Lustre upon the Solemnization of this present Day A Day which if any may most properly be said to be made by the Lord since it bears the liveliest Characters and Impresses of his Power and knowledge of his Wisdom and Goodness and of all those other glorious Attributes whereby we are assur'd that he governs the World For trace the Histories of ancient Times turn over all Authors both Sacred and Prophane and the Day of our Spiritual Redemption excepted produce me a Day like This so memorable in its Circumstances so glorious in its Issue and so unparallel'd in its Consummation Of all those Deliverances God in past Ages vouchsaf'd his Church methinks none ever amounted to the Wonder of this Day when I consider 1. The black and dismal nature of the Design which was this Day fram'd against us And 2. The Strangeness and Unexpectedness of our Deliverance from it 1. I say It will appear that of all those Deliverances God in past Ages vouchsaf'd his Church none ever amounted to the Wonder of this Day and consequently that this Day of all others may most properly be said to be made by the Lord if we consider the black and dismal nature of the Design which was this Day fram'd against us As the Heavens rejoyc'd and the Earth was glad to see the glory of the Lord in the uncorrupted Light of the Gospel after a long Night of Ignorance and Superstition arise in Brightness upon us so those restless Spirits who always bore Evil-will to our Zion as though they had received a second Downfall in their undiscerned Habitations vented themselves in nothing but Lamentations and Mournings and Woe They saw the unparallell'd Beauty of her Countenance which tho' long mask'd and clouded with the Veil of Widowhood did now at length break forth in such Splendour and Brightness that the Gentiles were coming to her Light and Kings to rejoyce in the Brightness of her Rising That therefore in this holy Mountain there was no Den for such Beasts of Prey but that they must either forego their beloved Dainties and peaceably lie down in the Pastures with the Lamb or for their own Security betake themselves to harder seeding in the barren Recesses of the Wilderness Wherefore impatient both of Restraint and Exile they incontinently breathed out our Destruction and to support and underprop their sinking Interest at sundry Times and in divers Manners endeavour'd to overturn the Foundations of our Felicity sometimes with the factious Son of Sheba they blow'd the Trumpet of Rebellion disclaim'd their Right in David and endeavoured by good Words and fair Speeches to perswade others also that they likewise had no Inheritance in the King Sometimes on the contrary by the terrible Assaults of Anathema's Curses and Excommunications they laboured to scare and fright us into a Compliance But when they found that notwithstanding all their Craft and Subtlety their Designs were still defeated and unravell'd and all their most cunningly contriv'd Enterprises dwindled into continual Disappointments that their ravenous woolfish Nature tho' never so close cover'd with Sheeps-cloathing was always discovered and that none therefore dar'd to come in to their Standard nor tho' led on by the Infallible Hero himself to enter the Field against the Lords Anointed so that neither their Armado's from Spain nor false Witnesses from St. Omers nor all those dreadful Thunderings and Lightnings from Rome could prevail any thing at all but that the Virgin the Daughter of Zion despis'd them and laugh'd them to scorn the Daughter of Jerusalem still shook her head at them as Men even encouraged by Disappointments and emboldned by Repulses they start anew and rather than be for ever frustrated are contented to devest themselves utterly of their Humanity and to embark into so barbarous so savage a Design as will make the ears of all Posterity to tingle Many Waters cannot quench their burning Rage neither can the Floods how deep soever drown their Fury but they resolve to tear in pieces the more excellent Prey and one way or other to take their Pastime in Rivers of Royal Blood Flectere fi nequeunt Superos Since Heaven and Earth Angels and Men are against them they descend into the Regions of Darkness and Obscurity as if they design'd to ask Counsel of the Powers of Darkness And indeed whoever accurately contemplates the nature of this cursed Design must needs acknowledge it to bear all the marks of a hellish diabolical Off-spring For where but in the dismal Regions of everlasting Malice and Cruelty could be hatch'd so barbarous so villainous a Conspiracy A Conspiracy so black and detestable so hideous in its Circumstances so fatal in its Consequences that 't is hardly possible to imagine that it could have been invented by Man unless what the Jews of old thought of their Daemoniacks they had really been converted into the Nature and Substance of fierce implacable destructive Daemons A Conspiracy which if it had taken effect would have utterly extinguish'd the Light of our Israel and overspread the Nation again with thick Darkness of Ignorance and Superstition which would have murdered the Lord 's Anointed and accomplish'd the savage Tyrants most execrable Wish at one Blow cutting off the Head even of three Kingdoms nay in a moment in the twinkling of an eye have entirely destroy'd both Root and Branch King and Parliment Prince and People Peers and Prelates Lords and Commons A Conspiracy that would have involv'd us all in Blood exposed our Wives and Children to the merciless Fury of our Enemies and enslav'd our Lives and Fortunes Souls and Bodies to the imperious and domineering Lords of monopolizing Rome Lastly A Conspiracy it was whose teeming Womb was ready to bring forth the ghastly Issue of Blood and Fire and pillars of smoak which would either have rendered our beautiful Cities a Wilderness or which is worse an Habitation of Dragons and made Jerusalem a Desolation Alas These unrighteous and cruel Men did not design only to shake off the Leaves or to lop off the Branches of this fruitful Vine but entirely to pluck her up by the Roots * Ps 137.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lay her wast and down with her even to the ground was all the Cry So that not only our Land would have mourn'd for the Loss of her Gracious Soveraign our Cities of their wise and prudent Governours our Countries of their vigilant and powerful Guardians which alone would have rendred us the Wonder and Astonishment of Men and Angels but which is yet worse if any thing can be worse our pure and undefil'd Religion had also been lost in the general Devastation Those insatiable flames which had devour'd her noble Patrons would likewise unmercifully have prey'd upon her drooping Vitals till they had rarisy'd her Substance into a mere empty Shadow and chang'd the Spirituality of her Worship into external cumbersome impertinent Ceremonies In short Whatever the very Quintessence and Elixir of all villainy and
