who humbleth and exalteth saith the wise Son of Syrach And Solomon whose Words have yet greater Weight saith whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker and he that is glad at Calamities shall not be unpunished So the Prophet Habakkuk saith That he was humbled at these Disasters of Midian and Cushan that he himself might rest in the day of trouble Who wisely and seriously consider the Instability of humane Affairs will neither be lifted up with their own Prosperity nor will they insult over their Neighbours Misery For what is the ones Case to Day may be the others to Morrow Who at present braves it out with Pride and Scorn may within a little time come to be contemptible Quem dies vidit veniens superbum Hunc dies vidit fugiens jacentem Res Deus nostras celeri citatas turbine versat Secondly We see here that the Church and People of God are often visited with the Rod of Afflictions The Text declareth it and if any Persons doubt it let them read the History of the Church and they shall be fully convinc'd As for the Iewish Church 't was first sadly oppress'd in Egypt and thereafter for the space of forty Years 't was exercised in a barren Wilderness with divers kinds of Afflictions After they came to Canaan during the time of the Judges they were often brought low They had Peace a part of David's and all Solomon's Life but afterwards it was continually interrupted till they were carried Captive to Babylon When they were brought back and restored to their own Land they were not settled without hot Debates and Contests with their Neighbours and after their Settlement they had severe Wars and were kept in continual Exercise with divers sore Troubles until Christ as appears from Iosephus and the History of the Maccabees And as for the Christian Church Trouble sprang up with it and continually attended it for the space of Three Hundred Years it suffered Ten severe General Persecutions besides many sad particular Conflicts And tho' after that the Emperours and Rulers turned Christian there was no general Persecution for the Name of Christ and the Sake of the Gospel yet there was no particular Church or People without the Rod of Correction They have been visited either with Foreign Wars or Intestine Divisions with Pestilence or Famine or some other Calamity No Nation or People can boast of an Immunity from such Disasters but for the space of One Hundred Years As Man in his private Capacity so States and Societies are born to Trouble Nor is an Exemption from the same among the Privileges of the People of God The Roman Church makes Temporal Felicity one of the Notes of the true Church But her Infallibility appears as little here as in other things For as it is no where promised in Scripture so no Church can de facto shew it She her self would fail if she were put to prove her self the true Church by this for where was her Temporal Felicity when Rome it self was sacked and the Pope shut up in Prison Calamities and Afflictions do indeed indicate that they who suffer them are Sinners But they do not prove them to be Reprobates and Cast-aways for the People of God may expect them as well as others nay they may look for them more than others because God is more jealous of them and his glory is more concerned to Punish Sin in them Thirdly We may observe here that even when God is most provoked to lay on his afflicting Hand and to Punish he doth not forbear to shew Kindness And that in the extreamest Misery there is still ground to Hope in God for a Deliverance None ever provoked God more than the People of Israel and Iudah in the days to which this Prophecy referrs nor did any Peoples case look more desperate than theirs when carried Captive by the King of Assyria And yet you see here that the Prophet in regard to them then saith when I fall I shall rise when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me As God casts down with one Hand he lifts up with another Soepe premente Deo fert Deus alter opem Thus when he cast the Israelites out of their own Land he made them to find favour with the People among whom they were dispersed God wisely tempereth his Punishments so that while they vindicate his Holiness and Justice they also serve to manifest his Mercy and Good-will God hath no pleasure in Wickedness and therefore when he seeth it he punisheth it But all his hatred being against the Crime and not the Person therefore he saveth and comforteth them and maketh their very Afflictions tend to their Good unless they have made themselves altogether incorrigible and have hardned their Hearts against all his Methods and then indeed he gives them up to Destruction When he sees it necessary to withdraw external and worldly Comforts he doubles inward and spiritual Consolations So the Prophet Isaiah having denounced Judgments against Israel he addeth And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you and therefore will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of Affliction yet shall not thy Teachers be removed into a corner any more but thine eyes shall see thy Teachers and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying