of the Day of Christ. The first Day of the Week which is in Scripture called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords Day Rev. 1.10 I was in the Spirit on the Lords Day This is the Day wherein that Jesus who died for our Offences arose again for our Justification This is the Day wherein he was let out of Prison as one that had fully discharged the Debt we owed for which he as Surety was arrested and clap'd up This is the Day whereon he finished the work of our Redemption and gloriously Triumphed over Death and Hell all the Enemies of our Salvation This was the Day whereon he was declared to be the Son of God with Power This is the Day which the Lord hath made and separated from the rest of the Days This is the Day which the Apostles and Primitive Christians observed and met upon for Divine Worship and Christ did honour those their Meetings with his Personal Appearance among them This is that Day which is now to be particularly remembred and kept holy by us Read what God saith Ezek. 20.12 I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifie them And again v. 20. Hallow my Sabbaths and they shall be a sign between me and you that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. What God there speaks concerning the Iewish Sabbaths is true and to be affirmed of the Christian Sabbath It is a sign between Christ and us and by our keeping of that we own him for our Lord-Redeemer for our Prince and Saviour a polluting of that Day is a practical renouncing of Christ. And it hath been and always will be found that Religion gains or loseth in a Nation or City Godliness flourisheth or withers according as the Inhabitants are more strict or remiss in their Observation of that Day Therefore it concerns all Persons and particularly Governours whether in Families or in Cities to be exceeding careful to this Purpose And I do lay this upon you as a burthen of Duty that you do not suffer the Lords Day to be profaned either by opening of Shops and following of Trades or by Sports and playing in Streets or Fields or by Tipling and Gaming in Publick Houses for Entertainment Follow the Pattern which that excellent Governour set you Nehem. 13.15 c. Be you as careful for the observation of Christs Day as others are for the observation of their own Days So may you with an humble confidence pray as that good Man did Nehem. 13.22 Remember me O my God concerning this and spare me according to the greatness of thy Mercy Secondly Do all that you can against the abounding and growing Immoralities of Men. His Majesty hath graciously been pleased to issue out his Royal Declaration for a Liberty of Conscience but not a word for Licentiousness of Life But what multitudes take that lawless Liberty which neither God nor Man allow It is strange to see what flagitious Wickednesses are redundant among us what Abominations of all sorts and sizes O London how art thóu fallen from what thou wast and some of us can well remember thee to have been After a dreadful Conflagration thy Houses are raised out of their Ashes more glorious but many of thine Inhabitants are grown more vitious Instead of a lovely beautiful Face of Religion what and how much of the Power of Ungodliness is visible and apparent among us Instead of reading the sacred Bible and other good Books Catechizing Children and Servants singing of Davids Psalms what horrid Oaths and Curses are there to be heard in our Streets as if without them Men could not speak What more than swinish Drunkenness What brutish and monstrous Whoredom All which are a reproach to the English Nation a dishonour to the Christian Name and a disparagement to the precious everlasting Gospel which hath for so long a time been preached and profest among us Mend those things which you can and mourn under what you cannot mend I beseech you labour to stem this Tide of Profaneness lest overflowing Sin be quickly followed with an overflowing Scourge If there be as there are those that will not live like Christians soberly righteously and godly let not them have liberty to live worse than Heathen Make them know that though there be a great Degeneracy yet still there is some fear of God in this place And I beseech you to do this in your Day which how short it may be none knows All your Hours are golden Ones and it is pitty that any of them should be lost Blessed be God that you have begun I read your Precept my Lord and rejoyced in it see that it be put in execution Let it not be brutum fulmen Do not only shake the Rod over the Backs of obstinate Offenders but lay it on and make them feel it unless they will grow better Make them know you are as much resolved for Justice as they are for Wickedness And do not only command and imploy others who may wink and be bribed and some of them be as deep in Guilt as any but do you and your Brethren act your selves Let inferiour Officers have your Zeal and Activity for their President and Encouragement And having begun well go on and hold out to the last Let nothing hinder your Progresses cool your Zeal nor blunt your Edge Let your Bow abide in Strength And Oh! that in the work and duty of your Office the Arms of your Hands may be made strong and kept from flagging by the everlasting Arms of the God of Iacob that so your Resolutions for God may not abate any thing of their Vigour nor any of your righteous and religious Purposes be broken off Be of good Courage and shew your selves Men. And if others dare to be bold and audacious and impudent in those things which are Evil let them see that you also dare to be Good and to do Justice and to walk with an upright Heart in a perfect