ever and ever Let it warn us to be perpetually mindful of our Mortality and humbly and diligently to wait all the days of our appointed time till our Change come In a word Let it oblige us to forget those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before to press with all possible Vehemence towards the Mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus 2. You have seen how great and glorious the Rewards that expect us in the other World are that they are both proportion'd to the utmost Capacity of the Soul and also will be enjoy'd to all Eternity Do not you then long for this happy state and sigh and desire ardently with St. Paul to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ * My Father and Mr. John Gregory in his posthumous Discourse of the Morality of the Sabbath pag. 101. Here as says a Blessed Author you have hard Working-days sore Labour and Travel under the Sun The Devil assaults you the World hates you your own evil Hearts many times distress you and crazy Bodies discourage you We are all here clouded with Sin and Misery and ah our Vileness is upon us Let us then bear up our Souls upon the loftiest Wing of Divine Contemplation and follow our Ascending Lord above this Darkness and miserable Habitations into the radiant Mansions of his Fathers House the Kingdom of Glory Let us meditate Day and Night upon that blessed time when we shall have our Feet upon the Top of Mount Sion and rejoyce in the Felicity of his Chosen the unfolded and essential Glories of his Divine Countenance which are too bright for our mortal Faculties and which none can see and live When we shall give Thanks with his Inheritance the blessed Societies of Saints and Angels and everlastingly enjoy the delicious Repasts of Anthems and Allelujahs in short upon the infinite Transports and Ravishments of the Soul in the secure and everlasting Fruition of the Divine Love upon the mutual Endearments and Caresses of Immortal Spirits and upon all those glorious things which are spoken by him who made and fully understands them of the City of God Let us frequently and seriously I say contemplate these things and they will most assuredly so influence our Wills and fan the Flame of our Affections that we shall become perfectly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dead to our selves and to all the luscious Relishes of the sensual Nature continually tending upwards with importunate Reaches towards heavenly Objects Then we shall be sufficiently encourag'd to take up the Cross of Christ and willingly and chearfully undergo all the Afflictions and Tribulations of this Life well knowing that the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compar'd with the Glory that shall be revealed in us this light Affliction which is but for a moment working for us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an infinitely more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory Lastly As our future Happiness proceeds from the Vision of God so you have seen that without Holiness no Man can see him Let this then excite us to form and fashion the Frame of our Minds into a Likeness and Affinity with our Blessed Maker Let it oblige us to prepare our selves for the Intuition of his Beauty to purifie ourselves as he is pure and to purge refine and spiritualize our Nature that we may be qualify'd for the Possession of our proper Centre our home and native Region the Highest Heaven Let it lead our awak'ned Souls to the Divine Goodness and Philanthropy for the Regulation of their disorderly and tumultuous Appetites and induce them humbly and intensly to pray at the Throne of Grace that they may perfect Holiness in the Fear of God For when we thus sincerely desire to shake our selves from the Dust to arise and put on our beautiful Garments and to see the King in his Beauty the Glory of the Lord will be revealed to us and we shall certainly behold the Excellency of our God As the Bridegroom rejoyceth over the Bride solacing himself in the ardent and dear Reciprocations of her Love so will our God rejoyce over us He will be in the midst of us he will save us he will rejoyce over us with Joy He will rest in his Love he will rejoyce over us with Singing He will take away all our Dross and for his Name 's sake purifie and cleanse the Corruptions of our Nature until the Righteousness thereof go forth as Brightness and the Salvation thereof as a Lamp that burneth In a word He will vouchsafe us the most gracious Visitations and Elapses of his Holy Spirit and never leave letting himself down into us till he has quite loosen'd us from Sin and from ourselves and wrought us up into such a blessed Uniformity with the Divine Nature as will make us meet for his amiable Dwellings the City of Righteousness where we shall joyfully mention the loving Kindnesses of the Lord and be for ever delighted with the Abundance of his Glory Which God of his Infinite Mercy grant c. HEBREWS ii 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation IN handling these Words I shall endeavour to shew 1. The Greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ and 2. Our Inexcusableness and the intolerable Aggravations of our Guilt and Punishment if we neglect it That so either common Gratitude in reflecting upon the infinite Condescensions of Divine Love may draw us or at least the Terrors of the Lord may affright us into Obedience For how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation I. I am to shew the greatness of the Salvation wrought for us by Christ And this appears 1. From the Consideration of the Greatness and Majesty of the Person undertaking it Now 't was not any one of the Patriarchs who were burning and shining Lights in their Generations 'T was not Moses nor one of the Prophets by whom in times past he spake unto the Fathers But when the Fulness of the time was come God dealt with us as the Lord of the Vineyard did with his Husbandmen last of all sending even his own Son to be his Ambassadour to Mankind His own Son from whom by the Spirit all those Divine Teachers which from the Beginning of the World to his Birth went before him in the Flesh receiv'd their Power and Commission Of whom Moses and the Prophets were only Types Fore-runners and Shadows Figures Ministers and Substitutes to prepare and enable the World by degrees to receive this great Mystery of Godliness God manifested in the Flesh this last and universal Declaration of Life and Immortality brought to light in his Gospel His own Son who is his only-Begotten Co-essential and Co-eternal with himself the Heir of all things the Lord of Glory the very Brightness of his Fathers Glory the Express Image of his Person full of Grace and Truth His own Son * Col. 1.16 17. by whom were
all things made Visible and Invisible Those most glorious and exalted Sons of the Morning who when the Foundations of the World were laid sang melodiously together and shouted for Joy as well as the Beasts of the Field All Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers in Heaven and Earth as well as the subordinate Classes of inferiour Beings and who still upholds them all by the Word of his Power This is the Person that comes to Save us Even He †Phil. 2.6 7. who subsisted in the Form or Nature of God and therefore thought it no Robbery but his inviolable Right to be Equal with God makes himself of no Reputation but takes upon him the Form or Nature of a Servant and is made in the Likeness of Men. Deus Humanâ visit sab imagine terras God himself I say even the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity and whose Name is Great Wonderful and Holy the Lord Jehovah with whom is Everlasting Strength in very deed bows the Heavens and comes down to dwell among Men. Well then might the officious Host of Heaven the Quires of Angels who long desir'd to see the Mystery of this Day usher in the Birth of this great Prince with Songs and Allelujahs Well might one of them cloath'd with the Brightness and Similitude of a Star call the Levantine Princes the great and Learned Magi as Emblems of his Future Conquests over the Princes and Learned Sages of the Heathen World to do him Obeisance and others wing'd with Joy and Triumph carry these glad Tidings to the humble Shepherds and send them likewise as the First-fruits of his own People to pay their Homage to their Lord. For had the heavenly Host been silent the Lowest Class of Beings the very senseless and inanimate Parts of impatient Nature had questionless found a Voice to have told us That unto us a Son was born unto us a Child was given whose Government is