this is the way walk ye in it when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left The felicity of the Soul is to be preferred to the welfare of the Body and Spiritual Consolations to Worldly Advantages Now because ordinarily People are insensible of the former and indisposed to receive them while the latter abound with them Therefore he takes away this that they may seek the other and be capable of them so that we really gain by our losses and our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Thus it is said Hos. ii 14. Therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her and I will give her her vineyards from thence and the valley of Achor for a door of hope and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt These words shew that God comforteth his People in their Afflictions and therefore afflicteth them that he may make them sensible of his Kindness and have occasion to speak comfortably to them As also that in due time he will deliver them and make them to rejoice for the days wherein they have been afflicted It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. There is always ground to hope and never reason to despair be our condition never so low perplex'd and troubled For he is
bear the Punishment inflicted by the Law or make that Satisfaction which the Honour and Justice of God required Angels could not for their Spiritual Nature makes them incapable And what Man could have made an Atonement for the rest Seeing every Man was guilty in the sight of God What Man was sufficient for or worthy of the office of Mediator Suppose one had all the Advantages and Excellencies which Nature could bestow and free of Sin too which must necessarily be supposed in this case yet it would have been too much Presumption even for such an one to take upon him to Mediate betwixt God and his Rebellious Creatures Mediators and Arbitrators ought to be either Superiour to both Parties or at least equal to the offended Party and independent in some manner from it for without this Qualification they have not sufficient Authority nor a powerful enough Influence to oblige the Parties to agree and accept of Peace And this requisite Qualification excluded not only all Men but Angels and all Creatures from being Mediator and Umpire betwixt God and Man As therefore it behoved our Mediator and Saviour to be Man that he might do and suffer what was proper and incumbent and have the Interest good Will and Concernment necessary to such a Person so it behoved him to be God that he might be worthy of so high and honourable a Function and to the end his Mediation might be meritorious and effectual And as it behoved our Mediator and Peace-maker to be thus and thus qualified so the Wisdom and Goodness of God has provided us of one with these Qualifications and so contrived it that he who thought it not Robbery to be equal with God should be made into the Likeness of Men. For this end the Eternal Son of God became Man who is this Jesus the Text speaks of by whose Name we are all called O! the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Iudgments and his Ways past finding out Rom. ii 33. The Socinians who reject this Mystery and deny the Divinity of our Saviour and the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ which I have made most evident from Scripture now and at the last Occasion they make the Oeconomy of the Gospel to signifie little or nothing either for the Glory of God or the Comfort of Man And as they give God the Lye who has attested the Truth of this so clearly and fully so they rob him of the Praise which is due to the greatest Manifestation of his Goodness and to the most wonderful Contrivance of his Wisdom From which and such damnable Heresies good Lord deliver us Having considered who the Person is of whom our Text speaks and what is his Character it follows next according to the Method proposed that we take into Consideration what he did and suffered which is here represented in these Words he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross. From which Words we may First observe That all which happened to Jesus Christ in this mysterious Oeconomy was his own Choice His Sufferings as well as Actions are the pure Effect of his own Will there was no force or necessity upon him to oblige his Obedience and Subjection to these things We must not think it was with Jesus Christ as with other Men. The Birth and Quality the State and Condition the Death and Exit of other Men fall not under their own Cognizance nor is the same any part of their Choice But all is unknown to them and imposed upon them by Nature or Providence or those to whom Nature and Providence have subjected them And the greatest Praise due to any Man is that he can bear his State and Circumstances thus imposed patiently and chearfully though he neither would have desired them nor yet made Choice of them if it had been in his own Power But as to Jesus Christ all was his free Choice his voluntary Act and proper Deed The meanness of his Birth the Contemptibleness of his State the Troubles of his Life and the