that we have a great High priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God This the Scripture testifies frequently in other places We have such an High-priest saith our Apostle who is set on the Right-hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens a Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not Man Heb. 81.2 and c. 6.20 he tells us that the Fore-runner is for us entred into that within the Veil even Jesus made an High-priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck Now the office of Christ our High-priest consists chiefly in these things 1. In being our Advocate to make intercession for us to the Father If any man sin saith S. John we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous 1 Joh. 2.1 and who is he that condemneth saith S. Paul It is Christ that died yearather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.34 How great a favour how inestimable a benfiet is this to have the only beloved Son of God in whom he is well pleased and to whom he will deny nothing continually to plead and make intercession for us unto his Father They only are truly sensible of this Blessing who are wounded with the Arrows of the Almighty and pressed sore with his hand so that there is no soundness in their flesh because of his anger neither any rest in their Bones because of their Sin They find the benefit of such an Intercession and how desperate and remediless their condition would be had they not such an High-priest that is ever ready upon their true Repentance to make an atonement for them to plead the merit of his sufferings in their behalf and to interpose betwixt them and the wrath of God 2. Christ ascended into Heaven as our High-priest that being thither ascended he might send unto us the Comforter even the Holy Ghost to abide with us for ever This was one main reason of his Ascension as himself declares to his Disciples John 16.7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you This he had promised long before by the prophet Joel c. 2. of that Prophecy v. 28. It shall come to pass saith he that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream Dreams your young men shall see Visions This promise he fulfilled upon his Apostles upon the day of Pentecost Acts 2. and he performs it dayly to all his elect continually begetting and increasing in their hearts the Graces of his Holy Spirit by the Ministery of his word This is that blessed Spirit of truth that guides us into all truth and teaches us all things that bears witness with our Spirits that we are the children of God and seals us unto the day of Redemption and this Holy Spirit Christ as our High-priest sends unto us from Heaven For although he be present every where in respect of his Divine Essence which is Omnipresent yet by his gracious Operation he is present only in the Hearts of his Elect unto whom he is sent by Christ as a Pledge of his Love to abide with them for ever The third Office which Christ performs for us as our High-priest is to prepare a place for us in Heaven The Sin of Adam had shut the Gate of Heaven against us For nothing that is Defiled or Unclean shall enter into the New Jerusalem but Christ by his perfect Obedience and by his meritorious Sufferings for our Sakes hath Expiated the Guilt of this Sin and by his ascending up thither himself hath opened unto us the Gate of Heaven again and given us assurance that he will draw us up after him This he promised to his Disciples Joh. 14.2 I go saith he to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Thus is Christ ascended into Heaven as our High-priest he is gone thither before us to prepare a place for us a place of endless Bliss and Felicity in those glorious Mansions of his Heavenly Father And so I have done with the Doctrinal part of my Text and shewed you that Christ is really ascended into Heaven and that he is ascended thither as our High-priest I come now to the last Thing I propounded which is to press to you the Apostles Application and to shew you how strongly the Consideration of this Doctrine should oblige us to hold fast our Profession And what can oblige us more to hold fast our Profession to lead a Godly and a Christian Life and to have our Conversation in Heaven than this that we have a great High-priest Jesus the Son of God that is already passed into the Heavens on purpose to prepare for us there an Everlasting Crown of Glory The consideration of the blessed Effects of the Ascension of our Lord if we make a right use of it will enable us to fight the good fight of Faith with Courage to keep our selves unspotted of the World in whatsoever Circumstances we are and to steer our Course aright through all the manifold Changes and Chances of this Mortal Life till we arrive at the end of our Hope even the Salvation of our Souls Let our Condition be what it will good or bad I say the thoughts of this will enable us to behave our selves so as shall be most for the Glory of God and our own Good For first Hath God Blessed us with Peace and Prosperity in this World Hath he given us a plentiful Portion of the good Things of this Life Hath he heaped upon us Riches and Honour filled our Barns with Plenty and caused our Presses to burst out with new Wine Though these things are strong Temptations and very apt to alienate our Hearts from God yet the consideration of our Saviour's Ascension will enable us to overcome them If in the midst of these worldly Blessings we frequently and seriously call to mind that we have a great High-priest that is preparing for us things that are incomparably better and more glorious in Heaven our Eyes then will not be dazled nor our Hearts bewitched with these fading and perishing Enjoyments upon Earth We shall set no higher an Estimate upon them than they deserve but shall be careful to use them with a Christian Prudence and Moderation to the glory of God and the good of our Selves and such poor Members of Christ as we see stand in need of our Charity We shall look upon all these temporal Blessings to be but only lent us for a time but our Hearts and Affections will be wholly fixed with most ardent and longing Desires upon that eternal
