unto God without it The Apostle exhorteth us Rom. 12.1 to offer up our bodies a living sacrifice acceptable to God For it is said of Cain That he offered unto the Lord of the fruit of the ground Gen. 4.3 He brought an earthly dead liveless offering and was not accepted But Abel brought of the fat of the flock verse 4. He offered the Firstling of his fold a pure clean lively sacrifice unto which God had respect it was more excellent then his Brothers Heb. 11.4 How came this to pass The Apostle tells us it was by faith The life of faith is in death and by death that liveth when we are dead I am crucified with Christ yet I live and I live in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2.20 He had a life in the flesh after he was dead to the flesh Faith indeed shall cease but 't is not till the end of the second life The principal act of faith is exercised in death the death of Christ and is a conforming vertue or power unto the likeness thereof by mortification and offering up of the flesh with the affections and lusts unto death Gal. 5.24 God accepteth nothing but what is done in this faith by this faith in the Son of God John 15.5 Heb. 11.5 27. We read in 1 Sam. 15.9 That Saul spared Agag the King and the best of the spoil but that which was vile and refuse and good for nothing that he and the people utterly dastroyed Saul was an hypocritical Tyrant ambitiously aspiring to a Kingdom and got it God gave a King in his anger He that aimeth at the Scepter is not the best Saint 28. Saul was a right Machiavilian he knew the high way to the Crown When Ephraim spake trembling he exalted himself in Israel Hos 13.1 When he was mean and low in a poor condition and little in his own sight he could bow and cringe flatter fawn upon and comply with the vulgar bemoan and pitty the burdens of the poor people especially the good people of the land he could stand cap in hand to the meanest and like Absolom court them into a good conceit of his Clemency and care of their well-fare assuring them that if it were in his power to remedy it things should not be carried as they are but first he put himself into a souldiers posture 2. Sam. 15.1,2,3,4,5 Now he rode post in the right rode to be the head of the Tribes of Israel Commander in chief over the military Forces 1 Sam. 15.17 yea God himself might so far have his work to do under his proud design as to give him a Call to be King and fight his battles as is plain in the place cited which might confirm him in a good opinion of himself to undertake the Government especially if some musty Prophesies had been raked together and by a Court-Parasite particularly applyed to him 'T is as common for the highest as the meanest to be deluded and mistake or mis-use many passages of Gods Providence But now he is King he grows covetous and self-ended he falls upon the spoil and the prey of the enemy who seemed before to contemn all self-interest and advantage Sam. 15.19 His feigned and forged excuse of reserving it for Gods worship would not serve his turn How faulty then are those who do not so much as pretend any thing for Gods service but openly convert the common loss into their private gain This is that which will involve a Nation in broils and blood 29. But alas How many such Sauls hath the world seen since Sauls time who can part with that which is not worth the keeping but with-hold from God that which he requireth as his due If God call for the heart they bring him the lip and tongue only If God require spirit and Truth they offer in the mountain and at Jerusalem they put him off with complements out-side service formality and a State-Religion Dissembling Pharisees they exact and pay Tithe of Mint and Rue but neglect Judgement Mercy Faith the love of God and their Neighbour Mat. 23.23 When God commandeth the best and fattest to be given him they put him off with the leanest with the fruit of the ground If they pretend to dedicate the best unto God they intend to make their own advantage out of it They may refrain from Extortion Adultery c. but continue proud heady high-minaed covetous c. yet be very devout too fast twice in the week give a small Alms out of their superfluity and ill gotten goods pay Tithes give their Minister his due and applaud him censure all that be contrary-minded to them as prophane c. Isa 65.4,5 Luke 18.11,12 30. Those sacrifices are acceptable to God that are turned into ashes Psalm 20.3 This must be done by fire the heavenly fire of zeal and love which separateth and consumeth the gross body of flesh and turneth and reduceth all into a pure essential and spiritual body out of which ashet is made the savory salt of the heavenly nature which seasoneth all things And therefore the Lord is said to plead with all flesh by fire Isa 66.16 He hath his fire in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem Isa 31.9 with which refining fire he doth purifie the sons of Levi that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in Righteousness Mal. 3.3 Mat. 3.12 No oblation in Righteousness but by fire 't is the fire of the Spirit that consumeth the fuel of the flesh Rom. 8.13 We must pass through water and fire before we can come into the wealthly place Psalm 66.12 Without fire we cannot subsist in the natural life much less can we perform the Actions of the spiritual life without it 31. Under the Law the daily sacrifice was not to cease Num. 28.3,4 and this Oblation was to be made by fire He that causeth this to cease is the He-goat Dan. 9.29 Dan. 8.11,12,13 The vile person Dan. 11.21,31 the Beast the Whore the false Prophet that speaketh lyes in the name of the Lord It is Anti Christ that setteth up a Religion in the world without the Cross Whosoever is zealous toward God without Self-denial Mortification and conformity to the death of Christ his zeal is not according to knowledge which will make him seek to establish his own in stead of Gods Righteousness Rom. 10.2,3 Whosoever rejecteth the Cross can be no true Christian Wherefore think it not strange concerning this fiery tryal also which is to come upon you as though some strange thing happened unto you But rejoyce rather although 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The righteous is not saved without great labour and pains hard strugling and striving sore Combats and Conflicts 1 Pet. 4.12,13,17,18 Make not that way too wide which God hath made strait All must go the narrow way who would enter into life For every one must be salted with fire and every sacrifice must be salted with salt Mar. 9.49 10. Tenthly 32.
