acknowledgment of that particular Deity to whom they were offered 1. I SAY they were separate from common Use And this is the true Notion of all Relative Holiness It is in Allusion to this that we are exhorted by St. Paul to be separate and not to touch the unclean thing for the Temple of God hath no agreement with Idols Ye are the Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my People Let us call to mind our New and heavenly Relation by the solemnity of our Baptism We are built up a spiritual House an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Let us remember that we are bought with a price we are not our own therefore ought we to glorifie God in our bodies and in our spirits which are Gods The Prophanation of things Holy and dedicated was looked upon as an extraordinary Crime We must not take the Vessels of the Sanctuary and profane them to common Use This is the Argument that St. Paul made use of to the Corinthians against Fornication Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an Harlot And this Reason may be extended without any violence against all sin and impurity we are confederate with Jesus Christ we are listed under his Banners we are separated from the World therefore all compliance with it as far as it is opposed to the Kingdom of Christ is utterly unlawful therefore Love not the World neither the things that are in the World if any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him We are sacred Persons we are dedicated to his service in our Baptism we must not run into the same excess of Riot with others a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People that we should shew forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light 2. SACRIFICES were not only separated from common use but were also the badge and Tessera of the Votaries and the peculiar Worship of that Deity to whom they were offered This made it so highly criminal for the first Christians to be present at the Sacrifices of their Pagan Relations they were frequently invited to these Idolatrous Ceremonies And though they might pretend that they came to gratifie their Friends without any further design of Religion yet their very presence at those Solemnities of the Pagans did confute this Pretext For the Sacrifices were the peculiarties and Bonds that did oblige to the Worship of that Deity to whom they were offered and both among the Jews and the Pagans there was some one Ceremony or other that pointed to that Deity that was worshipped and acknowledged The Sacrifices of the Jewish Religion and religious Ceremonies were most of them diametrically opposite to the customs of the neighbour Nations that they might remain marks of distinction between the Idolatrous Nations and the Jews who worshipped the Creator of Heaven and Earth It is most certain that the Sacrifices in all Religions have this in them that they unite the Votary and the Deity to whom they are offered And therefore the Ancient Church was so severe not only against the Thurificati and such as did sacrifice in the time of Persecution but also against such as were present at these Sacrifices So much we gather from St. Pauls reasonings The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ i. e. Is it not the Characteristick of the Christian Worship Compare this with the 20 th verse following the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to Devils and not to God I would not that ye should have fellowship with Devils Ye cannot be partakers of the Lords Table and of the Table of Devils therefore you ought with all care to flee those Idolatrous meetings NOW when we sacrifice our selves with allusion to this Practice we must remember the peculiar Laws of our Religion the Laws that erect a Wall of Partition between the Christians and the rest of Mankind where then are our peculiar Obligations We are told of them in the fifth of St. Matth. Gospel Those graces of Humility Calmness Goodness and Charity that are levell'd against the prevailing Vices of Mankind This is our Religion in its heighth in its Flower in its mark of Excellency and distinction This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Christianity by which we know our selves to be the Disciples of the Crucified Jesus There was always in all Religions some proportion or analogy between the Sacrifice and the Deity Let our Sacrifices therefore prove that we are the Children of the most High God and his Son Jesus Christ whom to know is life eternal And because we have the best Religion we must do more than others that they seeing our good works may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven 3. THE third Epithet that St. Paul mentions is that the Sacrifice must be Acceptable And this also in allusion to what made the Sacrifices acceptable according to the letter of the Law and to make it acceptable thus it ought 1. to be offered at Gods own Altar at Jerusalem The Solemnities of publick Worship were always ordered by God himself immediately or by them to whom he did intrust by regular conveyance the management of Sacred things LET us not then as the Author to the Hebrews exhorts forsake the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is who forsake the Communion of the Catholick Church and erect Altar against Altar and to justifie their prophane Schism must pretend the very forms of the Church that distinguish us and our Religion from Pagans Infidels and Hereticks Why should I be says the Spouse as one that turneth aside by the Flocks of thy Companions Tell me where thou makest thy flocks to rest at noon There is no shelter against the heat of Gods indignation to be had but in the Society of the Church When we are dazled with Singularities and Novelties and forsake the Communion of the Church we venture without the Line of his Covenant and Promise and 't is needless to aggravate the danger of so doing HOW joyfully does the Psamist tune his Harp when they spake to him of the meetings at Jerusalem I was glad when they said unto me Let us go into the house of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy gates O Jerusalem Let us say with the mournful Captives in Babylon If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mâ—uth if I prefer not Jerusalem to my chiefest joy With what impatience did the Psalmist sigh for the Sanctuary As the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God