increas'd in Wisdom and Knowledge Though as God he is from Everlasting and World without end yet that as Man he had a Beginning in the Circumscriptions of time Lastly Though as God 't was impossible for him to suffer yet that as Man he was the Subject of Torment and Misery 2. That some Virtues and Excellencies were then in the Soul of Jesus which are not consistent with a glorify'd State such as Hope Holy Desires and the like All which having their Seat in the Soul do suppose her yet in a state of Pilgrimage a Condition that is imperfect and in order to something beyond what is present it being impossible as St. Paul observes for a Man to hope for that which he already sees and enjoys 3. That this Opinion annuls and destroys the whole Merit of his Sufferings For the least glympse of Glory the minutest Ray of Beatifick Vision out-weighs the greatest Calamities and infinitely exceeds all that Spirit of Pain that can be extracted from the Infelicities of this World But the Holy Scriptures everywhere assure us that his Passion upon the Cross was a state of Merit and Work and that as a Reward of it he was crown'd with Glory and Immortality We see Jesus says the * Heb. 2.9 Apostle who was made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of Death crowned with glory and honour And ‖ Phil. 2.8 9. again Christ humbled himself and became obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name For his Sufferings you see his Name was exalted his Kingdom glorify'd and his Humanity advanc'd above all the Orders of Angels For these he was made the Lord of all the Creatures the First-fruits of the Resurrection the Exemplar of Glory the Prince and Head of the Catholick Church And therefore since all this was his Recompence the Reward of his Sufferings it could not be a necessary Consequence and natural Efflux of the Personal Union of the Godhead with the Humanity On the other hand there are who affirm that the Soul of Jesus upon the Cross suffered the Pains of Hell and all the Torments of the Damn'd and that without such Sufferings it is not imaginable he should pay the Price which God's Wrath did demand of us But the same that reproves the former does likewise reprehend these latter For the Hope which was the support of his Soul in the midst of its Agonies as it confesseth an Imperfection that is not consistent with the state of Glory so does it exclude that Despair which is the Sting and Torment of accursed Souls Our dearest Lord suffer'd indeed the whole Condition of Humanity Sin only excepted and by those sad Pains he endur'd upon the Cross merited Heaven for himself as the Head and for all his faithful Servants as the Members of his Mystical Body But yet I say we cannot conceive that he was ever under the Amazement of Hell or that upon the Cross he felt the formal Misery and Spirit of Pain which is the Portion of Damned Spirits because 't was impossible he should despair and without Despair 't is impossible there should be a Hell But though I can by no means subscribe to this Assertion yet I think 't is highly probable that in the Intention of Degrees and present Anguish the Soul of our Lord upon the Cross might feel a greater Load of Wrath than is incumbent in every instant upon perishing Souls S. Paul tells us that every Sinner as such carries no less a Load about with him than a whole Body of Death How many Death 's then and unconceivable Agonies must the Lamb of God have felt when as the Prophet speaks the Lord laid on him the Iniquities of us all Certainly the lively Sense of united concentred Vengeance due to the Sins of the whole World and the vast and singular Capacity of his Soul who was the Word incarnate rendred his Sufferings most amazing and insupportable His Agony was so great that it compell'd him for a time almost to despair and sink under its weight Sure we are it extorted from him this most bitter Cry My God my God why hast thou forsaken me And how insupportable must those Sufferings have been which could appear even to stagger such a Faith and to eclipse his Assurance of the Presence and Love of his Heavenly Father But now again How great is the Bitterness of that Death the rescuing us from which brought so much Shame and Pain and Amazement upon the Son of God How unparalell'd and unconceivably great that Salvation in the purchasing of which the Lord of Hosts himself did even bleed and die The Waters of Bitterness you see entred his Soul and the Storms of Death and of his Father's Anger broke him all in pieces But if this was done in the Green Tree what without this would have been done in the Dry If I say the Sufferings of our Lord who was the Son of God and innocent who was all fair and had no spot in him were so sad and lamentable then how amazing and insupportable had our Portion been without this Atonement whom Sin had rendred his profess'd Enemies and as it were fitted and mark'd out as Fewel for everlasting Burnings But 3. The Greatness of our Salvation appears in that it frees us from the Bondage and Slavery of the Law This was a grievous and servile Dispensation consisting of innumerable little Rites and Ceremonies which had no intrinsick Value in themselves and are therefore said by God himself to be Statutes that were not good but were only adapted for a time to the weak Capacities and babe-like Humours of the Jews Of Rites and Ceremonies I say so heavy and burdensome that the Apostles themselves complained that 't was a Yoke upon their Necks which neither they nor their Forefathers were ever able to bear But now has Christ taken this Yoke from off our Necks and made out a way for us into the Liberty of the Sons of God He deals no longer with us as with Children in our Minority but has deliver'd us from the Tutorage and Paedagogy of the Law from the Severity of its Commands from the exact Punctilio's and Numerousness of its Imposition The new Moons and Sabbatical Years the many Washings and Purifications stand us in no stead neither are we oblig'd to long and tedious Journeys to Jerusalem to present our Oblations and Sacrifices at the Temple Christ our Passover having been sacrificed for us and the Messiah cut off all those typical Oblations and Sacrifices must for ever cease the Shadow give place to the Substance those Ritual Observances to Natural and Moral Duties those Carnal Ceremonies to the Spiritual Worship and that Temporary Dispensation to the Everlasting Covenant of the Gospel Circumcision now avails no more than Uncircumcision and 't is neither Meat nor Drink but a new Creature only that commends a Man to God In