way Regard not the Face nor Fury not the Flouts and Jears not the Envy nor Malice of those that bear ill will to you The great God will own you and stand by you and I do not doubt but His Majesty who under God hath given you the Power will be ready to encourage you in the due Managing and Improvement of it Look carefully to the Principle you act from that it be Right and to the End you level and aim at that it be Noble and to the Way you walk in for the attaining of that End and then hold on that Way and grow stronger and stronger more and more resolved and active though there be in it never so many roaring Lions and hissing Serpents And I counsel you to be much in Prayer certainly praying Magistrates are great Blessings when Debauchees are Plagues and Curses You will be often waiting upon his Majesty to receive Orders and Commands from him Go more
in the steps of the faith of Abraham to us who are Iews inwardly and have that Circumcision which is of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God Rom. 2.28 29. And the Government is and shall be upon his shoulder though he be a child yet he hath strong shoulders humeros Oneri imperio aptos apt and fit for both burden and rule and since the iniquities of us all have been laid upon him the Rule and Government is laid there too He is made Head over all things they being under his power and he is made Head to the Church that being his Body which he doth by his care defend by his Ordinances feed and by his Spirit quicken animate influence and act Oh! my Friends let us seriously and frequently consider how excellent and glorious a body how blessed and noble a Society the true Church is which hath such an Head and withal how holily how exactly and how exemplarily all of us ought to demean our selves who profess our selves the members thereof that we may not be spots and blemishes in the Body nor shame and dishonour the Head. What should be our care how even our walking how clear our light In a word what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness 2 Pet. 3.11 Well then Christ is King he that was once Crucified is now Crown'd He that was once nailed to the Cross is now advanced to the Throne He is King in Sion he is set up there immediately by God the Father and as such his work is to rule both in the Heart and in the Church First It is the work of Christ to rule in the heart The Kingdom of God is within you Luk. 17.22 Non in urbibus habitat sed in animis hominum it hath not its being in Cities but in the minds and souls of men it is not enough to bow the knee to Christ but the soul must stoop to him that must be order'd and commanded by him It is excellent to see the Interest of Christ in a Nation commander in chief and all other contrary interests made to truckle under it but it nearly concerns every person in particular to look to this that the Throne of Christ be erected in his heart and that the Law of Christ be written there Not only our Understandings are to be irradiated and enlightned by him but our wills are to be commanded by him His will is to be voluntas regulans the ruling will ours are to be the ruled wills Our affections are to be order'd by him placed first upon his Father and himself and after that let out to such and such objects in such an order and in such a measure as is agreeable unto him It is he that saith my Son give me thy heart Prov. 23.26 This is not exclusive of other things according to the manner of some be but so and so in your hearts and then you may go where you will and do what you will but it must be a concomitant with other things whatever thou givest me give me thy heart with it that is unquestionably his due and we give him nothing to purpose nothing that he will accept unless we give him that this is a command too big for a creature the whole world doth not deserve the heart of man and therefore hath no right to demand it but such a requiry doth highly become him who bought man with a price gave for him more than he is worth and having purchased the whole it is fit he should possess it having redeemed it it is just that he should rule and reign in it He is said to dwell in the heart Eph. 3.17 and he must dwell there not as an underling but as a King. Our consciences also are subject to him he is the Lord of the Conscience and his Laws do immediately bind the Conscience Secondly It is the right and work of Christ to rule in the Church to give Laws to it to appoint Officers in it and to order as to all matters of Worship and then is the Church as it should be when it is governed by Christs Officers and according to Christs Laws Moses was but a servant and so have all Church-Officers been and still are Pastors to the Church Rulers in and of the Church but servants to Christ. Our work is Ministry though let the world know it is an honourable Ministry and we do magnifie our Office and as for them that cast contempt upon us let them see how they will answer for it to him who is our Master and their Judg. But Christ is the Son in his own house i. e. He is the Lord of it and all in it is to be order'd according to his will things ought not to be so or so because this or that man this or that party will have it so but all as Christ will have it and the great business is to inquire what is the good acceptable and perfect will of our God and Saviour for Isa. 9.6 He sits upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom to order and establish it with judgment and justice which no men have done that have gone about to order and establish without him no no as we have seen to our sorrow and smart and so have our Fathers before us