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
to the infinite perfection of his Nature Adoration then consists as well in acknowledging and reverencing the Perfections of the Divine Nature absolutely considered as in professing our Subjection to God considered as the Author of our Being and all those Benefits which we either do already enjoy or hope hereafter to receive In both these Respects Prayer is the most natural and significant manner of Adoration For by it we profess our Wants of which we desire relief We thereby confess our selves finite and imperfect Creatures We proclaim our selves the Dependants of God from whom we beg the Supply of our Wants we confess our Belief of his All-sufficiency from whom we expect the relief of all our Necessities of his infinite Goodness whence we raise our Hopes that he will grant our Petitions of his Almighty Power by which we are assured that he can effect our Desires All these Acknowledgments are necessarily included in all Petitions for supply of Wants which are the most ordinary subject of Prayer For he who addresseth himself to another for the relief of any Wants therein confesseth there is somewhat wanting to his own Perfection that the Person to whom he maketh this Address is not only in being for otherwise all address to him would be frivolous but also able to relieve him If in all Cases and Wants he betakes himself to that Remedy he plainly supposeth that Being from whence he hopeth relief to be All-sufficient and the Fountain of all Good In Confessions of sin and Supplications of pardon which among Persons especially professing revealed Religions are wont to constitute no small part of Prayer the Power and Government of God and the subjection of Man to him is more eminently acknowledged For from whence can this Confession and intreaty of Pardon proceed but from a Sense that every sin is a violation of that Subjection which is due to God that the Sinner is hereby subject to the execution of the Divine Revenge and that it will certainly follow unless it be averted by obtaining of Pardon Further it supposeth God to be indued with infinite Goodness and Mercy otherwise all such Intreaties would be but vain since it can be no less than an infinite Mercy which can Pardon an offence against an infinite Majesty In both Cases and in all other Forms of Prayer Man owneth himself to be the Creature and Dependant of God even by making Application to him But that which chiefly manifests that Conviction which all Supplicants have of the Majesty and infinity of God is that they direct their Prayers to him altho' invisible and with the same assurance of being heard in all places Whence they evidently declare that they believe God to be Omnipresent and to know all things And since the natural reason of Men tells them that none but God possesses those Perfections they thereby testifie their belief that he to whom they direct their Prayers is no other than God that he is endued with all possible Perfections that he is the supreme Lord of all and extendeth the influences and efficacy of his Attributes such as Power Knowledge Goodness and the like to all places at the same time that is that he is Omnipresent And this alone if nothing else were to be considered will make all manner of Prayer to be a true and proper Act of Adoration such as is due to none but God nor can be paid to any Being without supposing it to possess truly the Divine Attributes that is without supposing it to be truly God For it is unreasonable to imagine that any Man directing his Prayers to any Being should not believe at the same time that he is heard by it nor do any pretend to it They who address their Prayers to Saints and Angels acknowledge themselves to believe that they are heard by them Which since it cannot be without beleiving at the same time that they know all things and are present in all places Attributes peculiar to God alone it cannot be avoided but that in praying to them they must be supposed to own them to be so many Gods and every Petition is a true and proper Act of Divine Adoration given to them Justly therefore doth the Psalmist say Thou that hearest the Prayers unto thee shall all flesh come Thou only O God hearest the Prayers of Men therefore to thee only shall they direct their Prayers Thus Prayer in the very Nature of it is an Act of Adoration and an Acknowledgment of the infinite Perfections of God and our dependance on him altho' no such explicit Acknowledgment be made in it This will be more evident if we consider the general Form of Prayers received in all Ages and in all Religions Not only in the Christian Religion and in those excellent Forms of Prayer of which the Liturgy of our Church is composed but among all Nations among the Jews and Heathens Men have been wont in the beginning of their Prayers at least in some part of them to confess the Authority of God and their own Subjection to him and more especially to magnifie those Attributes the benefit of which they then implored If they desired Pardon they magnified the Greatness of his Mercy and the guilt of their own Sins committed in contempt of his Authority If they begged extraordinary Relief and Assistance in any Emergencies they declared their Opinion of his unlimited Power and Goodness if in general any Favours they confessed at the same time their dependance on him Nor is it easie to find either in the Old Testament or in the Writings of Heathens in both which a great number of Prayers is to be found any wherein such express words of Adoration are omitted The first formal Prayer which we find in the Old Testament is that of Abraham in Gen. XVIII for the Deliverance of Sodom from the Destruction intended by God And therein the Supplicant doth more than once acknowledge his own unworthiness and the Power and Justice of God that himself was but dust and ashes that God was the Judge of the whole earth and could not Act any otherwise than justly The Prayers of the Heathens generally began with what in our Language is O Almighty God and O most merciful God And that most excellent Form of Prayer which our Lord gave his Disciples and intended as well for a Pattern as for a Form to us both beginneth and endeth with an express Adoration of God In the beginning we confess him to be our Father the Author of our Life and Fountain of our Happiness that he dwells in the highest Heavens and from thence doth govern the Earth In the end we profess that to him belongeth the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever that he is the supreme Governor of the World and of all Mankind that he possesses infinite Power that Glory belongeth to him and ought to be rendred to him that all these Perfections are eternal in him Further if every Supplicant to God doth