should be the instruments of unrighteousness To this purpose the Apostle exhorts Rom. 10 v. 1. I beseech you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service And again 1 Cor. 6. v. 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ How clear and solid is the Consquence v. 20. You are bought with a price wherefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits which are Gods It was on this Consideration again that he exhorts the Thessalonians 1 Epist 4. v. 4. That every one should know how to possess his vessel the Tabernacle where the Soul dwells in sanctification and honour THE Nimbleness and strength of the body is not to be prostituted to Sloath Idleness and Luxury those Vices thwart the design of God cross the purposes of our Creator baffle and affront the kindness of our great Benefactor Therefore we are taught by the curious Fabrick of our Bodies to remember that God takes special notice how we employ them Psal 494.9 Vnderstand O ye brutish among the people and ye fools when will ye be wise he that planted the ear shall he not hear and he that formed the eye shall he not see LET me add to this that God is to be worshipped with the Body as with the Mind For he made both redeemed both and will glorifie both I need not prove this it were a reflection on the Gravity of my Hearers to offer at any proof of that nature But there are amongst us who have banished the Worship of the Body out of our Churches to bow their knees or to stand upright at some of the more solemn pieces of Worship is thought Superstition and they measure the Purity of Religion by its Rusticities and Undecencies and think that they are never got far enough from Rome unless they oppose all the decent Customs of the civilized World As if the Eternal Majesty of Heaven were to be approached contrary to the Custom of all Nations the Devotion of all Churches and the common Sense of all Mankind THE Devotion of such resembles the Superstition of those Pagans that Strabo mentions that offered none of the Flesh of their sacrifices unto their Gods but affirmed that the Gods were contented with the Blood only as if they had no regard to the Externals of their Worship The behaviour of some of us in the time of God's worship would not become us in the presence of our Governours But customary and universal Faults are not so easily reformed and some of them the more they are reproved the more incurable they become Secondly IS the Body so curiously framed Is this brittle and mortal Edifice so artificially reared Are there such prints of the Finger of God on this Tabernacle even whilst we are here then judge what it will be when it is raised from the dust when it shakes of the dishonours of the grave and appears with its Robes of Light when this unwieldy clog of Flesh and Blood is made pure and aerial nimble enough to vie with the swiftest Angels and fly with ease in the regions of Glory when we shall be all Life Light Spirit and Wing fellow sharers of Angelical Pleasure Now the earthly Tabernacle drags and pulls down the Soul to low and despicable Enjoyments then the Body is made strong and refined to comply with the highest Capacities and Inclinations of the Mind WE shall mount aloft from the Earth unto the Air where his imperial Throne is erected We shall shine ass the brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever when we are got loose from the Prisons of the Grave and the Fetters of Corruption knockt off but now in our present state how hard is it for us to raise our thoughts to the Liberties of the Sons of God! WHEN we have our feet upon the top of Mount Zion when we see the Glories and Empires of this little Globe below us and we our selves beyond Danger and Temptation far above its frowns and flatteries How will our Souls be transported to find their Garments lighter and our selves encircled in the arms of Divine Love and instead of this lumpish Clay this load that damps and depresses our Spirits the weight that holds them in fetters and captivity we shall then be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven when mortality shall be swallowed up of life and the shackles of our bondage broken to pieces THE very thoughts of this pure and Angelick state if they dwelt seriously upon our spirits might crack the strings that tie our Souls to our Bodies to think that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is WE cannot express the glory of the Body after the Resurrection better than in the language of the Scriptures There is one glory of the sun another of the moon and another glory of the stars so also is the Resurrection of the dead it is sown in corruption raised in incorruption 't is sown in dishonour raised in glory 't is sown in weakness raised in