upon his Shoulders and whose Goings forth from Everlasting But now how miserable and wretched was our Captivity which the Arm of Omnipotence only could lead captive How thick and dismal the Darkness we were in which the irresistable Rays of the Sun of Righteousness only could disperse and scatter How weighty and insupportable that Wrath which nothing could appease but the adequate Condescensions of an Infinite Love Where were all those spotless Beauties of the Upper World Those kind compassionate Spirits who seem to make it a great Part of their Heaven to relieve us here below Where all those bright Squadrons of exalted Seraphims whose Names are renown'd and glorious for their transcendent Love in the Habitations of Men here as well as in the Mansions of Glory Could not these unstain'd pure and undefiled Images of our heavenly Father These faultless innocent and unblameable Beings who continually surround his Throne with Anthems of Praise intercede for and reconcile the offended Deity to Sinful Man No we were such heinous Offenders that nothing less than God himself could satisfie for our Faults These Blessed Spirits could only in strains of Sorrow lament our Fall and with a Pity and Concern commensurate to the passible Nature of such happy Beings expect the Final determination of Infinite Wisdom Goodness and Justice I know many Learned Men both Ancient and Modern are of Opinion That God might have pardon'd the Sins of Mankind without any Satisfaction made to his Justice Solo nutu jussu voluntate merely by the unexceptionable Prerogative of his Soveraign Will and Power and that 't was only to shew his great Concern for the Honour of his Laws and his everlasting Hatred and Detestation of Sin that he humbled his own Son to become a propitiation for it Far be it from me to intrench upon the Divine Omnipotence or impiously to say to his Goodness what himself does to the Sea Hitherto shalt thou come but no farther and here shall thy Operations be staid Yet I think we may venture to affirm that these Excellent Persons seem to be so enamour'd with the Beauty of that lovely Attribute his Mercy that they have hardly vouchsaf'd to cast so much as one glance upon his Justice Mercy I acknowledge is his Favourite his darling Excellence the very Flower and Beauty as I may so say of his Nature in which his Soul takes most Delight and Complacency And this consider'd alone might have remitted the whole Debt without any payment at all or at least have accepted the Satisfaction of an Angel But then I consider on the other hand that Justice is as Essential to him as Mercy and that as the one is infinite so is the other too Now Justice you know demands the whole Debt should be discharg'd and the Sinner not releas'd till he has one way or other paid the uttermost Farthing But which I pray of all the Angels is sufficient for these things or where shall we find amongst those Finite tho' glorious Beings a Saviour able to satisfie Infinite Justice for the Sins of the whole World The Blessed Jesus look'd and saw there was none to help and wonder'd there was no Intercessor therefore his own Arm brought Salvation to him and his Righteousness it sustain'd him What I say none of all Created Beings none of the heavenly Powers those Magisterial and Master-pieces of his Creation could Undertake the Son of God himself humbly descends from his Throne of Glory even down to his Foot-stool to perform and accomplish Welcome then thrice welcome Blessed Jesu into thine own World Welcome to the unhappy Dwellings of forlorn and helpless Man May the sense of thine infinite Love enlarge thy Dominions and cause all People Nations and Languages to rise up and call thee Blessed May all Nations whom thou hast made come and worship thee and glorifie thy Name For thou art Great and dost wonderous things thou art God alone Now then my Brethren let us not so ill requite this stupendous Condescension of the Son of God as to debase him as some impious and ungrateful Wretches do beneath the Condition he humbled himself unto Let us not I say for his infinite Love cast Dirt in his Face or because he vouchsaf'd to assume the Infirmities of Humane Nature despoil him as much as we can of the Glory and Majesty of the Divine Though his Beauty was benighted under a Cloud there was Form and Comeliness enough in him that we should desire him The unconverted * Joseph de Antiq. Jud. l. 18. c. 4. Jew himself will tell us that his Divinity like the Sun shining through a Cloud gave such Illustration and Testimony to all his Actions that 't was hardly lawful to call him a Man And now he has run his Race and finished his Course the Cloud is remov'd and the Mists all scatter'd before the prevailing Sun The Incarnate God shines forth in his full Glory and Triumph yea he is now altogether lovely 'T is the highest Repast of Angels and the peculiar Entertainment of
all Duty and Obedience a Charter only of Libertinism and Licentiousness Provided a Man be orthodox in his Notions and sound in his Faith 't is no matter how he lives like an Angel or like a Devil so apt are Men to abjure their Reason in complement to their Senses and rather than forsake their darling Vices to shelter them under the Patronage even of the immaculate Jesus But if we look upon Christianity as our Great Master himself is pleas'd to hold the Perspective as he is all Fair 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 50.2 the Perfection of Beauty and the Holy One of Israel so would his Institution appear to be a most fair and amiable Copy of his Eternal Beauty and Holiness It commands us not to rest in a fruitless barren and dead Faith but to evidence its Life and Reality by our Works That we walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are called turning from these Idols of our own Brains these vain fantastick Ideas of our carnal Imaginations to serve truly and painfully the Living God That we trifle not away our precious hours in Idleness and Impertinence but work out our Salvation with all that Care and Solicitude a matter of such moment requires even with Fear and Trembling It endeavour◠by all the endearing Methods of everlasting Love and Kindness to allure and charm us into the Practice of all Vertues beseeching us even by the Mercies of God all those ineffable Appearances of Goodness which take up the Wonder the Praises and the Adorations of the Sons of God in Glory that we think no Sacrifices worthy of our Maker but such as are offer'd in the purest Fires the most ardent and brightest Flames of Seraphick Love That the Redeem'd of the Lord declare not his Glory in such feeble Sounds and Voices as are the faint Echoes of a distant Valley but that they clap their hands together with Joy and Chearfulness and sing Praises to him lustily and with a good Courage That our Souls with all their Powers and Faculties magnifie and set forth the admirable Greatness of the Lord and our Minds also or Spirits rejoyce with Joy unspeakable in God their Saviour In a word That we do not the Work of the Lord negligently nor be remiss and slothful in the great Business of our Souls but always fervent in Spirit vigorously industrious to improve all those Talents all those golden Opportunities God intrusts us with to our greatest Advantage with our utmost Diligence serving the Lord. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might The Reasonableness of which Exhortation I shall briefly represent to you from these following Considerations I. From the Nature of God II. From the Nature of our own Souls III. From the transcendent and inestimable Value of the Rewards that attend us And IV. From the exceeding Brevity or Shortness of the time we are allow'd to work in 1. From the Nature of God Was God indeed such a one as the Epicureans fansi'd him to be a Being taken up with the Fruition and Contemplation of his own Blessedness and that would never vouchsafe to respect the humble Addresses and Supplications of his most faithful Servants we should have no great reason to wonder at that Coldness and Indifferency that lukewarm and careless Behaviour which appears so visibly in our Religious Performances Nay I could willingly conclude with the Wise * Senec. de Benef. lib. 4. cap. 4. Heathen that nothing but pure Madness could induce Mankind to bestow any Worship at all upon such a Being who as though he was deaf as Baal and helpless as Dagon after all their Wrestlings and Importunities would neither hear them nor help them But alas we have no such Pretence or Subterfuge for our Impiety The God whom we serve is indeed that Blessedness and Eternal Being that rests upon his own Center without the Assistance of any External Object enjoying infinite Delight and Complacency from the solitary Contemplation of his own Essential Perfections He dwells in the high and lofty Place encircled with such transcendent Rays of Light that the brightest Seraphim veil their Faces and at an awful distance adore his inaccessible Glory Yet do Mercy and Goodness so essentially sit enthron'd with his glorious Majesty that even he who thus inhabits Eternity humbleth himself to behold the things that are done both in Heaven and Earth The Lord looketh down from Heaven says the * Psal 33.13 Psalmist and beholds all the Children of Men from the habitation of his Dwelling he considereth all them that dwell upon the Earth And the Philosophick Orator without the help of Revelation Sit persuasum civibus says he and so on i. e. Let all the Citizens assuredly know that God takes particular notice what manner of Persons we are with what Mind and Devotion we perform the Acts of our Religious Worship and that he will deal with every man according to his Works He is not a petty Prince 1 King 20.13 28. as the Syrians profanely imagin'd whose Knowledge and Soveraignty are confin'd only to a particular Province but the Lord most High is terrible he is a great King over all the Earth Not only the shining Inhabitants of the Courts above the innumerable and invincible Legions of Glorious Angels but the inferiour Troops likewise of natural Causes serve under his Banner and duly execute his Commands He maketh the Spirits or Winds his Messengers and the flaming Fires his Agents or Ministers The Clouds at his Command drop Fatness upon the Hills and Mountains and the Valleys likewise by his Blessing stand in their Season so thick with Corn that they laugh and sing Yea the most casual and seemingly fortuitous Actions are order'd by his Wisdom and the Sun sees nothing in all his Course so little and inconsiderable but what falls under his Care and Providence He feeds the young Ravens that call upon him and the Lions roaring after their prey do seek and receive their Meat from God By him do the Rose in Sharon and the Lily of the Valleys on play their fragrant Beauties and the airy Choiristers securely sit upon the Boughs and sing not one of them falling to the ground without our heavenly Father Yea the very Hairs of our Head says our Lord are all numbred In short no Space no Place exludes his Presence He penetrates into the Center of our Spirits enters the secret Chambers the closest Recesses and Retirements of our Hearts yea and discovers all our most secret Thoughts and Imaginations long before we our selves do even before they are He is about our Paths and about our Beds and spies out all our ways Now then considering the Nature of God how ought our Souls think ye to be employ'd in his Worship and Service Is this God whose Majesty fills Heaven and Earth to be approach'd with flat and tepid Devotions Is he fond of trifling impertinent Ceremonies or to be pleas'd with Lip-Devotion and complemental Addresses
greater was his Mercy so unwilling was he that they should perish that he promis'd the interceeding Patriarch that if he cou'd find but ten Righteous Persons amongst them he would save them all But not to multiply Instances which are numberless the liveliest and most breathing Image of the Divine Mercy and Pity the most glorious and ravishing Displays of his unbounded Compassions appears in the wonderful Contrivance of our Restitution the mysterious and Costly Redemption of Lapsed Man This is an Instance of Love so astonishing and unfathomable as will afford new matter through all the Ages of Eternity for the Contemplation and Praises of the Saints and Angels in Heaven Since 't is a Province too great for any Created Being the Son of God himself before whose insupportable Glories the Seraphims veil their faces graciously descends from the Celestial Paradise into the Wilderness of this World to seek his straying Creatures to restore the lost sheep of the House of Israel and with his own Voice to call them back to himself the great Shepherd and Bishop of their Souls He comes in his Father's Name to proclaim Pardon and Forgiveness to all that return to him to demonstrate his infinite Tenderness and Compassion for every Soul of the Sons of Adam that notwithstanding all their Sins he would not have any of them perish not the greatest not the oldest not the most presumptuous of Sinners but that all should come to the Knowledge of the Truth and be sav'd This is his Business This his Errand This the great End and Design of his Coming which having finish'd in all the Parts he undertook and to confirm our Faith seal'd his Letters of Invitation with his own Blood and being now to return to the Father he to the Everlasting Comfort and Joy of Repenting Sinners commands his Apostles to go forth and carry them into all Parts of the World Go * Mark 16.15 says he and Preach the Gospel these glad Tidings of Reconciliation and Peace between God and Man to every Creature And accordingly too St. †2 Cor. 5.19 Paul tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing to them their trespasses and sins The whole Tenour and Design you see of the Evangelical Dispensation is to bring Sinners to their Saviour to call them off from all their vain Confidences to believe and trust only in the Son of God to beseech them to come to Christ that they may be refresh'd and find Rest unto their Souls And so I am brought to the Second Thing observable in the Text viz. the Person to whom the Invitation is made To Me that is to our only Saviour and Redeemer the Lord Christ Jesus 2. We are not then to unfold our Necessities or to present our Supplications and Prayers to Saints or Martyrs to Patriarchs Prophets or Apostles no not to the Blessed Virgin Mother her self The Votaries indeed of this Glorious Saint in the Romish Church are as a Learned * See a Discourse of the due Praise and Honour of the Virgin Mary intituled Speculum Beatae Virginis Author of our own has shewn at large sufficiently extravagant in the Honours they pay to her They exalt her above the Thrones even of Cherubim and Seraphim array her in the brightest Robes of Majesty and Honour and most religiously and devoutly Romance her into a Deity Nay this is not the Practice only of her private Authors but the more Authentick Voice likewise of her publick Offices in which they frequently invoke her by the paramount Titles of Mother of Mercy Mother of Grace Sweet Parent of Mercy Queen of Heaven the Gate of the Great King the only Hope of Sinners and their most gracious Lady Now these I say are Rants and Excesses indeed Excesses which questionless if known would put the Modesty of this Blessed Virgin to a much greater Blush than did the Appearance and Complement of the Angel Gabriel We confess her Privileges and Prerogatives are singularly great He that is Mighty hath magnify'd her and Blessed is her Name We acknowledge her a most happy Instrument of our Good and therefore shall her Memory be always Dear to us Dear and Honour'd throughout all Generations Dear and Reverenc'd but not worshipp'd and ador'd In a word Her according to her own Prediction will we ever call Blessed but only amongst Women To Her will we ascribe Glory Honour and Praise But to her Son alone with the Father and the Holy Spirit Power Might Majesty and Dominion For to speak a little closer to this Point if the Saints in Heaven This Blessed Virgin and the Rest have no constant Knowledge of our Affairs here below then 't is the Inference of every Elementary Logician and the Concession of the greatest Champions of their own Party that 't is altogether in vain and to no purpose to Pray to them Si non cognoscant nostras orationes videtur otiosum supervacaneum ad ipsos orare are * De Relig tom 2. l. 1. c. 10. Suarez his own Words But that the Saints in Heaven this Blessed Virgin and the Rest have no constant Knowledge of our Affairs here below and consequently that 't is altogether in vain and to no purpose to Pray to them is evident from that of the Prophet †Cap. 63. v. 16. Isaiah Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel knows us not For certainly if Abraham and Israel were ignorant and know nothing of the Affairs of that very People which descended from their own Loins then we have all the Reason in the World to conclude that the Saints in Heaven have no constant Knowledge of us and of our Affairs who are perfect Strangers to their Blood and Families Our Adversaries I know will be here ready to Object That Abraham and Israel were rightly said by the Prophet to be ignorant and to know nothing in his Time of the Affairs of Mankind and consequently that then indeed 't was but in vain and to no purpose to pray to them because before the Resurrection of our Lord the Patriarchs were not admitted into Heaven but lay only in Limbo the Retir'd and Secret Caverns of the Earth where they were utterly excluded from the Vision of God and likewise from all Traffick and Commerce with Men. But that now the case is quite alter'd with them that they are all translated from those Regions of Darkness that State of Expectation those Tabernacles of Hope into the inmost Court of Heaven the Kingdom of their Father the Land of Fruition where their Understandings are so widen'd and enlarg'd that they have a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done both in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life so that now they are become the proper Objects of our Devotion being both privy to all our Necessities and also as Fellow-Members of the same Mystical Body most willing and
