my Discourse against fleshly lusts in the strictest sense as they signifie all manner of uncleanness contrary to chastity General Discourses against vice are seldom successful towards the recovery of men from under their dominion and therefore when we assault the body of death we must level our strokes against particular limbs and members as the surest and the speediest way to our victory BUT that I may discourse with the better success let us consider First the Exhortation it self Abstain from fleshly lusts and this Exhortation is strengthen'd with a twofold Argument one is taken from the opposition of such lusts to the Soul and the other taken from our present state condition and relation We are but pilgrims and strangers NOW that I may make those fleshly lusts as odious to the Christian eye as is possible I will in the first place lay before you some considerations to represent them in their true and proper colors And Secondly I will offer those Remedies from Reason and the holy Scriptures by which we may be defended against their assaults First Do but consider that those fleshly lusts are directly opposite unto the Nature Spirit and Tendency of Christianity It was our Saviour's great design when he took upon him our Nature to fortifie our Spirits beyond the reach of bodily impressions to establish them in an absolute Empire and just Sovereignty over the Senses to exalt that part of us that is divine and heavenly to its true elevation that it might no more truckle under the body that the senses and all the motions that we feel by them might be kept at their true distance and not meddle with that command and authority that belongs to the mind In a word that our Souls might be adorn'd with their true Glory and Majesty When we are thus set at liberty then and not till then are we free indeed when we remember the value strength and excellency of the Soul which though it be united to the Body and therefore must mind the concerns of the Body with great care and tenderness yet it more vigorously desires to be united unto God It may subsist without its Union to the Body but it cannot be happy unless it be united unto God so that this Union of the Soul with God is in a manner folded up in its very nature and essence WE are in the strictest sense the off-spring of God and it was reasonable for us to expect that when the Son of God did appear to reform Mankind he should level his Directions and Precepts against those vices and sins most vigorously that did sink the Soul below its true glory and dignity the sins that took down its Plumes by which it mounted the heavens but now was become soft trifling and degenerate And because no lusts did break the vigour of our mind and blunt the edge of our Spirits and weaken our union with God more than fleshly lusts in the strictest sense therefore do we find the cautions against those sins so frequent in the New Testament with this assurance that he that is in Christ Jesus hath crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof THE Arguments that S. Paul makes use of against those sins are heavenly and sublime 1 Cor. 6.19 20. Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and you are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits which are Gods Answerably to this we find that the first Christians notwithstanding of the blackest Calumnies of their Pagan adversaries lived the life of Angels in earthly Bodies their Chastity was so great a Jewel in their eyes that many of their Christian Women most cheerfully resign'd their life rather than part with their honour And Tertullian towards the close of his Apology resolutely defies the impudence of the Pagans for they themselves did acknowledg the purity and innocence of the Christians in this matter because they judg'd it a more intolerable punishment for their Women to be condemned to the Stewes than to suffer Martyrdom How many of the Christian Women among the Romans when the Goths and Vandals made their Irruption into Italy threw themselves into Tyber rather than be expos'd to the savage Embraces of lust and dishonour The Story of the young man recorded by S. Jerom is very memorable who feeling himself entangled in the embraces of a wanton Strumpet did bite off his own Tongue and spit it in her face lest the strength of his temptation and the weakness of humane nature might betray him into Indecencies unbecoming his holy Profession We see then it is most certain and clear that fleshly lusts are in their nature and tendency contrary to that Religion which our Saviour planted and the first Christians embrac'd But Secondly LET us remember that these fleshly lusts are severely punish'd both here and hereafter We are told by Solomon Prov. 6.26 that by means of a whorish woman a man is brought unto a piece of bread And the Parable of the Prodigal in the fifteenth of S. Luke represents the miserable estate of such with great advantage the sufferings that those lusts expose men to are not confin'd to one single capacity but they spread their Poison not only through the body reaching sometimes even beyond the bones into the marrow but also through all the suffering capacities of human nature health fortune life and reputation are the ordinary Sacrifices that are brought to the Altars of this unclean Devil Solomon again tells us Prov. 66.33 That a wound and dishonour is his reward and his reproach shall not be wiped away Have you sometimes observed the macerated Skeletons of Lust worn in the Devils warfare bearing the dishonourable marks of their Masters service