thus for knowing that none could call himself the proper and natural Son of God who must not assert himself likewise to be God and allowing him to be nothing more than a mere Man they again tax him with Blasphemy and go about to stone him I and my Father says our Lord are One. Then the Jews took up Sones again to stone him Jesus answer'd them Many good Works have I shew'd you from my Father for which of those Works do ye stone me The Jews answer'd him saying For a good work we stone thee not but for Blasphemy and because that thou being a Man makest thy self God The Jews I say in these places accuse him of calling himself the Son of God in the most proper Sense and consequently of making himself also very God And yet our Lord is so far from traversing the Indictment or reselling the Crimination that in Vers 38. he confirms their Logick and then leaves them in this Opinion which certainly he could never have done without infinite Derogation from the Honour of the Divine Majesty and downright blasphemy had he not really been what they apprehended he said he was the Proper Natural and Only Begotten Son of God Thus I say is the Divinity of our Lord put beyond all possibility of Distrust being preach'd to all the World by Angels Prophets and Apostles Proclaim'd more than once from Heaven by the God of all Truth the Eternal Father of Angels and men and also most positively asserted in a publick Assembly by our Lord himself who as the * 1 Pet. 2.22 Holy Ghost bears him witness did no Sin neither was guile found in his mouth What need we then My Brethren any farther witness Or how is it possible for any Man who rightly understands the weight of Divine Testimony to call it into Question Such Men as †Hist Eccles lib. 5. cap. 28. Eusebius has long since observ'd must be more wise than their Maker more knowing and more intelligent even than God that made them Those inspir'd and infallible Witnesses the Prophets and Apostles were not so knowing and the most intelligent of all the Heavenly Spirits the Cherubims themselves if compar'd to them are found wanting The Church of Christ in all Ages has unhappily been overspread with the thick uncomfortable darkness of Ignorance and Error and These Men alone have had the inestimable Privilege of enjoying the happy Goshen the Dwellings of Light the glorious Habitations of Wisdom and Knowledge For if after the complicated irrefragable Testimony of so many Infallible Witnesses the Belief and Confession of the Church be requir'd in this Matter She has in all Ages believ'd and confess'd it This is that Faith says the * Concil Paris tom 1. pag. 844. Synod of Antioch which we have receiv'd from the Beginning and which the holy Catholick Church preserves pure and undefil'd having deriv'd it by a constant and uninterrupted Succession even unto this Day from the Blessed Apostles themselves And †Videas Bulli Defensionem Fidei Nicenae Whitbit tractatum de verâ Christi Deitate sect 2. some truly excellent and Learned Divines of our own have shewn at large the Truth of this Assertion from the particular Writings and Monuments of the Primitive Fathers who as well before as after the Council of Nice with one Heart and one Voice confess and maintain the Divinity and Eternal Generation of the Son of God These well-grounded and pious Souls could not be laugh'd or ridicul'd by the Scoffs and Jeers the Taunts and Sarcasms of their Learned and witty Adversaries nor frighted by the severest Appearances of Torture and Persecution out of their Trust and Confidence in the Holy Jesus but notwithstanding all the Imputations of Folly and Madness from an invidious Trypho a scoffing Lucian a virulent Celsus and a malicious Julian they continually call'd upon him in the time of Trouble and as * Epist l. 10. Ep. 97. Pliny tells Trajan sang Praises to him as to the God of their Salvation Neither did they only thus bravely contend for the Faith against the violent Incursions of the wild Boar out of the Forest the Menaces and blasphemous Assaults of their profess'd Enemies the Jews and Gentiles but also were infinitely careful to secure it from the Wiles and Stratagems of the little Foxes those false Teachers that crept in amongst them and under the specious Pretences of Reason and Revelation continually endeavour'd to spoil the Lords Vineyard No sooner did any Heretick dare to impugn or invalidate this Doctrine but he was immediately disown'd by all the Faithful and Anathematiz'd or cast out of the Church as a ravenous Wolf who design'd only to devour and tear in pieces the Lord's Flock which is demonstratively Evident from that Class of Hereticks Ebion Theodotus Artemon Paulus Samosatenus and Photinus In short Socinus himself confesseth that the whole Stream of Antiquity runs against him and that of all the Primitive Fathers and Councils there is not so much as one that any way countenanceth his Opinion So that you see from all hands that unless with a truly Satanical Pride we exalt our selves above all that is called God and flatly give Heaven and