God And yet how imperfect was the Knowledge how improveable the Understandings even of these Intelligences Notwithstanding this clear Vision of the Divine Essence the Mystery of Man's Redemption was so far hid from their Eyes that before the Manifestation of the Son of God in the Flesh they had only some general dark and obscure Notices of it And tho' now as * Ephes 3.10 St. Paul tells us the manifold Wisdom of God is in a greater measure made known unto them by his Dispensations in the Church yet even now are they so far from being able to comprehend it that †1 Epist 1.12 St. Peter assures us they still desire to look farther into it These things says he the Angels desire to look into In short our Lord has put this case beyond all doubt for speaking of the Day of Judgment Of that Day and Hour ‖ Matth. 24.36 Mat. 13.32 says he knoweth no Man no not the Angels of Heaven nor the Son but my Father only For if the Son of God himself as Man tho' he is to be the Umpire of that Great Day and the Holy Angels who always behold the Face of their Father and who with unspeakable Alacrity and Joy will attend and wait upon him in this his glorious Expedition was once and are still ignorant in this matter then certainly it can be nothing but Folly and Madness to imagine that the Spirits of Just Men and Women which tho' never so perfect as such are as they stand in Relation to their Bodies to whom they have a natural Inclination even in Heaven it self but in a State of Imperfection should so far excel as to have an entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done both in Heaven and Earth Now then from what has been thus discours'd I presume 't is Evident that there is no Foundation in Reason to think that the Saints tho in Heaven have a particular entire and perfect Knowledge of all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently of all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion as our Adversaries pretend but that on the contrary we have all the Reason in the World to conclude that they have no constant Knowledge of any thing here below and consequently that according to the Romish Doctors themselves 't is otiosum Supervacaneum an idle vain and superfluous and according to Truth it self an impious wicked and idolatrous piece of Devotion that is put up to them For tho' we allow that God does sometimes of his especial Grace vouchsafe by an Extraordinary Revelation to acquaint his Saints with something of our Affairs here below like the good Shepherd in the Gospel who when he had found the Sheep he had lost soon inform'd his Neighbours of it and call'd them together to rejoyce with him for it nay farther tho' I cannot think it too much to grant that the Saints in Heaven do not only intercede with God for the Church in general that he would be favourable and gracious unto Sion and vouchsafe to repair the Breaches in the Walls of Jerusalem but also that some of them at some Times on some Occasions which either an immediate Revelation from God himself or perhaps the Relation of a Guardian Angel or possibly a short Errand of their own discovers to them do as * Ep. ad Trall pag. 80. Vsser Edit Ignatius †De Orat. sect 34 Origen ‖ De Mortalit pag. 166. Ed. Oxon. Cyprian and ** Vid. Aug. Confess l. 9. c. 3. Basil Hom. 20. Ambros de obitu Theod. Hieron Ep. 25. others think they do Pray for some of us in particular yet since there is no certainty in this matter no Revelation to inform us when this is done or indeed whether it be so much as done at all we cannot from such pious Conjectures only infer with the Council of Trent that we ought to Pray to them or make them the Mediators between God and our selves especially since besides the Arguments already alledg'd God himself has expressly pronounc'd him Curs'd who thus trusteth in Man and maketh Flesh his Arm and whose Heart departeth from the Lord. All we are to do is to Praise and Magnifie the Name of God for them that he has been pleas'd of his gracious Goodness to deliver their Souls from the Burthen of the Flesh from the Waves and Storms of this tempestuous World and to land them safely on the peaceful Harbour of Eternity That he adorn'd and inrich'd them with his manifold Gifts and Graces whereby they are rendered as burning and shining Light to his Church in succeeding Generations This I say together with a Reverential Respect and study of Imitation is all we have to do upon their Account and This we are sure whatever the Trent Doctors determine was the only Inference the Primitive Church made from these Premises 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Honour says * Vid. tom 5. p. 625. Vid. Eus Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 15. pag. 134 135. Aug. de Civit. Dei l. 8. c. 27. l. 22. c. 10. S. Chrysostom that we are to pay to the Martyrs is to strike the same Lines as those invincible Heroes have done to copy out their Fortitude and Magnanimity and with the like Chearfulness to lay down our Lives for the Lord's sake And so I come to my 3. Particular which is to shew That as this Assertion has no Foundation in Scripture nor Reason so neither has it the least Support from Antiquity Spiritus Defunctorum †De curâ pro mortuis says St. Austin non vident quaecunque eveniunt aut aguntur in istâ vitâ hominum i. e. The Spirits of the Saints departed do not know all things that are Acted upon the Stage of the World And * Ep. 3. de Epitaph Nepot St. Hierom speaking of his deceased Friend Nepotianus is more particular Quicquid dixero says he quia ille non audit mutum videtur quocum loqui non possumus de eo loqui non desinamus Whatsoever I shall say seems dumb and to no purpose because Nepotian does not hear me yet since we can no more speak with him let us be the longer in speaking of him I know the Fathers about the latter End of the Fourth Century in their Funeral and Anniversary Panegyricks of the Saints and Martyrs frequently use very elegant and affectionate Apostrophe's to them as tho' they suppos'd them present But the Popish Abusers of this innocent Custom would do well to consider that they most cautiously usher them in with If 's and And 's as in that †Orat. 1. cont Julian of Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hear O thou Soul of the Renown'd Constantine if thou hast any sence or knowledge of these matters For every School-boy will tell them that this is only a Rhetorical Flourish a pleasing Strain of