Shame and Bitterness of his Death were all known before-hand to him and set before him and he freely and willingly submitted himself to them and therefore there is more Merit and Praise due to him than can be to any from meer Patience or Passive Obedience Therefore doth my father love me saith Christ because I lay down my life that I might take it again No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again And again he said to Pilate thou couldst have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above Secondly It is to be considered that the Humiliation of Jesus Christ in this Verse referrs to some other thing than that which is made mention of in the former When before it is said he made himself of no Reputation that referrs to his Pre-existent State and God-head and thereby is set forth his Debasement by his Incarnation For by becoming Man his God-head was put under the Veil of Flesh and the Majesty and Glory which belonged to him were for so long time eclipsed which was certainly a stupendous Debasement and an astonishing and most wonderful Instance of his Love to those for whom he was thus debased But the Humiliation in the Text is posterior to the Incarnation and referrs to what he did after he was become Man therefore it is said being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself What is meant by humbling himself is explained by what follows viz. That he became Obedient unto Death that is he entirely subjected himself to the Will of God and all the Methods of his Counsel and all the Contrivances of his Wisdom for manifesting his Mercy and good Will to Mankind and for effectuating their Redemption and Salvation to which he was not otherwise obliged than by his own voluntary Undertaking Jesus Christ by his Divine Nature being equal to God was therefore free independent and subject to none And though as a Man he owed Obedience yet being altogether free from Sin he was not liable to the Curse of the Law nor obnoxious to those Evils Troubles and Calamities which for Sin are inflicted on other men Therefore it was a great Act of Humility in him to submit to those things who might have pleaded an Exemption from them It was great Humility in him to put himself into a State of Subjection and Obedience who by Nature was subject to none but as God himself supream Lord over all in Heaven and Earth What Humility would it be in a free-born Prince one whose Birth gave him Right to a Scepter Crown and Sovereign Command and whose State and Circumstances put him in a Condition of keeping the same against all Rebellion Encroachment and Usurpation
and Consummation of this visible Frame at the last Day all these things I say and more than we know were designed for the Glory and Honour of Christ And as they have all a reference to him so the Beauty and Wisdom and Goodness of those Divine Transactions are not cannot be seen but by Establishing the Incarnation of the Son of God and Therefore to reject this great Mystery is to set at nought the Eternal Purposes of God and all those Glorious Designs which his Infinite Wisdom and Goodness have Devised This is to smother the Divine Wisdom and Goodness which is conspicuous in these things and to deny and deprive him of that Glory which so much Wisdom and so much Goodness and so many and so great Expressions thereof do bring unto him Wherefore not to acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God our Lord and God as it is wilful and unaccountable Obstinacy there being so many Irrefragable Testimonies and unquestionable Proofs thereof so it is inexcusable Impiety and downright Rebellion against God He who doth not receive the King's Vicegerent nor will own him whom he Deputes and Entrusts with the Government both affronts the King's Authority and reproacheth his Conduct he reflects alike on his Prudence and Authority And is he not guilty of the same Crime Is he not equally wicked against God who rejecteth his own Son whom he hath sent into the World for to this purpose God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow 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 Now this owning and acknowledging of Jesus Christ the receiving him as the Son of God is what the Apostle calls the having the Son as appears from the following Verse where he expounds it by believing on him And in the following Epistle Verse 9. he makes it to be the abiding in his Doctrine He then hath the Son who believes in him who receives his Gospel who gives a full and hearty assent to the truth of all that is said of him either as to his Nature or Offices the Dignity of his Person or the Power and Privilege he hath received from the Father In a word he hath the Son who stedfastly believes whatever he has Revealed concerning God or Man our present Condition or Original State our Duty here or Reward hereafter for if we believe him to be the Son of God we will believe also whatever he hath delivered and will not fail to adhere to this Belief and Perswasion Thus we see That it is Faith in Christ to which Life is here promised But we deceive our selves if we think it any kind of Faith a