justly to be accounted laudable For if we consider the great Lines and main Parts of the Doctrine of Christ they will be found to direct the Practice of those Actions which by all the World must be acknowledged to be good and excellent to be laudable and divine such as are Justice Sobriety Devotion and Charity It is not among Christians alone that such Actions are esteemed Praise-worthy All Parties of sober Men as well Heathens as those professing revealed Religions have agreed in this common Sentiment in the Veneration and Praise of all such Vertues From hence it was that even when the Heathens derided the Faith of the Cross they still acknowledged the Excellency of those Persons who professed it They also were convinced that all those moral Vertues were the Perfection of Mankind only in this they disagreed that whereas they accounted the uniform Practice of them to be an undertaking possible only to more exalted Minds Christ had made it the Duty of all his Followers Although even this difference of Opinion could not but raise their Thoughts to an extreme Veneration of that Divine Person who formed these Laws and even forced from them a Confession of that Praise which was due to such an Institution and the Author of it Thus the very Nature of a Christian Life as it is directed by the Precepts of our Lord fitteth it to be an eminent Example to others He distinguished his Religion from all others by the Excellency of his Laws and Precepts so that whosoever should observe them must distinguish themselves from the rest of the World by a more perfect exercise of Vertue and Holiness And hence it is that he naturally infers in the twentieth Verse Except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no Case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was the exact performance of all the Legal Institutions of the Mosaical Law of Sacrifices Washings and other Ceremonies which abstracting from the positive Command of God had nothing excellent in the Practice of them To see the Jews killing their Sacrificed Beasts washing their Bodies often or Circumcising themselves was no Motive of Holiness or giving Glory to God to those who were not of the same Religion They discerned nothing laudable in all this and were rather prompted to pity the Slavery than to imitate the Devotion of their Service Whereas the Practice of those good Works which Christianity imposeth is amiable and lovely in the sight of all Men ever carrieth along with it the Commendation and Approbation of all Spectators Thus our Lord fitted his Doctrine to be a light to the World and least it should fail of its designed End he hath commanded us to improve it to its right use and therein hath led the way by his own Example He confined not himself to a Desart as did John the Baptist but conversed in their Cities and more frequented Meetings that all Men might see the constant Piety Goodness and Charity which attended all his Actions be instructed by them and drawn to the Imitation of them He indulged his Conversation to Publicans and Sinners that he might gain them first to a love of his Person and then to an imitation of his Vertue He disdained not the Company of any who might receive advantage from his Doctrine or Example And that he might fit his Life for an universal Pattern to all his Followers he engaged not in the constant Practice of extraordinary Austerities as did John the Baptist but amidst the most severe and strict Exercise of all Vertues allowed to himself the innocent Pleasures and Entertainments of the World He refused not to sit down with those who invited him to splendid Entertainments as with Levi and Zacheus nor to be present at the Marriage-Feast At other times he was content to suffer Hunger and Cold Contempt and the vilest Injuries to undergo long watching in Prayer and Fasting For so it behoved him even in this Sense also to perform all Righteousness who was to be the grand Exemplar to all succeeding Ages Not to confine himself to any one method of Life least thereby his Example should become deficient to those who should be engaged in another but to pass through all the more ordinary Actions and Varieties of humane Life that in all Cases we might be able to approve and direct our Actions by conforming them to his Practice and if any doubt should arise concerning them might be able to justifie them by the Authority of his Example Both the Observation therefore of the Precepts and the Imitation of the Practice of Christ which are equally the Duty of every Christian engageth him to be exemplar in his Life and Conduct And thus first the whole Body of Christians will become a light to the rest of the World and then every Member of the Church to each other Our Lord describeth both in this place very lively Ye are the Salt of the Earth Verse 13. The rest of the World will remain in Sin and Corruption but in the numerous Society which I shall found and call by my Name Piety and Vertue and whatsoever is good and excellent shall be maintained Yet not to be confined to that Society alone but to be communicated to all who shall receive Instruction from it Ye are the light of the World Verse 14. The greater part of Mankind remain in Darkness and Ignorance but I have placed my Church as a glorious Light to dispel this Darkness and remove this Ignorance that so all who do but lift up their Eyes have the least inclination to Truth and Goodness may there discover the light and repair to it