sometimes in their foreheads to such a degree of infamy that hardly one would think that Mankind could be made so miserable And though those Trophies of Misery have frequently been displayed to the scandal of Religion disgrace of human nature and the terrour of all Spectators yet so inconsiderate are the most part of Mankind and so stupifying is the Enchantment that it requires a heavenly frame and a bold Resolution to subdue those imperious and stubborn lusts How many did God remarkably punish for this sin Numb 25. Zimri and Cozbie were slain in the very act and four and twenty thousand of the Children of Israel fell for their unlawful mixture with strange Women And though God had left those filthy Creatures without Punishment yet the sin carries corruption in its Nature for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption in the most literal sense Add to all this the flames of unquenchable fire that are prepared for the Sons of Lust and Wantonness in the other World They may possibly escape the notice and observation of earthly Judges but when the hidden things of dishonesty are brought to light then Heb. 13.4 God will judge whoremongers and adulterers Thirdly CONSIDER that
hands of the Apostles against Infidelity and Atheism by such plentiful effusions of the Holy Ghost the Cataracts of Heaven seem'd to be opened and the Apostles were made to speak with irresistible Wisdom and the same Spirit is given unto the Church in proportionable measures as her necessities require to the end of the World especially to the immediate Servants of the Sanctuary if they do not wickedly shut their Eyes against its light and beauty The garments of the Church are of Needlework variegated with the manifold Excellencies of the Spirit the interchangeable appearances of those gifts that in different Figures make up the decorum of the whole were not so entirely confin'd to the Primitive Ages but that his more immediate Servants are furnished in all periods of the Church according to the nature and difficulty of their undertaking He doth not give all gifts to every one but parcels them out with that heavenly discretion that no man may say to his Brtoher I have no need of thee therefore the Spirit of Love scattereth his Donatives so as at once to supply our Necessities and advance our Charity that all of us might hang upon one another in the closest Relations and dependencies the mystical Body of the Church being knit together by Joints and Bands as is the Natural NOW when we add unto the former considerations that the gifts of the Spirit did not only seal our Religion by all possible external evidence in the Apostolical Ages but that now the very same Spirit by its sanctifying power and Vertues unites us to Christ What reason have we to rejoice in God our Saviour It is the Spirit that breaks our bonds and fetters and makes us run the Race that is set before us with joy and alacrity it is by this that we crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof by this we become the Temples of the living God resolute against Temptations humble chast sober heavenly minded in a word it is the earnest of our inheritance the Spirit by which we cry Abba Father the Spirit that helpeth our infirmities and makes us more than Conquerors through Jesus Christ that loved us Can there be any more ample matter of Praise What is it can loose our Tongues unto the most joyful acknowledgments if this does not Let us say with the Psalmist when we view the whole Oeconomy of our Redemption I will extol thee my God O King and I will bless thy Name for ever and ever And let us conclude that we cannot escape if we neglect so great a salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto others by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own Will To God the Father Son and Holy Ghost be Glory Dominion and Power for ever and ever Amen A SERMON ON PSALM xxvi v. 6. I will wash mine hands in innocence so will I compass thine Altar O Lord. THIS Psalm is David's Appeal to the Omniscience of God as to his own Innocence and Integrity and it seems tacitly to refer to the Calumnies and Slanders propagated against him during the Reign of Saul and therefore he puts his trust in the strength of the Almighty that he should never be shaken by the fury and malice of his Enemies THE Verse that I have read is but a part of that Appeal and though our English Version reads it in the future yet the scope of the Context the Analogy and coherence of the whole allow the reading of it in the preterit as may appear easily to the attentive Reader but whether the one or the other is not so much my business to enquire This is certain that the custom of Washing before Sacrifices both amongst the Jews and the Gentiles had this Moral in its bosom that all our approaches to the Divine Majesty especially our most solemn and extraordinary ought to be performed with the most accurate Preparation purity of Mind and recollection of Spirit therefore the Psalmist as a part of hiâ— Appeal made use of this Argument in his Defence that he walked in his Integrity constantly and when he brought his Sacrifices to the Altar he viewed his Soul with the most accurate search and enquiry to see if there was any thing that might indispose him to come so near the divine Presence THESE words have in them no remarkable difficulty they are a plain allusion to that known Custom of Washing before Sacrificing both amongst the Jews and the Gentiles All the Eastern Nations were very frequent in their Washings especially before