and suffers its proud Waves to be bounded and checkt by the Sand. There go the ships and there is that Leviathan whom he hath made to play therein The Earth faithfully performs the Task that was imposed upon it at its first Creation and ceases not to bring forth its fruit in its Season and the most inconsiderable Creature that it nourishes even the smallest Fly publishes the wisdom and power of its Creator as much as the greatest Elephant And who again that considers these things can chuse but proceed with the Psalmist and say Praise the Lord from the earth ye dragons and all deeps fire and hail snow and vapour stormy wind fulfilling his word Mountains and all hills fruitful trees and all cedars beasts and all cattel creeping things and all fowl And shall all these inferiour Creatures daily laud and magnifie their Maker as most plainly they do while in their several Stations they perform his Commands shall the little Birds warble out Hymns of Praise and every Hedge produce a Quire to sing an Hallelujah and shall Man alone be silent Man whom God himself hath crowned with glory and honour whom he hath made to have dominion over the works of his hands and hath put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen yea and the beasts of the field the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas Man whom when he had lost all this Honour when Sin had laid both it and himself together in the dust out of which they were both raised at the first God was pleased by a Miracle of mercy to restore to Honour once more nay to greater Honour than he had before even to the Honour if he forfeits it not again by his own monstrous Ingratitude of being made like unto the Angels in Heaven of being numbred among the children of God and having his lot among the saints I say shall Man whom of all the rest of his Creatures God hath delighted most to Honour be of all the rest of the Creatures the most ungrateful and most backward to give Praise and Glory to God Oh wheresoever this Ingratitude be to be found let it not be found amongst us but let us still joyn with the Psalmist and say Kings of the earth and all people princes and all judges of the earth both young men and maidens old men and children Let them praise the name of the Lord for his name only is excellent his glory is above the earth and heaven Thirdly that this Duty of glorifying God is both reasonable and necessary is evident in as much as all Mankind both good and bad shall most certainly one way or other give glory to God For the Lord will be King for ever be the people never so tumultuous and unquiet and though he be offended and provoked and blasphemed every day yet he is strong as well as patient and will one day vindicate his abused patience and longsuffering and will exalt himself above the heavens and his glory above all the earth Then shall all those foolish Wretches that refused to give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name and to celebrate the Praise of his mercy that endureth for ever be forced by their everlasting Punishment to glorifie his Justice For the glory of the Lord shall endure for ever the Lord shall rejoyce in his works For he hath made all things for himself saith Solomon Yea even the wicked for the day of evil Prov. 16.4 Thus did God get himself Honour as well by punishing the stubbornness of Pharaoh whom he overthrew in the Sea as by rewarding the obedience of Moses to whom he gave Power to command it And thus at the end of all things will he cause his Justice eternally to shine as bright and glorious below even in the midst of the infernal darkness as his mercy shall above in the Regions of light and happiness And Oh how sad how dreadful will our Condemnation be if we neglect this great Salvation that is offered us if notwithstanding this wonderful Redemption that God hath wrought for us we will again sell our selves Slaves to Sin and Satan And if but the tasting of a forbidden fruit brought Death into the world and made all Mankind obnoxious to the eternal wrath of God what Vengeance is reserved for them that tread under foot the Blood of his only begotten Son that despise the very height of his Love and the utmost riches of his Mercy Since then we must unavoidably glorifie either the Mercy of God or his Justice let us chuse rather to adore the former than to be broken in pieces by the latter for they that will not submit to his gentle Government while he holds forth his golden Sceptre shall be sure to feel the Severity of his rod of Iron Lastly for I must not be tedious though the Subject be so copious that I might heap up Arguments without number Since there is not the least part of the Creation excepting wicked Men and wicked Angels but what sets us an Example and invites us to glorifie our Creator this Duty of glorifying God is most highly reasonable for us to perform while we are upon Earth because it will be our eternal Task if ever we come to Heaven Those glorious Mansions above resound incessantly with Hymns of Praise unto the King of Saints To whom all Angels cry aloud continually the Heavous