Earth God Angels and pious Men the Lye to their face and side only with Jews Turks and Pagans we must acknowledge the Blessed Jesus to be in very deed no other than the Only-Begotten Son of the Most High the Maker of All things the King of Glory Alpha and Omega the First of Beings and the Last of Ends which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty Thus then does the Greatness of our Salvation appear from the Greatness and Majesty of the Person undertaking it It does so 2. From the Greatness and Unconceivableness of those Sufferings whereby he did accomplish it Some indeed lessen the Sufferings of our Lord by thinking he had the Comprehension of Blessedness the Supports of actual Glory in the midst of all his Torments that even then he did behold the Face of God and communicate in Glory But in answer to Men of these Thoughts I consider with the Excellent Bishop * Great Exemplar pag. 413 414. Taylor 1. That though the two Natures of Christ were knit by a mysterious Union into one Person yet the Natures still retain'd their incommunicable Properties so that as the Divine Nature could not by vertue of this Union derive upon it self the Infirmities of the Humane so neither did the Humane partake in all Instances of the Felicities of the Divine these indeed being essentially in God but to Man communicated without Necessity and by an arbitrary Dispensation Tho' therefore as God he is omniscient and knows every thing yet that as Man he was ignorant as many things seeking Fruit upon the Fig-tree when the time of Figs was not come and telling us himself that he knew not the Day nor the Hour when he should judge the World and therefore being said to have
all things made Visible and Invisible Those most glorious and exalted Sons of the Morning who when the Foundations of the World were laid sang melodiously together and shouted for Joy as well as the Beasts of the Field All Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers in Heaven and Earth as well as the subordinate Classes of inferiour Beings and who still upholds them all by the Word of his Power This is the Person that comes to Save us Even He †Phil. 2.6 7. who subsisted in the Form or Nature of God and therefore thought it no Robbery but his inviolable Right to be Equal with God makes himself of no Reputation but takes upon him the Form or Nature of a Servant and is made in the Likeness of Men. Deus Humanâ visit sab imagine terras God himself I say even the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity and whose Name is Great Wonderful and Holy the Lord Jehovah with whom is Everlasting Strength in very deed bows the Heavens and comes down to dwell among Men. Well then might the officious Host of Heaven the Quires of Angels who long desir'd to see the Mystery of this Day usher in the Birth of this great Prince with Songs and Allelujahs Well might one of them cloath'd with the Brightness and Similitude of a Star call the Levantine Princes the great and Learned Magi as Emblems of his Future Conquests over the Princes and Learned Sages of the Heathen World to do him Obeisance and others wing'd with Joy and Triumph carry these glad Tidings to the humble Shepherds and send them likewise as the First-fruits of his own People to pay their Homage to their Lord. For had the heavenly Host been silent the Lowest Class of Beings the very senseless and inanimate Parts of impatient Nature had questionless found a Voice to have told us That unto us a Son was born unto us a Child was given whose Government is upon his Shoulders and whose Goings forth from Everlasting But now how miserable and wretched was our Captivity which the Arm of Omnipotence only could lead captive How thick and dismal the Darkness we were in which the irresistable Rays of the Sun of Righteousness only could disperse and scatter How weighty and insupportable that Wrath which nothing could appease but the adequate Condescensions of an Infinite Love Where were all those spotless Beauties of the Upper World Those kind compassionate Spirits who seem to make it a great Part of their Heaven to relieve us here below Where all those bright Squadrons of exalted Seraphims whose Names are renown'd and glorious for their transcendent Love in the Habitations of Men here as well as in the Mansions of Glory Could not these unstain'd pure and undefiled Images of our heavenly Father These faultless innocent and unblameable Beings who continually surround his Throne with Anthems of Praise intercede for and reconcile the offended Deity to Sinful Man No we were such heinous Offenders that nothing less than God himself could satisfie for our Faults These Blessed Spirits could only in strains of Sorrow lament our Fall and with a Pity and Concern commensurate to the passible Nature of such happy Beings expect the Final determination of Infinite Wisdom Goodness and Justice I know many Learned Men both Ancient and Modern are of Opinion That God might have pardon'd the Sins of Mankind without any Satisfaction made to his Justice Solo nutu jussu