they have acted without judgment and with great injustice He is the Lord of the Vineyard out of which every plant ought to be plucked which he hath not planted He is the Lord of all both persons and things the Lord of Persons he was Davids Lord and by consequence the Lord of Davids seed as such Thomas owned him when he cried out My Lord and my God. And he is the Lord of Things so of the Sabbath Mark 2.28 The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath Understand it not of every Son of man as if a man may chuse what day he will make his Sabbath or whether he will keep one or no or do what he please upon the Christian Sabbath but understand it of that Son of man who is the Son of God as well as the Son of man the ever blessed Iesus he is the Lord of the Sabbath he hath power to order and moderate concerning it to relax as to the severity and abate the strictness of the Legal observation to alter and change it as to the time from the last day of the week to the first which learned men conclude he did in the space of those forty days which he continued upon earth conversing with his Apostles and Disciples between his Resurrection out of the Grave and his Ascension into Heaven Speaking to them of those things which pertain to the Kingdom of God Act. 1.3 viz. the Church both Militant and Triumphant the state and affairs thereof He likewise is the Lord of Ordinances he hath power to appoint them and to continue them as long as he pleaseth
A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir IOHN SHORTER Knight Lord Mayor OF THE CITY of LONDON AT GROCERS-HALL By Samuel Slater Minister of the Gospel Published by his Lordships Command LONDON Printed for Thomas Cockerill at the Three Legs in the Poultrey 1688. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir IOHN SHORTER Knight Lord Mayor OF THE CITY of LONDON My Lord THIS Sermon was not preached nor is it published undesir'd Your Honour hath had a very great stroke as to both Tho many others did come with their auxiliary hands to help the Midwifeing of it into the World. It hath stuck long in the birth because I cared not to expose it and my self now that the comfortable ease which God and his Majesty have graciously granted us who were before unmercifully run down doth make too many very uneasie and wickedly angry as if to shew kindness to the Oppressed were not becoming of a great King nor to accept of it fit for a groaning Subject But my Lord contrary to mine own Inclinations I am constrained to yield at last to Importunity What entertainment it will find with many I neither know nor am sollicitous Probably they will slight and laugh at it and so let them till they are weary methinks however they may please to let this and some other Works of my Reverend Brethren pass as tolerable since done by the clumsy Fists of Pedlars and Tinkers c. as some out of their abundant civility and good manners have been pleas'd to call us But we can laugh as heartily at their Abuses as they can at our Discourses so long as there are no Fists about our Ears we shall be contented You are not My Lord without Reproaches which for the sake of Righteousness are more Your Honour than Your Chair or Chain these things are frankly given out by men ready at any thing but what is good Let us My Lord give them to understand if they have leisure enough to throw dirt we have none to be concerned at it No let us mind the duty of our several Places and be the more industrious in the doing of it as the Moon holds on her journey notwithstanding the bawling of Dogs En peragit cursus surda Diana suos That God would direct succeed and strengthen the heart and hands of Your Lordship and worthy Brethren that God would make Your City a City of Righteousness accompany this Sermon with a blessing that it may reach its wished-for end Private and Publick good That Truth and Peace may be in our days and descend as a blessing upon the head of all following Generations is the hearty Prayer of My Lord Your Honour 's most Humble Servant in our Dearest Jesus Samuel Slater March 30.88 A SERMON Preached before the RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir IOHN SHORTER Kt. c. PSALM 11.16 Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion OUR dear and precious Lord Jesus is the great and blessed Potentate King of kings and Lord of lords his Kingdom the most noble and glorious his Government the most excellent in its self and most easy to his Subjects yet never did any meet with greater Opposition than he hath done both in his own Person while he was conversant upon Earth tabernacling among Men and in his Interest Power and Authority ever since He strikes not at the just Prerogatives and Sovereign Rights of Princes nor at the Peace and Prosperity of Subjects but hath been and still is carrying on designs of Mercy Grace and Love seeking the good welfare and happiness of Mankind yet black and cursed designs have been hatched in Hell and vigorously carried on by some of the Sons of Men against him He saith in Joh. 18.36 My kingdom is not of this world Such a Kingdom as is not terrene decaying and fading but spiritual and abiding Such a Kingdom as is not of the same nature with those of this World is not inconsistent with them doth not usurp upon them doth not prejudice or infeeble them hath nothing in common with them needs it not seeks it not Yet for all this in the Psalm before us we find the World in a ferment and violent Heat about it great Consultations and Endeavours among all sorts and ranks of Men high and low rich and poor honourable and base for the wresting of the Royal Scepter out of his