they approached their most solemn and sacred Mysteries and therefore I may the more safely apply this Text to the highest Mystery amongst the Christians which is the Sacrament of the Lords Supper which now requires in a peculiar manner our Attention and Meditation IT is in it self by the confession of all Christians the highest Mystery of our Religion nay all the Mysteries of it gathered together in one and therefore all the Graces of the Spirit ought to adorn our Souls when we come so near unto God they meet together at this Solemnity all of them in their highest slight and Exaltation I shall confine my Discourse at present to two Particulars 1. OUR Duty and Obligation of coming to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper 2. I will direct the manner of our coming and how we must attempt it 1. LET us consider our Obligations to attend this Solemn and Magnificent Entertainment and there is nothing more clear if we consider the Authority of him who enjoins it God upbraided his People of old that the Nazarites were more careful and observant of the original Rules and directions of their founder than his People were of his Laws who was the Creator of Heaven and Earth All the Sects of Philosophers up and down the World thought it their honour and their interest to propagate the Opinions of the first of their Order AND will our dearest Lord and Master give us a Command of the highest consequence and dare we refuse to obey it This is an indignity to his Authority an immediate affront to his Sovereignty and Power How highly would an earthly Prince resent an injury of this nature Here is a Feast prepared noble and plentiful and design'd to express the highest kindness and respect This Metaphor is used by Solomon and by a greater than Solomon mystically to set off the ingratitude of such as refuse and trample upon the inestimable offers of his Love and Favour WHEN we remember who invites us to this Feast the Author and finisher of our Faith whose dominion is from everlasting to everlasting who came from the bosom of the Father to rescue us from the bottomless Abyss of our miseries is it not the highest impudence the rudest affront to the Majesty of Heaven the most daring violation of
by the closest adherence THERE is nothing more pernicious to true Christian Practice than wrong Principles Take heed therefore that the light which is in you be no darkness The fear of God makes men move with a reasonable Steadiness in all their Actions and nothing else yields true Peace at the hour of Death A Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Men is the surest Anchor against all our Fears and Conflicts God continue his Presence with you that you may seriously lay to heart the only One thing necessary This is sincerely prayed for by Much Honoured and Well Beloved Your affectionate and much obliged Friend and Servant AL. MONRO THE Contents SERMON I. Psal cxxxix 14 15 16 17. 14 I Will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well 15 My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth 16 Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the sum of them Page 2 SERMON II. 1 Pet. ii 11. Dearly Beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the Soul Page 35 SERMON III. 1 John v. 4. And this is the victory that overcometh the World even our Faith Page 73 SERMON IV. Phil. iii. 14. I press toward the Mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Page 111 SERMON V. 2 Pet. i. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust Page 141 SERMON VI. Canticles iv 15. A Fountain of Gardens a Well of Living Waters and Streams from Lebanon Page 191 SERMON VII Rom. xii 1. I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your Bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service Page 227 SERMON VIII John xviii 11. Then said Jesus unto Peter Put up thy Sword into the sheath the Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it Page 273 SERMON IX 1 Cor. ii 3 4 5. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling And my speech and my preaching was not with inticing words of mans wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God Page 303 SERMON X. Mat. v. 20. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven Page 335 SERMON XI Acts ii 1 2 3 4. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance Page 366 SERMON XII Psal xxvi 6. I will wash mine hands in innocence so will I compass thine Altar O Lord. Page 409 SERMON XIII John xi 25. Jesus said unto her I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live Compared with 1 Cor. 15.12 13 14. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrection from the dead But if there be no resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain Page 450 ERRATA PAg. 6. l. 14. r. structure p. 13. l. 20. r. shall p. 19. l. 6. r. can p. 30. l. 8. r. employment p. 32. l. 3. r. drag p. 51. l. 23. r. our p. 79. l. 7. r. height p. 121. l. 27. r. intentions p. 138. l. 13. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 270. l. 3. dele by p. 287. l. 20. r. Verres p. 329. l. 2. r. from A SERMON ON PSALM cxxxix v. 14 15 16 17. 14. I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well 15. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth 16. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect and in thy book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the sum of them IT was the Observation of a learn'd Philosopher and a great Statesman of our neighbour Nation That a superficial Insight into Nature inclin'd men to Atheism but a more thorough view of its regular Methods and the Causes of things did necessarily lead us to the acknowledgment of the Deity HIS Reason is very plain While the Mind of Man looketh upon second Causes scattered it may sometimes rest in them and go no further but when we behold the Chain of them confederate and link'd together we must needs fly to Providence and the contrivance of infinite Wisdom The Impressions of the Divinity upon Nature are so legible that the Apostle concludes such inexcusable who do not acknowledge them His most glorious Attributes are in a manner felt in the works of Creation even his eternal Power and Godhead being clearly seen by the things that are made THE Psalmist taught this Philosophy before S. Paul The heavens declare the glory of God the firmament sheweth his handy works day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night sheweth knowledge There is no part of this great Fabrick of the World which doth not direct us to a Most Mighty Being by whom it was made But above all the rest the Heavens which are so vastly extended and wherein we see so many glorious Bodies proclaim aloud the Power Wisdom and Skill of that supreme Governor and Architector THIS Consideration transported the Psalmist unto the most heavenly Raptures and seraphick Gratulations So we find him in the eighth Psalm When I consider thy heavens the works of thy fingers the moon and stars which thou hast ordained c. i. e. When I look up to that celestial habitation and consider the beauty of that admirable structure how richly thou hast gilded the roofs of thy outer house with the lights that shine there I am struck down with wonder I know not what to say that thou shouldst
that kind of Religion to which they were most addicted And therefore our Religion must needs be of another stamp entirely pure gentle easie to be intreated full of good works without partiality and without hypocrisie 2. They thought that they might compensate for moral Miscarriages by long prayers and bodily severities And they would gladly submit to any thing rather than reform what ought to be truly amended 3. They believ'd they might merit eternal Life by the observation of one Precept though they liv'd in the habitual contempt and violation of all the rest Such a Precept they took their Sabbath to be WHEN we view the pure and unaffected complexion of our Religion how great an Enemy it is to all unworthy shifts and disguises how generous and refin'd above that Spirit that prevails in the World how amiable in the Eyes of God and Men then I say we may easily perceive that there is nothing more opposite unto it than that peevish superstition and hypocrisie that prevail'd in the Jewish Church when our Saviour appear'd And to the end that we may feel the force of our Religion to the best advantages Let us observe the following Directions 1. WE must understand our Religion thorowly and fix it in our Souls by the most accurate and serious consideration For though the motives of Christianity be of that moment that they may easily conquer our Souls yet unless they are duly applyed by Thought Reason and Meditation they loose their force and efficacy and they never impart to us the least degree of spiritual courage and activity God assaults our Reason in the first place and when we are overcome by Argument we are then a willing People we are Subjects by our choice and not by constraint Therefore are we frequently to view and consider the motives and arguments of our Religion and weigh them in the balance against the difficulties that oppose us That when we have examin'd and seriously debated whatsoever makes for or against our being Christians we may go forth to meet our Enemy with spiritual furniture and strength Shall the World and its triffling Interests notwithstanding that we are convinc'd of its emptiness and vanity take up so many of our Thoughts And shall we forget our immortal Souls and the Judgment to come Religion enters the Soul by Meditation and no Man can be Religious but by the acts of his Mind It is a reasonable service that we are call'd to and to make us continue in it with delight our Reason must be first engag'd How necessary this consideration is our Saviour represents in the Gospel of S. Luke What King goeth out to war doth not first sit down and consider if with his ten thousand he be able to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand Or if a man resolve to build a Tower he first computes the expence and then he builds SUCH as are hastily engag'd in the service of Religion are frequently forc'd to retire with shame and dishonour And this is the usual result of rash and unsettled purposes which men make in the heat of their passion and under the power of some transient conviction 2. WE are always to perfer the Morals of Religion to its lesser Appendages and Ceremonies and to remember that the last are only subservient to advance the first True Christian Life is the Transcript of the Divine Nature Be ye holy as I am holy And again Be ye merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful There are such legible impressions of the Divine Nature felt in the Souls of the Regenerate that they attract his presence they are his peculiar habitations where he fixes his residence Nothing so enlarges the Spirit of a Man as to fix his eyes on the Life of Jesus to view with attention and delight how much he was above the World when environ'd with its terrors and flatteries He spoke of the invisible things as one does of his own Country He reason'd men out of