may also fall short of that Period by the Interposition of a Cloud He carries within himself the Causes of a necessary and speedy Dissolution and is also liable to ten thousand Accidents without that may hasten his Ruin Nay though by the good Providence of God he happily escapes all these and arrives to his utmost Period that natural Term which is set him by the Temperament of the First Qualities yet what an airy fleting and fantastick Appearance is he Our Life is but a Vapour says St. James which appears and dances up and down a few Minutes over the places that gave it Birth and then vanisheth and sinks back into its primitive Night and Darkness The Day wears away apace our Sun hastens to go down the Shadows every Moment encrease and the Hours of Darkness come on that long Night of Silence and Solitude wherein no Man can work It is appointed for all men once to die says the * Heb. 9.27 Apostle and then for ever to cease from labouring and improving their State for immediately follows Judgment which consigns them either with Lazarus to the Refreshments and Consolations of Abraham's Bosom or to the dismal Dwellings of Dives in everlasting Burnings †Phaedon c. 45. p. 178. in Dialog select Edit Cantab Plato indeed and from him the Romanists at this day talk much of an intermediate State where Satisfaction may be made for some Miscarriages of our Lives here But in all the Word of God there is not so much as one place that countenanceth this Opinion 'T is not the Doctrine of God but the Invention of Men the weak and beggarly Element of this World not the Revelation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ He only commands us to be therefore prepar'd continually for our Last Hour because we then enter upon a state eternal and immutable that private particular Sentence which passeth upon the Soul at her Departure from the Body being to be openly renew'd and confirm'd upon the whole Man at the General Day of Judgment How ought then this Consideration to alarm all the dormant Powers and Faculties of our Souls and to wind them up to the highest pitch of Action in this momentous Affair How careful I say should we be by a prudent Management and Husbandry of these fleting Moments to secure to our selves a happy Portion in the Regions of Eternity If we mispend these Days of Probation you see there remain no more If we neglect these present Opportunities we are lost for ever And what a dismal Reflection think ye will this be in the other World when we shall remember that Mercy was frequently offer'd us and that we as frequently rejected it and that for the little imperfect Services of a few Days our Maker graciously offer'd to place a Crown of Eternal Glory upon our Heads Alas This is the chief Ingredient of that bitter Cup which afflicts and torments the Damn'd for ever and ever This that dismal Thought which raiseth the Storms and Tempests in the Kingdom of Darkness below Once they might have been sav'd once they had their Day and they refus'd the Light when it shin'd Their God was gracious and merciful to them but they were cruel to themselves He offer'd them Mercy but they would never accept it He call'd them to Life but they obstinately chose Death No Tortures so exquisite as such Reflections No Lashes so severe as the Upbraidings of such an enraged Conscience These I say are the Snakes that twist about their Heads and sting and hiss and make them roar to all Eternity From which miserable State God in Mercy preserve us all through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus the Beloved To whom c. MATTH xi 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you Rest BUT am I call'd indeed may the ravish'd Soul say Call'd too to Ease and Refreshment and Peace though my Sins and Impieties are so many Does the Holy One of Israel regard so vile a Creature and will He who is the God of all Purity vouchsafe to receive into his Arms so impure a Wretch Yes for 't is the Voice of my Beloved that spake He stands not as formerly behind the Wall nor looks in at the Window shewing himself only through the Lattess but has open'd the Door and is come in and speaks and says to me Rise up my Love my Fair one and come away Draw me then O my Beloved and we will run after thee Receive me though the Sun has look'd upon me though I am black and coarse as the Tents of Kedar I am bow'd down and ready to sink under the weight of my Sins I have no might against this great multitude of Transgressions that is set in Array against me nor know I what to do only my longing my languishing Eyes are still upon thee and I will patiently hearken what the Lord God will farther say unto me who so graciously speaks to Sinners that like his Saints they turn and come unto him Come unto me says he all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you Rest In which Words are four things observable I. A gracious Invitation Come II. The Person to whom the Invitation is made Vnto me that is unto Christ III. The Persons invited All Penitent Sinners in general All ye that labour and are heavy laden All ye that sigh and groan and are bow'd down and ready to sink under the grievous Burden of your Sins IV. The Benefit of accepting this Invitation I will give you Rest. 1. We have in the Text a gracious Invitation Come God spake once and twice also have I heard the same that Mercy belongeth unto God For this is the Voice of him who is the Wisdom of the Father that Wisdom which by the Mouth of his Prophet * Chap. 55. ver 1. Isaiah called in the same manner to the Sons of Men inviting them to come freely and partake of his Divine Refreshments Ho every one that thirsteth says he come to the waters and he that hath no money come buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price The Angels indeed that sinn'd are fall'n into the gloomy and lamentable State of utter Desperation There is no Mercy in store for these self-deluded inexcusable Apostates of the Upper World but because they foolishly exalted themselves against the Lord whom they could not but know to be the Author and Fountain of all Happiness and Glory they are entirely dismantled of their primitive Robes of Light and cast down from their Heavenly Mansions into this Lower Orb where in miserable and darker Habitations they are reserv'd as condemn'd Malefactors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says ‖ 2 Ep. 2.4 S. Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says †Ver. 6. St. Jude for everlasting Chains of the Blackness of Darkness at the Judgment of the Great Day when they shall be brought forth as out of