And this cannot fail to take effect while the brightness of this Light shall remain while the Church shall continue glorious and unspotted while the Members of it shall all or the more part of them perform their Duty For as it followeth a City placed on a Hill or a Light placed in a Room cannot be hid If indeed those Vertues which I command be observed by those who profess my Name if Justice Chastity Beneficence and other Marks of Goodness be indeed so eminently exercised by so numerous a Body of Men it cannot be but the rest of Mankind will take notice of it and as many as desire to be freed from Darkness will approach to this Light Or if thro' sloth and negligence they still continue afar off however they will not be able to deny that they see the Light and must admire both it and the Author of it Thus the meanest Christian may make himself truly Exemplary by performing his Duty conscientiously in the Station in which God hath placed him Although his Understanding and Abilities have not fitted him to be an Example to others singly considered If he well dischargeth his single Station although never so mean in the Church he contributeth to this great Design of Christ of making his Church a
the far greater part of those to whom he writ For it was written in the Prophet Isaiah Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him So that it is undeniable that the Will of God and the Mysteries of Heaven may be unknown to Men acting by the sole Light of Reason but to Men acquainted with the Divine Revelations concerning them may be certainly known Now this is the case of Christianity For as it followeth in the tenth Verse God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit that is by his Son acting by the Spirit and Commission of God and by his Holy Spirit instructing the Apostles in the knowledge of them and confirming them by Signs following And that such Revelation is infallible none can deny for that it proceedeth from one who infallibly knew the Truth of what he taught even the Spirit of God For the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God And least any one should except to these Revelations and deny assent to them because they are things which he never thought of before and which even when revealed to him he cannot well conceive The Apostle shews us that we have no reason to wonder or stumble at this from the obvious Example of the Soul of Man in the 11th Verse The Nature of which cannot be conceived by any Being inferiour to it nor the Secrets or the secret Thoughts of it found out by any Being equal to it For what Man knoweth the things of a Man save the Spirit of Man which is in him Yet would it be unreasonable for an inferiour Being if it could speak and argue to deny that the Soul of Man is endued with noble Faculties because it cannot conceive the Nature of them or for one Man to deny that there are any secret Thoughts in the Soul of another because he cannot attain to the knowledge of them And if things be so then we must allow the Conclusion drawn in the Text Even so the things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God and not unreasonably doubt of the truth of them because we cannot conceive the manner and nature of them So then all Objections drawn from the difficulty of the Conception cease and it remains only to consider whether the alledged Revelation be truly Divine This therefore the Apostle asserts in the 12th Verse declaring his Preaching of it to be founded not upon bare Conjectures and nice Conclusions as were the Systems of Philosophy then received and applauded in the World from which he distinguisheth the Christian Faith by these two Characters that this proceeded from the Revelation of God that from the Invention of Men Now we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God And that whereas the Gentile Philosophy the Wisdom of this World contributed nothing to promote the Happiness of Man and secure to him the Favour of God The other effected both the end of it being no other than that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God Further these Matters when once Revealed and come to our Knowledge as we propose not to others with Artificial Sophistry and Rhetorick so we judge not of the truth of them by pure Arguments of Natural Reason and Logical Inferences Which things also we speak not in the Words which Man's Wisdom teacheth Ver. 13. But as we teach them with that plainness and simplicity which God directeth and confirm the truth of them with those Miracles which he effecteth so we judge of the truth of them no otherwise than by comparing the Nature of the Things revealed with the general Motives of Christian Faith as it followeth But with the Wisdom which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual Now the necessity of this Method in our Enquiry herein the Apostle demonstrates in the 14th Ver. But the natural Man He who judgeth these Revelations only according to his Preconceived Notions taken up from natural Reason and refuseth to believe any thing which he receiveth not from them who weigheth not the external Motives of Credibility reinforcing these Revelations He receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God believeth not these revealed Truths which surmount the reach of naked reason For which reason also They are foolishness unto him because he considers only the difficulty of them and regardeth not the external Arguments of Revelation by which