hand the shaking and overturning of his sacred and highly-exalted Throne In short tho he be the best Friend that ever the World had not a Destroyer but a Saviour yet he had and hath a world of Enemies who would break his hands asunder and cast away his Cords from them which is egregious folly and ingratitude in the height But the question is Why do they so Why do they rage and set their Wits at work Why do they combine and unite together against him Why is all this stir and bustle Why cannot Men be quiet Why do they thus bid defiance to the God of Love to the Prince of Peace You find no Answer in this Psalm returned to this Question and surely no other reason of this aversness from him can be assigned but this viz. His being an irreconcilable Enemy to the lusts of Men and their sinful Practices his Government whereever it is erected not allowing the reign of Sin which the hearts of the Sons of Men are so much devoted to and mad upon that they will not be divided from it but prefer it before the Lord of Life and Glory and if they are fixedly resolved so to do let them go on till Divine Vengeance overtake them However these their actings upon Earth are taken notice of by one in Heaven There the Great Iehovah the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ sits as a strict and curious Observer of the Spirits and Ways and Doings of men He sees what is the matter of their Debates what the issue of their Consults what is agreed upon in their greatest Privacies and what is done by them in their open Hostilities and as he observes all so he doth it with a perfect Serenity without any trouble or afflictive commotion without any undue concernedness for his Son's interest and honour Notwithstanding all the Confusions that are and will be here below all the attempts of wicked and unreasonable men he enjoys himself as becomes a God in undisturbed Peace and Quietness and a plerophory of Satisfaction as to his own Counsels and the success of them For his Understanding is Infinite so that he cannot be out-witted nor over-reached and his own Arm is sufficient for him so that he cannot be mastered and over-powred There is not any possibility of defeating any of his everlasting Purposes or frustrating any of his glorious Ends his Counsels shall stand and the thoughts of his heart to all Generations Hence it comes to pass that while they rage he laughs and while they are putting forth the utmost of their skill and strength he looks upon them with an holy
or gaudy Attire of a loathsome Harlot And besides there is a most gracious Promise made to the Church which shall have its certain and full accomplishment in due season Isa. 2.2 It shall come to pass in the latter days and hath he said it and will he not do it Yes without all doubt he will that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains and exalted above the hills that is there is a time coming and I would hope it is not far off the nearer it is the better when the true Church of Christ shall be the Head and not the Tail when she shall not be as a Scullion among the Pots but as a Bride made ready for her Husband and when that Religion which came down from Heaven and will carry them to Heaven who sincerely profess and practice it that Religion which is pure and undefiled before God and the Father shall prevail against all the false and counterfeit Religions in the World as it doth now excel them all in Truth Purity and Glory so it then shall in Virtue Power and Efficacy Dagon shall fall before the Ark of God and the Idols be utterly abolished Yea tho they be made of Silver or Gold which men have made each one for himself to worship yet shall they be cast to the moles and to the bats Isa. 2.20 The Inventions of Men shall be made to give place to the Appointments and Institutions of Christ and the Doctrines of Devils shall disappear and vanish before the Doctrine of the Gospel Babylon shall be made a Hissing and Confusion but Ierusalem a Rejoycing and her People a Joy this we do now rejoyce in the Faith of and patiently wait for the glorious and happy performance Amen Come Lord Jesus Fourthly Sion was a Type or Figure of the Gospel-Church because of its Firmness and Stability It is said in Psal. 125.1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever So shall the Church yea tho the Hills do depart and the Hills be removed even Sion it self at the end of the World yet the Church shall abide and when it ceaseth to be in any part Militant it shall be throughout Triumphant Let Men and Devils combine and unite their Strength and do their worst the Church shall stand the shock and outlive their Fury They may Rage Persecute and Kill they may Imprison Inslave and by their Cruelties force multitudes from their own Countries and native Soils but when they have done Christ will shew himself to be above them They may weary themselves in the greatness of their way and sweat and fret in their Gears but they shall never reach their designed and desired End. They may say Raze her raze her even to the Foundation but Ierusalem is a burthensome Stone upon whomsoever it falls it will grind them to Powder This spiritual Vine which Gods own right hand hath planted may be cut and wounded and bleed sorely but it shall not be to Death the old and excellent saying is at this day as true as ever Sanguis Martyrum semen Ecclesiae The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church The more Martyrs there are the more Believers there shall be Pauls bonds did turn to the furtherance of the Gospel and so have done and shall do the patient sufferings and joyful comfortable Deaths of others