to the Church i.e. to the benefit advantage and comfort of the Church All this Power is given to him that he might rule his Church and defend Her and preserve Her untill She be perfected and a Bride made ready for Her Husband It was a great comfort to that Proto-martyr Stephen in the midst of his Enemies and in the presence of the Council that when he looked up stedfastly unto Heaven he had not only a sight of the Glory of God but likewise of Jesus Christ in his Exaltation standing on the right Hand of God and surely it may be a comfort to us and all that love him that he is not now a Priest upon the Cross but a Priest upon his Throne that he is not now under the Feet of his Enemies but at the right Hand of his Father Let us therefore think and speak of it to the Glory of God the Father Use 2. We now come to the second Use which will be of Exhortation Is Christ anointed constituted and set up by God the Father King upon his holy Hill of Sion Then I would persuade you and Oh that I might prevail with you for two things which most certainly will be your Wisdom Interest and Honour in the sight of God Angels and all good Men The one is that you would bow to this blessed King the other is that you would appear and act for Him. Exh. 1. First Be willing to bow your Necks to the Yoke of Christ and to submit your selves to his Government Receive him and own him as your King Which you may do without any breach of Loyalty or violation of that Duty which you owe to your King upon Earth For Christ and Caesar may very well stand together nay they stand best together Our Iesus is no Iacob no Supplanter no Enemy to the Crowned Heads they may all have him for their Friend if they will And he can furnish them with all that which is necessary for the directing of their Scepters and the supporting of their Thrones Prov. 8.14 Counsel is mine and sound Wisdom I am Understanding I have Strength And he is ready to Communicate to them v. 15 16. By me Kings Reign and Princes decree Iustice. By me Princes rule and Nobles even all the Iudges of the Earth And Oh! how amiable a thing is it for Kings to stand up for Christ and Christ to stand at the right Hand of Kings It was an excellent Speech of our present Sovereign to some Ministers waiting upon him with their humble and grateful Address Labour by your Preaching to make good Christians for then I am sure they will be good Subjects It was a Saying becoming so great a Prince and worthy to be written in Letters of Gold. If you would be what I would have you should be the best Subjects in the World and your own Carriages should speak so loud for you as to silence the Mouths of your Adversaries and drown the Voice of their base Calumnies and Reproaches And that you may be so my present work is to beseech you to be good Christians This is that Advice which in this Psalm is given to Kings and Judges and sure I am it will not be misplaced upon Subjects of all sorts Be wise Be instructed Serve the Lord with fear Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way Kiss him with a Kiss of Love of highest and dearest love give him your Hearts and inthrone him there Kiss him too with a Kiss of Homage and dutiful Subjection And though other Lords have had dominion over you this and that base Lust now by him only do you make mention of his Name Isa. 26.13 Of his Name as of one whose Right it is to rule over you and to give Law to you If ever you desire to be saved by him be willing to be govern'd and commanded by him There are two very great Encouragements for you so to do which I shall lay before you and make use of as Motives for the pressing of this Exhortation upon you I desire you seriously to consider them and let them sink into your Hearts First This Jesus whom God hath made King of Sion is a King of Righteousness He will rule in Righteousness The Scepter of his Kingdom is a right Scepter His Law is holy and his Commandment holy just and good And though he hath his Yoke and Burthen yet that Yoke is easie and that Burthen light And though as you read Psal. 97.2 many times Clouds and Darkness are round about him yet Righteousness and Iudgment are always the Habitation of his Throne His darkest Providences have an Exactness and Beauty in them And when his way is in the Sea it is in the Sanctuary And what we cannot understand we have reason to justifie and admire And we may be sure of this that he will do all his faithful Subjects right Though they do often and often meet with a great deal of wrong in the World from a company of wicked malicious and unreasonable Men the Sheep of his Fold are worried and have both their Fleece and their Flesh rent and miserably torn by ravenous and insatiable Wolves and He for a while sits and looks on as one unconcerned yet in due time He will awake to Judgment and thoroughly plead all their Causes and right all their Wrongs and then let the proudest of their Enemies look to themselves And let me add that which is more than this a great deal more Christ is so a King of Righteousness as that he hath Righteousness enough for all his Subjects not only so as to do them right but also to make them righteous They indeed have a great deal of Sin in them but He hath a great deal of Righteousness in him They have in them Sin enough to damn them but He hath in him Righteousness enough to justifie them They have in them Spots Deformities enough to render them odious and loathsome to God He hath in him Comeliness enough to make their Beauty perfect So that though Sin hath reigned unto Death yet now Grace doth by Iesus Christ our Lord reign through Righteousness unto everlasting Life Rom. 5.21 So that Grace hath got the Victory and Triumphs over Sin. When he was upon Earth He did as a Priest offer up himself a Sacrifice to Justice and by that one Offering satisfied for their Offences and perfected for ever them that are Sanctified and now as a King He doth acquit and discharge and save them It is said Ier. 23.6 God there speaking of the righteous Branch that he would raise unto David a King that should reign and prosper This is his Name whereby he shall be called Jehovah Tsidkenu Iehova our Righteousness And how is it possible that any Person should want sufficient complete Righteousness who hath Iehovah himself to be his Righteousness In him all Fullness doth dwell It hath pleased the Father that it should do so This is good News for poor
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
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