which demand our Faith as well as those that call for our Practice in many places displaying themselves in such Capital Letters that he who runs may read them There are indeed in these Writings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some obscure Places and hard to be understood But these I conceive are not necessary to be understood For if they were our Heavenly Father had undoubtedly so deliver'd them that by his Blessing upon our honest Labour and Study we should at length certainly clearly and distinctly understand them But since as I humbly conceive they are not so deliver'd but after all our Pains and Industry lie securely envelop'd with their own Darkness we may safely conclude from the Goodness of our Maker that they are not necessary to be understood Nay I verily believe that such is the nature of some of these Places especially of some in St. John's Revelations that 't is prodigious Impertinence and unpardonable Vanity to determine peremptorily upon them They seem to be Prophecies which belong not to us but to our Children Not to the Present but Future Ages of the Church when they will all clear up and apparently unfold themselves in their utmost Completion Then at last will the Clouds all vanish and disappear and these places shine forth with untainted Lustre and Brightness Then will the Church behold with Joy and Transport the manifold Wisdom of God which for wise and great Ends is hid from these Ages and Generations and which therefore 't is no ways necessary we should understand Let others then if they dare venture curiously pry into these Recondite Points Let them continually rack and torture their Brains in the fruitless search after these hidden Mysteries till their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge falsly so call'd so swell add puff them up that they either wrest them to their own Perdition over-looking the plain self-evident places and by unwarrantable contradictory expositions of the obscure bringing in damnable Heresies and Corruptions into the Church or of all which this present Age is abundant proof they cause their own Heads to grow vertiginous and irrecoverably fall into the lamentable state of Delirancy and Madness But let us be sober and wise unto Salvation not impertinently prying into things beyond our reach but studying the things which make for Peace and things whereby we may edifie one another Let us meditate in the Law of the Lord not to gratifie our Curiosity but to meliorate our Lives not to encourage and patronize Divisions and Schism but to preserve Union and Concord in the Church of God Not to be litigious noisy and impertinent but holy and unblameable in all manner of Conversation The fourth and last thing to be advis'd 4. Study to live well or in all the Accidents and Emergencies of your Lives to keep a Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards Man This is the best and surest way to preserve your selves pure from all manner of Contagion For I can never entertain such unworthy Thoughts of my Blessed Maker as to think he will suffer an ingenuous Soul who makes it her Business sincerely to search after Truth and diligently to walk in the old Paths ever to die in any Damnable Error And if I am not unpardonably mistaken the Sacred Oracles do abundantly confirm me in this Persuasion Great peace says the * Psal 119. ver 105. Psalmist have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them and †Ver. 130. again When thy word goeth forth it giveth light and understanding unto the simple and ‖ Ver. 104. again Thro' thy Commandments I get understanding therefore I hate all evil ways And our ** Joh. 7.17 Lord himself If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God And as I am persuaded that 't is absolutely impossible for a devout well-meaning sincere and pious Soul ever to die in any damnable Error so on the other hand I conceive it almost as impossible for a Man who has cast off all Care of his Conscience to keep his Faith long pure and undefil'd †2 Tim. 1.19 20. St. Paul tells us of Hymeneus and Alexander that having put away their Conscience they miserably made Shipwrack of their Faith And 't is observable of the Learned Jews that when about three or fourscore Years before the Nativity of Christ they began to relax their Discipline and to dissolve into the loose and wanton Customs of their neighbouring Orientals they immediately betook themselves likewise to transform their Faith resolving the Commandments of God into their own Inventions and making his Word of none effect through their upstart Traditions You see they first defil'd their Conscience and then their Faith May then the God of all Grace who hath call'd us unto his Eternal Glory by Christ Jesus keep us stedfast in the Faith once deliver'd to the Saints and to that End stablish strengthen settle us in every good Word and Work To Him he Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Amen 1 PET. Ch. v. Ver. 8. Your Adversary the Devil as a Roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour WHether that ancient Opinion of the Heathens de invidiâ Daemonis had its Rise only from those grand Cheats and Delusions which the more inquisitive and searching Heads amongst them observ'd to be impos'd upon the World not only in their more common and ordinary ways of divination but likewise by the most celebrated Oracles themselves as * De Myst Aegypt Jamblichus argues or rather as the Learned †Orig. of Temp. Eo Casaubon contends borrow'd its Original from the History of the Fall of Man which the several Nations are suppos'd to have receiv'd by Tradition from the Sons of Noah and Plato more particularly from some Learned Jews in Egypt I shall not take upon me to determine My present Scope and Design being only to shew 1. That in the Confession of All as well Heathens as Christians there are a sort of wicked and malignant Daemons which are Enemies to mankind Express'd in these Words of my Text The Devil your Adversary 2. That these wicked and malignant Daemons are permitted to wander up and down in the Earth Express'd in these Words The Devil your Adversary walketh about 3. To lay open with what indefatigaable Pains and various Stratagems they seek to ruine Men and with what Cruelty they treat them when they are deliver'd up into their hands Express'd and imply'd in these words As a roaring Lyon he walketh about seeking whom he may devour 4. Though they have Malice enough to destroy us all yet that they cannot do us the least Mischief unless God permits them Express'd in these Words Seeking whom he may devour or may be permited to devour 1. In the Confession of All as well Heathens as Christians there are a sort of wicked and malignant Daemons which are Enemies to mankind Should we take the Wings of the