they are recommended So that while he acteth in this irrational Method he cannot know them it is impossible to be convinced of them because they are spiritually discerned not to be found out by the sole Light of Reason but to be received only upon the account of Divine Revelation Whereas he who understandeth well the Motives of Christian Faith and compareth the weight of them with the difficulty of the things Revealed He that is Spiritual Ver. 15. judgeth all things may safely and without Error pronounce of this Matter And in doing so he is not justly to be over-ruled with the Objections of those who consider the thing absolutely in it self and not compared with its Motives of Credibility Yet he himself is judged of no Man Since plain Reason directeth that if the Motives be found weightier than the Difficulties he should declare in favour of the thing Revealed and not be startled at the Difficulties as concerning a subject exceeding the natural Understanding of Man and to be known no otherwise than by the Revelation of God who best knew the truth of it which Revelation we have as it follows in the last Verse For who hath known the Mind of the Lord that he may Instruct him But we have the Mind of Christ. From all that hath been laid down by the Apostle in the Context thus explained we may form these two Considerations whereby to determine the Truth of this Matter I. That we ought not to reject any Articles of Revelation nor be offended at them meerly because we cannot fully conceive the manner of them II. That in judging of the Truth of these Matters we must not consider their internal Probability so much as their external Motives of Credibility First then we ought not to reject any Articles of Faith nor be scandalized at them because we cannot fully conceive the Nature or manner of them For this we cannot rationally do unless we were assured that we fully knew all things and were able to conceive the nature of all Objects Which that we are not we may be convinced if we consider either the Imperfection of our own Understanding or the excellency of many Objects exceeding the Capacity of it 1. The Imperfection of our Understanding appears both from the Consideration of our Nature and from manifold Experience The nature of the Soul of Man is finite and so must the Faculties of it also be One of these is the Understanding which if it were infinite
Miracle wrought by him was yet present to confess he came in the Flesh while his Body was yet visible to acknowledge his Resurrection from the Dead when the Senses of every Man proclaimed no less all this would have been so slight an Argument of the right use of Reason so little deserving any Commendation or Reward that it would be no more than the necessary result of the Faculties and even not in the Power of the Will to avoid But when the Object is removed from the Sense and yet discovered by Reason when the Eye doth not see what the Affections still embrace when the Soul ceaseth not to hope upon probable and just Motives what it never received by Demonstration of Sense this is indeed a noble Act of right Reason worthy of a spiritual Being and worthy of a Divine Reward And such a Reward hath our Lord annexed to it pronouncing Joh. XX. 29. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed This Blessedness Christ by his Ascension hath communicated to the whole Church which without that had wanted the Qualification of a rational and well grounded Faith to acquire the Favour of God Further the Ascension of our Lord and therein his Exaltation to the supreme Degree of Glory was in Justice due to his precedent meritorious Sufferings which are therefore assigned as the cause of his Exaltation by St. Paul Phil. II. He made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant c. wherefore God also hath highly exalted him c. The Humility manifested by him in his Incarnation in the whole Course of his Life and in his Passion infinitely surpassed all the Examples of former times That the Son of God should vouchsafe to descend from his Seat of Glory in Heaven to leave the Bosom of the Father and cloath himself with the Infirmities of humane Nature that in this Nature he should not take upon him the Majesty of a Prince nor so much as allow himself the ordinary Satisfactions and Pleasures of it but live an afflicted Life and die a shameful Death and all this for his own Creatures who far from deserving such a Favour from him had rebelled against him from their Creation would lay violent hands upon themselves and continue their Contempt of his Authority till the Dissolution of all things this was such an extraordinary Humiliation that none other but the Son of God could have effected And therefore was in Justice to be Crowned with such a Reward as none but the Son of God could receive namely that that Body which had been thus depressed should be raised above all Creatures should be placed above Angels and Archangels should be advanced to the immediate Presence of God should for ever remain united to the Divine Nature and therewith be translated into the principal Seat and Throne of the Deity that is into Heaven Lastly To name no more Reasons it was necessary for Christ to ascend into Heaven that so he might fulfill all righteousness perform all which the ancient Prophets had foretold of the Messias or he had denounced of himself It was long since Typified by the Ceremonies used by the High Priest among the Jews in the Day of