in the Cause and for the sake of Christ and his Truths and Worship Let all the Enemies do their best and their worst too God will have a People in the World to praise his Name to load his Altars and to serve him in the beauty of Holiness In the worst of times when Ahab had the Throne and Idolatry was grown rank and rampant there were seven thousand in Israel that had not bowed the Knee to Baal so tho at some times the number of faithful Professors may be much diminished by miserable Persecution and far more miserable Apostacy yet there shall be so many preserved as shall be a seed to serve him and accounted to him for a Generation and that seed being water'd with the Divine blessing shall happily spring up in its season and yield a mighty increase There is a sweet and precious Promise of eternal Truth gone out of the mouth of him who is the faithful Witness upon which it is our duty and richly worth our while to live and in the assurance thereof greatly to rejoyce Mat. 16.18 Upon this Rock will I build my Church Upon what Rock not Peter himself for tho he was a good Man and an excellent Apostle yet he was a frail fallible and dying man But either upon the Truth which was then confessed by him or rather upon my self who am the eternal Rock i.e. upon the Lord Jesus Christ himself and what he hath so built none shall be able to pull down The gates the Policy and Power of Hell shall not prevail against it So much may suffice to be spoken to the first thing viz. what is here meant by Sion and why the Gospel-Church is called so 2. Q. Our second Question is this Why is Sion called Gods holy Hill Or the Hill of Gods holiness A. To which I thus briefly Answer Sion is so called because of the Ark which was there when the sweet Singer of Israel composed this Psalm which was a visible Symbol of Gods special spiritual and gracious Presence and also because of the Temple which was built there afterward and was an eminent Type of Iesus Christ. In that the great God was pleased to place his Name that house he was pleased to fill with his Glory there he did meet his People hearing their Prayers and returning his Answers from thence it was that he commanded the blessing even life for evermore Psal. 133.3 There is no argument to be drawn from hence that can evince to us the holiness of Places now As in every Nation Persons that fear God and work righteousness are accepted of him So is that Worship in all places which is performed to him according to his Will in Spirit and in Truth Ierusalem is not now an holy City nor Canaan the holy Land. Christ our Altar doth sanctify indeed those Gifts which are by a gracious heart in Faith offered up to God upon and by him but the meer place doth not do it it contributes nothing toward it it puts no beauty upon it no savour nor rellish that will take with God. Fervent prayers cordial praises all holy duties have as free an access to God as speedy admission with him as full a welcome as sweet gracious reception and entertainment which are offered and performed in this place in a Kitchin a Closet a Chamber or a Field as those that are performed in any place which man is said to consecrate If men would look more after heart-holiness they would not talk so much of nor insist so much upon the holiness
however divided among themselves yet in a close and strict Confederacy against my Son and though I have without any Merit or Desert of theirs out of my meer bounty given them Riches and Honour Pleasure and Power all this avails them nothing so long as they see Him sitting in Sion This is their Language We will not have this Man Reign over us No Barabbas rather than Iesus a Lust rather than Christ. God sees it and he smiles at it He that sits in the Heavens laughs the Lord will have them in derision And then salva res est there is no danger As long as God laughs Matters are well the Virgin-Daughter of Sion may shake her Head at them and laugh them to scorn Poor Creatures they are busie as Bees but what is it they would do if they could What is that great thing which they are so earnestly bent upon What a most cursed design in which Beelzebub and all his Crew do most heartily join with them It is to dethrone Christ and to rase the Foundations of the glorious City of God and to blot out from under Heaven the Name and Memorial of Ierusalem But God knows it is a vain endeavor Actum est The Matter is not only determined but effected I have set up my King And what do they set themselves against him They kick against the Pricks they will wound them they dash against a Rock that will break them in pieces they had as good and may with as much hope to speed heap Pelion upon Ossa and wage War with Heaven go about to pluck the Sun out of the Firmament and debase it into a Gloworm They might with as much reason attempt to stem the Tide and to chain the Ocean It is as easie for these proud but silly Projectors to unhinge the whole Frame of Nature For it is impossible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thing that can never be done I have established his Throne in Righteousness and in Judgment and therefore it is not in the power of Earth and Hell of Men and Devils to pull him down Psalm 97.8 9. Zion heard and was glad and the Daughters of Judah rejoyced because of thy Iudgments O Lord. For thou Lord art high above all the Earth Thou art exalted far above all Gods. So much may suffice for the opening of the things considerable in the Text and for the Doctrinal part I now come to the Applicatory which will be composed of Instruction Exhortation and Consolation Use 1. First By way of Instruction This most excellent