their folly by all the force and weight of Heaven and Eternity And if we allow him to speak to our Consciences it is not possible to resist his reasonings He went about doing good He made himself accessible to us by the interposal of his humanity that we might see as well as hear the beauties of Christian Religion He taught us a Doctrine that is exactly calculated to refine our Nature to make us better in all relations And by this rule we are to examine the different pretences of all divided Parties If they advance by the plainest and nearest methods true Piety Innocency and Simplicity and propagate them in the Spirit of Love Unity and Subordination this is the surest mark to know that they belong to the Household of Faith 3. WE are here but Pilgrims and Strangers we are so to demean our selves as Candidates for Eternity Our Christian Life is but a flight from the World and the more we are alienated from the Spirit that prevails in it the more ripe we are for that incorruptible inheritance that is reserv'd for us Let us make the things of another World present to our selves by Faith For the fashion of this World passeth away And we are shortly to appear before Gods Tribunal stript naked of all the thin cobwebs and excuses whereby we endeavour'd to hide our deformities upon Earth 4. And lastly WHEN you have deliberately resolv'd consider the evil of back-sliding and its dreadful consequences There are but few who plainly and openly deny the Faith unto which they are Baptized yet many hundreds deny the Lord that bought them by their wicked Lives and unchristian Practices Now the just shall live by Faith but if any man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him But we are not of them who draw back into perdition but of them that believe to the saving of the Soul To God the Father Son and Holy Ghost be all Glory Praise and Dominion for ever Amen A SERMON Preached on Whitsunday 1688. ON ACTS ii v. 1 2 3 4. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance THE Christian Church from the Ascension of our Blessed Saviour into Heaven until the Effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles was full of great expectations and great fears they had not yet quite broke off from the Communion of the Jewish Church yet they continued in their solitude and retirements and in the true exercise of Charity and Patience until our Saviour should scatter his Royal Donatives upon his solemn and magnificent entrance into the
Heavens By which Gifts and Graces the Apostles were enabled to assert the Truth of our Religion boldly and proclaim the glad tidings of Salvation to all Nations and the Literal Judaism was to give place to the Mystical and the Messias was not only to be the Glory of his people Israel but a Light to lighten the Gentiles OUR Saviour after his Resurrection gave all assurance to the Apostles that he would send them another Comforter when He was gone unto the Father an Advocate to plead his Cause successfully one who should inspire them with strength and skill to defie and resist all the Calumnies and Slanders of Infidelity and therefore they ought not to give way either to grief sorrow or despondency For all Power in Heaven and in Earth was given to their Lord and Master He was highest in the Glory of the Father He was not only declared to be the Son of God by his Resurrection from the dead but God did highly exalt him and gave him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth He instructed them formerly in the Spiritual Oeconomy of his Kingdom that they needed not be ashamed of the Doctrine of the Cross that it behov'd Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day to the end that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his Name throughout all Nations beginning at Jerusalem and withal that He was not unmindful of his Promise that He made before He was crucified now that he was risen from the dead but He assured them He would send the Promise of the Father upon them so much to their comfort success and satisfaction that the whole World should take notice of it In the mean time they were to remain quiet and knit together at Jerusalem until this Promise was fulfilled HE had before at their Ordination and formal Admission into the highest Order of the Church breathed on them and bad them receive the Holy Ghost By the which they were invested with a Legal and Authoritative Title to act as the Ambassadors of Jesus Christ to proclaim his Laws to require the Obedience of all Nations to convey this Power unto others to erect a new Society distinct from all Secular Incorporations to bind and loose by the Censures of the Church but still notwithstanding of their Authority they remain'd without strength until the solemn and magnificent Effusion of the Holy Ghost by which their Tongues being fired from Heaven their opposers were not able to resist the Wisdom by which they spake Now was the Prophecy of Joel fulfilled in the highest sense and so S. Peter applies it to this astonishing and heavenly manifestation And it shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will poure out of my Spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesie and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams THERE are who distinguish in the Writings of the New Testament between the Holy Ghost and the Spirit and that the Spirit signifies the Power of Miracles healing the Sick casting out of Devils restoring sight to the Blind raising the Dead by all which our Saviour proved himself to be the true Messias And