voluntate merely by the unexceptionable Prerogative of his Soveraign Will and Power and that 't was only to shew his great Concern for the Honour of his Laws and his everlasting Hatred and Detestation of Sin that he humbled his own Son to become a propitiation for it Far be it from me to intrench upon the Divine Omnipotence or impiously to say to his Goodness what himself does to the Sea Hitherto shalt thou come but no farther and here shall thy Operations be staid Yet I think we may venture to affirm that these Excellent Persons seem to be so enamour'd with the Beauty of that lovely Attribute his Mercy that they have hardly vouchsaf'd to cast so much as one glance upon his Justice Mercy I acknowledge is his Favourite his darling Excellence the very Flower and Beauty as I may so say of his Nature in which his Soul takes most Delight and Complacency And this consider'd alone might have remitted the whole Debt without any payment at all or at least have accepted the Satisfaction of an Angel But then I consider on the other hand that Justice is as Essential to him as Mercy and that as the one is infinite so is the other too Now Justice you know demands the whole Debt should be discharg'd and the Sinner not releas'd till he has one way or other paid the uttermost Farthing But which I pray of all the Angels is sufficient for these things or where shall we find amongst those Finite tho' glorious Beings a Saviour able to satisfie Infinite Justice for the Sins of the whole World The Blessed Jesus look'd and saw there was none to help and wonder'd there was no Intercessor therefore his own Arm brought Salvation to him and his Righteousness it sustain'd him What I say none of all Created Beings none of the heavenly Powers those Magisterial and Master-pieces of his Creation could Undertake the Son of God himself humbly descends from his Throne of Glory even down to his Foot-stool to perform and accomplish Welcome then thrice welcome Blessed Jesu into thine own World Welcome to the unhappy Dwellings of forlorn and helpless Man May the sense of thine infinite Love enlarge thy Dominions and cause all People Nations and Languages to rise up and call thee Blessed May all Nations whom thou hast made come and worship thee and glorifie thy Name For thou art Great and dost wonderous things thou art God alone Now then my Brethren let us not so ill requite this stupendous Condescension of the Son of God as to debase him as some impious and ungrateful Wretches do beneath the Condition he humbled himself unto Let us not I say for his infinite Love cast Dirt in his Face or because he vouchsaf'd to assume the Infirmities of Humane Nature despoil him as much as we can of the Glory and Majesty of the Divine Though his Beauty was benighted under a Cloud there was Form and Comeliness enough in him that we should desire him The unconverted * Joseph de Antiq. Jud. l. 18. c. 4. Jew himself will tell us that his Divinity like the Sun shining through a Cloud gave such Illustration and Testimony to all his Actions that 't was hardly lawful to call him a Man And now he has run his Race and finished his Course the Cloud is remov'd and the Mists all scatter'd before the prevailing Sun The Incarnate God shines forth in his full Glory and Triumph yea he is now altogether lovely 'T is the highest Repast of Angels and the peculiar Entertainment of
a word our Duty is no longer clogg'd with a company of useless and troublesome Ceremonies but like the Services of the ancient Patriarchs is more easie and acceptable more plain and simple more humane and natural more becoming the Grandure and Majesty of the Divine Being and more agreeable to the Nature of a spiritual and immortal Soul 'T is only to be happy the most proper and compendious way to love our blessed Maker for himself and our Neighbours for his sake to visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Afflictions and to keep our selves unspotted from the World All which especially if we consider the extraordinary Indulgence of Divine Assistance which we now enjoy render our Salvation Great Wonderful and Glorious And so I come to my Fourth Particular which is to shew the Greatness of our Salvation from the Consideration of those greater Aids of Divine Grace those particular Mercies we now enjoy under the Dispensation of the Gospel whereby we may be freed both from the Guilt and Punishment and also from the Power and Dominion of Sin 4. Now the Law only discovers Sin but affords no degrees of supernatural Power to subdue it but with the Preaching of the Gospel the Holy Ghost was sent down from Heaven who by illuminating preventing and exciting Grace assists Men to perform the Conditions of Salvation and is promis'd in rich and liberal Supplies to all that humbly and ardently pray for him God now pours Water upon him that is thirsty and Floods upon the dry Ground he pours out his Spirit upon our Seed and his Blessing upon our Off-spring whereby they may spring up as among the Grass as Willows by the Water-courses The Law directs