before his Incarnation he appeared in the Heavens invested with all the Glory and Majesty proper and peculiar to God as Creating the World Upholding and Governing it receiving Worship and Adoration from Angels and the like I might confirm this by several other Texts but I shall only mention two The First is Heb. i. 3. Where it is said that he is the brightness of God's glory the express image of his person and upholdeth all things by the word of his power The other is Iohn 17. 5. Where Jesus Christ maketh mention of a Glory which he had with the Father before the Foundation of the World Now that we may know that he held all this of right and by vertue of his Nature and not otherwise the Apostle adds that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God that is he did not reckon it Usurpation Arrogancy or Presumption to hold an Equality with God and consequently he is truly God For if Jesus Christ was not by Nature God if he was a mere Creature though never so excellent it would be great Robbery and the highest Presumption and Usurpation for him to entertain the least thought of an Equality with God And it would be no less than Blasphemy for St. Paul or any other to talk so of him But seeing not only here but every where throughout the Scripture we find such high Speeches of Christ which exalt him above all Creatures even to an Equality with God therefore it is an evident Demonstration that he is God in the strictest Propriety of Speech For it is contrary to the Scope and Tenour of the Scripture to magnifie Men or Angels or any other Creature above what they are in their own Nature whatever Excellency God hath bestowed upon them The Scriptures teach to set all Creatures even the highest at an infinite Distance from God It representeth as Idolatry the exalting Creatures to a Partnership of the Divinity the conferring on them the Names Titles Attributes and Worship which belong to God It sheweth That God will not give his Glory unto another and is Jealous of others doing it that he cannot endure the Appearance of it Therefore the Doctrine and Purpose of the Scripture is thwarted and contradicted by those Expressions we find concerning Jesus Christ if they be not founded upon his Nature that is if he be not God Consider I pray you that all the Revelations which God hath made were design'd to reclaim the World from Idolatry one great Instance of which was the Deifying of Men. If therefore Jesus be not God if he be only Man as the Socinians hold then there is ground to impeach this last and greatest Revelation as destroying the Design of the former at least of not being so wisely managed as to serve the common end of all For in the other Dispensations the Men whom God used as his Instruments were carefully represented to the People to be Men of like Passions and Infirmities with themselves nay their Sins and Failings are put upon Record that none might be ensnared to conceit them Gods But as to Jesus there are such Representations of him such Speeches concerning him as may perswade and incline both learned and unlearned to think him God and every Scruple removed which may obstruct such a Belief Either therefore the Design of the Gospel is That we should receive him as God and consequently he is such or it doth not sufficiently prevent the falling into this Error if it be one but on the contrary layeth a Snare for it and tempteth to the Belief of it and so doth not suit with its own Design it is not adapted to its own end for it ensnareth to the committing of Idolatry in the Person of Jesus which is very absurd To conclude this Point I would fain know of any who call this Truth in Question what would satisfie them Supposing Jesus is God what Evidence would they have of it What Proofs or Demonstrations Could Reason ask more than plain and simple Assertions the ascribing to him the Name Titles Attributes and Works peculiar to the true God and finally the enjoining all the Worship of the outward and inward Man which is only due to him and therefore let us conclude That Jesus is God blessed for ever Having thus fully evinced the Deity of Jesus I proceed to speak of his Humanity or Incarnation which is declared in the 7th and 8th Verses He whom we have declared to have been in the Form of God and to be equal with God was pleased to become Man not by ceasing to be God but by taking to himself the Nature of Man a Body and a Soul as other Men with the common natural Qualities and Properties of both He did not exchange the Nature of God for that of Man but he assumed to the God-head the humane Nature and became strictly united with it so that in the Person of Jesus Christ there was an Union of two Natures the divine and humane In him dwelt the fullness of the God-head bodily Col. ii 9. The word saith St. Iohn was made flesh and dwelt among us In former times this same Son of God assumed to himself a visible Shape by means of which he appeared to Abraham and the Prophets which he also laid aside again when he left off talking with them But now he has taken the humane Nature to him in Reality and Truth and is become so personally united to it that he is never more to lay it aside but is to abide so for ever and ever This is a stupendous and incomprehensible Mystery but the Truth of it is as evident as Scripture can make it For as St. Paul in this place doth evidently assert the Deity and God-head of Jesus so he sets forth the Reality of his humane Nature He took saith he the form of a servant that is the Nature of Man and all that is essential to it And lest any should imagine a Difference betwixt him and others he adds he was made in the likeness of man and found in fashion as a man that is he was in all things just as other Men except Sin which is an adventitious Quality and not essential to our Natures And because he would be as other Men and demonstrate the Reality of his humane Nature as others therefore he came not to the World by immediate Creation as Adam but derived his Being from others He was conceived in the Womb of a Woman and shut up in that dark and narrow Cell all the time which Nature has prescribed to others He was brought forth after the ordinary manner and treated like the Children of Men swadled in Cloaths laid in a Cradle and put to suckle at the Breast He did not grow up hastily and ripen after an extraordinary manner but arrived at the Stature of a Man after the usual Years of Infancy Childhood and Youth He was not nourished by Miracles nor was his Body exempt from the Frailties and Sufferings