by the Holy Ghost they think we ought to understand the wonderful Gifts of Utterance of Languages of Interpretation of Mysteries by which the Apostles were enabled in a moment to confound all the arts and oppositions of their enemies to run down with evidence all the calumnies and reproaches invented either by Jew or Gentile against the Person Life Doctrine or Miracles of our blessed Saviour BUT we shall have a better view of this when we fix our Meditations on that part of Scripture that I have read and consider it in all its mutual aspects and relations then I will endeavour to gather the several Branches of it together again in the Application WE find that the Apostles did exactly obey the Command of our Saviour they tarried at Jerusalem waiting for the promise of the Father The Text hath in it the accomplishment of this Promise and because it is so peculiar to this day to commemorate the Effusion of the Holy Ghost with the highest Joy and Gratitude I will invite your attention to these three Particulars in the words that I have read 1. THE disposition that the Apostles were in to receive the Holy Ghost they were all with one accord in one place 2. THE sensible Emblem of it manifested 1. To their Ears in the second Verse and to their Eyes in the third Verse And 3. HERE is the Accomplishment of the Promise the success and the appearance of it they were all filled with the Holy Ghost they began to speak with other Tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance 1. Consider the Disposition that they were in to receive it They were all with one accord in one place The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in those Breasts that are gangreen'd with discords jars and animosities All our wild passions and unfriendly humours must be hush'd into silence at the approach of this heavenly Guest he chuses for his residence habitation those pure and innocent Souls that breath nothing but love candor simplicity and meekness the secret retirements of the Mind where he dwells must be made smooth even and regular the rugged and intricate circuits of Hypocrisie Hatred and Envy are inconsistent with his Presence He loves to fix his residence where there are some beautiful Lineaments of himself The peaceableness the charity the mutual love and zeal of promoting the welfare of one another was so remarkable in the first Christians that we must needs confess they were acted by a Spirit beyond the World this peace and love and unanimity is so essential to the Christian Religion that our Saviour made it the badge and Character of his Disciples hereby shall all men know that you are my disciples if ye love one another It is the fulfilling of the Law without it there is no access for our Prayers We are commanded when we bring our gift to the Altar to leave it there unoffered until we are reconciled to our brother And we are directed by the Apostle St. Paul to lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting In a word the wisdom that is from above is first pure then peaceable easie to be intreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie And a little before he telleth us that bitter envyings and strife are the Companions of that wisdom that is earthly sensual and devilish Nay this Hatred and Enmity makes up the very nature of the Devil and if you could divide him and his Malice he were no more a Devil nor opposite to God for God is Love and they that dwell in God dwell in Love and the frequent repetitions of
Love in the first Epistle of St. John give us to understand that the Love of God and his Neighbour did actuate and enliven his Soul to the highest warmth and Charity WHEN we look upon the Apostles in this interval between Christs Ascension and the effusion of the Holy Ghost before they proclaim'd boldly and openly the wonderful things of God in the name of Jesus before they came forth with displayed Banners against the Kingdom of darkness then it was that their Unity did miraculously support ' them and what degrees of chearfulness and courage were found in any of them came seasonably to the relief of every one upon all occasions Their Unity first strengthened their Prayers they went up to Heaven as the Evening Sacrifice and with united force prevailed The Prayers of those Souls that are knit in Charity soon fly to the Ears of God they are raised above the Skies on the wings of servent Love the Devotions that are harmoniously poured forth on Earth resound with an Eccho in the Heavens as if the Inhabitants of the upper and the lower World had begun already the most intimate friendship and familiar Converse 2. THEIR Unity among themselves filled their Souls with great Tranquillity and though they were not yet actually inspired as afterwards they were with the gifts of the Holy Ghost yet by their unanimity they were so prepared for them and thirsted after them as the parched and gasping Earth thirsts for the showers of the latter Rain 3. THIS Unity had with it also some foretasts of the joys of Heaven Those triumphant Spirits that are above are twisted together in the mutual Embraces of Love it is their Element where they move it is the life of their Soul they cannot live without it either here or hereafter 4. THIS Unity dispos'd the Apostles and the Disciples to a clearer understanding of the truths of the Kingdom of Heaven Truth is the true nourishment of the Mind and this Truth enters not in its force and influence unless the Soul is first alienated from all harsh rugged and ill-natured Passions Proud and unmortified Men may make