is so merciful that he will not suffer his Displeasure to arise but that he calls us daily importunes us incessantly and intreats us earnestly to return That he begs us not to ruin and destroy our selves opens his Arms to receive us tho' we have been never so ungrateful and promiseth Pardon for all that is past if we will but take care to be obedient for the future Lastly we know that if we will return and do Works meet for Repentance he will in due time take us from this Vale of Misery these Regions of Exile this State of our Pilgrimage into his Father's House there solemnly pronounce our Discharge before all his Saints and crown us with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Now then to trespass against this great Friend and Benefactor whose wonderful Love even condescended to assume our Nature into his Divinity and so to exalt it above Cherubims and all the brightest Orders of Intelligences who in our Nature thus assum'd graciously embrac'd for our â—akes both the Miseries and Calamities of a distressed Life and also the Infamy and Tortures of an accursed Death who still notwithstanding all our disingenuous and most ungrateful Returns continues his Tenderness and Compassion for us even â—ayly offering his Grace and Pardon to the greatest of Sinners and by all the gentle Insinuations of an unwearied â—over endeavouring to allure and entice them into Happiness To trespass I say against this great Friend and Benefactor is certainly a Provocation of the most amazing Proportions a Sin of the deepest Dye the basest and soulest Ingratitude that can be imagined What then think you will be the Condition of such Sinners when God shall come to Judge the World When they shall see him whose infinite Love they have despised and rejected coming in the Clouds of Heaven and all his Holy Angels with him to reward every Man according to his Works Alas every Circumstance of this glorious Day will frightfully represent to their awak'ned Consciences the monstrous Aggravations of their unparallell'd Ingratitude This God who now comes in the Clouds with Vengeance is that very Saviour who dy'd to redeem them Those Emeralds or sparkling Jewels that shine so gloriously in his Body the deep and gastly Wounds he receiv'd 〈◊〉 their sakes Those glittering Attendantâ— and Myriads of holy Ones the Company he design'd for their Eternal Conversation and those bright Regions of Everlastâ—â—â— Day which appear over their Heads thâ— Place he so dearly purchas'd for their immortal Inheritance These things I say thus united and at once represented to their view will swell their Passions to that Height and Fullness as infinitely exceed the Measures of Mortality to conceive They will occasion such sharp such acute Reflections as like two-edged Swords will every way rend and tear and stab and gash their mollified Spirits with fresh incurable Wounds to all Eternity Their monstrous Ingratitude will then look them broad in the face and like frightful and terrible Gorgons or Furies possess their Souls with Horror and Trembling with ineffable Amazement and everlasting Confusion In a word The thorough and lively Apprehensions which they shall then have of their Sins and Follies will so incense and enrage them that they 'll be all in a flame with Fury and Indignation against themselves weeping and wailing and gnashing their Teeth always as it were uon a Rack without any Intermission of their Pains and Anguish distorted afflicted distracted confounded What then remains but that since these things are so we seriously take our Case into Consideration That since our Burden is lighter than that of Jews or Gentiles we run with greater Chearfulness the ways of God's Commandments That we grieve not the Holy Spirit nor turn the Grace of God into Lasciviousness but that the great extraordinary Assistances which we now enjoy under the Gospel influence our Wills direct our Choice and give Warmth and Vigour to our Affections That the certain Faith and Assurance which we have of a Future State and of its Rewards and Punishments work most powerfully upon our Minds to conquer all the Temptations of this Life to deterr us from doing any thing whereby we may forfeit our Crown and to render us stedfast immoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord forasmuch as we know that our Labour will not be in vain in the Lord and since the greatest Punishments imaginable attend our Miscarriages that we lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble knees and run with patience the Race that is set before us Let us then look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith and follow his Example who for the Joy that was set before him endur'd the Cross despis'd the Shame and is therefore now sat down at the Right-hand of the Majesty on High Let us frequently contemplate his stupendious unfathomable Love in vouchsafing to assume our Nature that he who is Mighty should so debase himself to magnifie us and evermore say with the inflam'd and seraphick Virgin Holy and Blessed is his Name Let us with her Piety and Devotion view the Immaculate Lamb of God crown'd with Thorns upon the Cross Let us behold him there bleeding and dying for our Sins Let his unconceivable Agonies sink deep into our Hearts and make us to weep bitterly for those Sins which caus'd such Torments to our Dearest Lord. Let us beseech him by all that Anguish and Amazement his Soul endur'd for our sakes never to suffer us to crucifie him any more but that he would be pleas'd to come and take up his Lodging with us to drive out all those Usurpers the World with its Vanities to make an utter Destruction of every Amalakite and to take to himself the entire Possession of our Hearts Let us most passionately intreat him not to suffer our immortal Souls the price of his own Blood to perish but that he would be graciously pleas'd to wash away all their Stains to cloath them in his white Robe and so to present them spotless and unblameable to our Heavenly Father Lastly If the Author of Salvation and that Eternal too be worthy to be prais'd let us now begin these Songs upon Earth which will be our happy Employment and Business in Heaven with all those glorious Angels and Holy Ten Thousands that worship about the Throne saying Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that fitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for Ever and Ever Amen Amen Allelujah ECCLES ix v. 10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might WEre we to take the Measures of our most holy Profession as they are reach'd out to us in the Systems of some Christian Rabbins how prodigiously irrational and absurd an Institution would it appear to be An Institution both repugnant to the glorious Attributes of God and also destructive to the Welfare and Happiness of Mankind They pronounced it a state of absolute Liberty and Emancipation a perfect Discharge from