and all the powers therein Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbaoth Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory If therefore we desire to perform this Duty in the next Life it is not only reasonable but necessary that we begin is in this For certainly if we do not now tune our Voice to an Hallelujah and practise the Musick of Heaven while we are upon Earth Candidates for a Place in the celestial Choire we shall never be qualified to bear a part in that new Song which is to be sung before the throne of God and none shall be able to learn it but the Saints that are redeemed from the Earth Let us therefore now and evermore joyn with those blessed Spirits in glorifying our Almighty Creator saying as our Church teaches us and with which words we will at present break off our Discourse Therefore with Angels and Archangels and with all the Company of Heaven we laud and magnifie thy glorious Name evermore praising thee and saying Holy holy holy Lord God of Hosts Heaven and Earth are full of thy Glory Glory be to thee O Lord most high SERMON V. 1 COR. VI. 20. For ye are bought with a price c. THE reasonableness of this Duty of glorifying God to which in these words the Apostle exhorts us we have already seen and indeed he must be blind that sees it not when the whole Creation joins unanimously in the constant performance of it and every Corner of it declares the Power and Wisdom and Goodness of the
Almighty Creatour But though the reasonableness of this Duty must needs be apparent to all Men that believe that there is a God and they that believe not that though they may seem to be Rational Creatures are certainly most notorious Fools yet all Men are not so clearly agreed how to perform this Duty and that is the next thing that falls under our Consideration and the last Particular to be handled in my Text the manner how we must glorifie God we must do it in our Body and in our Spirit forasmuch as he hath redeemed and purchased both of them and both are his For ye are bought with a price c. First We must glorifie God in our Spirit that is in our Soul and in this all Parties are agreed even the very Quakers themselves the most stupid and senseless Fanaticks that have surfeited upon Religion and overwhelmed and oppressed their Reason by that very thing which was designed to refine and perfect it will all of them acknowledge that God is to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and that their Soul ought to bow to him though their Body be as inflexible as a Pillar of Marble And indeed this is the chief and main thing that we are to take care of in the worship of God that our Soul be zealously and earnestly intent upon what we are about for God sees not as Man sees he regards not so much the outward Gestures of our Body though as I shall shew hereafter he expects these from us too but he looks especially upon the inward Thoughts and Intentions of our Heart and if these be not right all our bodily worship is nothing worth If we draw near to God with our Lips and our Heart be far from him if we lift up our Eyes and our Hands to Heaven and our Mind be wedded to the World if we prostrate our Bodies upon the Earth and lay our Mouths in the Dust yet if our Spirit be not proportionably humbled all this is no better than gross Hypocrisie a downright mocking of God who cannot be deceived with counterfeit shews and shadows of Religion If therefore we desire to glorifie God aright we must be sure chiefly and principally to glorifie him in our Spirit and as Solomon advises us we must keep our Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life Prov. 4.23 Now this glorifying God in our Spirit implies briefly thus much That we make a free-will-offering of our Soul unto God committing the keeping of it unto him as unto a faithful Creator permitting him to guide and govern it according to his own good will and pleasure throughout the whole course of our life in whatsoever circumstances both in Prosperity and Adversity so that every thought and motion of it may evermore tend to his Glory He that hath made such an Offering as this unto God will always remember that he is not his own but that his Body and Soul are bought with a price and that both of them are God's and consequently will be careful to direct all his Thoughts Words and Actions to this one end that the Glory of God may be advanced by whatsoever he undertakes He will have God always in his thoughts as the only Object of his highest Love and Adoration and this will make him watch continually over his Soul and keep it pure and undefiled that no unclean thing may enter into that Spirit which is wholly devoted to the God of Purity For certainly nothing can be a more powerful motive to induce us to keep our Heart with all diligence than the consideration of God's Omnipresence and Omniscience that he sees us perpetually in our most private Retirements and searches and knows our most secret and hidden thoughts Hence it was that God himself gave that command to the Father of the Faithful Gen. 17.1 Walk before me and be thou perfect He that walks before God that is he that orders his whole Life and Conversation as knowing and considering that God's Eye is always upon him cannot chuse but endeavour to keep both his Soul and his Body blameless and undefiled and strive to be perfect as his Father which is in Heaven is perfect Again he that hath made such an Offering as this of his Soul unto God will be careful that in all things his Soul be obedient and conformable to the Will of God In his Health and Prosperity if Riches increase he will not set his Heart upon