into the Kingdom of God Yet he means not by this Assertion utterly to exclude all Rich Men from the Hopes of Heaven but only signifies to us that 't is a very hard and difficult matter for them that trust in Riches saying to Gold Thou art our Hope and to the fine Gold Thou art our Confidence ever to undertake the severer Discipline of the Gospel here and consequently to be made Partakers of his Glory in the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter How hard is it says he to his astonish'd Disciples for them that trust in Riches to enter into the Kingdom of God In like manner say these Learned Men when he positively asserts that all Sins and Blasphemies whatsoever shall be forgiven unto Men but that the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven he means not that 't is absolutely impossible it should ever be forgiven but only that it shall not be forgiven so easily but more hardly and with greater Difficulty than any other Sin or Blasphemy whatsoever Non utiquè quod remitti non possit as the fore-cited Jesuit not that it cannot he forgiven at all but because they who commit it nullam peccati sui excusationem habent are utterly destitute of all Apologies and Excuses and therefore are more unpardonable than other Men. I confess I can determine nothing in this matter whether this Sin be irremissible or not I can only answer with the humble Prophet Lord thou knowest God's gracious dealing indeed with David after his Adultery and Murther with Peter after his Denial of his Master with Paul after his persecuting the Church and with a thousand other Sinners of the same Magnitude obligeth me to believe that there is no Sin or Blasphemy whatsoever which is irremissible in respect of God and that therefore if the Sin against the Holy Ghost be indeed irremissible 't is only because it utterly excludes those who commit it from Repentance But tho I dare not be positive as to the Consequences of this Sin yet what is a greater matter of Comfort to despairing Souls I may venture to affirm that as to the Nature of it 't is such as cannot be committed by any Christian If you ask me what 't is I briefly answer That 't is a Total Apostasie and Final Falling away from Christ and his Gospel I say a Total Apostasie and Final Falling away And yet not every Total Apostasie and Final Falling away neither For 't is possible a poor ignorant Soul may be so decluded as to Apostatize from Christianity to Mahometism or some other Imposture and yet still believe Christ to have been a very good Man But this is such a Total Apostasie such a Final Falling away from Christ and his Gospel as is attended with the greatest Virulency Rancour Spight and Malice against both as can be imagin'd When a Man not only utterly renounceth the known Truth but also doth hate and abhor Christ and his Word doth revile and spit upon him doth with the Scribes and Pharisees crucifie and mock him and is so far from acknowledging him to be the Son of God or indeed so much as a good Man who did all his Miracles by the Power and Assistance of the Holy Spirit that he most maliciously and despitefully after full Conviction of his Conscience to the contrary pronounceth him the greatest of Cheats a most grand Impostor the Eldest Son of the Devil who acted only by Commission from Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils This I take to be plain from our Saviour's own Words when he mention'd this Sin There was brought unto him says the Evangelist one possess'd with a Devil blind and dumb Matt. 12. compar'd with Mark 3. and he heal'd him insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw The People amaz'd at this great Miracle gave Glory to him confessing him to be in very deed the promis'd Messiah the Son of David But the Scribes and Pharisees mov'd with envy tho' they knew the Miracle to be the Effect only of the Spirit of God yet to lessen his Reputation among the People declar'd against their own Consciences that 't was not by any Divine Authority but purely by Vertue of a black Confederacy with the Infernal Powers that he did these things This Fellow say they with unparallell'd Rancour and Disdain doth not cast out Devils but by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils Upon this says our Lord All Sins shall be forgiven unto the Sons of Men and Blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness but is in danger of eternal damnation And then is added the Reason of this Assertion which plainly shews what the Sin against the Holy Ghost is in these words because they said He hath an unclean Spirit Now then My Brother do'st thou believe and confess That our Lord Jesus Christ is in very deed the Eternal Son of the Living God That when he was here upon Earth he acted only by Commission from his Father and that the Mighty Works which did shew forth themselves in him were done by the Vertue and Power of his own most Holy Spirit If thou dost then be of good cheer that hast not yet and as long as thou continuest in this Faith thou canst not commit this Sin against the Holy Ghost Nothing now but thy Impenitence can separate between thee and thy God Thou hast his own word for 't All sins and blaspemies whatsoever shall he forgiven unto the Sons of Men tho' perhaps this Sin against the Holy Ghost which thou hast not committed shall never be forgiven Break off thy sins then by Repentance and they shall all be forgiven thee Depart out of Babylon and come to Christ and thou shalt be refresh'd and find Rest unto thy Soul And so I come to the Last Thing observable in my Text viz. the Benefit of accepting our Lord's Invitation I will give you Rest 4. What joyful Tidings are these What Ease is here to wounded Consciences what Comfort to Despairing Sinners * Cant. 2. v. 11 12. Lo the Winter that dismal time wherein Ignorance Error and Superstition like Floods in the Winter-season overflow'd the earth is past and the Rain those cloudy uncomfortable days wherein we could see and enjoy but little of him is over and gone All the tokens of a new World appear and invite us to come and partake of heavenly joys and pleasures The Flowers appear on the Earth All manner of Blessings spring up in abundance now the Sun of Righteousness is risen upon us The time of the singing of Birds is come and the voice of the Turtle is heard in our land The heavenly Host sing for Joy and excite all Mankind to praise their Saviour with joyful Lips Is then thy Soul full of Sorrow and Heaviness and drooping under the Apprehensions of thine approaching Judgment Does thy Conscience tell thee That Hell is thy Portion and thine Inheritance in the
free Possession of your Estates and the Happiness of being Members of the most uncorrupted Church in the World are things that can in reason pretend to our Gratitude we of all Men in the World are the most indebted O then let us never with the ungrateful Israelites hanker again after these loathsome Flesh-pots nor when we have eaten and drank to the full rise up to play with this Harlot any more She will often no doubt be tempting and ensnaring you and by her Paints and Colours gaudy Shows and Pompous Pageantry endeavour to entice you again into her Embraces But remember 't is only a treacherous Syren's Voice which only therefore courts you that she may make you her Prey She seeks not you but yours and how Zealous soever she may seem for your Welfare the Term of her desire is only her own She knows the Fruitfulness of your Land the Liberality of your Soil and the Pleasantness of your Dwellings She remembers how she once rang'd without Controul over all your pleasant Pastures and chose out the fattest of your Lands for her to sport and play in and therefore since for the foul Apostasie she made from her Primitive Innocence the flaming Sword and the Guardian Spirits debar her from re-entring this Paradise 't is no Wonder if the better to deceive us she transform her self for a time into an Angel of Light But I trust the wakeful eye of Providence will still discover her Treacheries and not suffer us any more to be ensnar'd by her Smiles And then for her Frowns we are sure they cannot hurt us Those Curses she so liberally throws against us will I doubt not take wing and fly back upon her self and all those Bulls and Interdicts Anathema's Curses and Excommunications which yearly in Passion Week the better to prepare her self for the Celebration of the Lords Supper she charitably denounceth against us either prove Bruta fulmina Thunder-claps which indeed make a Noise but want a killing Bolt or by woful Rebounds turn the direful Execution upon her own Head In a word If we take care to walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are call'd and not dishonour Reform'd Religion by the Deformity of our Lives maugre all the Malice of Earth and Hell of Men and Devils we shall undoubtedly be sav'd Damnation will not be inflicted according to mens Passions and Uncharitableness neither will the grim Faces and dreadful Menaces of Romish Emissaries exclude us from the Favour and Blessing of Heaven Tho' they reject us Christ will embrace us Tho' they turn us out of their Synagogues God will receive us under his Wings and provided we forfeit not his Protection by our Misdemeanours the Angel of his Presence will undoubtedly continue to save us till Time it self shall be no more Wherefore that we may not peculiarly incur this Judgment by our Ingratitude but duly express our Joy and Thankfulness to God for the transcendent Mercy of this Day let us 3. Take Care both to continue our selves and also to bequeath to our Posterity a grateful Remembrance of it How near was the Daughter of Zion to be covered with a Cloud and to