and Body of the same Nature Qualities Properties and Passions with others liable to the same things and standing in need of the same Support And in a word like to others in all things except Sin so that he may be justly and in strict propriety of Speech stiled the man Christ Iesus and well deserves that Epithet which is often given him in Scripture viz. the Son of man As also his Actions and Sufferings are to be considered as the Actions and Sufferings of a Man We must not with the Ancient Hereticks deny the Humanity of Jesus or Fancy that all his Actions and Sufferings were only in appearance and no wise real for he did partake of the Humane Nature as much as any of us and was of the like innocent Passions and Infirmities with our selves But then again least we think meanly of this man Christ Jesus least we reckon no more of him than of other ordinary Men we must remember all his Character and consider that he who was at this time found in the fashion as a Man was formerly in the form of God and thought it not Robbery to be equal with God This Son of Man was also the Son of God the God-head dwelt in him and both the Divine and Humane Nature were personally united in him and that too after such an intimate manner as we see Soul and Body for composing the Person of a Man Therefore as in respect of his God-head he is called the eternal Son of God the only begotten of God the Father over all God blessed for ever And as in respect of his Man-hood or Humane Nature he is called the Son of Man the Son of David the seed of Abraham and the seed of the Woman So because of the intimate Union and Conjunction of these two Natures into the one Person of Jesus Christ he is said to be God manifested in the flesh the word made flesh When the fulness of time was come saith our Apostle God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law Hence also it is that the Attributes and Works peculiar to the one true God are ascribed to Jesus thus he is said to have created the World to uphold all things by the Word of his Power to know the secret Thoughts c. And what was done by him is attributed to God tho' it was only proper to the Humane Nature Thus Act. XX. 28. St. Paul saith God purchased the Church with his own blood Upon this account all the Prophecies which went before pointed at both his Divinity and Humanity As for instance the very first calling him the seed of the woman shews his Humane Nature and his Divinity is declared by the other Clause which saith that he should bruise the serpents head Behold saith Isaiah a virgin shall conceive and bear a son that is a Man but it being added and shall call his name Immanuel which signifies God with us this imports that he was also to be God So his Humane Nature is set forth in these words Unto us a child is born unto us a Son is given But his God-head no less by what follows viz. His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace For this cause also the Divine Oeconomy towards him after his appearance in the World was so ordered as to attest both his Humanity and Divinity He was conceived in the Womb of the Virgin but by the Power of the Holy Ghost that this Holy One which was Born might be called the Son of God After his Birth he was swadled and laid in a Manger to hold forth the quality of a Man but at the same time Angels were sent from Heaven to declare his Birth who sung Divine Hymns for it that thereby might be represented his quality as God In his Baptism like a Man he is dipt into Water by Iohn the Baptist but to bear Witness of his Divinity the Heavens open and a voice crieth This is my beloved Son When he is in the Desart as a Man he suffers Hunger and Thirst but as a God the Angels minister unto him And as his Death shewed him to be Man so the darkening of the Sun the rending of the Veil the trembling of the Earth the opening of the Graves the rising of the Dead and his bestowing Paradise upon the Thief who died with him were Signs that he was God Moreover the Truth of his Divine and Human Nature is declared and set forth by most of his Actions especially his Miracles as the Blessing the five Loaves and two Fishes and by that making them to multiply to the feeding of Five Thousand The bidding the Sick take up his Bed and walk the weeping over Lazarus's Grave and yet raising him after he had been Four Days in it the sleeping in a Tempest and Storm and the making it Calm when he was awakened By these and many other instances it is evident that the Person our Text speaks of Jesus Christ is both God and Man that in him both the God-head and Humane Nature were personally united Which as St. Paul saith is without Controversy a great Mystery 1 Tim. iii. that is a wonderful and an ineffable thing which passeth the understanding of Man either to explain or fully to comprehend We shall never be able to comprehend this fully till we come to the other World where all Mysteries will end in clear Visions and where we shall not see as it were through a Glass darkly as at present But yet if at present we take a view of this Mystery with a reference to the end to which it was adapted we shall discover convincing Instances of the admirable and unsearchable Wisdom of God The Design was to save lost Mankind by the means of a Mediator who was to make an Atonement for their Sins and so to make up the breach betwixt God and Man as that Man might be saved and yet neither the Honour Justice or Authority of God or his Laws impaired so that it might be thought there was any force or necessity upon God to be reconciled to Man as the Kings of the Earth are obliged to make Peace with their Rebellious Subjects It were a little too bold to say that God had no other way to compass the Salvation of Men But sure this way is admirably contrived both for the Glory of God and the good of Mankind Man could not desire or devise a better a more equal a more easie Method and it is every way honourable for God it is made Effectual for Man and not only the Mercy and Goodness of God do hereby abundantly appear but also his Wisdom Power and Justice and all those Attributes which may excite Fear and Reverence or procure Love or oblige to Obedience Who so proper to ransom Mankind as one of the Race who did participate of the Humane Nature and who was descended from the same Parents Who but Man could
are like deep Wells which are also top-full so that the weakest may draw good pleasant and refreshing water out of them Our Religion was design'd for all and it is fitted for all sorts of Men And seeing the Auditories either in City or Country are neither all of the meaner sort nor yet all of the better but mixt with both therefore the Art of preaching is to captivate both to the Obedience of the Faith and who hath this Art is truly Master of his Profession The Subject of most of the following Sermons is peculiarly Christian that is the things treated of in them are only delivered by the Gospel We should study these at all times but rather now considering the Attempts of Atheists Deists and others who endeavour to dwindle away the Christian into Natural Religion by divesting it of its Peculiarities which to them who understand are not only admirable and excellent but also matter of greater Comfort and Satisfaction than what is possible to be drawn from Nature Reason or any thing else As these things are only discovered by the Gospel so they are only discernible by the Light of it Philosophy and humane Reason do but obscure them And certainly neither the Truth of them had been so much questioned nor had there been so many Heretical Notions about them if some arrogant and presumptuous Men both in this and former Ages had not endeavoured to accommodate them to the several Systems of that vain Philosophy which they espoused Philosophy and humane Reason are not proper Standards for divine Wisdom by those we can never know the