them but with Humility and Thankfulness will receive them as knowing himself not to be a Proprietor but a Steward only of the manifold Blessings of God and will accordingly dispose of them so that God may have the Glory and his distressed Brethren the benefit of his Wealth On the other hand if God sends Trouble and Affliction unto him if he deprives him of his Estate or his Health or both together whatsoever Calamity befalls him he will still bless and praise his Name as well when he takes away as when he gives when he smites as well as when he heals knowing and considering that whatsoever he either enjoys or suffers in this World comes to him from the Hand of an infinitely wise and good and gracious Father that will be sure first or last to make all things work together for good to them that love him Thus will the blessed Will and Pleasure of God be unto him as it were the Load-star to guide and direct his Soul how to steer its course towards the Haven of everlasting Happiness streight and steddy through all the Changes and Chances of this mortal life teaching him that hard Lesson which so few can learn how to separate Riches from Pride and Poverty from Impatience that neither the one may prevail with him to forget God and worship Mammon nor the other to repine at the Divine Providence and to fret and vex himself at the Prosperity of his Brethren If God blesses him he will acknowledge himself to be less than the least of all his Mercies and if he afflicts him he will receive it as the Correction of a tender Father that pities and loves his Children even when he chastizes them Lastly He that hath made this Offering of his Soul unto God whensoever he is in God's House in order to the celebration of his Publick Worship or whensoever he is in his Closet performing his Private Devotions will be exceeding careful to set his Heart and Affections then especially upon those things which are above he will be sure to banish all worldly thoughts out of his Mind and study to behave himself so as becomes one that is admitted to appear in the Presence-Chamber of the King of Kings either to put up his Petitions to him or to receive his Commands following that excellent Counsel of Solomon Eccl. 5.1 Keep thy Foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools for they consider not that
they do evil And how few there are that do follow this Counsel is but too evident from that vain and loose Deportment of many persons which we daily see in the Church to the great scandal and grief of all pious and devout Christians who cannot chuse but be exceedingly troubled and offended to see God publickly dishonoured and affronted in his own House by persons that pretend to come thither on purpose to joyn in the Celebration of his Publick Worship and Praise But of this I shall have occasion to speak more anon when I come to shew you how we are to glorifie God in our Body which I proceed now to do And First as before I observed That we are to glorifie God in our Spirit by keeping it pure and undefiled by sin so must we do in our Body too For it is impossible that a clean Soul should dwell in an unclean Body but if the one be foul the other will certainly partake of its Pollutions Indeed it is impossible that the Body should sin without the Soul since it cannot act but by the Command and Concurrent Assistance of the Soul whereas the Soul may sin without the help of the Body and we may commit Adultery or Murder or Theft in our Heart though our Body never be concerned in the perpetration of any such Crimes And therefore whosoever truly and sincerely glorifies God in his Spirit will by a most inevitable consequence glorifie him in his Body also He that hath banished all unchast thoughts out of his Mind will make a Covenant with his Eyes too that they shall not cast a wanton glance upon Beauty He whose Heart is free from all covetous Desires after his Neighbour's Goods will keep his Hands also from picking and stealing He that is perfectly in Charity with all Men and is not only ready to forgive but heartily loves his Enemies will not only fetter his Feet that they shall not be swift to shed Blood but he will also bridle his Tongue and keep it from evil-speaking lying and slandering and will be so far from hurting any Man by word or deed that he will most gladly embrace every opportunity that is offered him of doing good to any that stand in need of help He therefore that hath devoted his Soul wholly to the Glory of God will devote his Body likewise to the same end he will be careful to cleanse his Hands as well as his Heart to purifie his whole Man and since God hath bought his Body as well as his Soul with a price since one as well as the other is a Temple of the Holy Ghost and a Member of Christ he will endeavour to the best of his power that both of them may be preserved blameless and undefiled and unspotted of the World knowing that God will in no wise accept of a polluted Offering And this is the direct sense and meaning of the Apostle's Argument from the fifteenth Verse to the end of this Chapter whereby he labours to disswade the Corinthians from Fornication and all manner of Uncleanness Flee Fornication saith he every sin that a Man doth is without the Body but he that committeth Fornication sinneth against his own Body What know ye not that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own For ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your Body and in your Spirit which are God's But further if we will glorifie God in our Body as we ought we must not only be careful to keep it chast and undefiled by Lust and Wantonness but we must