and precious Truth may teach us to admire and bless and glorifie God the Father Yea let his high Praises be in our Hearts and Mouths for his putting this Honour upon Christ and thus exalting with his own Hand him whom Man despised and whom the Nations abhorred That thus to do is our unquestionable Duty doth evidently appear by that which the Apostle saith 2 Phil. 8.9 10 11. Being found in fashion as a Man he humbled himself and became obedient to the death even the death of the Cross wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every name That at the name of Iesus every Knee should bow both of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every Tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father This is that which we Christians ought to confess which we must in the worst of Times be free and forward and bold in the confession and publick owning of That that Jesus Christ who while Tabernacling among us was by the blind and wicked Iews counted no more than a Man the Son of a Carpenter yea the worst of Men the vilest of Sinners a meer Cheat and Impostor a Blasphemer that in his glorious Operations had assistance from the Prince of Devils He even He is Lord non cum limitatione quadam not with limitation as other Lords are who are but Men and no more and may be weak Men and unrighteous Men and cruel and unreasonable Men and so it is necessary they should be directed and bounded by Laws but Jesus is Lord absolute He is unlimited unbounded He hath all Power He is Lord over all the World and over all Creatures and doth whatsoever He pleaseth so to do is his Royal Prerogative his unquestionable Right Now as he is God-man Head over all things to the Church King of Sion and of Saints He is Gods King made so by God the Father and this is to be owned and confess'd to the Glory of God And we are obliged to seek his Glory for He hath sought our Good. We are beholden to the Father for our present Comforts and Hopes and for our future Salvation and Happiness as well as to the Son Yea there was a concurrence and contribution made to it by all the sacred Persons of the glorious Trinity But to the Matter before us As God the Father hath thus honoured Christ so must we honour the Father for doing so and there is great reason for it Take these two First That which we mentioned even now this advancement of Christ was the Fathers Act. It was He that exalted him to be a Prince and a Saviour He that gave him this excellent and super-eminent Name It was He that set him up for King and delivered into his Hand all Power both in Heaven and in Earth It was He that put all things under his Feet and gave him the Heathen for his Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for his Possession All is of the Father Heb. 5.5 Christ glorified not himself to be made an High Priest And by parity of Reason we may say He glorified not himself to be made a King but He that said unto him Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee So again in Psalm 118.22 23. The Stone which the Builders refused is become the head Stone of the corner This is the Lords doing it is marvellous in our Eyes Well may it be so for it deserves to be so and may well command our highest Admirings and most grateful Returns But besides this consider Secondly In this Honour and Power which have been thus in infinite Wisdom conferred upon the Lord Jesus Christ by God the Father He had a special and most gracious Respect unto Us and our Good. It was for our sakes as well as for his As herein the Father designed and aimed at the Rewarding of his Son for all the hard things he had suffered and the unmatchable Service he had done so the security wellfare and happiness of those whom he had given to him Therefore he is made Head over all things to the Church He is Head over all over the Devil and his Instruments over Hell and Rome over the worst and greatest of Men He is higher than the highest of them in those things in which they deal proudly He is above them and He is so
Creatures that have been made sensible how Matters stand with them There is a miserable Want and Emptiness in them in whose Flesh there dwelleth nothing that is good but there is an All-fullness in Christ. And if there be an All-fullness in Him then of Righteousness as well as of Wisdom and Power and Grace and Love. He hath as much Righteousness as the guilty undone ruined Creature doth need or can desire There are in him unsearchable Riches of Righteousness an inexhaustible Treasure of it and it dwells in him it is inseparable from him There was in him not only Righteousness enough for those who lived in former Ages but there is enough now as much for us who live in the present Age And so there will be for those that shall live hereafter to the end of the World. The Fullness which is in Christ is an abounding and an abiding Fulness Heb. 13.8 Iesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever Secondly As the Lord Jesus is the King of Righteousness so He is the Prince of Peace He is called the Peace This Man shall be the Peace He made Peace by the Blood of his Cross and if you have in sincerity given your selves up to him and are become his Subjects indeed then you shall be not only washed with his Blood and justified by his Righteousness but likewise interested in and blessed with his Peace God is now reconciled Fury is not in him you need not run from him as an Enemy but approach to him and converse with him as a Father For He himself is at peace with you and so are all his Attributes How terrible an Aspect soever some of them have upon christless graceless obstinate and impenitent