bare knowledge or naked Speculation of Gospel Truths a mere and simple assent to them which rests in the Brain and Understanding and goes no farther No this is not that Faith which is so magnified in Scripture and to which so many glorious things are promised Many may have all that this comes to and yet fall short of Life Many will say to me in that day saith Christ Lord Lord have we not prophecied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful Works And then I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity True Faith is always Lively Active and Operative it is not barren and Unfruitful it ever worketh by Love and keepeth the Commandments it purifieth the heart of Pride and Lust and casteth down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringeth into Captivity every thought to the Obedience of Christ it rectifies all inward Disorders and makes us New Creatures framed according to the Image of God in Christ it so renews us to the Spirit of our Minds and so conforms us to the Son of God that our Thoughts are his Thoughts his Ways our Ways we love what he loves hate what he hates believe what he Promises and obey what he Commands so that our Life is hid with Christ in God And of every true Believer it may be said as St. Paul saith of himself I am Crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Look what those Saints and Worthies recorded in the Epistle to the Hebrews did through Faith they subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopt the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of Fire escaped the edge of the Sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight turned to flight the Armies of Aliens c. Was not this a strong and a noble Faith Now such must our Faith be for as our Apostle tells us Verse 4. of this Chapter it must overcome the World he that believeth that Iesus is the Son of God he it is that overcometh the world and all that is in the world viz. the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eyes and the pride of Life Thus you see what Faith is that it is no mean and silly thing that it is no dull lazy unactive Principle but that it is strong and mighty quick and powerful in its operation Be not deceived then my Friends Examine well whether you believe in Christ whether or no you have the Son of God dwelling in you by Faith and do not flatter your selves with the conceit unless it be so indeed Consider O Man and tell me Art thou sensible of thy Misery by Nature of thy guilt thrô thy manifold Transgressions Dost thou feel the Necessity of a Saviour Dost thou run to that Fountain which is opened to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Israel for Sin and for Uncleanness Dost thou hope in the Mercy of God and rely upon the Merits of Christ And art thou therefore humble and penitent and ready to forgive and resolved to amend thy Life Dost thou or art thou sincerely resolved to resist the Devil and wrestle against all Temptations not in thy own but in the Name and Strength of Christ Can'st thou despise the Vanities of the World all sublunary Riches and Pleasures can'st thou freely quit them rather than offend thy God Is thy Heart with God and can'st thou confidently trust him with thy self and all thy Concernments and wait for the accomplishment of his Promises Is thy Care are thy Thoughts and Endeavours chiefly employed about the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof how to grow in Grace and the Knowledge of Christ how to abound in good Works and to bring forth Fruit unto Holiness that thy End may be Eternal Life Can'st thou answer to those things positively Dost thou find
somewhat more Spiritual than what these amount to But to leave this and come to an Application This Text in both parts may be accommodated to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper These words Let us draw near may be without stretching applied to our coming to this Ordinance for this is one way of drawing near to God and the most solemn we can make in this Life and an earnest of that intimate admission into his glorious presence hereafter and hereby also is set forth that which procur'd us this gracious Privilege viz. The Death and Sufferings of Jesus Christ. Wherefore those who desire to draw near to God and would have the comfort of his Favour and the hopes of everlasting Glory should embrace readily and chearfully the occasion of the Sacrament And to speak freely to you I know nothing can keep People from this Sacrament and make them slight it but the want of a true desire after God and the little concern they have for their Eternal Salvation I pray God forgive those who have made some believe it a mark of Religion or greater Sanctity to withdraw themselves from our Communion I intreat you be not easily deceived believe not every Spirit but examine well what you hear whether it be agreeable to Truth None that knows the Truth or loves the Purity of the Gospel can join in Communion with the Church of Rome But I appeal to all your Consciences if there be any Doctrine taught in this Church or any thing practised in our Worship