study to adorn and beautify it so that it may be acceptable in the sight of God by Temperance and Sobriety and Moderation in all things endeavouring to preserve it free from all manner of Luxury and Excess whether in Meat or Drink or Apparel or Recreation or whatsoever else with which it is concerned Meat and Drink in this mortal life are so necessary to us that we cannot live without them but if we indulge our selves in the immoderate use of either of them instead of preserving our Health it will most certainly destroy it So likewise modest and decent Raiment is in a manner as necessary for the covering our Nakedness and defending us from the Injuries of the Weather but still at the best it is but the Devil's Livery which we had never worn had it not been for the Disobedience of our first Parents and which it much better becomes us to be ashamed of than to glory in If therefore we affect vain and pompous Attire if we long for every fantastick Dress as fast as the apish Fashion-mongers can invent them till we have array'd our selves so that we think we may vie both for Smell and Beauty with the Lilies of the Field by so doing though we may hide the Nakedness of our Body we shall most certainly discover that of our Soul and we shall appear loathsome and deformed not only in the Eyes of God from whom nothing can be hid but in the Eyes also of all godly and sober Christians and shall stink in their Nostrils amidst all our precious Odours and Perfumes And therefore our Blessed Saviour hath commanded us not to take any care for the Provision either of Meat or Drink or Raiment any further than what Necessity and Decency requires Matth. 6.31 Take no thought saying What shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithall shall we be cloathed for after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your Heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Such care as this much better becomes an Epicure that expects his Portion in this life than a Christian that owns himself to be but a Stranger and a Sojourner here upon Earth and whose Treasure and Heart and Conversation is in Heaven Therefore as our Apostle exhorts us 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do let us do all to the Glory of God Again we are to glorifie God in our Body by labouring daily in some honest Calling that so we may provide for our selves and our Families and be useful and serviceable to our Country It was a Command as well as a Curse that God laid upon all Mankind in the person of Adam immediately after his Transgression In the sweat of thy Face shalt thou eat Bread And if we yield a consciencious Obedience to this Command labouring as God hath ordained in a lawful Employment we may turn this Curse into a Blessing and provide for our selves not only that Meat which perishes in this World but that which endures unto everlasting life in the next And on the other hand whosoever thinks to exempt himself from the force of this Command until some natural or accidental Infirmity hath dispensed with him shall not
Cross despising the Shame and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God Let us continually lift up our Hearts with most devout and ardent Affections unto him who is our Prophet our Priest and our King yielding as far as we are able an intire and impartial Obedience to all his Laws submitting our Selves wholly to his Will and to the guidance of his Holy Spirit in all Things So when this King of Glory shall come again with the Keys of Heaven and Hell in his Hands to render unto every Man according to his Works he shall open for us those everlasting Doors through which he himself is already passed as our Fore-runner and place us in those happy Mansions of Bliss and Joy which he hath prepared for us where we shall be Kings and Priests unto God for ever Unto which unconceivable Glory and Honour c. SERMON VII MATT. XI 28. Come unto me all ye that Labour and are heavy Laden and I will give you Rest GREAT Travel is created for every Man saith the Son of Sirach Eccles 40.1 and an heavy Yoke is upon the Sons of Adam from the Day that they go out of their Mother's Womb till the Day that they return to the Mother of all Things Their imagination of Things to come and the Day of Death trouble their Thoughts and cause fear of Heart from him that sitteth on a Throne of Glory unto him that is humbled in Earth and Ashes from him that weareth Purple and a Crown unto him that is clothed with a Linen Frock This is the sad Condition of all the Sons of Men by Nature an unhappy Patrimony entailed upon us by the first Adam's Disobedience and from which nothing but the perfect Righteousness and satisfaction of the second Adam can deliver us The former utterly ruined and undid us when we were once Happy The latter came on purpose to seek and to save us when we were lost The former hung upon our Necks the heavy and intolerable Yoke of Satan a Burden under which the whole Creation groans and which if we shake it not off will at the last sink us down into the bottomless Pit The latter came to rescue us from this Bondage and to lay upon us a Yoke indeed too but such a Yoke that should be so far from pinching and oppressing us that it should exalt us and draw us up with it even to the highest Heavens a Yoke that should be light and easie to us at the present and that should procure for us Eternal Rest and Felicity hereafter And here in my Text he makes a most gracious Invitation and a promise of Refreshment to every Man that finding himself thus Burdened and Oppressed will come unto him for help Come unto me all ye c. In the handling of which