all Duty and Obedience a Charter only of Libertinism and Licentiousness Provided a Man be orthodox in his Notions and sound in his Faith 't is no matter how he lives like an Angel or like a Devil so apt are Men to abjure their Reason in complement to their Senses and rather than forsake their darling Vices to shelter them under the Patronage even of the immaculate Jesus But if we look upon Christianity as our Great Master himself is pleas'd to hold the Perspective as he is all Fair 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 50.2 the Perfection of Beauty and the Holy One of Israel so would his Institution appear to be a most fair and amiable Copy of his Eternal Beauty and Holiness It commands us not to rest in a fruitless barren and dead Faith but to evidence its Life and Reality by our Works That we walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are called turning from these Idols of our own Brains these vain fantastick Ideas of our carnal Imaginations to serve truly and painfully the Living God That we trifle not away our precious hours in Idleness and Impertinence but work out our Salvation with all that Care and Solicitude a matter of such moment requires even with Fear and Trembling It endeavour◠by all the endearing Methods of everlasting Love and Kindness to allure and charm us into the Practice of all Vertues beseeching us even by the Mercies of God all those ineffable Appearances of Goodness which take up the Wonder the Praises and the Adorations of the Sons of God in Glory that we think no Sacrifices worthy of our Maker but such as are offer'd in the purest Fires the most ardent and brightest Flames of Seraphick Love That the Redeem'd of the Lord declare not his Glory in such feeble Sounds and Voices as are the faint Echoes of a distant Valley but that they clap their hands together with Joy and Chearfulness and sing Praises to him lustily and with a good Courage That our Souls with all their Powers and Faculties magnifie and set forth the admirable Greatness of the Lord and our Minds also or Spirits rejoyce with Joy unspeakable in God their Saviour In a word That we do not the Work of the Lord negligently nor be remiss and slothful in the great Business of our Souls but always fervent in Spirit vigorously industrious to improve all those Talents all those golden Opportunities God intrusts us with to our greatest Advantage with our utmost Diligence serving the Lord. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might The Reasonableness of which Exhortation I shall briefly represent to you from these following Considerations I. From the Nature of God II. From the Nature of our own Souls III. From the transcendent and inestimable Value of the Rewards that attend us And IV. From the exceeding Brevity or Shortness of the time we are allow'd to work in 1. From the Nature of God Was God indeed such a one as the Epicureans fansi'd him to be a Being taken up with the Fruition and Contemplation of his own Blessedness and that would never vouchsafe to respect the humble Addresses and Supplications of his most faithful Servants we should have no great reason to wonder at that Coldness and Indifferency that lukewarm and careless Behaviour which appears so visibly in our Religious Performances Nay I could willingly conclude with the Wise * Senec. de Benef. lib. 4. cap. 4. Heathen that nothing but pure Madness could induce Mankind to bestow any Worship at all upon such a Being who as though he was deaf as Baal and helpless as Dagon after all their Wrestlings and Importunities would neither hear them nor help them But alas we have no such Pretence or Subterfuge for our Impiety The God whom we serve is indeed that Blessedness and Eternal Being that rests upon his own Center without the Assistance of any External Object enjoying infinite Delight and Complacency from the solitary Contemplation of his own Essential Perfections He dwells in the high and lofty Place encircled with such transcendent Rays of Light that the brightest Seraphim veil their Faces and at an awful distance adore his inaccessible Glory Yet do Mercy and Goodness so essentially sit enthron'd with his glorious Majesty that even he who thus inhabits Eternity humbleth himself to behold the things that are done both in Heaven and Earth The Lord looketh down from Heaven says the * Psal 33.13 Psalmist and beholds all the Children of Men from the habitation of his Dwelling he considereth all them that dwell upon the Earth And the Philosophick Orator without the help of Revelation Sit persuasum civibus says he and so on i. e. Let all the Citizens assuredly know that God takes particular notice what manner of Persons we are with what Mind and Devotion we perform the Acts of our Religious Worship and that he will deal with every man according to his Works He is not a petty Prince 1 King 20.13 28. as the Syrians profanely imagin'd whose Knowledge and Soveraignty are confin'd only to a particular Province but the Lord most High is terrible he is a great King over all the Earth Not only the shining Inhabitants of the Courts above the innumerable and invincible Legions of Glorious Angels but the inferiour Troops likewise of natural Causes serve under his Banner and duly execute his Commands He maketh the Spirits or Winds his Messengers and the flaming Fires his Agents or Ministers The Clouds at his Command drop Fatness upon the Hills and Mountains and the Valleys likewise by his Blessing stand in their Season so thick with Corn that they laugh and sing Yea the most casual and seemingly fortuitous Actions are order'd by his Wisdom and the Sun sees nothing in all his Course so little and inconsiderable but what falls under his Care and Providence He feeds the young Ravens that call upon him and the Lions roaring after their prey do seek and receive their Meat from God By him do the Rose in Sharon and the Lily of the Valleys on play their fragrant Beauties and the airy Choiristers securely sit upon the Boughs and sing not one of them falling to the ground without our heavenly Father Yea the very Hairs of our Head says our Lord are all numbred In short no Space no Place exludes his Presence He penetrates into the Center of our Spirits enters the secret Chambers the closest Recesses and Retirements of our Hearts yea and discovers all our most secret Thoughts and Imaginations long before we our selves do even before they are He is about our Paths and about our Beds and spies out all our ways Now then considering the Nature of God how ought our Souls think ye to be employ'd in his Worship and Service Is this God whose Majesty fills Heaven and Earth to be approach'd with flat and tepid Devotions Is he fond of trifling impertinent Ceremonies or to be pleas'd with Lip-Devotion and complemental Addresses