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
Scripture is faid to be the footstool of God Upon all these Reasons it was necessary just and convenient that Christ should ascend into Heaven II. And that he really did ascend thither which was the 2d Head proposed evidently appeared from the History of his Ascension recorded in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles That Body of Christ which the Apostles had felt and handled that with which they had conversed for forty days together that whereof they were assured by many infallible Proofs that it was no other than the material Body of Christ which hung upon the Cross and was laid in the Grave which was united to the Soul again and had performed all manner of vital Actions that very Body they saw ascend into Heaven For that Jesus who had rose again and conversed with them who had led them out of Jerusalem and was visible and present to them till the very moment of his Ascension as he was yet speaking with them was parted from them and carried up into Heaven as we read Luk. XXIV Which refutes the Opinion of those ancient Hereticks who taught that Christ ascended in Spirit only having first put off and returned to the several Elements that Body which he had received from them Again that Body which the Apostles saw and felt to be locally present with them upon Earth they saw soon after to be really removed from the Earth and carried into Heaven For as it is related in the sacred History When he had spoken unto the Disciples and blessed them which being performed by laying his hands upon them testified his real and corporeal Presence with them in that moment in the next moment even while he blessed them he parted from them and while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight Which proved his Ascension to have been a true proper and local Translation from the parts here below to those above and that at that moment he was indued with a perfectly humane Body whatever glorious Changes it underwent after its Reception into Heaven the Seat of Immortality and Spiritual Beings Other Circumstances deserve to be observed in the History of this Ascension And First Our Lord at his Ascension was pleased to call together many if not all his Disciples and admit them to the sight of it a Favour which was not vouchsafed to them at his Resurrection The Conduct indeed was different but the Reason not unlike in both Cases Both the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ were thenceforth to pass into necessary Articles of Belief to the principal supports of the Faith and Hopes of Mankind both therefore was to be placed beyond all doubt and contradiction by the Attestation of many and credible Witnesses To effect this at his Resurrection it was not necessary that any witnesses should be present since the Actions of Life visibly and in the Presence of many performed by him after his known Crucifixion and Burial abundantly and even demonstratively proved that he was really risen from the Dead They were well assured that some few days before he was truly Dead their Senses assured them that he was now truly alive Whence they might as certainly conclude that he was risen from the Dead as if they had actually seen his Resurrection Whereas in the Case of his Ascension he was to be taken from them no more to be seen by them in this Life no Mortal was thenceforward to see his State of Glory or testifie his Station in Heaven upon which account it was absolutely necessary that his Disciples should be present at his Ascension and be Eye-witnesses of that Action which afterwards they were to testifie and preach to others In the second Place it deserveth to be observed that the Testimony of Angels was added to that of the Apostles Those blessed Spirits far from repining that the Nature of Man in Christ was by his Ascension exalted to a superior Degree of Glory descended from Heaven to bear the glad Tidings of his Arrival there as at his Nativity they had done to proclaim the Descent of the Deity upon Earth For it follows Acts I. 10. Behold two Men stood by them in white Apparel which also said Ye Men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into Heaven This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven Nor was this Apparition of Angels an empty Pageant or an unnecessary Addition to the Glory of our Lords Ascension By their Ministry and Attendance they demonstrated the Divinity and Dignity of his Person by their Testimony concerning his Ascension they proved the truth of it The Apostles indeed saw him received upon the Clouds they looked up and followed him with their Eyes as far as their sight could reach but that being terminated in the lower Regions and not able to penetrate into the highest Heavens their Sense could not assure them that their Lord was carried thither To evidence therefore the truth of it it remained that God by these ministerial Spirits should declare it to the Disciples These Angels were wont to Minister before and see the face of God in Heaven they were known to come down from thence They testified that Christ had ascended thither from whence they had descended and thereby perfected the Testimony of the Disciples concerning the Ascension of Christ into Heaven whose sight could not reach so far Farther these blessed Spirits not only brought Evidence to the Disciples of the real Ascension of their Master into Heaven but also gave them Comfort and alleviated their sorrow conceiv'd for his Departure by adding those words This same Jesus which ye have seen taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven Elisha had seen his Master Elijah carried up into Heaven yet knowing not certainly how the Divine Goodness would dispose of him and despairing of ever seeing him again he entertained the sight with Grief and in Testimony of it rent his Clothes Nor had the Disciples been free from the same Anxiety without the present Consolations of these Angels When their Lord had before his Death declared to them his Resolution of returning to the Father John XVI they could not dissemble their Grief as himself observeth Verse 6. Because I have said these things unto you sorrow hath filled your heart And immediately before his Ascension still retaining their erroneous Opinion of a temporal Kingdom to be founded by him they had asked him whether he would not at that time restore the Kingdom unto Israel which hopes were totally defeated by his Departure into Heaven Both these occasions of Sorrow therefore the Angels happily do remove in these words They assure them that the Presence of their Master shall not be for ever taken from them but themselves should see him return in the last of days and that they may not imagine his Kingdom to be abolished they