be trampled under foot by her treacherous Enemies The Net you have heard was cast about her and the Fowlers even hasting to the Slaughter The Train was laid all the Instruments of death prepar'd and there remain'd nothing to make us an Holocaust to the Roman Moloch but just putting the lighted Match to the Powder And yet methinks I hear the Church full of Faith saying Tho' no Danger was ever like to any Danger yet I charge You O ye Daughters of Jerusalem by the Roes and by the Hinds of the Field that ye stir not up nor awake my Love 'till he please For how forlorn and destitute soever I may seem to some yet I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine tho' therefore he tarries he will not be long but will in due time look forth as the Morning fair as the Moon clear as the Sun and terrible as an Army with Banners And indeed her Beloved came when she expected him not He was found of her when she sought not after him He awaked as one out of Sleep and look'd and saw there was none to help and wondred that there was none to uphold Therefore his own Arm brought Salvation to her and his infinite Goodness alone upheld her May then that God who has thus wonderfully wrought for us in snatching us from the Mouth of the Lion and the Paw of the Bear be ever blessed and the Remembrance of this unspeakable Mercy never defac'd so long as the Sun and Moon shall endure May those glorious Spirits which before pity'd our Danger and now rejoyce at our Deliverance never be frustrated in their Expectations but see all our Members and Faculties our Lips and Lives Hearts and Voices harmoniously singing the Triumphs of the Lord and in the continual Order Concord and Congruity declaring the infinite Goodness of our God that so our Candlestick may never be remov'd for our Ingratitude but tho' Darkness cover the Earth and gross Darkness the People This Church may still be a Crown of Glory in the Hand of the Lord and a Royal Diadem in the Hand of her God that the Gentiles may admire her Beauty and the Sons also of them that afflicted her come bending unto her and all they that despis'd her bow themselves down at the Soles of her Feet and all the Nations round about call her the City of the Lord the Zion of the Holy one of Israel Lastly May she be covered with the Robes of Righteousness and continually cloath'd with the Garments of Salvation 'till the Great Year of Jubilee the time of her final Redemption shall come when God shall put an End to all Prejudices and Animosities all Struglings and contentions and all the Elect with Crowns on their Heads and Palms in their hands shall make one perfect Harmony in singing the eternal Praise of God and of the Lamb. Which blessed time God in his Mercy hasten through Jesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit Three Persons and One God be ascrib'd as is most due all Honour Glory Power Might Majesty Dominion and Thanksgiving from this time forth and for evermore Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for RICHARD SARE AND JOSEPH HINDMARSH FAbles of Esop and other Eminent Mythologists with Morals and Reflections Folio The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Octavo Seneca's Morals Octavo Erasmus's Colloquies Octavo Tully's Offices Twelves Bona's Guide to Eternity Twelves All six by Sir Roger L'Estrange The Genuine Epistles of St. Barnabas St. Ignatius St. Clement St. Polycarp The Shepherd of Hermas and the Martyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp Translated and Published with a large Preliminary Discourse by W. Wake D. D. Octavo A Practical Discourse concerning Swearing by Dr. Wake Octavo Compleat Sets consisting of Eight Volumes of Letters writ by a Turkish Spy who lived forty five years undiscovered at Paris giving an Impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most remarkable Transactions of Europe during the said time Twelves Humane Prudence or the Art by which a Man may raise himself and Fortune to Grandeur the sixth Edition Twelves Moral Maxims and Reflections in four Parts written in French by the Duke of Rochefoucault now made English Twelves Epictetus's Morals with Simplicius's Comment made English from the Greek by George Stanhop late Fellow of King's College Cambridge Octavo The Parson's Councellor or the Law of Tythes by Sir Simon Degge Octavo Of the Art both of Writing and Judging of History with Reflections upon Ancient as well as Modern Historians by the Learned and Ingenious Father Le Moyne Twelves An Essay on Reason by Sir George Mackenzie Twelves The Unlawfulness of Bonds of Resignation Octavo The Doctrine of a God and Providence vindicated and asserted by Tho. Gregory late of Wadham College Oxford and now Lecturer near Fulham Octavo Some Discourses on several Divine Subjects by the same Author Octavo Death made Comfortable or the Way to Die well by John Kettlewell a Presbyter of the Church of England Twelves Dr. Gregory's Divine Antidote against the Socinians Octavo Dr. Wake 's Thanksgiving Sermon Dr. Gregory's Thanksgiving Sermon
to the Abominations of their Neighbours or sacrilegiously dividing between Him and Them between the Lame and the Blind and the Almighty God The Temple of the Lord shall not be shut up nor broken down if the Houses of Idols may also stand open and be frequented nor the Priests of the Living God be molested in their Office provided the same Liberty be allow'd to the Worshippers of Daemons In a word They 'll be contented to Worship sometimes before the Ark of the Lord if at others they may as religiously bow themselves in the House of Rimmon and devoutly sing Praises to the God of Heaven may they joyn likewise in the Adorations and Services of Baal This lukewarm indifferent trimming Behaviour this desultory faithless ungodly Temper being justly reprov'd and condemn'd by the Prophets was so far from returning to a due stability in the ways of Godliness that it ran out into the violent outrageous Extreams of Bigotry and Superstition not contenting it self any longer with the Schismatical Erection of Altars against Altars but under the specious Colours of ancient Sophistry the plausible Pretences of a more excellent way of Worship proceeding even to throw down all the Altars of God in the Land to revile persecute and slaughter his Servants and to advance and cherish the Authors of Schism the Incendiaries of Church and State and the Patriots of their Irreligion the Prophets of Baal only As tho' to serve God in his own way was an unreasonable Imposition upon the Liberty of Conscience and the Patriarchs and Prophets were all Idiots and Mad-men because they and their Families would serve the Lord. This revolting light unstable People the Prophet Elijah I say expostulates with in the Text plainly affirming that 't is altogether inconsistent with the Nature of true Piety to halt between two Opinions or as Grotius explains it to alternate and vary in the Objects of their Devotion sometimes Worshipping God and sometimes Baal it being their indispensible Duty once for all to satisfie themselves throughly which of these two is God and then for ever to renounce the one and to fix and centre in the Service of the other How long says he halt ye between two Opinions If the Lord be God follow him But if Baal then follow him How seasonably we may with this Expostulation in our Mouth address our selves to the Present Age I need not inform you Every Man that looks carefully about him and seriously considers the present Posture of Affairs sees 't is absolutely necessary The Life and Spirit of Religion seem to be banish'd out of our Streets and nothing but Scepticism and Incredulity Superstition and Profaneness Hypocrisie and Dissimulation to dwell in our Land To promote their own Ends or the Interest of a Party Men profess themselves Sons of the Establish'd Church frequent her Assemblies conform to her Injunctions and appear zealous and devout in her holy Offices But all this while they do but flatter her with their Mouth and dissemble with her in their Tongue for their Heart is so far from being whole with her that they detest her Constitution repine at her Establishment and constantly strike in with her deadly Enemies endeavouring by all means possible to supplant and overthrow her They talk perpetually of the Loveliness of Friendship and wish that our Jerusalem might at length be at Peace and Unity within her self and yet at the same time they think it no Sin to frequent unlawful Assemblies tho' they thereby widen her Breaches strengthen the Hands of her Enemies confirm their Prejudices and become the Abetters and