so neither is our purchas'd Inheritance of so trifling and inconsiderable a value The Liberty of the Sons of God is an Eternal Emancipation from Sin and Misery from the Sollicitations of our Senses the Importunities of Satan and from all the Disadvantages and Incumbrances of this mortal State Have you seen the Cedars or the Fir-Trees which from a little Seed rise so high and spread their Branches so wide Just so will it fare with Man in the State of Regeneration infinitely beyond his present Self will his Perfections be Here the Corruptible Body presseth down the Soul and the Earthly Tabernacle weighs down the Mind which otherwise would muse of many things But there will our Spirits to their endless Joy and Comfort find their Garments lighter this unweildy Clog of Flesh and Blood being made fit to serve them in their briskest Motions and even to vye with the swiftest Seraph that flies in the Regions of Light and Glory Here though we sometimes travel with Vigour and Alacrity in the way that leads to Sion yet in an instant such Fogs and Vapours rise from our terrene and sensual Affections as cast a cold Damp over all our Faculties and make us heartless and unactive as the Earth we tread on But there we shall be all Life and Spirit and Wing entirely freed from the Vicissitudes of Mortality and bath our active and sprightly Plumes in the Silver Streams of Eternal Joy and Delight Here Satan sometimes mixeth himself among the Children of God and many enter into the Choirs of the Saints who know not how to chant their ravishing Melody the Songs of Sion But in the Blessed Consort above every Soul will be harmonious and skilfully contribute its part to the full Musick of Heaven The glorious Company of the Apostles the goodly Fellowship of the Prophets the noble Army of Martyrs together with the several Orders of glorious Angels will stand about the Throne with one Heart and one Voice giving glory to him who sits thereupon and to the Lamb for ever and ever They shall wear Crowns on their Heads more bright and glittering than those of the Mightiest Oppressors and those immortal Palms they shall carry in their hands declare That Death is Swallowed up in victory They shall no longer stand behind the Wall of Partition nor be debarr'd by a thick House of Clay from beholding the ultimate Object of their Love and Praise but all intervening Obstacles and Impediments shall be remov'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 84.7 and that Summum Bonum that Fountain of Life and Blessedness that Primitive and Original Beauty the God of Gods himself appear in his Essential Lustre and Brightness to every one of them in Sion In short 'T is in vain to attempt the painting of this Blessed State by Rhetorical Colours no Words no Thoughts can reach it yea the bold licentious Metaphors even of Poets themselves fall infinitely short of its Greatness and Excellency Eye hath not seen says St. Paul nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him Now then can we think this Blessed State design'd for them that are at Ease in Sion who rest in the Notional Considerations of the Goodness of their Maker and therefore lie securely dissolv'd in the softest Caresses of Luxury and Voluptuousness No. We must be conformable to our Lord in the Likeness of his Death before we can be so in the Likeness of his Resurrection We must crucifie the Old Man and utterly abolish the whole Body of Sin and by our constant and uniform Practice of an Universal Righteousness strive to enter in at the strait Gate We must labour with all our Might to make our Calling and Election sure and press with all possible Vehemence towards the Mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus If these Corruptible Crowns the fading momentary Honours of this Life if I say the transient Favour of a Prince and the vain uncertain Plaudite's and Hosanna's of the Crowd cannot be justly atchiev'd without Toll and Labour then surely we cannot expect that these immortal Honours the Approbation of God himself the Applause of his Holy Angels and the Crown of Immortality can be obtain'd at a cheaper Rate This were to prostitute the Divine Favours to vilifie the Pearl of Price and insufferably to debase that Glory which cannot be comprehended but by the Circle of Eternity Nothing then but Constancy and Perseverance can crown the Christian Hero and set on his Head an immortal Diadem Be faithful unto the End saith our Lord and I will give thee the Crown of Life and again To him that overcometh I will grant to sit down with me on my Throne even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father on his Throne Lift up the Hands then that hang down and strengthen the feeble Knees Behold Thy Saviour holds out to thee a Crown of Glory and invites thee to partake of his immortal Joys He calls thee to the blissful Choir of Angels and to the glorious Society of Just Men made perfect who following him in White Robes do nothing but sing and love to all Eternity Alas could we but hear some Echoes of those Songs wherewith they make the Paradise of God the Place of his happy Residence the Seat of his Eternal Empire the Heaven of Heavens continually resound some Remains of those Voices that Symphony and Joy wherewith the Saints above triumph in the Praises and solemn Adoration of the King of Spirits how would they inflame our Desires to be join'd with them O how amiable should we think those Dwellings of the Lord of Hosts Our Souls would most passionately desire and long to enter into the Courts of the Lord and to go and sing with those glorious Beings the Praises of the Living God We should choose rather to be Door-Keepers the very meanest Persons of all that Blessed Company in the House of God than to enjoy for ever the utmost Liberality of Created Nature in the Tents of Wickedness We should think nothing too much to part with for that Blessed Inheritance but readily sell all that we have for that Pearl of Price that inestimable Treasure those solid and substantial Glories of the Kingdom of Heaven In a word we should chearfully follow the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Confessors through all the Stages of Mortification and Self-denial most gladly encount'ring all the Tribulations Hardships and Difficulties the World or Satan can bring upon us that we might at last attain to that ineffable Glory But Lastly I come to represent to you the Reasonableness of the Exhortation contain'd in the Text from the Consideration of the exceeding Brevity or Shortness of the Time we are allow'd to work in Man is like a thing of nought says the Psalmist his time passeth away like a Shadow that necessarily disappears when the Sun leaves our Horizon and
