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. 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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
so are become the Objects of our Devotion from the constant and faithful Relations of daily ascending Saints and Angels from the Informations and kind Intercourses of Guardian Angels and the narrations of such happy Spirits as leaving their Earthly Tabernacle daily ascend thither because 't is evident you see that there are many things here amongst us which these Saints and Angels can never understand many Designs and Contrivances many Wishes and Desires many Vows and Prayers that are lodg'd only in the Heart and consequently are known only unto God Wherefore 4. The Saints in Heaven have not 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 from the vision of the Divine Essence which they call Speculum Trinitatis Now 't is a great Question amongst Learn'd Men Whether the Blessed Spirits above are indeed capable of seeing the Divine Essence and many of no ordinary note espouse the Negative thinking it as impossible for a Created Finite Being to behold the Essence of an Uncreated Infinite Being as 't is for a Bird of Night to gaze steddily upon the Sun Which Opinion if true entirely destroys this Speculum Trinitatis and dashes it with its Consequences all to pieces upon the Ground But I confess I hitherto see nothing that can induce me to embrace it The Affirmative seems most consonant both to Scripture and Reason When Moses humbly desir'd that God would vouchsafe to shew him his Glory or to imprint upon his Mind a clear distinct Idea of his Divine Essence he was answer'd That he could nor have his wish now whilst he lay under the Disadvantages of Mortality because he was a God dwelling in such Light as no Mortal Eye could approach but that he should so see him hereafter when these Impediments should be remov'd and he happily invested with the stronger Privileges of Immortality Thou can'st not see my Face says God Exod. 33.20 for there shall no man see me and live For these words certainly imply That tho' he could not now by reason of the thick Veil of his flesh yet that he should see his Essence hereafter both when his Earthly Tabernacle should be dissolv'd and laid aside and also when he should receive it again all clarify'd and spiritualiz'd Moses himself undoubtedly understood them thus for had he thought otherwise and that he was never to be admitted to the Intuition of his Maker's Glory the naked clear and real Vision of his Divine Essence but that he was for ever to rest in Symbals and Figures in reflected Glories and secondary Manifestations which was to find his Ultimate Happiness in some thing really distinct from his God his devout affectionate Soul which so ardently breath'd after the most intimate Fruition even of the Living God would never have been satisfy'd with this uncomfortable Answer but we had questionless heard of the sad Complaints the bitter Bemoanings and doleful Accents of his disconsolate Spirit who when the natural Byass of her Desires mov'd necessarily towards God trembling continually like the amorous Needle for the Embraces of that most Lovely and Amiable Object was yet for ever excluded from his Beatifick Presence the Contemplation and Fruition of the interiour Beauties of her Belov'd And indeed we all so naturally desire to see this First Cause this Parent of Nature and the Author of all our Beings that tho' we were surrounded with all the Sweets of Paradise all the other most exquisite Delights and Entertainments that Heaven can afford yet without Him they would but fade and wither and dwindle into nothing and our restless dissatisfy'd Spirits would still in the midst of them all be impatiently crying out Ah! Where Where is our God For as He is the First of Beings so is He the Last of Ends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Plato rightly that proper and principal End of Rational Beings the Vision of whom alone can satisfie the aspiring Soul and in the Circle of whose Embraces only the immoratal Spirit finds Rest and Peace and Joy for Evermore See him then we shall in the other World See the Soveraign Fair openly and clearly really and as He is Now we hear of him by the Ear but then shall our Eye with Joy and Triumph see him Now we see through a glass darkly but then Face to Face Now we know only in part but then shall we know even as we our selves also are known This Expression I readily acknowledge is not to be understood according to the Strictness of the Letter As we are known is a Note of Similitude only not of Equality for the Sun may as well be included in a Spark of Fire as God be comprehended by our Finite Faculties Know him then we shall not so as to comprehend him but so as to be ravish'd and for ever transported with his Essential Perfections The Light of a Candle as truly shines as the Light of the Sun tho' not with equal Extent and Splendour so shall our Knowledge be truly like His reaching even His Divine Essence tho' not Equal to His in comprehending it as He does ours Thus far then are we and our Adversaries agreed The Saints in Heaven do really view and contemplate the Divine Essence But now to say that they behold in it all things that are done in Heaven and Earth and consequently all the Circumstances Concerns Occurrences and Affairs of every Man's Life and so are become the Objects of our Devotion is most absurd and ridiculous If you let a Vessel down into the Sea 't will indeed be fill'd to the utmost of its Capacity but then you know it must needs overflow because 't is impossible it should receive into its Bosom the vast Congeries of that inexhaustible Abyss So admit the Saints into the Presence of their Maker where they may clearly and distinctly behold his Divine Essence their Finite Understandings may indeed by his voluntary Revelations be filled with all that Knowledge they are capable of receiving but then 't is necessary they likewise overflow because 't is absolutely impossible they should be widen'd and enlarg'd to the infinite and boundless Comprehensions of Omniscience This besides the Reason of the thing which assures us that 't is absolute impossible any Being should have the Attributes of the Divine Nature which has not the Divine Nature it self is plain from the Instance of the Angels These Blessed Spirits were before the Incarnation of our Lord admitted into their Father's House the Mansions of Glory the Royal City of the Heavenly King The time of their Probation was over and gone and they all unalterably confirm'd in a state of Happiness and Glory Their Business and Employment was to contemplate the Unfolded Beauties of the Divine Countenance and to sing continually in the Presence of the Lord that Great is the Glory of their