power 't is sown a natural body raised a spiritual body Thus we are told by the same Apostle to the Philippians that he shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like his glorious body by the power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself With what confidence then may we lay them down in their grave since we are sure to receive them again pure and incorruptible beyond the Weaknesses and Indispositions of their former Captivity The hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice we may triumphantly apply to our selves that place in the book of Job 19.25 I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God Thirdly ARE our Bodies such curious Representations of his Wisdom and Skill then we should treat them honourably and decently after the Soul is departed The first Christians had a great care that the poorest of their number should be handsomly interr'd and many times did they dress the bodies of the meanest Christians with costly Ointments and odoriferous Spices that they might do honour to the human Nature and testifie their hope of the Resurrection that the dear Companions of the Soul might be decently treated and laid in their graves as in their safe repositories until the general summons of the Arch-Angel awakened them WHEN their Enemies observed their great care of the Bodies of the Martyrs to do the Christians despite they burnt the Bodies of their dead and scatter'd their Ashes in the Sea lest the Christians might have the satisfaction of doing the common offices of humanity to their deceas'd Relations Certainly the Bodies of the dead should be preserved from all rude Affronts and
positae quoniam suaves miscetis odores And this is prophesied of the Messias that his Garments should smell of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia And from him the Church hath all those excellent Smells mentioned Verse 14. Saffron Calamus and Cinnamon to teach us that though the Gifts of the Spirit are and have all their several excellencies yet they are all useful to the Church whose garments are made of needle work and different colours and therefore it is an unpardonable vanity in the People to make saucy comparisons between the Gifts of Ecclesiasticks for stabit unus quisque sorte sua and the Philosophy of S. Paul to the Corinthians should teach them more modesty If the foot shall say because I am not the Eye I am not of the Body is it therefore not of the Body If we look up to our Superiours for assistance conduct and direction they must look down to us for obedience deference and submission THE third Thing that I promised was the rise of those Waters they come from Mount Libanus by an impetuous force and vigour Nothing can more lively represent the first rise and beginning of those heavenly Oracles The Gospel is the day star from on high and the Doctrine that our Saviour hath revealed is from Heaven We are told by Historians that at the foot of Mount Libanus there arises a pleasant Fountain aquas habens limpidissimas that run down from it through subterraneous passages most impetuously and there burst forth in great plenty and by several Conduits waters all the Gardens of the Plain And this leads us naturally to the Divinity of our Religion but here I stop being afraid that I have transgress'd already the time that was allowed me To God the Father Son and Holy Ghost be Glory for ever Amen A SERMON ON ROM xii 1. I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your Bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service THE Apostle in the former part of this Epistle asserted the Doctrine of Evangelical Justification against the unbelieving Jews who stuck so tenaciously to the System of Moses's Laws And now he sums up in one pathetic Exhortation the strength and design of the Gospel and of all Religion Christianity was not a Collection of dry and airy Notions calculated to amuse the World but a Discipline the highest and the purest that ever was received amongst men the immediate Revelation of Infinite Wisdom which brought along with it true and everlasting righteousness And therefore they ought not to let their thoughts dwell so much and so long on the glory of their Temple and the variety of their Sacrifices under the Levitical Oeconomy They were now invited to offer unto God more valuable Oblations than any of their former They were to bring themselves to the Altar of God and resign their Will to his Will And this was more agreeable to the nature of true Religion the design of the Gospel and the highest exercise of Reason When we bring unto God only things that are without us we mistake his Nature and despise his Goodness Reason taught us that the best things are to be offered unto God and therefore the Heart and Soul and Mind of Man are the only Sacrifices that are truly valuable And this is the reason why the Apostle addresses to the Christians at Rome with so much zeal and affection I will shortly consider 1. His Preface 2. His Exhortation And 3. The Motive to enforce it And 1. For the Preface By the mercies of God We easily infer from the fervour and solemnity of the Apostles Introduction the weight and importance of his Exhortation i. e. I do beseech you with all the earnest passion and true tenderness that I am capable of I exhort you by the Mercies of God i. e. by what is uppermost in his Nature his boundless Compassions that are in the front of all his glorious Perfections and in the Language of the Psalmist from everlasting to everlasting by all that is great sacred and venerable that which