Words we will consider these three Things First Who they are that are here invited Secondly Unto whom they are invited Thirdly For what end they are invited First Then they to whom this Invitation is made are they that Labour and are heavy Laden and that not some few of them only but all without any exception all such are welcome Guests unto Christ Come unto me saith he all ye that Labour and are heavy Laden This Invitation then seems to be made without respect of Persons to all Mankind For nothing is more certain than that all Mankind is heavy laden with the burden of Sin which is the Thing here meant in these Words This is so evident from innumerable Texts of Scripture that I need not produce Arguments to prove it For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God But tho' nothing be more plain than that all have sinned and consequently that all are laden with this Burden yet nothing is more plain also than that all do not Labour under it Many Men indeed most Men are so far from labouring under the Burden of Sin that they delight and take pleasure in it and can by no means be perswaded to think of parting with it Such Persons as these are so far from seeking Rest in being eased of their Sins that on the contrary they seek for Rest and Happiness in Sin it self where it is certain that it never can be found For there is no Peace saith my God to the Wicked Such therefore are excluded from this Invitation of our Saviour who tho' he calls Sinners unto him yet calls none but such as are weary of their Sins and desire to be delivered from them Secondly Such are excluded likewise who trust in their own Righteousness and presume that they have little or no need of a Saviour Such were the Pharisees of Old of whom our Lord gives us a Character Luk. 18.11 in the Example of the Pharisee that justified himself and despised the Publican praying on this manner God I thank thee that I am not as other Men are Extortioners Unjust Adulterers or even as this Publican I fast twice in the Week I give Tithes of all that I Possess And such are those of the Church of Rome at this Day who presume that they can merit Heaven by their own Works nay more than so that they can do Works of Supererrogation and sell them also for the benefit of others that stand in need of them contrary to the express Command of our Saviour to his Disciples Luk. 17.10 When ye have done all those Things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable Servants We have done that which was our Duty to do and contrary to the Example of the wise Virgins Matt. 25.9 who refused to part with any of their Oyl unto the Foolish lest there be not enough say they for us and you But go ye rather to them that sell and buy for your selves Such Persons as these then both such as delight in Sin and such as trust in their own Righteousness are utterly excluded from this Invitation of our Saviour There is no Promise no hopes of Rest for any such But all they that would be welcome Guests unto Christ must be sensible of the heavy Load and Burden of their Sins so as to be heartily weary of it and most earnestly to desire to be rid of it So that here is a double Qualification required in all those Persons whom Christ here so graciously calls unto him First They must feel the Burden of their Sins so as to Labour under it to be extremely wearied and oppressed with it Secondly They must unfeignedly desire to be rid of this Burthen so as to be delivered not only from the Punishment that is due unto Sin but from the Guilt also and Pollution of Sin that it may no longer reign in their mortal Body that they should obey it in the Lusts thereof First I say all that will come unto Christ must feel the burthen of their Sins so as to labour under it and to be extremly wearied and oppressed with it This is evident from the express Words of our Saviour's Invitation
Life and we must not add to it nor diminish from it but acquiesce in it and make it the sole Rule and Measure of our Faith imposing nothing upon our own or other men's Consciences but what is manifestly consentaneous and agreeable to the Doctrine contained therein Thus ye see that our Righteousness must be thoroughly purged and cleansed from all those Defects with which the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was defiled But still all this is not sufficient if our Righteousness doth not exceed theirs infinitely more than thus it will be nothing worth we shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven That Righteousness which must bring us thither must be absolutely compleat and perfect without Spot or Blemish such as the All seeing Eye of God can discern no Defect in and that it is impossible for us ever to find such a Righteousness as this in our selves I have already shewed you and yet such a Righteousness we must all of us have or else never expect Salvation for without Holiness ay and perfect Holiness too no man shall see the Lord. Since therefore we our selves are not able to perform such a Righteousness as this and yet such an one is absolutely necessary to bring us unto Heaven we must seek it from some other person and to whom should we have recourse for it but to Christ our Saviour who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption Let us therefore if we desire to be saved not trust in our own Merits as the Pharisees did for by the Works of the Law shall no flesh be justified but with the Hand of a true and lively Faith let us put on the Robe of Christs Righteousness which will be sure to hide our faults and to present us holy blameless and undefiled in the Presence of God But let us not deceive