Propitiation which represented the Final Attonement to be made by Christ for the Sins of the World It was commanded by God that the High Priest should enter but once every year into the Holy of Holies that is upon that Day when with the Blood of the Sacrifice he passed thro' the Tabernacle and the parts of it into that place It was a received Opinion among the Jews that the Holy of Holies represented the Heaven of Heavens and the Tabernacle this visible World From which Opinion joyned with the legal Ceremonies of that day it appeared as the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews argueth IX 11 12. That the High Priest of the good things to come by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands was to enter into the holy place having obtained eternal Redemption for us That he should lay down his Life as an Expiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of the People and being slain should pass thro' all the Stages of this World here below and ascending into the highest Heavens the Throne of the Divine Majesty should there present his Blood Blood of that inestimable value as need not be shed and presented every year but as he once appeared in the lower World to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself so once for all he ascended into the higher Heavens not to appear again until he shall come in the Clouds with Majesty and great Glory to judge the quick and Dead The same was fortold by the Prophet David Psal. LXVIII 18. and from thence urged by St. Paul Ephes. IV. 8. Thou hast ascended up on high into Heaven as it is in the common Acceptation of the Original word thou hast led Captivity Captive thou hast received Gifts for Men. A Prophesie which notwithstanding all the Pretences of the Jews can neither be applied to Moses nor to Joshua nor to David himself nor to any illustrious Conqueror of that Nation who never ascended into Heaven but to Christ alone who really and bodily ascended into the highest Heaven unto the Throne of the Majesty of God By his Death and Resurrection he subdued Sin Death Hell and the Devil and in his Ascension visibly triumphed over them and led them Captive When that Body which by the Sacrifice of it self had destroyed Sin was in Reward of that meritorious Suffering advanced into Heaven there to be continually present with God when that Body which had been subjected to Death and afterwards was raised from it received now a certain Proof of its Immortality was raised into Heaven where is no place of Corruption left when the Captain of Man's Salvation visibly ascended unto the eternal Place of Happiness having first Promised to draw all his faithful Followers after him and from whence he dispensed the precious and glorious Gifts of the Holy Ghost to the Sons of Men. If these Prophesies and Types foretelling and prefiguring the Ascension of the Messias should seem obscure yet it cannot be denied that the Messias was to receive a glorious Kingdom This we are well assured the Nature of our Lords Office the Design of his Coming the Dignity of his Person permitted him not to receive on Earth and therefore it was necessary he should ascend into Heaven there to take Possession of it It had been a mean Reward to his Humility Patience and Sufferings preceding his Resurrection to have been advanced to a temporal Kingdom to be dignified with a Reward common oft-times to the worst of Men. The greatness of this World was inconsistent with his Design the Pleasures of it were contemned by him and that Divinity which was no longer to be clouded or depressed but to shine forth in its full Lustre could find no fit Habitation upon Earth which in
add that he shall return in like manner as they saw him go that is in Power and great Glory as our Lord describeth his coming to Judgment Matth. XIII 26. It will be of little use to inquire into what part of the Heavens the Body of our Lord was translated yet not unfit to observe that our Lord is said to have ascended into those Heavens by which the most glorious Presence of the Divine Majesty is in Scripture expressed Thus it is said of him Ephes. IV. 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all Heavens and Hebr. VII 10. That he was higher than the Heavens and Heb. IX 12. passing into the holy place even into Heaven it self to appear before the Presence of God that is he was advanced to the same state of Glory with God the Father his Body was translated to the place of his more immediate Presence in Heaven which is fully expressed by his sitting at the right hand of God To determine the place whether in the third in the fourth or above the Heavens is rash and unwarrantable But this we may be assured that whatsoever part of Heaven is the immediate residence of the Divine Majesty whatsoever Region is most Holy whatsoever Place is of greatest Dignity in those Celestial Orbs thither Christ ascended and there now Reigns in Glory III. The Advantages which the Church and all the Members of it received from the Ascension of Christ are many and great The first and most eminent Benefit derived from it was the Mission of the Holy Ghost of which I spoke before A Benefit which was indeed more sensible in the Apostolick times when it communicated to many the gift of Tongues the power of working Miracles or a prophetick Spirit but is at this day no less advantageous since by the Influences and Operations of the Holy Ghost the Church is still maintained the Faithful are