to no means for the Expiation of Guilt but peremptorily and dogmatically denounceth Death to all Offenders The Soul that sins shall die But the Gospel delivers us from this terrible Sentence of the Law and allows a Renovation of the Sinner by Repentance to which the plenary Pardon of Sin is assured Wash ye Is 1.16 17 18. make ye clean says God by his Evangelical Prophet put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well and though your Sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be as wool God indeed will not pardon those who flatter themselves in their Sins but they who confess and forsake them shall find Mercy The Law exacts absolute perfect uninterrupted Obedience and for the least Omission or accusing Act past an irrevocable Doom upon the Offender Cursed is the man that continues not in a things written in the Law to do them But the Gospel mitigates and allays this Strictness and Severity calls only for sincere and persevering though imperfect Obedience and propounds such merciful Conditions to the guilty that upon the performance of them they may plead their Pardon seal'd with the Blood of their Redeemer to be sav'd and crown'd in the Day of Judgment And thus whereas the Law worketh nothing but Wrath being as terrible in its Injunctions as 't was at first in its Promulgation the Kingdom of Heaven the Gospel of Peace addresseth it self to us after another manner It speaks to us in a still small Voice the whole Tenour of it you see running in this gentle strain Sin no more Repent and be converted Come to Christ and be refresh'd and find Rest unto your Souls The Grace of God I say which bringeth Salvation doth thus appear teaching us that if the time past of our Lives shall suffice us to have wrought the Will of the Gentiles and we will now in good earnest renounce all our ungodly and worldly Lusts and take care for the time to come faithfully to discharge our Duty to God our Neighbour and Ourselves to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Sin shall not have Dominion over us God having oblig'd himself by express Promise that he will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able but that in all our Temptations he will make a way for us to escape that we may be able to bear them So that though Sin is not entirely destroy'd that being the Privilege of Angels and Souls freed from the Fetters of Mortality yet as St. Paul speaks of its Effect Death it has lost its Sting and is only instrumental to the Advancement of the Glory of God who upon our sincere and hearty Repentance and Reformation of our Lives will pardon all our past Offences though never so many and great in themselves and for those daily Failures those Sins of Infirmity those Lapses of Humane Nature which the Best of Men must more or less be subject to as long as they lie under the Disadvantages of Mortality will put them all upon the Score of the Cross 5. The Greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ appears in that he has deliver'd us from that Ignorance and Darkness which the whole World lay in at his Coming Both Jews and Gentiles I confess had some Notices or Conception◠of a Future State but then they were so miserably intricate and obscure so confus'd and uncertain that they were very little better than none at all Those most Thinking and Learned Pagans the Pythagoreans and Platonists after the most diligent Search and Enquiry into these Matters could never advance beyond a Probability all their fine Harangues and rapturous Discourses upon the Immortality of the Soul being Indications rather of their good Wishes than Demonstrations of its Reality Aristotle not only wavers and fluctuates in his Opinion but also Problematically disputes against it though it must be confess'd that in his Book De Animâ he stiles her without any scruple Eternal and Immortal But the Stoicks are as Dogmatical in this Point as in any other Sometimes indeed they talk like Abstracted Beings or pure Intelligences with the noblest Flights of Rhetorick and Fancy decyphering the Exalted Happiness of the Soul when she is entirely loosned from the Clogs of Matter and freely roves up and down in the pure unmixed Regions of Light and Glory But then as though they had lain all this while in a Trance and had only been entertained with the fantastick illusive Representations of a sportive Imagination they for the most part peremptorily determine That Death is not only the Separation of the Soul from the Body but the utter Dissolution likewise or Dissipation of both there being no more after the Death of a Man than was before his Birth viz. Emptiness Insensibility and Darkness Nay when in their abstracted Humours they vouchsafe to allow her a Subsistence without the Body 't is only till the next Universal Conflagration when she and all Created Beings must End and Die together Nor indeed was the Confession of that great Master of Morality Socrates himself much better for concluding his gallant and most excellent Apology before the Areopagites with some glorious