takes up the wonder of Angels the praises of men and the adorations of the Saints in glory that you no longer resist the Light of the Gospel but since you are redeem'd from the pompous drudgery of an external Religion that you would think no Sacrifices worthy of God but such as are attended with your life strength zeal and devotion for this is the true Worship of the New Testament when our Will is united to the Will of God 'T IS easie to observe the holy Violence and Fire of S. Paul's Spirit when he endeavours to plant-true and solid Religion Here he speaks as if his Soul was ready to crack the strings that ty'd it to his Body He is all flame all love all endeavour all charity He wishes himself an Anathema i. e. a publick Sacrifice for the unbelieving Jews if this could recover them from their Infidelity to the acknowledgement of the Truth as it is in Jesus HE made use of this weighty Argument in this place because there is none of greater force If the Angels were to preach to us and gain us to the belief of the Gospel they could not fly higher in their Perswasives than the Mercies of God It is by them that he chuses to proclaim all his Titles of Honour to the World The Lord the Lord God slow to anger and of great goodness So when the Apostle exhorts by the Mercies of God he exhorts by God himself and all those ineffable appearances of his Goodness that are felt by the intelligent World and every moment proclaim'd with wonder and acknowledgement HOW merciful must he be who suffers without present revenge the many horrid Crimes that are daily committed the provocations that fly in the face of Heaven their multitude their variety and their circumstances as if men would pull down the Almighty from his Throne and reverse the foundations of good and evil And yet such is the love of God to mankind that after many unkind denyals and rude affronts he besieges the Consciences of men by the force of his Convictions he makes the Light of his Word to pierce to the bottom of the Soul and powerfully overcome the stubborness of our Will How wisely does he conduct us through the labyrinth of tentations How sweetly does he engage us by the motions of his Spirit How kindly does he receive the Prodigal when as yet he had but some small beginnings of wisdom sobriety and calmness He saw him afar off he ran to him fell upon his neck and kissed him WHEN we remember that the Mercies of God are our surest Refuge and Sanctuary in all our fears straits and difficulties we need say no more to amplifie them This is the strong Hold that we flee to when we are assaulted by fear despair or the terrour of the Law WHEN Nathan the Prophet by a
of true Devotion more than wrong notions of Almighty God The great reason why the Heathens were over-run with Idolatry and Superstition was because the Histories of their Gods were stuff'd with folly and wickedness and they could not pretend to greater heights of Purity than the Deities that they worshipped To adore God is to bestow upon him the highest Love Veneration and esteem of our Souls His Eyes pierce to the secrets that are buried in darkness and to the Centre of our Spirits and if our Sacrifices are sullied and defil'd in their first springs and principles they are an abomination unto him No Worship can be pleasing unto God unless what is offer'd by Love Pray what do we take him to be when we endeavour to put him off with any thing less than the flower and strength of our Reason Thus our Saviour instructs the Woman of Samaria in the Nature of true Worship but the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him How gross must their apprehensions be who think that he is delighted with carnal Oblations for he is a Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth If I were hungry I would not tell thee for the World is mine and the fulness thereof Will I eat the flesh of Bulls or drink the blood of Goats offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows unto the most High THE Philosophers discover'd the reasonableness of this Doctrine without Revelation and the best of them undervalu'd outward services and Sacrifices in comparison of a chast Mind and a pure Soul Do ye think saith Seneca that God is pleas'd with many Sacrifices and much Blood high Temples and magnificent Structures nay rather in suo cuique consecrandus est pectore The breast of a good Man is the most lovely Temple for the Divinity the place of his peculiar residence and Habitation And this is but the language of the Prophet Isay a little varied Thus saith the Lord the Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my footstool where is the house that ye build unto me and where is the place of my rest For all those things hath mine hand made and all those things have been saith the Lord But to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word He that killeth an Ox is as if he slew a man c. The Sacrifices of Gods own institution were not regarded unless they were subservient to this more excellent Oblation THIS Evangelical Sacrifice is the only and most proper mean to attain the true ends of Worship freedom from sin the favour of God and peace of Conscience are the great ends of all Religion and these things are not attain'd by the most pompous shew and parade of Ceremonies unless the Soul and Will be first sacrificed to his Obedience When ye come to appear before me who hath requir'd this at your hand to tread my Courts bring no more vain Oblations Incense is an abomination unto me the new Moons and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquity even the solemn meeting How loathsom in the eyes of God are all our publick services when the Soul is left behind He hath shewed thee O! man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God THIS is the Sacrifice that is peculiar to the New Testament when we approach the Throne of God with filial confidence like Children of the free woman disingaged from the servile incumbrances that held the Jews in bondage When we offer our selves unto God with true alacrity strong desires and a mind purified from the World and feculent adherences that stick to us from the neighbourhood of sensible Objects when we come with that masculine and chearful Devotion that becomes them that are set at liberty from the weak and dark shadows of the Law By St. Peter we are said to be a spiritual Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices And we are told by S. Paul that we have access to the Throne and liberty to cry Abba Father And commanded in our Prayers to lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting This is the Worship of the new Testament the foundation of that ingenuous Converse that is between us and Heaven Therefore do we with so much elevation of spirit magnifie the goodness of God that gave us his Son Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen THIS is true Evangelical Sacrifice and it alone affords the most solid delight and satisfaction to the Votary Outward Services when they are separated from this inward dedication have nothing in them but toil and bodily labour we are told by the Author to the Hebrews that the Jewish Religion did consist in Meats and Drinks and divers Ordinances And we find in the Prophecy of Amos that such of the Jews as did not see further than the letter of the Law thought their attendance on the Temple-service the most intolerable weariness But when we sacrifice our very Souls unto his obedience his Presence fills our hearts with joy and gladness the purest rapture and contentment Thou hast put more gladness in my heart than in the time when their wine and their oil did increase True joy arises in the Soul from an Union with God when the light of his Countenance shines upon us by its clear beams and irradiations the clouds of darkness and disasters cannot approach us we are then secure against fear and despondency we feel our selves encircled in the arms of divine Love and made strong against the assaults of anxiety God is the source of all Felicity and the nearer we draw unto him the more happy we are and rational happiness must be felt and necessarily must dilate it self in all the faculties of the Soul A Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Man is a house built upon the Rock it may be batter'd but it cannot be shaken And God loves to pour into our hearts such degrees of joy when we are purified from all filthiness of the flesh and of the Spirit when we offer our selves without reserve to his service and obedience when we sacrifice our hearts unto God when Charity consumes the Oblation and true zeal inflames the Victim I had rather said the Psalmist be one day in thy Courts than a thousand elsewhere And again O! How love I thy Law it is my meditation night and day They are strangers to true Peace and satisfaction that are unacquainted with the pure and unmixt pleasures of Religion 2. LET us consider the value that God did set upon
circumstances and weaknesses that made his work more difficult 2. THE manner of his address not with the enticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and in power 3. THE true reason of this whole Oeconomy that their faith might stand in the power of God And 1. WE have here his uneasie circumstances and weaknesses that made his work more difficult I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling The weaknesses wherewith the Apostle was emcompassed in preaching of the Gospel were partly his own bodily frailties partly the infirmities that did arise from the many persecutions of his implacable enemies for the Gospels sake The Jews and the Gentiles did daily thirst for his blood and from place to place he was hunted like a Partrige upon the mountains Those frailties whether incident to the peculiar structure of his body or whether left by the stripes and violences frequently offered unto him made his person appear despicable to them that only considered the outward appearance That mighty Soul that had nothing less in his view than the total overthrow of the Devils universal Monarchy this Soul I say dwelt in a ruinous tabernacle This he himself often acknowledged 2. Cor. 10. v. 1. I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ who in presence am base among you And again v. 7. Do you look on things after the outward appearance Consider also the 2. Cor. 4.7 We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us v. 8. We are troubled on every side yet not distress'd we are perplex'd but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroy'd And again Chap. 6. v. 4. In all things approving our selves as the Ministers of God in much patience in afflictions in necessities in distresses in stripes in imprisonments in tumults in labors in watchings in fastings Consider also 2. Cor. 7.5 6. For when we were come into Macedonia our flesh had no rest but we were troubled on every side without were fightings within were fears and it may be the messenger of Satan mentioned 2. Cor. 12.7 was some bodily infirmity NOW considering the natural temper of his body the extraordinary troubles watchings and labours that he endured and the voluntary restraints and