enabled to perform their Duty and the unfaithful are converted Thus the Ascension of Christ became a lasting Benefit to all his Followers procuring to them those Graces which otherwise could never have been obtained The Ascension of Elijah made one Elisha left a double Portion of his Spirit with one Disciple to be communicated to no other but the Ascension of Christ was of universal Benefit producing blessed Effects which should extend to all Believers and to all Ages A second Benefit of the Ascension of our Lord is the Confirmation of our Faith which from thence received firm Assurance of the truth of his Doctrine and the Divinity of his Person He had proclaimed to the unbelieving Jews as well as to his own Disciples in the VI. of St. John that he would ascend into Heaven What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before After his Resurrection he said unto the Women Go to my brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father It was not therefore unexpected to the Apostles they were acquainted with his Resolutions herein and when they faw effected what he had before foretold them they could no longer doubt that he was the true Messias Thus although the prophetical Office of our Lord expired upon the Cross all his subsequent Actions offered convincing Arguments to Mankind of the truth of his Mission and the certainty of those things he taught No greater Proof of either could be imagined than his Resurrection from the Dead and when to this was added his Ascension into Heaven there was no more place left for doubt Thus the Faith of the Apostles was confirmed by the Ascension of Christ but their Hopes were much more exalted By this glorious Triumph they saw him put into Possession of that ample Power which they so long wished to be assumed by him which might enable him to reward his Followers and effect those Promises which he had made to them In John XIV he had told them there were many Mansions in his Fathers house and that he went before to prepare a place for them intending to receive them afterwards to himself that where he was there they might be also The former part of the Promise they saw to be effected in his Ascension and thence conceived assured Hope that the latter would be accomplished There can be no greater Motive to believe the truth of Prophecies or Promises than to consider the performance of those which went before The same foreknowledge of our Lord which foresaw the Exaltation of himself could as easily foresee the like Reward to be given to his Followers and the same Power which advanced him to the right hand of God could exalt whomsoever he pleased into Heaven So that his Power could not be questioned and his Will therein he had often declared assuring them Joh. XII 32. When I am lifted up from the Earth I will draw all Men unto me Herein the Hopes of all Mankind received increase and strength They had all impatiently wished for Immortality it was easie to believe that their Souls should still exist but their Bodies were equally parts of themselves They were equally concerned for the future Happiness of both yet that either should be hereafter Happy they were assured only by the Revelation of Christ. He affirmed it he promised it he confirmed it by wonderful Signs and Miracles yet it could not but seem strange that Flesh and Blood should inherit the Kingdom of God that such a gross corporeal Being should be admitted to the Society of Angels that Man who was excluded from an Earthly Paradise should be taken up to the immediate Presence of God All this did seem incredible till they saw an Example of it in the Body of Christ which consisting of the same Flesh and Blood partaking of the same Nature was visibly received into Heaven and placed in eternal Happiness By this they were convinced that the like Immortality of their own Bodies was not impossible and while they considered the Promises of Christ and their own Relation to him that he was the first Fruits of humane Nature their forerunner which is entred into Heaven for them the Captain of their Salvation and the Head of their Society they were fully satisfied that it should in time be granted to them since what he foretold of his own Ascension they saw effected since it was but natural to follow their Captain their Head and their Forerunner and with him to be received into the place of their desired Happiness Farther as Christ is our King and our Priest the Benefits which we hope to receive from either of those his Offices received increase by his Ascension into Heaven As King he is thereby invested in the actual Dominion of his Church enabled to bestow upon her all those Graces and extraordinary Assistances which are necessary for her Well-being As our Priest his Intercessions with God the Father in our behalf are made much more prevalent by his personal Presence with him Under the Law the Efficacy of
