Season or Opportunity for it Opportunity should be laid hold on every thing should be taken in its time and Men are encouraged to work and labour so long as the time of doing it is not past The Season for sowing and breaking up is all the time of Life while God allows the Use of Reason the means of Grace while he makes offers of Salvation and calls by his Providence it is time to seek him Seek the Lord therefore while he may be found and call upon him while he is near If any have been negligent if hitherto he has loitered and slept away his time neither laboured nor sown but let his Heart lie all this while fallow that it is quite overgrown with Weeds it is a great Fault and calls for mourning but it is no ground to despair nor Reason to lay aside the Thoughts of this necessary Work Art thou sensible that thou hast been too long a beginning Doest thou wish that thou hadst been more wise Arise the Day is not yet done work while it is Day the Season is not wholly past lay hold on it and double thy Diligence to recover mispent time which if thou dost it shall be yet well with thee according to the common but wise Proverb Better late than never Remember they who wrought but one Hour had their Hire If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die saith the Lord. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God and he will abundantly pardon But secondly by saying it is time the Prophet lays before them that it is full time and so not to be let slip it is now time but it will not be always so it is time but this time is ever running and will once be at an end and therefore Delays are dangerous It is indeed time yet but not to sleep and stand loitering it is high time to awake out of Sleep to gird up our Loins and to set about our Work lest the Night come in which no Man can work It is the great Folly of many that they think they have Times and Seasons in their own hand at least they act as if it were so But we neither have always Time and Opportunity nor can we always Command Grace to use it aright and therefore should take it when it may be had and fear to deferr and put it off Sometimes Men come to that that they can neither seek nor work have neither Strength of Body or Mind no Use of any Faculty so much as to desire what is good for them Sometimes they seek and find no Acceptance desire and endeavour but have no Success It is hard to tell peremptorily the precise time when it is so with any but the Scripture forewarns us of this and bids us fear it When you spread forth your hands I will hide my face from you yea when you make many prayers I will not hear I will bring evil upon them which they shall