Sinners they all look sweetly and smilingly upon you As his Patience doth spare you though you have deserved to be cut off and his Bounty doth supply you though you are less than the least of Mercies and at his Hand did never merit a crum of Bread and his Bowels do vern over you in your Falls as well as in your Sorrows and his Mercy passeth and seals your Pardon when you repent and turn from your evil Ways So his Holiness which stands at an infinite and eternal distance from Sin is reconciled to you Therefore is that command Psal. 97.12 Rejoyce in the Lord ye Righteous and give thanks at the remembrance of his Holiness And so is his Justice likewise reconciled to you That will vote for your Discharge and Salvation that will pass the Sentence on your side so that when you are judged you shall not be condemned For your comfortable and full assurance hereof read and rejoyce while you read Rom. 3.25 26. Iesus Christ God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the remission of Sins that are past through the Forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his Righteousness that he might be just and the Iustifier of him which believeth in Iesus And again 1 John 1.9 If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Unrighteousness His doing this for us is in him an Act of Faithfulness upon the account of his own Covenant and Promise and an Act of Justice upon the account of Christs Obedience Sufferings and Satisfaction And as all the Attributes of God are thus reconciled and at peace with us so likewise are all his Providences not only comfortable Providences but cross ones too His most smarting Rods upon your Backs blossom with love When he seems to afflict in Fury He really doth it in Faithfulness And while he speaks and writes bitter things against you He doth earnestly remember you still All come upon an errand of Mercy upon a design of Kindness And We know saith Paul all work together for good Rom. 8.28 We believe it to be so yea by our own Experience we know it to be so And the Creatures are at peace with you Though wicked Men hate you yet their very Enmity and the Effects of it shall befriend you They may do you a great deal of wrong but they shall do you no hurt While those Plowers make long their Furrows God will in those Furrows sow that precious Seed which shall spring up and yield to you the peaceable Fruit of Righteousness By their adding to your present Exercises they add to your future Crown they will make Heaven the more sweet to you and your Glory there the more exceeding weighty And as for the good things which you now enjoy they are all sanctified all pure your Tables shall not be Snares to you Riches shall not be laid up by you to your hurt you may rejoyce in the Mercies you have for they all are Mercies in mercy and all come to you in the Blood of a Saviour and with the Blessing of your Father Your common Blessings are Covenant-Blessings And there will be no After-Reckonings to your cost all hath been by Christ and is freely given to you And therefore while you are in the way of your Duty you may sleep quietly in the Night and walk comfortably in the Day and eat your Bread with a merry Heart for God takes pleasure in your Persons and accepts your Works Once more Conscience is at peace with you too and as you shall be satisfied so you shall be cheared and comforted from your selves Conscience which is mille testes a thousand Witnesses will speak to you and for you and in the testimony thereof you may and shall rejoice It will make you sing in Prison and smile at Famine and Destruction and laugh alone and if you have at any time by your foolishness anger'd it and made it to chide and take on at a strange rate Christ will upon your humble penitent believing application to him reconcile it to you There shall be the gracious Sprinklings of his most precious Blood upon it by which it shall be purged from dead works and pacified too made good and quiet too the Wounds which you made in it by Sin shall be healed and then it shall not be your Tormentor but your Comforter And if your Dejection being so great and your Fears so many that Conscience alone cannot do the work it shall have powerful and effectual Assistance from above The Spirit of Adoption will come in and bear witness with your Spirits that ye are the Children of God and so enable you in the strength of Faith to cry Abba Father Rom. 8.15 16. Therefore upon these Encouragements be persuaded to submit your selves to the Government of Christ and to take his Yoke upon you Exh. 2. Let us now come to the second Exhortation wherein I do entreat and with utmost earnestness beseech you not only as before to bow to Christ but also to appear for him every one of you to your utmost in those several Stations and Relations in which Divine Providence hath set