Promoters of an execrable Schism In a word They are exactly of the same Temper and Complexion with the upbraided People in the Text standing ready as the Tide of their Interest turns to revolt from God to his Rival from Truth to Falshood from Union to Schism from the Church to a Conventicle Now this indifferent Temper they ordinarily stile Moderation which is a Vertue truly excellent and laudable in it self but the least understood by these Men of any in the Circle That only obliges Men to manage their Disputes and to assert their Principles of whose Truth they are fully perswaded with Temper but This allows them to have no Principles at all or at least to act as if they had none and consequently is so far from answering its Character that 't is a very indecent and unreasonable thing odious and abominable in the Sight of God and Good Men most impious in its Nature and pernicious in its Consequences Which will evidently appear from these three Considerations I. That it plainly demonstrates that Men are acted by no fix'd and steddy Principles but are of vagrant and loose Minds unresolv'd in their Judgments unsetled in the Faith and in truth of very little or no Religion at all II. That it exposeth every particular Person to all the various and phantastick Spirits of Error and Delusion And III. The whole Community to Ruin and Destruction 1. This indifferent Temper is both impious in its Nature and also pernicious in its Consequences because it plainly demonstrates that Men are acted by no fix'd and steddy Principles but are of vagrant and loose Minds unresolv'd in their Judgments unsetled in the Faith and in truth of very little or no Religion at all Origen tells Celsus that such is the Nature and Excellency of Christianity that it utterly stript and devested Mankind of all their hereditary and most prevailing Immoralities the Scythian thereby becoming mild and courteous the Persian chast and continent the Roman humble and condescending and the Greek veracious and modest But had the Greek together with the Profession of Christianity still retain'd his Vanity and Falsness the Roman his Pride and Haughtiness the Persian his Softness and Incontinence and the Scythian his Fierceness and Inhumanity Had I say these Nations thus divided between the Christian Vertues and their Pagan Vices Christ and their Idols God and their Lusts the Father had never glory'd in their Accession to the Church but most deservedly excluded them from the Denomination of true Believers For how can he sincerely Believe God to be the Best of Beings who will not Love and Serve him with his whole Heart or Christ to be his only Saviour who shares his Affections between Him and Belial How can he believe Christianity to be a truly divine and heavenly Instituti-who affects it with Lukewarmness Indifferency or Moderation or how can he contend earnestly for the Faith once deliver'd to the Saints who still fluctuates and wavers between two Opinions The Indifferency of his Temper abundantly betrays the Incredulity of his Heart and having no settled Principles he is in danger like a Ship without Ballast to be over-set with every Wind of Delusion and Imposture The Second Thing to be considered 2. This indifferent Temper is both impious in its Nature and also pernicious in its Consequences because it exposeth every particular Person to all the
Morning and travel over all the Nations of the Earth we should find but very few among the Reputed Sages of the Heathen World who did not acknowledge and maintain this great Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says * Lib. de Isâ—d Osir p. 369. Plutarch It is the Opinion of the most and wisest of them And just before more at large 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Tradition says he is very ancient deduc'd from the Eldest Theologists and Legislators to the Poets and Philosophers whose first Author cannot be found and yet hath gain'd firm and unshaken Belief not only in ordinary Discourses and Reports but hath likewise diffus'd it self into the Mysteries and Sacrifices both of Greeks and Barbarians The Truth of which Assertion we find amply confirm'd by the concurrent Testimony of Diogenes Laertius †Prooem ad vit Philosoph who tells of the Persian Magi that they acknowledg'd two distinct Principles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Good and a Bad Daemon and for the Confirmation of what he says quotes Eudoxus Hermippus Aristotle and Theopompus And the Egyptian Typho is in every ones mouth to whom they ascrib'd all that was evil as they did whatever was good to Isis and Osiris Neither did this Opinion confine it self within the narrower Limits of Egypt and Persia but like Nebuchadnezzar's Tree planted and rooted in the midst of the Earth it grew and was strong and the Boughs thereof reach'd unto Heaven and the Branches thereof to the end of all the Earth The Romans did not shake off its Leaves or cut off its Branches and the Graecians delighted themselves under the Shadow of it the latter as * Lib. de Isid Osirid p. 370. Plutarch witnesseth attributing what was good to Jupiter Olympius what was evil to Hades the former saith †Noct. Attic. l. 5. c. 12. A. Gellius sacrificing to Dijovis that he might do them good and appeasing his Anti-God Vejovis as he might do them no harm It must indeed be confess'd That this Opinion as 't is vulgarly understood how ancient and universal soever is diametrically opposite both to Scripture and Reason it setting up two contrary Principles equally invested with infinite Power and so by necessary Consequence destroying them both with many other Absurdities and Contradictions which this is not a proper time to enumerate Yet this doth not diminish one Ray from the Illustration it gives to my present purpose since it clearly and evidently demonstrates that the Heathen World did concur in the Testimony of a wicked Daemon which as Porphyry relates in the Close of his Letter to Anebo was vulgarly known by the name of the Deceiver But if we advance from the Ancient to the more Modern Philosophers we shall find that like the Sun the higher this Doctrine of Evil Spirits ascended the fairer and clearer it gradually shew'd it self and that breaking in some measure through those thick Mists of Error which had grievously over-run it since its first Rising it at length diffus'd again a true and genuine Light over the Minds of Men notwithstanding those little Spots which still appear'd in its Face PluPlutarch indeed seems not over-willing to embrace it yet he doubts he can give no good Account of those Phantasms or Apparitions which haunted the Excellent and Philosophical Dion and Brutus unless he receives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as * Prooem ad Vit. Dion he calls it that very ancient Tradition that there are certain impious and fascinating Daemons which envy good Men and withstand their Enterprises by creating Fears and Troubles to them that so they may hinder them in their pursuit of Vertue lest by continuing stedfast and unblameable in Good they should after Death be made Partakers of greater Felicity than they enjoy Not unlike to this is the Description which Jamblichus gives of them †De Myst Egypt sect 2. cap. 6. sect 4. cap. 13. Edit Oxon. who critically decyphering the different Apparitions of the Gods Archangels Angels and Daemons expresly asserts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the good Daemons do not administer to Mens Lusts or prompt them to any Impiety but that they are Evil Daemons who inflict Diseases upon their Bodies and enslave their Souls to Sensual Appetites 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and depress and clip the Wings of them who generously aspire to the bright-shining Regions of Immortality These he ‖ Sect. 4. cap. 7. elsewhere extravagantly calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Daemons essentially wicked who yet take upon them to be good and of a truly Divine Nature and do therefore command their Worshippers to be just and holy whilst in truth they have no care of Holiness and Vertue but do studiously contrive the Ruin of Mankind And in many other places of that admirable Book De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum he excellently describes the malignant Temper of these Evil Spirits so that tho' in the main he closely adheres to the Egyptian Theology yet here he exactly treads in the Steps of his Master Porphyry * Epist ad Anabon de Abstin l. 2. p. 199. who tells us That there are a sort of Spirits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a