Perfection of this and yet the Christian Religion does not require us to lay aside our Reason but rather calls us to use it Nor can our Reason be improved by any Study or Speculation so much as by that of the Gospel How I have handled those important Points of Christianity which are the Subject of some of the following Sermons I leave others to judge The required Brevity of a Sermon and the confining my self to the particular Argument of the Text have caused me to give only short hints of that which may satisfie any reasonable Person about these Matters But what is wanting in them shall be made up and more fully extended in the third part of the Enquiry into the Nature Necessity and Evidence of Christian Faith This which I promised before would have been published before this time if some unforeseen Accidents had not hindred it And it must yet be delayed a little longer to give way to another Task which is imposed upon me which is thought fit to have the Preference not because the Subject is better or more important but because it is believed that none has undertaken it He who gave an Advertisement of this is notwithstanding of his Complement more capable of performing it as appears by his accurate and laborious Treatise in which he hath fully discovered the gross Errors and Delusions of the QUAKERS which were hitherto much neglected and little enquired into And that was one Reason why they spread so fast But I hope in God they shall spread no more And that his Labours shall be blessed to be the happy Means both of preventing their further Growth and also of drawing off some of the more honest of that deluded Party And I have good Reason to hope for this because he was engaged into this Affair by a visible Providence The Province given me is somewhat of the same Nature to lay open the Errours and Delusions of another Party but which are a little more subtile and refined and therefore the less discernible By these I mean the Enthusiastical Delusions of Madam Antonia Bourignon and her great Disciple Monsieur Poiret who have not many Admirers and Followers in their own Country but too too many in this Island This contagious Distemper hath seized several Persons especially in Scotland whose Iudgment Learning and Sence one would have thought might have preserved them But alas What are the Wisest and Greatest when left to themselves They are as soon and as easily seduced as others when they do not hold by the certain and stable Rule of Truth the Scriptures but grasp at other things which it does not propose There is so much Disposition at present to the entertaining of Errors both Ancient and Modern that it would seem these Nations are lying under that fatal Doom threatned 2 Thess. ii 11. When temporal Iudgments are ineffectual God inflicteth spiritual and then his Anger is kindled to a high Degree The final Ruine of that People is not far off who are delivered up to Lyes and Delusions therefore all who have any Concernment either for Truth or their Country should contribute their utmost Endeavours to suppress and extirpate those manifold Errors Heresies and Delusions which have been sown amongst them I am not so vain as to think that my Labours may be more effectual than others But seeing I am engaged to give the two Treatises presently mentioned I will do all I can to hasten them if God grant me Health and Life Both which were lately in Danger Nor am I yet well recovered The first Seven of the following Sermons were never printed before The rest were published at Edinburgh some six Years ago I heartily wish that they who are at the Pains to read them may receive some Profit and Advantage by them The CONTENTS SERMON I. MAtth. XI 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Page 1 SERMON II. Matth. XI 28 29. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your Souls p. 27 SERMON III. On Christmas-Day Phil. II. 6 7 8. Who being in the form of God thought it not Robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became Obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross. p. 64 SERMON IV. Phil. II. 8. And being sound in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became Obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross. p. 95 SERMON V. On Good Friday Luke XXIII 27 28 29 30 31. And there followed him a great company of people and of women which also bewailed and lamented him But Iesus turning unto them said Daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and your Children for behold the days are coming in the which they shall say Blessed are the barren and the wombs which never bare and the Paps which never gave suck Then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us for if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in the dry
being heavy laden our Lord pointeth at the present miserable condition of Mankind and designeth to represent not only his own mercifulness in offering them rest so freely but also the great need they stand in of it that they may be the more easily perswaded to accept his offer Rest is very acceptable to them that are weary to them who are lying under any great weight of pressure ease is very comfortable O how desirous then should Men be of ease to their Minds How glad ought they to be of rest to their Souls Seeing they are now by their very Birth put into a state and condition which obligeth them to Labour and be heavy laden that is they are all of them miserable and do either actually groan under their misery or they have abundant reason to do it If any do it not it is not because their state is singular and so much better than others but because their misery has stupified them their Senses are benummed which makes their condition worse and more dangerous because not so easily cured Now because Men use to value things only according to the sence of their own need of them therefore that we may not slight Christ's offer here that we may not contemn his rest but be very desirous of it and be thankful for his Kindness I shall in the next place shew the Misery which as Men we labour under and are laden with and which should make the very News of Rest and Ease most welcom and acceptable First The blessed Jesus addresseth himself to Men and calleth them to him under the title of them that labour because of the Afflictions and Calamities with which they are visited Afflictions and Calamities are call'd Burdens in Scripture and are esteemed such in the Common Judgment of the World The Judgments with which God threatned the Nations are by the Prophets called the burden of those Nations Crosses and Afflictions go under the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 labour 1 Tim. iv 10. and Rev. xiv 13. It is said Blessed are the Dead who die in the Lord for they rest from their labours thereby meaning the Troubles and Difficulties of Life Now as they may be said to labour and be heavy laden who are in a state of Trouble and Affliction so all Men as Men are in such a state none are exempted from it Man saith Eliphaz is born to trouble as the sparks flee upwards And Iob tells us That man who is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble Job v. 7. xiv 1. The truth of this will