from Galile stood and diligently beheld these things for they lookt for no such Spectacle but their mind now presaged that after so sad a Tragedie they should see better dayes They stood afar off for fear that the Scripture might be fulfilled Thou hast put away mine Acquaintance far from me lover and friend from my misery Psalm 88. Again He hath put my brethren far from me and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me Job 19. They stood aloof yet they saw and considered what was done It was a sight worth the seeing to the beholding whereof all the world should have run together But who can express the sorrow and grief of those Holy Women especially of the Virgin-mother when they saw him hang so shamfully on the cross for whom they had done so much and to whom they had ministred not only in Galile but also in Iudaea But they are much to be commended that the fear neither of the Jews nor of the Romans could hinder them from following after Christ and that they would no more forsake him when he was dead then when he was living This is to take good and bad together with ones Friend The Disciples fled but the Womenkind stood it out as being willing to repair and make amends for the wrong done to all mankind in Paradise And because those holy Women did so stoutly stand it out and tarryed to see the end of the holy Passion they were likewise counted worthy to have the first sight of Christ after his Resurrection They were last with Christ when he dyed and first with him when he lived A godly man will learn many good things from those Women c. The Jews therefore John 19.31 because it was the preparation that the bodies should not remain upon the Cross on the Sabbath-day for that Sabbath-day was an High day besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away Then came the Souldiers and brake the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him But when they came to Iesus and saw that he was dead already they brake not his legs But one of the Souldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came thereout blood and water And he that saw it bare Record and his Record is true and he knoweth that he saith true that ye might believe For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled A bone of him shall not be broken And again another Scripture saith They shall look on him whom they pierced We have heard of the death of the Lord Jesus and how it was bewailed by the Women of Galile his burial is yet behind which the Iews indeed attempted but God reserved the solemnity thereof to be performed by holy and good men The day when these things were done was the preparation that is a preparatory day to the following Sabbath which was called the Sabbath of the Passover because it fell out in the Paschal week Whence it was celebrated more honourably then the other Sabbaths And this the Evangelist shews when he saith For that Sabbath day was an High day This was a double Festival both in respect of the Sabbath and also of the Paschal Week which was wholly Festival When this Sabbath drew nigh those bloody men thought it a dishonour if the bodies of the slain should hang before their gates in the view of all men Therefore lest the Devotion and Religious observation of the Feast-day should be clouded with so sad and dolefull a Spectacle they desired by any means that they should be taken down and removed before the Feast began A perverse and preposterous religion indeed it was to intend to celebrate the Feast so holily the entrance whereof they had polluted with so great impiety They would keep the Law and yet had just now killed the Lord of the Law The Law by which they tye themselves to this observation was this The Lord commanding that they that were crucified should be buried the same night Deut. 21. This Law was chiefly given in reference to Christ For the Law written by the Finger of God in respect of him only who was then to be crucified did take care that all that were crucified should be buryed the same night whereas there was no such Law or command concerning others that should suffer a violent death God indeed could have preserved the body of Christ also unburied from shame and violence But so it was expedient for the bodies of the Saints that this body of this dead man should be united to them in the graves that by it they might obtain a Resurrection For as it was meet that the soul of Christ should go down into Hell to deliver the souls of the Fathers so it behooved that his body should reach their bodies that so he might raise them up again and thereby a perfect Resurrection might be hoped for To this Law do these wicked men now pretend And now they begin to think of the religious observation of the Feast as if they had now omitted nothing but had done every thing as it ought to be done Thus Hypocrites look only at the Ceremonies mean while leaving the greater and weightier works of Righteousness undone and think that all will go well with them let them sin never so much so long as they leave out nothing of the Ceremonies So here they are very carefull to observe that Law which was only for civility and humanity but in the mean while swerving from and prevaricating the whole Law Yet who would have said but that those were very holy men Who could have suspected that they would have killed Christ contrary to all Law who were such zealous and devout observers of the Law But thus doth Hypocrisie use to palliate and hide its iniquity But under pretence of this Law and reverence of the Feast they address themselves to Pilate they entreat him that the bodies of those that were put to death might be taken down before the evening that nothing might hinder it and that the Governour would give command to have their bones broken that they might die the sooner This they pretended to Pilate But there was somewhat else did bite them They were afraid lest the people should repent of what they had done and believe in Christ because of the signes that were shewed at his death for then they heard the various judgements and opinions of men concerning Christ by reason of his Miracles Therefore they make Post haste to get him down and bury him out of the way for they were in hopes that he would quickly and totally be forgotten if he were but once removed out of sight and that never any hereafter would upbraid them with the death of so great a man But all in vain their project is to no purpose for they can hide neither Christs Glory nor their own shame But wicked men easily obtain what they desire of a wicked Judge The