chastisements he had used towards himself we may easily understand what a complication and series of difficulties he had to wrestle with Sometimes hardly escaping with his very life Let down in a basket by the wall and to put this account beyond all debate read 2. Cor. 11.23 forward Are they ministers of Christ I speak as a fool I am more in labours more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft v. 24. Of the Jews five times received I fourty stripes save one v. 25. Thrice was I beaten with rods once was I ston'd thrice I suffer'd shipwrack night and day I have been in the deep v. 26. In journeyings often in perils of waters in perils of robbers In weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and thirst in fasting often in cold and nakedness NOW the natural result of this heap of Sufferings and Calamities so thick crowded together were fear and trembling Partly his innocent fear of dangers and persecutions partly his holy care and solicitude for the success and propagation of the Gospel though the false teachers vilified the blessed Apostle because of his Infirmities yet considering the nature of his Office and the design of his Ministry they were an undeniable proof of his authority and mission and consequently of the verity and divinity of Christian Religion FOR allow but the Apostles to be men of common sense and desirous to preserve themselves if they were not sure of the truth of what they delivered how unaccountable were their sufferings and therefore their calamities so much mistaken by other had in them the strongest proof of their sincerity since they were ready to sacrifice all that was dear to human Nature in defence of the Gospel How came they so readily and unanimously to part with all their justest Interests if they had not the highest assurances of their Commission and Authority and of a life after this more pure solid and immoveable than what we here enjoy How came they to be so ready upon all occasions to undergoe all that was most bitter and painful most disgraceful and ignominious and this for no other design than to advance a fable amongst mankind and for no other reward either here or hereafter than stripes tumults persecutions and martyrdoms He that supposes the Apostles to have been endowed with ordinary reason and judgment and yet will believe that they followed cunningly devised fables for no other design than to make themselves miserable to all intents and purposes will yield his assent to something more incredible more monstrously fictitious than the most Romantick Follies of imagination AND if we yet suppose that the Apostles were destitute of the use of their reason and still be able to the wonder and admiration of mankind to contrive the story of the Gospel so orderly and coherent and adapt the most antient Prophecies to its proof and illustration and that to the conviction and astonishment of the learnedest of their opposers He I say that believes all this which Atheists and Anti-scripturists are obliged to do believes something more fabulous more inconsistent than all the Legends of Poets and all the adventures of Knight-errantry The Apostle then is so far from denying his Infirmities that he glories in them as one special proof of his mission and authority highly agreeable to the Christian Religion and the tendency of that Doctrine that recommended Christ Crucified to the world In another manner and by other demonstrations than those demonstrations that the Schools of Philosophy did furnish I have chosen to discourse of the Sufferings and Infirmities of the Apostle under this aspect as they yield a clear proof of Christianity rather than to run out in the commendations of the courage and patience of Primitive Christians and it will appear in its greater lustre if we consider 2. THE manner of his address not in the eloquent and harmonious periods of Rhetorical Discourses but by a more heavenly and victorious demonstration more certain and undeniable than the surest Principles of the Grecian Philosophy not in the enticing words of mans wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power There are who understand by these words the inward and powerful illuminations and presence of the Divine Spirit upon a mans heart in order to his Sanctification I am very far from denying that Illumination to be necessary but that is not meant in this place nor by this phrase For the proof that the Apostle brings here is External and consequently must be referred to that demonstration of the Divine Power that waits upon the Apostles in preaching and asserting the Gospel
as were most unlikely to bring them to pass Must rude and illiterate Mechanicks grapple with the Rabbies and Philosophers of East and West By what Armies by what deep Contrivances must this Design be set on foot How ridiculous is the very thought of it to a man that stands no higher than on the level of Humane Maxims Yet this Divine Fire in their Tongues burnt up and consum'd the Worship of the Devil and silenc'd his most famous Oracles and brought the whole World in a manner under new Laws and as a rapid and violent flame devours combustible matter without mercy without resistance so the Christian Religion pulled down the Rites Customs and Solemnities of Superstition even then when the Learning Zeal and Power of all Mankind were engag'd to support it S. Paul tells us that the foolishness of God is wiser than men i. e. the most unlikely means seconded by his assistance produce the most wonderful and astonishing effects the methods that seem comtemptible to