be attested by every Man's Experience For as an Ancient hath it dicant omnes loquantur cuncti c. Let all appear and speak let every one come and give in his Verdict let old Father Adam rise up with all his Children ask them all and they will declare that in this Life they have not found Joy without Sorrow Peace without Strife Quietness without Fear Health without Infirmity Light without Darkness Laughter without Mourning Some have more than others but none are without some kind and degrees of Troubles neither the highest nor lowest condition of Life can secure one altogether An uninterrupted Comfort and a perfect Satisfaction of all things relating to this Life never any had nor is it to be expected And therefore because all have some burden of external Trouble and Affliction upon them therefore all do labour and may be said to be heavy laden But Secondly Even abstracting from supervenient Troubles and those accidental Crosses Man is truly miserable in this World because he constantly labours under a burden of Emptiness and Vanity Not only the infliction of positive Evils but the abstraction of any real and positive or necessary Good will render one miserable and make his Life wearisome As Diseases and an external weight and pressure upon the Body will cause pain and force groaning so also will the want of Food and necessary Sustenance They who have felt it say that Hunger Thirst and Famine are of all Troubles the most grievous they render the Spirit very impatient and are ill to be endured How restless then must the Soul of Man be in this World how impatient how discontented when it finds it self deprived of the Good it craveth Its desires are never answered its longing is never satisfied nor is its Appetite ever full but is always tormented with Emptiness and Vanity There is no State or Enjoyment or Work which can give true Contentment or solid Satisfaction but after much Travel and frequent Experiments the Soul still returns unsatisfied she only wearies herself with Lyes as the Prophet speaks Something we meet with which amuses and deludes us a while but nothing to satisfie us to the full In our best state and circumstances it is only as when a hungry man dreameth and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his Soul is empty Or as when a thirsty man dreameth and behold he drinketh but he awaketh and behold he is faint and his soul hath appetite What Profit hath a Man of all his Labour which he taketh under the Sun All things are full of labour man cannot utter it The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing Therefore saith the Wise Man I hated life because the work that is wrought under the Sun is grievous unto me for all is vanity and vexation of spirit I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive Yea better is he than both they which hath not yet been who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the Sun He tried all States considered every Condition and tasted every Enjoyment but was never satisfied with any for he found Vanity and Vexation intermingled with all The Book of Ecclesiastes contains his Observation drawn from his manifold Experiences which if we read seriously and take pains to compare what is said there with our own Experience we will soon be perswaded of the truth of all which that Wise Man saith viz. That Man all the days of his Life laboureth under Vanity and vexation of Spirit That our Souls live in a Famine of true Satisfaction and where-ever we turn our selves we find a want of that Good and Solid Contentment which we would be at and which is necessary to keep the Mind and Soul from Languishing The wiser Persons are the more they allow themselves to think the more they are perswaded of this Therefore Wife and thinking Persons usually contemn and undervalue all worldly Pleasures and Enjoyments nor do any set a price upon them or are fully satisfied with them but such as are degenerated into a brutish Nature who do not exercise their Reason nor give themselves to thinking but like the Beasts are at rest when their Bellies are full But to go on A Third Misery and Burden which Men laboured and groaned under was the Fear of
is it to be like Jesus for he is the brightness of the Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person so that to be like him is to be like God By the Imitation of Jesus we recover what our First Parents lost and forfeited to themselves and us even the Image of God Therefore the Imitation of Jesus brings more Honour and Glory than any or all earthly Dignities Likeness to God is the highest degree a Creature is capable of therefore if we understood our selves and our interest we should be more ambitious of this than of all the Titles and Dignities which either Kings or People can bestow If the Imitation of Christ were impossible it would not have been enjoined us but neither is it so difficult as some at first may imagine besides that the Difficulties may be surmounted through the Grace of God the thing will become both easie and pleasant if we will but converse with Christ contemplate and meditate on him frequently They who converse much together we see use to slide insensibly into the Manners Fashion and Behaviour of one another Even so if we take this Method we shall soon find our selves changed into a resemblance with Jesus Christ. But we all saith the Apostle with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. iij. 18. But now as it is our Duty our Honour our Interest to follow Christ and to labour to be like him So it is fit to consider wherein we should follow him Some Imitations are indiscreet unreasonable and so far from obliging that they provoke A King loves to be imitated by his Subjects because it is a Testimony of their Love and Respect and the greatest Honour they can put upon him But he would not have them to imitate the Peculiarities of Royalty and Sovereignty Imitation should not be in things peculiar but in these things which are common which may agree to and suit with both So we must not attempt to follow Christ in what was peculiar to him as the Son of God and the Saviour of the World we must not imitate the Acts of his Almighty Power or what was proper to his Mediatory Office It is no part of our Duty to imitate him in his Miracles in his walking on the Water commanding the Winds and Seas casting out Devils fasting Forty Days and the like What we ought to imitate is the Divine Vertues which shined forth in his holy Life and which appeared in all his Actions Wherefore he saith learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart These Words may also be considered as an Encouragement for coming to Christ taking up his Yoke and learning of him because he is a meek and lowly Person gentle and easy no wise rigid and severe therefore Men may come to him readily and ought to come willingly for they need not fear hard Usage he will not treat them roughly nor impose grievous Tasks upon them He is a kind and loving Master who consults the Good and Ease of his Disciples and who will not exact any Service which is not both reasonable and also for their Interest as is clearly insinuated in the last Words my yoke is easy and my burden is