a great ostentation of Wisdom and Knowledge but the truth all this time is not successfully united to the essence of the Mind and the retirements of the Conscience though the words that convey it to our Ears may be lodg'd in the memory and imagination when we come to know the Truth in its divine energy and strength then are we made free from sin and hereby we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments Now the Apostles locked themselves up from the noise of the World and felt those invisible supports of Faith and Love when as yet they had not courage enough to venture abroad but Unity cannot long be preserved without uniformity and therefore they are said not only to be of one accord but also in one place THE Order and Discipline of the Catholick Church into which we are received by Baptism oblige not only to inward peace but also to an outward Decorum and visible Uniformity The Church in the language of Solomon is beautiful as Tirzah comely as Jerusalem terrible as an Army with banners The comprehensive Apostolick Canon is that all things be done with decency and in order and therefore are we exhorted by the Author to the Hebrews not to forsake the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is i. e. We are not to erect Altar against Altar but to continue in the Communion of the Christian Church observing those Laws and Rules by which the spiritual Society of Christs Family has been best preserved in the times of greatest danger and persecution If we cut our selves off from Christs mystical Body the consequences are fatal and dreadful THE publick Worship of the Sanctuary is Christs Trophy over his Enemies his Standard erected and set up in those very places where the Devil had his Altars are not his Oracles now silenced and his Sacrifices deserted where our Saviour is acknowledged King and Sovereign Is not the publick Worship the very joy of our hearts as the Prophet foretold Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths See with what fervour the best of Gods Servants pray for it and with what satisfaction they speak of it Pity saith Daniel thy Sanctuary that is desolate for the Lords sake And the Psalmist Thy servants take pleasure in her very stones and favour the dust thereof And again I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy gate O Jerusalem HOW hateful then are they to God and how contrary to the Spirit and design of the Gospel who destroy the publick Worship and the uniform Meetings of Christs Family upon Earth by Faction Mutiny Tumult Schism or Disobedience Is it not sad to consider how implacably Schismaticks are set to destroy the peace and order of the Sanctuary 'T is true as we shall have occasion to consider within a little the Holy Ghost came upon the Apostles in cloven tongues of fire but all fiery Tongues are not from the Holy Ghost A Sect there is of unquiet and restless Spirits who have no Principles but what tend to destruction and though it be no part of my design or inclination to rake into that Puddle of little Cavils and Exceptions that have been boisterously vented against the beauty and order of our National Church yet I would offer to the consideration of the meanest Hearer these four Particulars and then let them declare their thoughts of the present Schism and Wall of Partition that the Presbyterians have rais'd between themselves and the Catholick Church 1. CONSIDER that they and their Practices are disclaim'd by all Protestant Churches With what face do they alledge that they themselves are the strictest Patrons of the Reformation who have deserted all other Churches and by their Principles now think it unlawful to keep the Communion of any setled Church in Europe 2. ARE they not Nonconformists to themselves Their former Confessions of Faith and their Ringleaders as well as to the present Church the windings and turnings of Errour are infinite it leads them to a thousand absurdities it hath no solid Basis to rest upon but the present crasis of the Imagination and as that changes its Figure the Errour shifts its appearance and comes forth with further improvements And yet such is the unlucky fate of all Schismaticks that after all their refinings and Reformations they still retain some one thing or other that baffles and confounds all their childish and whiffling Objections against the Church I will instance but in one Particular which to this day is practised by the Presbyterians and that is they appoint Adulterers and such as are most eminently scandalous to wear
Scythians fierce Germans the proud Romans and soft Grecians and Persians renounc'd their peculiar Idols and calmly surrender'd their Necks to His easie Yoke according to the Prophecy of Zachary that the names of the Idols should be cut off and were no more to be remembred WE may safely affirm that no Religion did ever spread its Wings so wide as the Christian which made the South and the North East and West meet together in their acknowledgments of the Blessed Jesus When the Languages of the old World were divided Mankind was scattered but the Gift of Tongues poured upon the Apostles united all Nations into the most harmonious Society THE Meditation of this ought to enlarge our Souls with generous inclinations towards the recovery of all Mankind unto the acknowledgment of the Truth How ought we to pray that God would be pleas'd to make his wayes known unto all sorts and conditions of men and his saving health unto all Nations There are no Charities so noble nor so well plac'd as when we convert a sinner from the