disagreeable to the Word of God And if there be not why should Persons withdraw from our Communion And what can excuse such withdrawing These Tables are indeed too seldom covered but when they are covered let them be filled with Guests and if they be not what a shame is it Let not this poor Church be miserably torn with needless and unwarrantable separations whereby we become both a prey and a laughing-stock to our Enemies How comely a thing is it saith the Psalmist for brethren to dwell together in unity and it is as profitable as comely Are the Times bad We should meet to pray God to make them better Is this a wicked generation That should not make us forsake the assembling our selves together but we should the rather do it to provoke one another to love and good works Let not any pretend a liberty of doing what they please or say they are not accountable to us whether they go or come Consider I pray you that you are all accountable to God as also as Christians and Members of his Church you are all accountable to his Ministers especially to his Supream Ministers under Christ the Bishops to whom you are subject as to your Spiritual Superiours and ought to obey them This is his Command and therefore you are obliged to do what he Commands and not what is right in your own Eyes or in the Eyes of others let therefore his Laws be punctually observed and his Ordinances waited on And let none take to themselves a Dispensation from any of these lest they incurr his displeasure which of all things is most to be feared But though I wish all would come to this Sacrament yet I would not have any to come unworthily and without due Preparation for St. Paul has told us the sad danger of that Now what is required to render one worthy you may learn from the Text he hath the wedding garment who hath the qualifications in the Text. Let me therefore beseech you all to retire Home to lay aside the thoughts of other Business and in all seriousness to examine how it stands between God and you see whether you be already adorn'd with these Qualifications here spoken of if you have them rejoice and bless God and come up to Morrow to the House of God and to this Sacrament that they may be confirmed and perfected in you If as yet ye are Strangers to these Qualifications do not resolve to withdraw for that is to continue in your sin and so without God but be ye rather more earnest this Night in acquiring them In so short a time 't is true you cannot bring them to Perfection but you may have them in Sincerity which for the present will be admitted O! rouze up your Faith and let it operate in your Minds besprinkle your selves with the Tears of true Contrition and cleanse your selves with stedfast Purposes of departing from all Iniquity and of keeping ever hereafter the Commandments of God and if you do so you shall go back justified in God's Sight Amen SERMON XII On HOSEA X. 12. Sow to your selves in righteousness reap in mercy break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousness upon you THESE words contain a sound and wholsome Advice to a miserable People lying under the weight of God's Anger and threatned with many sad and grievous Judgments The People were Israel the Children of the Ten Tribes with whom God had a Controversie because there was no Truth nor Mercy nor Knowledge of God in the Land They had cast off the Service of the true God and corrupted themselves with the Idolatry Superstition and other Abominations of the Heathen Nations among whom they dwelt For which God's Wrath was kindled against them and this Prophet was sent forth to intimate the Divine Displeasure and how severely it would fall on them But the Divine Threatnings are for the most part like Ionathan's Arrows shot for Warning rather than Destruction In the midst of Wrath he remembers Mercy and when he denounceth War he intends to spare and therefore denounceth it that Men may be awakened to their Duty and so prevent if not the Temporal Evils which they deserve yet their Eternal Ruin which is worst of all Wherefore it is that the Prophet so often intermixeth his Threatnings with Exhortations to Repentance Obedience and seeking the Lord as here in our Text. This Advice has no particularity in it to restrain it to those to whom it was here given but it may very well suit with any other People who are desirous of God's Favour and have reason to fear his Displeasure Nay here is laid down the general and indispensable Conditions on which any People may expect Peace and Reconciliation with God and the sure means of obtaining good things from him and so they are proper to be considered by you at this time Hosea speaks here in Metaphorical terms borrowed from Husbandry which as it is the most ancient Employment of Mankind So according to Cicero it is of all others most becoming and worthy of a Gentleman and hath employed the Pens of the greatest among the Romans and there is a great deal both of Grace and Force in the terms of it to carry the things recommended by the familiar use of them home to the Minds of Men and render them more effectual Upon which account nothing is more