our selves neither and pretend to have this Faith and consequently that we have an interest in the Righteousness of Christ when there is no such Matter but let us try and examine our Faith whether it be a true and lively Faith or no. If it be not a Faith that Works by love if it be not fruitful and productive of good Works it is dead and insignificant it will stand us in no stead at all but if we pretend so to lay hold on Christ we shall only grasp a shadow No though we must not relie upon our own performances yet we must work ay and work as heartily as if our Works were Meritorious too but when we have done all we must utterly disclaim our own Righteousness trusting only in the Merits of Christ and desiring with S. Paul that we may be found in him not having our own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith This is such a Righteousness as will never fail us but whereas the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and of all other Hypocrites and Dissemblers with God shall sink them into the bottomless Pit this Righteousness of Faith will refresh our Souls and chear our Hearts with the sweet Hopes and comfortable Expectation here and bless them hereafter eternally with the joyfull Fruition of that Glory which God hath prepared for all them that love him SERMON X. 1 PET. IV. 18. And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear THAT there shall be another Life after this in which all Mankind shall reap the Fruit of their Actions done in the Flesh and be adjudged to an unalterable State either of Happiness or Misery to all Eternity is not only an Article of Faith amongst Christians but a Truth of which the wiser sort of the Heathens were generally convinced This I say is a Truth which all Christians profess firmly to believe but yet alas how small is the Number of those that demonstrate the Truth and Sincerity of their Faith by their Holy Lives and Conversations We all of us know and are assured that there is a just God who will render to every man according to his deeds Rom. 2.6 and will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34.7 We believe that there is an Heaven prepared for Saints and an Hell for Sinners and yet notwithstanding this belief how many thousands that are called by the Name of Christ run on head-long boldly and impudently in Wickedness and pursue with all imaginable Eagerness and Delight those fatal Paths that lead to Destruction as if the Joys of Heaven were a Trifle not worth our Acceptance or the Torments of Hell the object rather of our Desires than Fears But notwithstanding all this Obstinacy and Hardness of our Hearts the Lord God who is ever merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth leaves us not to our selves but is continually calling and inviting us to Repentance by the preaching of his Word and by the secret and powerful Operations of his Holy Spirit Sometimes Heaven is pleased to smile upon us and as it were kindly to desire and intreat us to come and be its Inhabitants to accept of the glorious Liberty of the Children of God to be made Citizens of Sion and free Denizens of the New Jerusalem and at other times it frowns and awakens us with Thunder out of our sinful Lethargy God tries all ways imaginable to reclaim us and deliver us from the Jaws of Death Sometimes he pours down his Judgments upon our Heads that in our Affliction we may seek him early and sometimes he stretches forth the Arms of his Mercy to embrace us and draws us to him with the Cords of a Man with the Bands of Love Hos 11.4 Sometimes he holds forth the golden Scepter to us and graciously invites us to come and kiss the Son lest he be angry and sometimes he shakes his Rod of Iron over our Backs and threatens to dash us in pieces if we will not hear the Rod and who hath appointed it Hence are those many and gracious Invitations to Repentance which God hath made to us in his Word and those terrible Threatnings which he hath therein denounced to affright us from Sin amongst all which there is scarce one to be found that is more emphatical and piercing than this of my Text which must needs fill the Hearts of all obstinate and impenitent Sinners with Horrour yea and it strikes a Terrour even into the Godly themselves and makes them work out their Salvation with fear and trembling It thunders Hell certain and inevitable Damnation to the Wicked and hardly admits the Righteous into Heaven And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Vngodly and the Sinner appear The words are propounded by way of interrogation a thing very frequent in Scripture and generally used for the more powerful enforcing of some weighty and material Argument What could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it
came in a very Mean and despicable Condition so poorly provided for that he had not so much as a House wherein he might lay his Head nor a cradle wherein he might rest but was forced to be content with a Stable for the one and a Manger for the other And all the rest of his Life was answerable to this Mean beginning He was continually affronted and abused and persecuted by the Chief Priests and Scribes and Pharisees and by almost all Men with whom he conversed and after all this he was most perfidiously betrayed by one of his own Disciples denied by another of them and forsaken by all the rest and at the last most barbarously murdered by bloudy and sinful Men. And if God dealt thus hardly with his only begotten Son in whom he was ever well-pleased it would be unreasonable for his Disciples and Followers to expect to fare so much better than their Lord as to be wholly exempted