error of his way The Gospel is a sovereign remedy to remove the blindness and stupidity of the whole World if we were zealous enough to promote it how shameful is it for such as have large Dominions and great Power upon Earth that they are not more busied in contriving Methods how the sound of the Gospel may reach the utmost ends of the Earth How few of them that are born without the inclosure of the Church come over to our Religion now a days And this is not to be imputed to our Religion it self but to our coldness and indifferency about it and that we do not live up to the height and purity of its Rules the mighty success that it had in the Primitive Ages in defiance of all malice and opposition sufficiently proves that it came from Heaven And this leads me to the consideration of the next word that follows 2. IT came from heaven We are told by the Psalmist that God bringeth the wind out of his treasuries but this wind that came from heaven hath a nearer claim to Gods peculiar Treasury than those Winds that are stor'd up in the dark Caverns of the Earth This was the breath of God it did not blow from the Earth nor from Humane Counsels nor from the highest Regions of the Air but from Heaven it self from the Throne of the Most High A Wind it was that blew with Majesty rather than Fury Strength rather than Boisterousness they felt some heavenly Charm in the noise that filled the room it rais'd their attention and their ears to something high and extraordinary and the surprize of its swiftness could not hinder a secret joy a mighty elevation of Spirit which cannot be named and which strongly convinc'd the Apostles that this wind came from heaven and that it was the mighty voice of God And this may appear if we consider 1. THE things that they utter'd when they were filled with it A heavenly Doctrine full of Light and Majesty a Doctrine that not only assured us of Immortality but taught us also the infallible Methods to arrive at it a Doctrine that filled our ears with new sublime unheard of Mysteries God manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory How far were these great Truths beyond the Speculations of Plato and the little Metaphysical Subtilties of the Peripateticks 2. THIS may appear if we consider the Change and Affections that this Doctrine wrought in its Proselytes this wind did not blow them up into airy and fantastick apprehensions into proud and supercilious thoughts it taught no arts of gathering treasures nor of making themselves great in the World but it lifted their Souls above it to the place whence it came and it taught them to trample upon its glories to despise its fears and overlook all its splendor and to set their affections upon the things that are above where Jesus is inthroned in the highest Power and Majesty Now 't is evident that no such change could be wrought by Natural Causes for men acted by Natural Principles can go no higher than such Maxims can carry them but to love God to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof to forgive injuries to despise the World all the things that our appetites formerly did headlong run into must proceed from some Supernatural and Divine force it carries us above our own level and makes us to feel that He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world This Argument is frequently insisted on by first Apologists for our Religion 3. IT appears to have been from Heaven in its Method and Operation and immediate Effects upon the Apostles which exceeded all Art and Nature that men illiterate and without education most of them come to a considerable Age that they should speak the Languages of all Nations who a little before understood but one Language and that the rudest Dialect of their own Nation This wonderful matter must needs be referr'd to some supernatural Cause 3. LET us take notice where this sound was heard and the Text saith that it filled the house where they were The Inspirations of the Holy Ghost are not casual and fortuitous but ordered by Infinite Counsel and Wisdom This is the wind that bloweth where it listeth in the strictest sense it filled that house it blew by discretion and election upon the house where the Apostles resided to let us it may be understand that the Holy Ghost to the end of the World is to be received in the fellowship of the Apostles and their Successors it is the precious Ointment first poured upon their heads and from them to the skirts of the Church in all Ages There are many Spirits gone forth into the World with a boisterous noise and they pretend their descent from Heaven but if they have forsaken the fellowship of the Apostles and broken the ligaments of peace and order by which the Catholick Church as a Spiritual Society is knit together if they run cross to the Spirit of Unity by which we are oblig'd to believe the Communion of Saints in that case we are quickly undeceiv'd they are certainly from below they are not directed by the Wisdom that is from above nor have they their rise from Heaven but from the Earth and are blown up by some subterraneous Vapours that end in nothing but in a little vain glory faction and popular applause THE Holy Ghost in its most plentiful Effusions came down upon the Apostles according to the nature of their high and difficult employment and the circumstances of the Church at that time and it was to fall in lesser drops to the end of the World upon all that are sent by God for the services of the Altar who have their Mission from the Apostles by regular conveyance and succession 2.