deceitful Nature who turn themselves into all Forms and Shapes the very Description that is given of them in Sacred Writ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and taking upon themselves the Persons of good Daemons craftily insinuate into their unwary Worshippers that they are the Causes of all Good as well as of Evil whereas indeed they assist Men in nothing that is really Good but do only cheat delude and impose upon them whilst they feast their Nostrils with the Fumes of the Altar and make it their business to throw Rubbs in their ways who walk in the Paths of Vertue Proclus delivers the very same Doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some I know would have these Earthly Daemons to be only good Spirits of an inferiour Order who constantly attended the Superiour Deities but if we consider that they took upon them these false Titles and personated their Superiours only that they might the better delude their Worshippers we must needs confess them to be of the other sort especially since the Philosopher * In A'cibiadem elsewhere fully explains himself and in a whole Chapter abundantly lays open the Malignity of these Spirits almost in the same Words as those Christian Writers †Apol. c. 22. Tertullian ‖ In Octavio Minut. Felix and ** De Idolorum Vanitate St. Cyprian have done In short ††De Abst l. 2. apud Iambl de Myst Egypt sect 1. c. 18. Porphyry distinguisheth the Daemons which the Graecians worshipped into Good and Bad the Former they call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And as though he had a mind to subvert the very Foundations of Ethnick Theology he no less dogmatically than truly asserts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
Certainly no. The Lame and the Blind says the Prophet such impotent Mal. 1.8 imperfect Services if offer'd to an Earthly Governour would most assuredly be rejected much less then can they be grateful â—o him who is the Fountain of all Dominion and Soveraignty the Lord of Lords and King of Kings who reigns to all the Ends of the Earth The matchless Excellency of his Nature as many Learned Pagans have observ'd calls for our best and noblest Performances neither will he accept of any thing less than the Cream the Flower and Strength of our Reason We must nor pretend to honour him with our Lips when our Hearts are far from him but always approach him with the deepest Awe Reverence and Admiration love and desire him as an exact and learned †Mr. Norris in his Reas and Rel. pag. 39. Author speaks with the full Bent and Spring of our Souls and fix and concenter upon him all our Passions and Affections The Armies of Heaven the glorious Troops of Angels serve him thus Their Wings know no weariness from continual Flying their Voices are never hoarse through loud and constant Allelujahs but with unconceivable Alacrity and Joy they sing and fly and do his Will to all Eternity 'T is true our present Incumbrances are many our Wings are clipp'd and we cannot run so nimbly as these bright Favourites of Heaven yet such is the Nature of our Souls that even in this unhappy state of Degeneracy they may arrive to many degrees of their Bâ—…ness and Alacrity 'T is impossible 〈◊〉 we should love and praise our Maker 〈◊〉 these Spirits do who with open Face behold his unfolded and essential Gloâ—… yet may our Spirits if they are not wanâ—ing to themselves regain in a great measure their heavenly Nature and Activity They need not be so oppress'd with the weight of the Body not so confin'd to these Walls of Clay but that they may frequently â—o abroad recover upon the Wing mount into a purer Air far above the â—ttractions and Enchantments of Sense and converse freely with God And so I come to my Second Consideration which is to represent to you the Reasonableness of the Exhortation contain'd in the Text from the Nature of our own Souls 2. Sad indeed and deplorable are the Decays of our Primitive Beauty and lamentable the Ruins of our Original Frame God made Man upright his whole Constitution was beautiful and harmonious and his Soul drawn as it were by the central Force of her native Seat mov'd naturally towards Heaven But if we view him in his present Condition Quantum mutatus ab illo est how is this glorious Creature changed Clouds and Darkness if I may so speak are continually round about him Confusion and Disorder are the Habitation of his Seat His Understanding is dark and cloudy his Will crooked and perverse and he is become a strange Contradiction to himself being not able to do the things that he would Wars and Tumults intestine Broils and Commotions ruffle and discompose him and there is a Law in his Members impetuously fighting against and frequently bringing into Captivity the Law of the Mind But though the Soul is thus shamefully fallen from her Primitive State of Excellency and Perfection yet how glorious is she still in comparison of all the Creatures that are round about her The glimmering Remains of her original Beauty the very Twilight of her native Lustre and Brightness appears so wonderful and dazling that she is still but a few degrees below the Angels of God How swift are her Motions how nimble her Thoughts how brisk and active her Operations and Reflections The swiftest Morning-Ray passeth not so soon from East to West as she flies through all the Airy Regions into the highest Heavens and thence again descends through all the Ethereal Plains to contemplate in their various Mansions the Workmanship of her Maker How exalted are her Aspirations how boundless her Desires how vastly large and comprehensive her Capacities She weighs all the Excellencies of Nature in a Balance and finds them wanting her Appetites and Inclinations being no more to be satisfied with any Created Good than an hungry Stomach with wise Sayings or excellent Diagrams But now has God enrich'd our Minds with these noble Powers to prosecute the Delights or Interests of this World and to bestow some fashionable and perfunctory Attendance only on his Service and Obedience No these vast capacious Spirits that can take in and lodge so many Truths together without Confusion or Disorder that are so restless and indefatigable in their Search after Happiness and can no where acquiesce or terminate their Desires upon any Created Good are design'd for the highest and most exalted Entertainments Not for these disproportionate Objects of Sense the faeculent Pleasures of the Body which the contracted Faculties of Brutes are able even in their utmost Intention to comprehend but for Joys truly Angelical and Divine for Communion and Fellowship with God himself by Prayers and Praises here and for the most intimate Fruition of his Beatifick and Essential Glories in Heaven hereafter How unworthily then do we behave our selves towards them when we decoy them down into earthly Enjoyments How do we cramp and streighten their Faculties contract and lessen their aspiring Strength and Vivacity Their natural Motion you see is towards Heaven and they grasp at nothing less than Glory and Honour and Immortality Let us not then confine them to the Earth when they are ready to take Wing and fly towards Heaven Let us not enslave them to poor and beggarly Objects when their Capacities dispose them for the Fruition of the Best Being the Life of Angels When through the Assistances of Religion they are advanc'd to their true Elevation they 'll immediately ascend above the Magnetism of secular Entertainments They will then be possest with such lively and ravishing Apprehensions of the Divine Beauty as will oblige them for his sake utterly to discard and renounce all their other Loves Though there be threescore Queens and fourscore Concubines and Virgins without number yet their Love their Undefil'd will be but one In a word They 'll collect and concenter all the scatter'd Rays of their Affections into this one Point delight and solace themselves only in the Lord their God and sing and give Praise to him with Fervour and Alacrity as the Angels do who joyfully wait his Call and stand with Wings stretch'd out ready to fly when he commands 3. I am to represent to you the Reasonableness of the Exhortation contain'd in the Text from the Consideration of the transcendent and inestimable Value of the Rewards that attend us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are engag'd says the Philosopher in a great Conflict a Divine Enterprize 't is for a Kingdom and for Liberty for the Liberty even of the Sons of God and for the Kingdom of Heaven As we were not redeem'd by corruptible things such as Gold Silver or precious Stones