light But seeing Jesus requires us to imitate him and is frequently proposed as an Example to us and seeing in this very place in which he bids us come and learn of him he recommends himself as a meek and lowly Person therefore we ought to consider those Vertues of Humility and Meekness as particularly proposed for our Imitation Jesus Christ had all other Vertues as well as these he was a true Pattern of Love to God of Zeal Submission Obedience and heavenly Mindedness of Charity Mercifulness and good Will towards Men of Chastity Purity Sobriety Patience and Contentment and in a Word of every thing which is Praise worthy in the Sight of God or good Men. By his Life as well as Doctrine we may learn how to behave our selves in all Circumstances and Conditions in Poverty and Affliction under Contempt and Disgrace when we are hated and persecuted And though he possessed not outward Plenty and Grandeur yet several of his Actions shew the true end and use of these and do teach those who possess them to imploy them more for the Glory of God and the Good and Comfort of others than for their own private Satisfaction From his Practice and Example we may learn our Duty to Superiours Inferiours and Equals But tho' he be a Pattern of all Vertue and Goodness yet he instanceth only in Meekness and Humility either because these comprehend all other or are the chief and first to be learned and which if they be learned will draw all other after them All Vertue and Religion either respects Man or God and without Meekness and Humility it is impossible to carry our selves aright towards either of them But he that is truly humble and meek will certainly endeavour to please both Nay the very Exercise of these two comprehends all our Duty to God and Man as we may learn from Micah vi He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but that thou shouldest do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with thy God Meekness cannot be either better or more briefly described than in the Characters of Charity given by St. Paul It suffereth long is kind envieth not vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things For these Characters belong to Charity because it softneth our Natures and rendreth us meek Meekness is a Branch of Charity and naturally flows from it These two are inseparable and we may certainly conclude the one is not where the other is wanting Love smooths our Natures and carries off all Ruggedness of Temper it disposeth us both to please others and also to be well pleased with what they do it maketh the Persons and Actions of others acceptable and even when any thing is amiss in either it excuseth or censureth gently If Christian Love did abound more there would be more of Meekness and good Nature in common Conversation But because that is very much wanting therefore there is so little generous Complaisance to be seen The most are very selfish and have but very little Concernment for others and this is the Cause why they are so surly and morose so peevish and wrathful why their Temper is so stiff and uneasie and their Behaviour so rough and blustering they love themselves too much and others too little and therefore they can hardly condescend to gratify others and are but seldom satisfied with what is done to themselves As Meekness proceeds from Love so from Humility and therefore they are
fitly joined together here a proud Man can never be meek and he who is lowly in Heart cannot be of another Temper So if we would learn Meekness we must study Humility And we may soon be perswaded into this if we but hearken unto Reason for that demonstrates that we have nothing to be proud of because we have no good but what we have received and therefore if we glory we should glory in the Lord. Humility is not to undervalue ones self but not to think above what we ought to think And if the Thoughts of our selves be just not higher than they ought they will not be high nor lofty nor will they shew others at the distance of Contempt and Scorn for we all stand upon the same Level have the same Original Nature Frame Constitution and End And as this makes the Condition of every Man much the same so it does not afford Matter of boasting to any our Extract and Original is from the Dust and to it we must return our Frame and Constitution is frail and easily disordered our Strength and Beauty like the Flower of the Field is withered before Noon We carry our Breath in our Nostrils and it goes out as a Vapour We are Children a Third part of our time and the other Two parts are consumed in Sin and Vanity all our Actions are either grossly Evil or to little Purpose our Righteousness is as the Morning Cloud and as the early Dew that passeth away not being able to endure the Heat of the Sun Men of low Degree are Vanity and Men of high Degree are a lye lay both the one and the other in the Balance and they will be found altogether lighter than Vanity Surely every Man even the best of Men in their best State is nothing but Vanity and Emptiness when set in the Sight of God Sin is indeed Matter of true Humiliation but the deepest and truest Humility arises from the Contemplation of the Infinite Nature and Perfections of God He who proposes himself as a Pattern of Humility and Lowliness here knew no Sin he had all the Weakness of Flesh and Blood he was surrounded with the Infirmities of our Nature but he was altogether free from the Corruption of it and never did any thing amiss and yet he was lowly in Heart because of his intimate Union with God and did bear about with him a full Idea of his glorious Attributes For as the Glory of the Sun extinguishes the Glory of the Stars so all created Excellencies must disappear upon a View of the uncreated Glory of God whose Perfections can never be found out When even the most perfect and upright Iob does see this with his Eye he abhorreth himself and doth repent in Dust and Ashes Iob xlii 5 6. If we have these two Vertues Meekness and Humility we will not murmur at the Commands of Christ as if any of them were grievous then we shall be sensible of the Reasonableness and Equity of them then we shall find his Yoke easy and his Burthen light For besides the new Strength and Vigour that we shall receive from above for the bearing of it we shall then clearly discern that it is most just and reasonable admirably adapted to our Nature and well accommodated to our Interest wisely contrived to give us all Peace and Satisfaction at present and to prepare us for perfect and Eternal Happiness hereafter Now the God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus Christ that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well pleasing in his Sight through Iesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON III. ON Christmass-Day PHIL. II. 6 7 8. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross. THERE are in our holy Religion two Sublime Mysteries which as they can never be fully comprehended so they can never be too much or too frequently thought upon For nothing can make more for the Glory of God nothing can be of more Comfort and Profit to our selves they enlighten the Understanding warm the Heart add vigour to all the rational Faculties and so cherish and strengthen the Spiritual Life that by these means we may become able to walk straight and to run with Patience without fainting the Race that is set before us By these I mean the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God and that of his Passion and Death both which are jointly spoken of in the Text as the Day and the Action we intend to set about call us to consider both the Day being by the Appointment of the Catholick Church the Anniversary of our Lord Jesus his Birth therefore the Incarnation is a proper Subject for it But some of us intending at this time and others against the next day to make that solemn Address to God by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper this also makes it fit to think upon his Death Nor is it Unsuitable to commemorate his Death upon the Festival of his Nativity for the one was the End and Reason of the other His Birth was in order to his Death and if he had not died his Birth could not have profited us This Sacrament is a proper Christmass Feast to feast devoutly by Faith upon the Sacrifice which Christ offered upon the Cross is the best Entertainment we can give unto God or make for our selves This will put more Joy into our Hearts than either Wine or Oil or any of the Delicacies of richest Banquets By this it appears that the Text is suitable but before I enter upon the Explication of it it will be fit to shew you the scope of the Apostle in this place and upon what occasion he utters these words In this place the Apostle sets himself to perswade the Philippians to Humility and a generous Charity or such a mutual concernedness for each other as might make every Man ambitious to serve his Neighbour as himself and even to prefer others to himself This is an excellent temper of Mind and the very height of Vertue but withal the Practice of it is hard and the Attainment very difficult This gives a true resemblance and conformity to the Divine Nature and therefore is not easily arrived at seeing now by the corruption of our Natures we are removed to a great distance from God The things which St. Paul requires here are directly opposite to the Nature of Man in his present Natural or Corrupt state for in this state the Soul of Man hath no generous Expansion or Enlargement towards others but is almost altogether pent up
of God to give us either Comfort or Instruction So this Constancy and generous Publick Concernment of the Women must not pass unobserved For as the Revealing of his Birth to the Wise Men in the East was a Comfort to the Gentile World and a sign that they were to be called to a share of that Salvation which he brought with him So God ordered the Behaviour of these Women for a Comfort to all their Sex God gave them this tender Love to his Son which prompted them to wait upon him even to the last minutes of his Life when he was deserted by all the rest of the World to bewail his Sufferings when Men were mocking and scoffing him and finally to seek him early the Third Day at his Grave that they might do him honour there They were made Compassionate Witnesses of his Death and the first Messengers of his Joyful Resurrection to assure the Faith of Women and to confirm their Hope of Salvation by Christ tho' it was by Woman that Sin entered amongst Men. The Devils who were the Authors of Sin are Reprobated and are never to find Mercy but Women have found Grace in the sight of God And tho' Adam was not deceived but the Woman being deceived was in the transgression notwithstanding she shall be saved by him that was Born and died if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety 1 Tim. ii 14 15. Again This passage informs us of the wise Providence of God who never leaves himself without a Witness amongst Men but always even in the times of greatest Defection either from Truth or Holiness in the midst of the greatest corruption of Doctrine and greatest wickedness of Manners he preserves a Remnant pure from the publick Contagion and also moves some more or less to reprove such General Apostacy from the Principles or the Practice of Religion either directly by open and plain Rebukes or indirectly by their own manifest Stedfastness At this time the Rulers Priests and People were combined in a Conspiracy against the Lord and against his Anointed they were all of them persecuting him to Death as an Enemy to God Church and State and the common Interest of the Nation So bent was the Multitude upon this Wickedness that to shew their Inclinations and to press the Roman Governours to it they gathered themselves together tumultuously and not only officiously consented to his Death but sought it as a favour to themselves and the Nation Such was the Malice and Prejudice against Christ that like a torrent it carried all away with it some few only excepted and they were but very few who kept their Integrity and detested this Villany But the few who did so lurked in private and as they did not concur so neither did they oppose the Multitude nor their wicked Designs But behold while Courage and Integrity failed amongst Men some few Women appear abhorr the Villainy and by publick bewailing and lamenting testifie against it Fear might have detained them if they had considered their own weakness and the madness of the Multitude at this time they might have apprehended that their tears would have provoked the Multitude to trample them under foot but Love knows no Difficulties nor did these Women consider the Difficulties they run by paying their Just respects to their hated and persecuted but very Innocent Lord. And from the Example of those Good Women let us learn how to behave our selves in times of Danger and Difficulty let them teach and encourage us to a stedfastness in the Truth and to a constant adherence to that which is Just and Right tho' all the World about us take a contrary course and that Error and Iniquity have the common Vogue Politicians will tell you that Dum furor est in cursu cedendum est furori that it is Wisdom to yield to the Evils which are not in our power to remedy that it is safer to comply with Peoples inclinations when violent tho' Unjust and Unreasonable than to resist them for by opposing them we provoke their Fury and hazard our own Ruin whereas by complying we leave our selves in a capacity of rectifying things at another occasion And so by these and the like Maxims Men are taught to turn with every Tide to serve different and contrary Interests notwithstanding of particular ties and obligations and to give way to the greatest Injustice for pleasing Men and diverting the Wrath and Fury of a prevailing Party But these Maxims are calculated with a respect to Mens temporal Interest rather than for keeping a good Conscience for they who would do that and please God must resolve never to turn their Back upon that which is right or to consent to that which is Evil. Indeed every one has not a Call to resist a wicked Course or to punish the Authors and Promoters of it nor is it in the power of private or particular Persons to do it but it is in every Man's power to withdraw his consent and refuse his concurrence Tho' we cannot hinder others yet we ought to keep our own hands