light and example to the unbelieving World and in so doing performeth the Duty prescribed in this place and entituleth himself to the Reward of it Whereas every one deviating from this Rule and violating the Laws of Christ concerning moral or religious Actions becometh a Spot in this light an Exception to the Plea of the Church against Unbelievers He defeateth one of the chief Advantages which Christ proposed to produce in founding of a Church and thereby becomes Guilty not only of the miscarriage of his own Soul but also of the miscarriage of all those Infidels or prophane Persons who miscarried for want of discovering that Exemplariness in the Church which was to have convinced them If the Institution of Christ herein be in these latter Ages in a great measure defeated and no such frequent or sincere Effects of Conversion be to be found it may well be resolved into this Cause that by the disobedience and vicious Lives of the greater number of the Members of the Church this once glorious Light is well nigh covered with Spots and almost turned into Darkness This Luminary of the Church never indeed was without Spots even in its greatest Vigour and Purity in the beginning of the Gospel but while the number of them was inconsiderable in Comparison of those who performed their Duty the Diminution of Light which arose from thence was scarce discernible In succeeding times as the number of wicked Christians increased the Light proportionably diminished until our days wherein the State of the first times of Christianity is so far inverted that the number of pious Christians is very small in respect of the others and thereby the Light of the Church is almost extinguished Whosoever then addeth to this remaining Light by his own single Piety doth the greater Service and whoever detracts from it by his ill Example doth the greater Mischief because every Addition and Diminution is more sensible in a less than a greater quantity of Light Thus all Christians may become Exemplar in conspiring to complete the Example of the Church to those who are without it For not every one is fitted in particular and singly to make himself an Example to other Men. Many things must concur to that which oftimes are not in the Power of Man The minds of other Men on whom his Example must be supposed to have any influence must be first possessed with an opinion of his Wisdom or Authority or any other Quality which may induce others to follow his Example And where such Qualities are found the Obligation of being Exemplar becomes much more strict In that Case he is not only to Act in common as a Member of the Church but in particular also as a Director of all those who may be influenced by his Example Such are Parents to their Children Masters to their Servants great Men to their Inferiors Kings to their Subjects wise and learned Men to those who have an Opinion of their Wisdom and Learning All such are as Lights to those subjected to them whose Eyes are fixed on them and are wont to form Directions to themselves from their Practice And this is what God particularly requires of great and knowing Men in return for their Power and Wisdom that they employ it for the Instruction or Perswasion of others in the discharge of their Duties their Power and their Knowledge hath distinguished them from the rest of Men and set them in an eminent Station at least in respect of those who are subjected or inferior to them and therefore every Action of them hath some influence but ordinarily every Habit fixeth even a Rule to the Conduct of Inferiors of whom the most part look no farther than to the demeanour of those whom they suppose in Power or Knowledge to excel themselves If they observe no Rules of Order and Decency these cannot so much as know them If they practise forbidden Pleasures or give way to unlawful Passions these will lose even all Sense of the unlawfulness of them They will not be ashamed to practise what they see their Superiors the supposed Judges of Decency and Lawfulness without fear to pursue If they conscientiously observe the Precepts of Religion even respect to their Persons will engage others in the same Course of Piety as being generally perswaded that those who are greater and wiser than themselves are more enabled to discover the means of attaining true Happiness Thus every good Man fitted by the Opinion of others concerning him for being an Example to them becomes a publick Blessing He enters not into Heaven alone but carrieth with him the welcome Attendance of those whom his Example hath drawn thither with him It is not indeed in the Power of all Men to fit themselves for such Exemplars yet most Men are concerned in this as being Superior to some others who are ready to take Rules of Direction from them and not a few are placed in such eminent Stations as derive exceeding influence upon all those who are seated under them And such if careless of their Duty become a Snare and the occasion of Destruction to all those who by their Example were betrayed into Sin They fall not alone but like Lucifer seated on an eminent Throne draw Legions of Apostate Angels with them into Hell for the miscarriage of all whom they will be obliged to answer and cannot plead as do those Sinners who Act in the lowest Sphere that thereby they hurt themselves alone Rather the guilt of so many Souls ruined by their ill Example will be laid to their Charge and be revenged on them It is frequently added in Scripture to the Charge of Jeroboam as the utmost Aggravation of his Crime that he made Israel to sin He was not Guilty of a single Apostacy but drew the whole Nation into Idolatry by his Power and Example We need look no farther than the History of that and other Kings of the Jews to be convinced of the influence of a great Example For as often as those introduced Idolatry or restored true Religion so often did the generality of the People fall into Apostacy or return to the worship of the true God The Reward of those pious Princes will receive infinite increase from the blessed Effects of their Example and the Damnation of the others will be heightened from the infection communicated to others by their wickedness And what Princes are in relation to their Subjects in this matter the same are all Superiors in relation to their Inferiors whether in Authority Riches or Knowledge The Piety of a Master reformeth or his Dissoluteness corrupteth a whole Family The Exemplariness of a rich Man instructeth or his wickedness debaucheth all his poorer Dependants The religious Conduct of a knowing Man corrects or his unwary Behaviour perverts all his Admirers And all such shall certainly receive the reward of the good Effects of their exemplary Piety or if their Conduct be contrary the Punishment of their private Sins will be much