humane eyes overcome the wisest and the most subtile contrivances the meanest and weakest arrow in his quiver the clownish Fishers of Gallilee will baffle and confound all the Sons of Wit and Speculation the most accurate amongst them who had been train'd from their infancy in the Arts of Sophistry and Eloquence stood mute and stupid before those new Philosophers who came to discover unto us life and immortality The Topicks and the Methods of the Athenian Schools were swept down like thin Cobwebs when this true Light appear'd their curious Schemes were all rejected and a higher Doctrine than any that was formerly taught was establish'd upon no lower Principles than the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit the little knacks of the Philosophers that consisted most in the shufflings and turnings of Words and Phrases vanish'd like aery Phantoms when Truth it self in its Meridian Splendor inspir'd those frail men can we attribute this their Victory to any thing short of God himself His word is like a fire and as a hammer that breaketh the rocks in pieces So the Apostles forc'd their way through Rocks and pierc'd to the Center of mens Souls and gain'd to the obedience of Christ those hearts that one would think were altogether inaccessible they pulled down strong holds and lofty imaginations and by their swift and universal success at such a Time and against such Mountains of Opposition they gave the World to understand that their Mission was from above And here are the Trophies and Triumphs of Christianity the wonderful Propagation of our Religion made it evident that this Fire that came down upon the Apostles in Cloven Tongues was not a flitting and vagrant Meteor unfixt and moveable but a solid and durable Light which was to continue in the Church until the consummation of all things 3. HERE we may consider the accomplishment of the Promise contain'd in the fourth Verse They were all filled with the holy Ghost That the Apostles were inspir'd by God is beyond all contradiction and they who impute their Progress in the Conversion of Nations their Languages and Miracles their divine Reasonings and Revelations to any ordinary Cause subvert the Principles upon which our Religion stands All Civiliz'd Nations ancient and modern do acknowledge the possibility of a Divine Revelation nay that it is reasonable for Mankind to expect it in some extraordinary Cases and most people plead it in favours of some one Custom or other received amongst themselves and if all men agree in this that it is reasonable to look for it and that by the strength of Reason we may distinguish a true Revelation from what is counterfeit What should harden men against the Christian Religion for the miraculous Inspiration which the Church commemorates this Day hath stampt upon it all the Characters of Divinity that our Souls can think of even when they examine things most calmly and accurately LET us therefore thank Almighty God that he gave us the highest assurances of our Religion that he made our hope so sixt that it cannot be battered for when we read that the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles in this manner we may conclude infallibly that our Lord is not only risen from the dead but invested also with the highest Power at the right hand of God the Father The Gifts and magnificent Donatives that he scattered amongst his Subjects when he enter'd into the Heavens sufficiently convince us that all power in heaven and in earth is given unto him To his Ascension may be applied that of the Psalmist Thou hast ascended up on high thou hast led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men yea for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them Let us say then as the Psalmist invites I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth O magnifie the Lord with me and let us exalt his Name together This Effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles is so full a proof of his Victory that now we lean on his Promise with the greatest tranquillity and assurance He hath ridden prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness his right hand hath taught him terrible things the enemies of his Kingdom fall before him he hath broken them as with a rod of iron he hath dasht them in pieces like a potters vessel he is established for ever King in Zion The meditation of this fills our hearts with joy and gladness that our Redeemer who is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh hath trodden all our enemies under his feet We have this hope as an anchor of the Soul both sure and steadfast and which entreth unto that within the Veil whither the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedeck NOR are we to think that because now he is encircled with Glory and Majesty that he can be unmindful of us no more than he was when he was compass'd with our Infirmities and as he made good his Promise to the Apostles and sent upon them the Holy Ghost to plead his cause against Infidelity so we may rely on his Word that he will raise us again unto life and immortality tho our dust stould mingle with all the scattered Atoms of the Creation he will change our vile bodies that they may be fashion'd like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself And the same Apostle assures us that if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in us Thus from the fulfilling of what is past we may reason our selves into the belief and certainty of what is to come AND let us thank our heavenly Father that so early strengthen'd the