clean and as Prudence directs us according to the Nature and Importance of the thing we should own that which we are perswaded is right and good which if we cannot favour otherwise we should at least with the Women here bewail and lament the loss and miscarriage and the wickedness of Men which occasions it to be so though by this we incurr a popular Odium and run other Inconveniencies Plutarch tells of a certain Woman that being questioned how she could attempt a thing Prohibited by the Tyrant under whom she lived and which would highly incense him She answered resolutely It pleaseth the Gods with whom I intend to live longer than with the Tyrant If our Design be to live with God for ever if Eternal Life or his Favour be our Expectation we should search out his Good Perfect and Acceptable Will and cleave to that whatever the World think of it And if the fear of Men begin to prevail we should consider how much wiser it is to fear God I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them which kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him Luke xii 4 c. But to return to the Women who are said to bewail and lament Christ as they followed him The words in the Original import the greatest measure of Grief and Sadness and are never used but when the very height of it is expressed the Consternation of Sinners at the Day of Judgment their sad Apprehensions of the Terror of that Day and the Melancholy Effects it worketh in them are set forth by the same words Matth. xxiv and Rev. i. 7. So that it seems the Sorrow of these was not small nor the Expressions of it mean
which touch them but are not so soon sensible of the Cause and Occasion which make them groan longer under the Distemper Ephraim perceived his Sickness Iudah felt his Wound their Senses taught them both these but they had not Understanding enough to discover whence these things came they had no Sense of their Sins and Transgressions and were slow in considering that the Reason they were so pinched and infested was because they sinned and would not frame their Doings to turn unto their God And it is just so with the Generality of the World at this time Men have sense enough to perceive the outward Evils that are upon them but scarce any to discover the Hand which inflicts them or the Cause which procures it Touch a Man in his Body in his Fortune or in any thing dear unto him he will be quickly sensible of it and ready enough to complain But there be few so wise as to acknowledge that the Root of the Matter is in themselves People ordinarily throw all the Blame of their Trouble from off themselves upon other external things he that is sick finds fault with his Diet or his riding and travelling unseasonably and in unwholsome Weather he that is wronged and oppressed chargeth and accuseth such and such Persons as perhaps are the immediate Instruments thereof in times of publick Calamity and Disasters all the Talk is how they began and after what manner they proceeded if the Plague enter a Place the Inhabitants curiously enquire about the first Person who brought it in if Fire take hold of a City the Discourse is about the small Occasion of its beginning and the Unwariness of the Servant who kindled it Statesmen and Politicians resolve Wars civil Broils and Factions Oppressions and other things of the like Nature into Political Causes Philosophical Heads exercise their Wits in finding out natural Reasons of Famine Pestilence immoderate Drought excessive Rains and other such Judgments according to the uncertain Hypothesis of some vain System they have imbib'd And thus Mens Thoughts are carried off from the serious Consideration of the true that is the moral and meritorious Cause of all the Evils that are upon them They reflect not upon their own Sins nor the Sins of the Land they live in They say not with David Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin For mine iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me It 's long before People come to lay to Heart that the Evils which are upon them are because the Lord hath a controversie with the Inhabitants of the land because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land that it is by reason of swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery and other abominations that the land is made to mourn To take only Notice of the immediate Instruments of our Trouble without enquiring into this chief Cause thereof is just but to act like Children and to do what the common Rabble do at publick Executions who only consider how the condemned Person is led to the Scaffold and after what manner the Executioner proceeds to put him to Death never reflecting upon the Sentence of the Judge nor the Transgression of the Law which yet ought chiefly to be considered Hear ye therefore the Rod and him who hath appointed it as ye feel the Evils which are laid upon you so call to mind from whom they come and for what Cause they are sent otherways Ease and Relief is not to be expected It 's necessary in order to the removing of bodily Distempers that there be first a Knowledge of the Nature and Cause of the Disease without this there can be no Cure all Applications are ineffectual even so the first step to remove the Wrath of God and the sad Effects of it is to find out those Sins and Transgressions which have occasioned it till this be done it 's in vain to struggle and to use Endeavours for the saving our selves it is but as the common Proverb is a striving against a stream which is too strong for us And thus I am brought to a third Observation and it is this That when God is visiting with his Iudgments people are seldom so wise as to address themselves first to God but they ordinarily in the first Place have recourse to second Causes and humane Endeavours which tends but to their greater ruine and mischief Ephraim and Iudah here instead of making Application to God sent to the King of Assyria and addressed to King Iareb So when Sickness comes upon Men the Physician is sent for and he is required to use his Skill and to apply his Remedies and with the Woman in the Gospel who had the bloody Issue they seek not out for Christ till they have spent much upon the Physicians to no purpose and that their Art and Skill hath been quite baffled When Men are opprest and born down all their Thoughts are how to get an Interest in some great Personage and ingage him to espouse their Cause and thereby counter-balance the Power of the Person that oppresses them In a word every one considers the nearest and likeliest Method and Means of procuring to themselves Ease and Relief and when they have discovered the same they are wholly bent on it and the Eagerness of Men to be saved by those means which their own Prudence has suggested keeps them from exercising that Trust and Dependance on God which is necessary Men have not Faith enough ordinarily to commit their cause entirely to God and they walk so much by Sight that they can put little Trust where they see no visible Means and because ordinarily God works by rational means and has established in the World a settled Order and a Series of Causes for producing certain Effects they too much imagine that these things work necessarily and that they cannot be disappointed of the Effects while they make use of the Means and Causes which ordinarily produce them Whereas all things depend upon the Blessing of God and only work and take effect as he is pleased to give the Word unto them I do not say that prudent Means and Methods should be neglected or that Men should expect Deliverances miraculously when these other may take Place But that in seeking to save our selves from any Danger or Judgment we ought to apply our selves to God and as we ought never to use any means for our safety but what is lawful so in the Use of the most lawful and most proper means we ought to depend entirely upon God for the Success else we may expect these Means to be blasted or what is worse to turn to our Hurt and greater Damage As we see here befel the Israelites for the King of Assyria whom they sent to