God And yet how imperfect was the Knowledge how improveable the Understandings even of these Intelligences Notwithstanding this clear Vision of the Divine Essence the Mystery of Man's Redemption was so far hid from their Eyes that before the Manifestation of the Son of God in the Flesh they had only some general dark and obscure Notices of it And tho' now as * Ephes 3.10 St. Paul tells us the manifold Wisdom of God is in a greater measure made known unto them by his Dispensations in the Church yet even now are they so far from being able to comprehend it that †1 Epist 1.12 St. Peter assures us they still desire to look farther into it These things says he the Angels desire to look into In short our Lord has put this case beyond all doubt for speaking of the Day of Judgment Of that Day and Hour ‖ Matth. 24.36 Mat. 13.32 says he knoweth no Man no not the Angels of Heaven nor the Son but my Father only For if the Son of God himself as Man tho' he is to be the Umpire of that Great Day and the Holy Angels who always behold the Face of their Father and who with unspeakable Alacrity and Joy will attend and wait upon him in this his glorious Expedition was once and are still ignorant in this matter then certainly it can be nothing but Folly and Madness to imagine that the Spirits of Just Men and Women which tho' never so perfect as such are as they stand in Relation to their Bodies to whom they have a natural Inclination even in Heaven it self but in a State of Imperfection should so far excel as to have an entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done both in Heaven and Earth Now then from what has been thus discours'd I presume 't is Evident that there is no Foundation in Reason to think that the Saints tho in Heaven have a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion as our Adversaries pretend but that on the contrary we have all the Reason in the World to conclude that they have no constant Knowledge of any thing here below and consequently that according to the Romish Doctors themselves 't is otiosum Supervacaneum an idle vain and superfluous and according to Truth it self an impious wicked and idolatrous piece of Devotion that is put up to them For tho' we allow that God does sometimes of his especial Grace vouchsafe by an Extraordinary Revelation to acquaint his Saints with something of our Affairs here below like the good Shepherd in the Gospel who when he had found the Sheep he had lost soon inform'd his Neighbours of it and call'd them together to rejoyce with him for it nay farther tho' I cannot think it too much to grant that the Saints in Heaven do not only intercede with God for the Church in general that he would be favourable and gracious unto Sion and vouchsafe to repair the Breaches in the Walls of Jerusalem but also that some of them at some Times on some Occasions which either an immediate Revelation from God himself or perhaps the Relation of a Guardian Angel or possibly a short Errand of their own discovers to them do as * Ep. ad Trall pag. 80. Vsser Edit Ignatius †De Orat. sect 34 Origen ‖ De Mortalit pag. 166. Ed. Oxon. Cyprian and ** Vid. Aug. Confess l. 9. c. 3. Basil Hom. 20. Ambros de obitu Theod. Hieron Ep. 25. others think they do Pray for some of us in particular yet since there is no certainty in this matter no Revelation to inform us when this is done or indeed whether it be so much as done at all we cannot from such pious Conjectures only infer with the Council of Trent that we ought to Pray to them or make them the Mediators between God and our selves especially since besides the Arguments already alledg'd God himself has expressly pronounc'd him Curs'd who thus trusteth in Man and maketh Flesh his Arm and whose Heart departeth from the Lord. All we are to do is to Praise and Magnifie the Name of God for them that he has been pleas'd of his gracious Goodness to deliver their Souls from the Burthen of the Flesh from the Waves and Storms of this tempestuous World and to land them safely on the peaceful Harbour of Eternity That he adorn'd and inrich'd them with his manifold Gifts and Graces whereby they are rendered as burning and shining Light to his Church in succeeding Generations This I say together with a Reverential Respect and study of Imitation is all we have to do upon their Account and This we are sure whatever the Trent Doctors determine was the only Inference the Primitive Church made from these Premises 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Honour says * Vid. tom 5. p. 625. Vid. Eus Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 15. pag. 134 135. Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 8. c. 27. l. 22. c. 10. S. Chrysostom that we are to pay to the Martyrs is to strike the same Lines as those invincible Heroes have done to copy out their Fortitude and Magnanimity and with the like Chearfulness to lay down our Lives for the Lord's sake And so I come to my 3. Particular which is to shew That as this Assertion has no Foundation in Scripture nor Reason so neither has it the least Support from Antiquity Spiritus Defunctorum †De curâ pro mortuis says St. Austin non vident quaecunque eveniunt aut aguntur in istâ vitâ hominum i. e. The Spirits of the Saints departed do not know all things that are Acted upon the Stage of the World And * Ep. 3. de Epitaph Nepot St. Hierom speaking of his deceased Friend Nepotianus is more particular Quicquid dixero says he quia ille non audit mutum videtur quocum loqui non possumus de eo loqui non desinamus Whatsoever I shall say seems dumb and to no purpose because Nepotian does not hear me yet since we can no more speak with him let us be the longer in speaking of him I know the Fathers about the latter End of the Fourth Century in their Funeral and Anniversary Panegyricks of the Saints and Martyrs frequently use very elegant and affectionate Apostrophe's to them as tho' they suppos'd them present But the Popish Abusers of this innocent Custom would do well to consider that they most cautiously usher them in with If 's and And 's as in that †Orat. 1. cont Julian of Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hear O thou Soul of the Renown'd Constantine if thou hast any sence or knowledge of these matters For every School-boy will tell them that this is only a Rhetorical Flourish a pleasing Strain of