the Propagation of it Afterwards for several Ages the peaceable Principles of the Gospel seldom wanted their effect in private Christians And even wrought so far in publick Societies professing Christianity that for more than five hundred years after Christ it is certain that Christians never warred against others of the same Communion Nor is the blessed Effect of it wholly expired in these degenerate times Witness that great number of Christians which still frequent the Holy Sacrament of whom it is charitably be to supposed that none presumes to approach this holy Table without an entire Resolution of forgiving Injuries and maintaining Peace with all Men. The last part of the Angels Doxology is Good-will towards Men Which expresseth much more than Reconciliation of God to Man implying no less than his favour and kindness to them using the very same word in the Original which God did of his Son when he said of him This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased The Incarnation of Christ and therein the Assumption of the humane to the Divine Nature so far propitiated God in regard to Men that he not only forgave their Sins and was reconciled to them but also admitted them to his Favour made them capable of even preter-natural Happiness even of enjoying himself in Heaven Insomuch that he who had once thro' abhorrence of their Sins repented himself that he had made them and resolved that his Spirit should not always strive with them did now adopt them for the Darlings of his Creation and as the Original word in the Text implieth even took Pleasure in them vouchsafed to Honour theirs by joyning it to the Divine Nature in the Person of his Son and therein raised it to a degree even above that of Angels not only admitting them to that Pardon of past Sins which was never vouchsafed to the Angels but also sending the Prince of Angels and the Lord of Glory to take human Flesh upon him who afterwards ascending with it into Heaven should thereby consecrate the whole Mass of Mankind of which his Body was the first Fruits and thereby make it capable of the same Glory And surely no greater Argument of the Good will of God towards Men or of his delight in Mankind could be desired than to raise them to the Society of himself in Heaven This was the Effect of the delight which he testified to take in his beloved Son the utmost Reward of his obedience that he advanced his Human Nature to his own right hand in Heaven for his Divine Nature was placed there from all Ages and for his Sake admitted all those who should imitate his Life and Obedience to the same Glory The possession of Heaven wherewith the Human Body of Christ is now invested is an Argument that our Nature is capable of it and an Earnest that we shall in due time be raised to the same Honour For Christ our forerunner is entred into Heaven for us Yet are we not left without other visible Pledges of the same hope more particularly this blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ wherein is lively represented the Truth of his Human Nature and our relation to it The Bread declares his Body the Wine his Blood the breaking of the Bread the Mortality of his Body the pouring out of the Wine the shedding of his Blood to purchase Redemption for Mankind The Distribution of both to every Communicant manifests that they are peculiarly concerned in all this that they are Members of the Mystical Body of Christ and by receiving his Figurative Body are assured of obtaining in due time the same Happiness with his true Body now in Heaven By these Figures of his true Body we openly profess our Belief of his Incarnation that he really took Human Flesh upon him for our Sakes and not only in appearance as was the vain Imagination of ancient Hereticks for that cannot be so much as represented which is not real We acknowledge his Divine Nature at the same time by that Adoration both of Mind and Body which ought to accompany this religious Action We profess our Belief that he came in the fulness of time and that in time all the ancient Prophesies were fullfilled in that we celebrate the very time of his Coming as the Intention and the Offices of this Festival directs Lastly We secure to our selves the Benefits of this wonderful Mystery if we do all this with sincere Faith Repentance and Charity So shall we give occasion to the Holy Angels to renew their Hymn to sing Glory to God who is honoured by this Devotion and Thankfulness of his Servants Peace on Earth wherein Men are hereby reconciled to God and to each other and Good-will towards Men who are hereby admitted to the Favour of God and will be hereafter to the Fruition of him Which God of his infinite Mercy Grant FINIS