fighting the good fight and endeavouring to do all things commanded us through Christ that strengtheneth us More Reasons might be given but these are sufficient not only to clear the Divine Wisdom and Goodness of all Imputation but also to make them appear eminently in such Dispensations towards his best and most beloved Servants When I first entred on this Discourse I intended to have taken in the two following Verses not thinking that this one would have furnished matter enough for a Discourse but you see how far the handling of it hath carried us and how without digressing from the Purpose of the Text or doing Violence to the Words thereof several material and important Observations have been drawn From which we may see as St. Chrysostom observes the fullness of the Scripture and that an inexhaustible Treasure of Wisdom and Knowledge is contained in it when one single Verse and so barren at the first Appearance can afford so many and so useful Instructions If one Verse can do such what may the whole do Surely It is able to make us wise unto Salvation and beyond all Question is profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works God grant that this Word of his may dwell in all Christians richly in all Wisdom but especially in the Ministers of the Gospel whose Office it is to instruct others therein Amen FINIS Snake in the Grass A General Call to all Persons Joh. 5. 40. Isai. 55. 1. Rev. 22. 17. Why all Men are said to Labour and to be heavy Laden I. Because of Afflictions II. The Emptiness and Vanity of Life Ezek. 24. 〈◊〉 2. Isa. 29. 8. Eccl. 1. 5. 9. 2. 17. 4. 2 3. III. The fear of Death IV. Sin Psal. 38. 2. Prov. 18. 14. How Christ giveth rest I. From Sin Matt. 9. II. From the fear of Death Rev. 3. 7. III. Under the Vanity of this Life IV. From Troubles and Afflictions The necessary Qualification to the rest Promised I. Coming to Christ is 1st To follow his Counsel 2d To believe in him Heb. 11. 6. 2 Cor. 4. 3. Heb. 3. 12. 3d. What Faith is 1 John 5. 9. Chap. 2. 22 23. II. Taking the Yoke Gal. 5. 1. Gal. 5. 13. 1 Pet. 2. 16. III. Learning of Christ. John 13. 15. Phil. 2. I. The Scope and Coherence of the Text. II. The Truths contain'd in the Text. III. The perverse disingenuity of the Socinians in their Explication of this Text. 2 Pet. 2. 1. Hydra Socinianismi Tom. 2. Praef. * Naked Gospel IV. Of Iesus Christ his Pre-existence and Deity V. Of his humane Nature and Humiliation VI. Inferences from the Nature and Quality of Iesus Christ. 1st Admiration 2d Love III. Comfort against Tentations and Afflictions I. Of Iesus Christ his Person Nature and Quality Gal. 4. 4. Isa. 7. 14. 9. 6. II. His Actions and Sufferings They were voluntary Joh. 10. 17 18. What his Humiliation referrs to His great Obedience His Death III. Why Iesus abased and humbled himself For the Glory of God and Man's Redemption To demonstrate God's Love and Mercy His Iustice and Authority The heinous Nature of Sin The Dignity of Humane Nature The Perfection of it The Exaltation of Iesus Christ. Eccles. 7. 2 3 4. I. The Womens Behaviour A Comfort to Women An Example in dangerous times The Greatness of the Womens Sorrow The Cause of it Lam. 1. 12. II. Our Lord's Check to the Womens Sorrow The Prohibition not absolute The glorious Effects of Christ's Death III. Why Iesus Christ requireth us to mourn rather for our selves than him Is. 5. 3 4 5. IV. The dreadful Effects of the death of Iesus Christ upon the Impenitent Iesus may be Crucified again V. The Application I. The Author of our Happiness God Jam. 1. 16 17. God and the Father * Qui 〈◊〉 udam Dei Majestatem extra Christum mente concipiunt Idolum habent Dei loco sicut Iudaei Turcae proinde quisquis verum Deum verè cognoscere cupit hoc patris Christi titulo ipsum vestiat nisi enim quoties mens nostrae Deum quaerit Christus occurrat vaga confusa errabit donec prorsus deficiat Calvinus in locum II. The Motive which induced God His abundant Mercy * Posset Apostolus saith Fulgentius vasa misericordiae potius vasa justitiae nuncupare Sed si vasa justitiae vocarentur forsitan ex seipsis habere justitiam putarent Nunc autem cum vasa misericordiae dicit proculdubio quid ipsi fuerint non tacuit quare quid eis à Deo collatum sit evidenter ostendit Lib. de Praedest p. 58. III. The Benefits conferred Begotten again A lively Hope An Inheritance Incorruptible Undefiled It fadeth not away In the Heavens IV. The ground of Assurance Iesus his Resurrection I. Iesus Christ is the Son of God Philip. 2. 9. 10 11. II. What is meant by Having the Son True Faith described Matth. 7. 22. Cor. 10. 5. Gal. 2. 20. Heb. 11. Rom. 10. 17. 2 Cor. 4. 3. III. Life explained 1 Tim. 4. 8. 1 Cor. 15. 19. Why Heaven and the future State of the righteous is called Life 1. Cor. 15. 31. Mad. Antonia Borignian and some others 1 Cor. 2. 9. Revel 21. 23. 22. 5. Rev. 7. 16. 1 Cor. 15. Philip 3. 21. 1 Cor. 13. 12. Luke 19. 36. Iesus Christ the Discoverer of this Life 2 Tim. 1. 10. John 1. 7. And the Author of it Rev. 3. 7. Rev. 2. 10. IV. Faith gives a right and title to Life Joh. 5. 24. 3. 18. Joh. 6. 56. John 17. V. Practical Inferences 1. 2. Heb. 12. 2. Rom. 8. 18. 3. Rev. 2. 10. 4. I. Misery and Trouble not peculiar to a state of Christianity Job 18. 20. Isai. 57. 20. II. They are Common to the state of Mankind in this World Eccl. 4. 23. III. Christians and Good men more liable to be miserable in this Life than others And the Reason why it is so Mat. 10. 37. Luke 14. 26 27. 2 Tim. 3. 12. 1 Thes. 3. 3. 1 Tim. 4. 8. Psal. 37. 16. IV. The Force of St. Paul's Argument for the Proof of another Life V. Inferences First Second Third 1 Cor. 4. 16. Rev. 7. 16 17. Fourth Joh. 3. 36. I. All Christians are concerned in this Advertisement II. Of Hearing It s Necessity The manner of doing it Whom we should hear III. Of Overcoming Christianity is a Warfare The Nature of the Christian Warfare What Christian Victory is No Victory so honourable Prov. 16. 32. IV. Of the hidden Manna It is an Allusion to the Custom of entertaining Conquerours and to what the Iews fed upon in the Wilderness The Nature and Quality of the Entertainment appointed for Christian Conquerours Joh. 4. 13. Iesus Christ is the hidden Manna V. Of the white Stone Ovid Metam Lib. xv Psal. 32. 1. Rom. 8. 1. VI. Of the New Name VII How these words No man knoweth but he