from Afflictions in this Life If the Captain of our Salvation was not made perfect but through sufferings surely then we shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven except we drink more or less of the same Cup. This our blessed Lord hath assured us shall be the Portion of all that will follow him Luke 14.26 27. If any Man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple And whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple And In the World ye shall have Tribulation John 16.33 And this the holy Apostles afterwards found true by their own Experience They were all hated and maligned and persecuted whithersoever they went and not one of them died a natural Death but S. John the Disciple whom our Saviour seemed to love above the rest and perhaps was therefore pleased to exempt him from suffering a violent Death as the other did And thus it fared afterwards with their Successours the Bishops and Pastours of the primitive Church yea and not only with them but with the greatest part of their Flock too Every one that was known to profess the Faith of Christ was persecuted as a Traytour and to be a Christian was to be a capital Offender And though at present by the blessing of God the Light of the Gospel shines amongst us gloriously yet even amongst Christians themselves those few rare Examples of Piety those Persons that are extraordinarily strict and careful to live answerable to their Profession in all Holy Conversation and Godliness are generally hated and scorned and looked upon with an evil Eye and suffer more Sorrow and Affliction in the World than other Men. And now I have given you an Account of all those dangerous Enemies and those manifold and great Difficulties and Troubles which the Righteous Man hath to overcome in his way to Heaven And from what I have said it is sufficiently evident that he shall scarcely be saved that is it shall cost him great pains and striving to work out his Salvation and through much Tribulation he shall enter into the Kingdom of God And if the Righteous be thus scarcely saved I need not insist much upon the other Proposition nor spend many words to shew you that the wicked the ungodly and the sinner shall most certainly be damned For this follows from the former Doctrine by an undeniable consequence and therefore the Apostle takes it for granted appeals to your own Judgment and leaves it to your selves to determine the question in the words of my Text If the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear If the Righteous that hath undergone so many Troubles hath taken so much pains to subdue and mortifie his Lusts hath with so much Constancy and Resolution turned away his Eyes and his Heart from the bewitching Baits and ensnaring Pomps and Vanities of this sinful World hath with so much Courage and Faith resisted the Temptations of Satan and quenched all the fiery Darts of the Wicked hath with so much Patience and Meekness born his Cross and indured the Afflictions and sufferings of this present Life is after all these painful and glorious Performances even when he hath gained a full and compleat Victory over all his Spiritual Enemies and is a Triumphant Conquerour over Principalities and Powers still but an unprofitable Servant and dares not appear before God's Tribunal trusting in his own Righteousness but in that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith how then shall the Ungodly and the Sinner that hath taken no pains at all to fight the good Fight of Faith that hath let loose the Reins to his Lusts that hath yielded himself a Slave to his Passions that hath put God out of all his Thoughts hath set-his Heart and Affections wholly upon the things which are on Earth and glutted himself with sensual Pleasures hath harkned to the wicked suggestions of the Devil hath walked according to the Course of this World according to the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that works in the Children of Disobedience hath enjoyed his good things in this Life and hath not come into trouble like other Men be able to stand before the Righteous Judge of all the Earth when he shall be summoned to give an account of all his Actions done in the flesh The case is plain he shall not be able to stand at all but shall be overwhelmed with everlasting Confusion and Misery and Despair The Vngodly saith the Psalmist shall not stand in the Judgment nor Sinners in the Congregation of the Righteous For the Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous but the way of the Vngodly shall perish Psal 1.5 6. If then we desire to stand in that great Day and to lift up our Heads with joy at the coming of our Saviour let us resolve and labour with all our Might now to stand and fight the Lords Battles Manfully against all the Enemies of our Souls Ye see in what Circumstances we are how great Opposition every faithful Champion of Jesus Christ is like to meet with in this troublesome Wilderness before he can arrive at his heavenly Canaan But though the difficulties which threaten us be great yet they are not insuperable but we may by the Assistance of God's holy Spirit who is ready to help our Infirmities overcome them if we will Let not any thing then discourage nor affright us from our perseverance in well-doing but let us animate our selves by the Example of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs and Confessours to run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Authour and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the Right-hand of the Throne of God Let us consider him that endured such Contradiction of Sinners against