you Let no Talents lie dead upon your Hands and unoccupied but be all imployed and improved for him to whom you owe your selves and your All. Do what you can for the Name and Interest of Christ. This was the excellent Account which the holy Apostle Paul was able to give of himself Philip. 1.21 That to him to live was Christ. And it will be well very well for us if we through Grace are able to give up the like Account of our selves that while to too too many to live is Sin and the World to fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh to heap up Riches to advance in Honours to pursue the empty and perishing Delights which the Creatures afford we fly a more sublime and lofty pitch for to us to live is Christ. Our hearts are immovably fixed upon Christ and devoted to him Our Projects and Designs are laid for Christ Our Lives and Actions are directed unto Christ to his Honour and advancement of his Interest the increasing of the number of his Subjects and enlarging the Bounds of his Empire It is the positive and declared Will of God That men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father Now let us all conform and be obedient to this Will as we will answer the contrary at our peril It is far better for us to live to Christ than to our selves or to any thing else in the World. This will yield us the greatest Peace and Comfort here together with the greatest Profit and Reward hereafter They that live to Christ will never see cause to repent of it whatever else they repent of they will never see cause to reflect upon it with a Blush for they live to good purpose to the best and most excellent purpose Those Persons shall find no reason to be ashamed of so living nor to be afraid of dying when they are called hence nor tremble at the thoughts of giving up their Account when called to appear before their Judge Let me therefore in the first place direct my Discourse to you who are private Christians and accordingly move in the lowest and narrowest Sphere of Activity If you have an Heart such as you should have you even you are in a capacity of doing something for Christ though not so much as others above you I pray give me leave to ask What have you done And now do you take up the Question and bring it home to your selves and propound it seriously to your own Souls O my Soul what have I done You have lived several Years in the World some fewer some more you have some of you been great Talkers and made an high Profession of Faith in Christ and Love to him and I do not in the least question but some of you have taken a great deal of pains and eaten your Bread in the sweat of your Brows you have wrought hard for your selves and your Families you have had multitudes of Thoughts and been taken up with carking Cares you have risen up early and sate up late and eaten the Bread of Carefulness you have watch'd and you have work'd and wearied your selves with working and when you have not met with the desired Success you have fretted and pined and could almost for grief and vexation tear off your Hair But now inquire What have you in the midst of all this done for Christ Certainly he deserves something of you He humbled himself for you he suffered and died for you he became a Curse for you He did bear your Iniquities and his Fathers Wrath He made peace and purchas'd Heaven for you And all this deserves something You owe him a great deal no less than your All and you are shamefully disingenuous and ungrateful if you do not study Returns Besides this consider as he died so he rose again a Conqueror and is a King upon his Vesture and his Thigh there is this glorious Name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords And so he is able to reward you to make up all your Losses to satisfie you for all your Labours to answer all your Hopes and to exceed your highest Expectations Well then call your selves to an Account before God call you to it for he will do it one day What have you done for Christ If you have done much if you have been stedfast immovable and abounding in the Work of the Lord take the Comfort of it knowing that God is not unrighteous to forget it your Labour shall not be in vain you shall enter into Joy. But still go on and endeavour to do more and abound in it more and more for none of you have as yet done enough but have cause to mourn at your coming off so pitifully If there be any of you that to this day hath done nothing for Christ and truly I do fear yea I greatly fear there are too many such in this Congregation and in all you have had a great many Irons in the Fire and all of them diligently minded and tended while Christ hath been forgotten and neglected let me ask you Doth Conscience say nothing to you Have you not sometimes some secret Checks and inward Gripes If in such a Case as this Conscience be silent if it do not reprove you and set this Sin before you really your Case is sad But I shall do my Duty and in the Name of God I advise you to be ashamed and to begin your Duty now and double your diligence upon the account of your former slothfulness neglect and wofully mis-spent Time not knowing how soon your Breath may be stopp'd and all Opportunities for Service taken from you Now now begin and go on to speak for him plead the Cause of his Name Ordinances and Institutions and do not do it with a cold Indifference but as becomes Persons nearly concerned Commend him to your Families Relations Friends and Neighbours See what Hearts you can get for him Love him your selves with all entireness of Affection and do what you can to allure and draw others to love him too Dan. 12.3 They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever Labour then my beloved Friends labour hard as those that have a dear and fervent Love to this lovely Iesus and as those who also have an eye to this glorious Recompence of Reward In the next place I shall with faithfulness and earnestness yet with all due respect offer my Advice and Request to my Reverend Fathers and Brethren in the Ministry who hold the Head by whatsoever Sentiments and Opinions they are divided and distinguished Of and among whom all that are sound in the Faith and accompany their Labour in the Word and Doctrine with an unblamable holy and exemplary Conversation I greatly love and highly esteem and honour You are Embassadors for Christ Oh do not forget that You ought to be his Paranymphs the real and hearty Friends of this ever-blessed