us VVhat Plots and Descents has he detected and defeated How has he baffled the profoundest Policy of the subtilest Achitophel and made him prove according to his name in Hebrew no better than the Brother or Cousin-Germain to a Fool Oh then let us praise our God according to his excellent Greatness and being wonderfully delivered from the hands of our Enemies let us serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life This God of his infinite Mercy grant for the merits of his dearest Son c. SERMON XII Preached November 27. 1692. the Sunday before the Author died Heb. ii 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation SAint Paul in the former Chap. displays the excellent Glory and Majesty of our Saviour He styles him ver 2. the Son of God the Heir of all things and Maker of the Worlds He tells us us farther ver 3. that He is the brightness of his Fathers Glory the express Image of his Person and the upholder of all things In the following part of the Chapter he shews how far Christ transcends all the Holy Angels These he says are but Servants and Ministring Spirits but Christ he is the Eternal and only begotten Son of God These are all commanded to fall down and worship Christ but He has á Throne a Scepter a Scepter of Righteousness yea the Scepter of his own Heavenly Kingdom Thus great thus glorious a Person is Christ Heaven it self has nothing greater and yet as great as glorious as He is his Father thought fit to employ him in the work of Mans Salvation O the wonderful Condescentions of Heaven We may be sure God is most willing to save poor Sinners seeing he sends to them and that his own Son to beseech and entreat them to accept of Salvation Hence is that of St. Paul in the beginning of this Epistle God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son Had God spoken to us by the meanest of his Prophets it had been strange and wonderful Condescension but that he should send his own Son to preach the Gospel and intreat Rebel sinners to be reconciled to Heaven and accept of Eternal Happiness this is such an instance of stupendious Love and Mercy as does as much exceed our imaginations as it does our Deserts St. Paul having thus dispiayed the Excellent Majesty of Christ and the infinite Riches of Gods Free Grace and Mercy in that he sent his Eternal Son to be the first Preacher of the Gospel and tender Salvation to lost and undone sinners he begins the 2d Chapter with a serious and passionate Admonition We therefore saith he ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip If God had conveyed the Gospel to Christians as he did the Law unto the Jews by the Ministry of Angels we could not have slighted it without gross ingratitude and our Disobedience as we are told ver 2. would have received a just recompence of reward Of how much sorer punishment shall we now he thought worthy seeing the Eternal Son of God condescended to be of the Order of Predicants seeing Christ Jesus himself vouchsafed to be the first Preacher of the Gospel how should we then honour and value this Gospel What earnest heed should we give to the things contained in it or preached from it Whatever Admonitions Exhortations or Reproofs Ministers give us out of these Sacred Oracles should not be look'd upon as the Words of frail Men but as they are in truth the Words of God and Christ. Christians therefore will be most inexcusable They of all men will deserve the severest Punishments if they shall neglect so great Salvation And because the danger is thus great our Apostle is the more earnest and passionate in his Exhortation He employs all his Divine Rhetorick to make Christians sensible of their greater Priviledge and consequently of their greater Obligations to obey the Gospel How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Having by this short Preface led you into the very Bowels of the Text I shall fetch from thence these Three Observations First That the Salvation which is published by the Gospel is exceeding great Secondly That those Christians which neglect this great Salvation must expect the severest Punishments in Hell Thirdly That Ministers may very well be allowed to be mighty earnest and passionate in their Exhortations of Obedience to the Gospel First I begin with the first of these namely to shew you that the Salvation which is published by the Gospel is exceeding great It is called Great Salvation in the Text yea the Apostle puts an Emphasis upon it and calls it So great Salvation Learned Men render it Eximiam ut mire magnam salutem i. e. Most admirable and most excellent Salvation And it will appear at large to be so from these following Considerations 1st The greatness of this Salvation will appear if we consider the greatness of the Price that was paid for it The worth and excellency of a thing is usually measur'd by the greatness of its price Now how great was that price which was paid for this Salvation St. Peter tells us we were not redeemed with such corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of the Son of God Had we offer'd a thousand Rams and ten thousand Rivers of Oil Had we given the fruit of our Bodies for the sin of our Souls yea had it been possible for us to have sacrificed whole Hecatombs of Angels to the Justice of Heaven they would not all have been sufficient to atone for our Sins and purchase this Salvation Nothing could purchase it but the Blood of Iesus and that not only as he was Man but as he was God too Hence we are said expresly to be purchas'd with the Blood of God Act. 20. 28. We see an Infinite price was paid Heaven to purchase this Salvation And therefore we may well allow the Apostles Emphasis of so great Salvation 2ly The greatness of this Salvation will yet further appear if we consider the greatness of those evils it delivers us from It is an excellent saying of Seneca Lenocinium est gaudii antecedens metus the greatness of the danger uses to commend and inhance the greatness of the deliverance Now how great was the danger we were in how great those Evils we were exposed to The Prophet Esay gives us a most Tragical Description of the Infernal Tophet which was to be the Portion of the Rebellious Sinner Chap. 30. 31. Tophet saith he is prepared of old the Pile thereof is Fire and much Wood and the Breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it continually See how each word is arm'd with Terror It seems there is an eternal Tophet prepared for all
SERMONS Preach'd on several Occasions BY Iohn March B. D. Late VICAR of NEWCASTLE upon TINE The last of which was Preach'd the Twenty Seventh of November 1692. Being the Sunday before he Died. With a Preface by Dr. Iohn Scot. The Second Edition To which is added a Sermon Preach'd at the Assizes in New-Castle upon Tine in the Reign of the late King Iames. LONDON Printed for Robert Clavell at the Peacock in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1699. Imprimatur C. ALSTON R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. Ã Sacris Julii 3. 1693. THE PREFACE THE Reverend Author of the following Sermons was a Person of that great Worth and Excellency that among those who knew him they need no other Recommendation than his own Name for besides that they carry in 'em a certain strain of serious and unaffected Piety and this imbellished with such Clearness and Perspicuity such strength and vigour of Expression such solidity of Argument and Discourse as must have rendered the perusal of them very pleasant and profitable to all well-disposed Readers though their Author had been Anonymous besides which I say the truly Pious and Learned Author of them was a Person of such great Accomplishments both Moral and Intellectual as would have justly given Credit with all that knew his Personal Excellencies to much meaner Performances than these The main Objection this degenerous Age had against him was that he was a faithful Son of the Church of England and a zealous Asserter of its Doctrine and Discipline and one would think for a Man to be true to his Profession to that which he hath ex animo subscribed his Iudgment and declared his unfeigned Assent and Consent it should be so far from being reputed a Fault in him by those who pretend either to common Honesty or Modesty that it should rather be esteemed his Glory and Excellency As for his Conversation it was in all respects so Sober and Regular so Pure and Uncorrupt as that though he had but little reason to apprehend himself concerned in that Denunciation Wo be to you when all Men speak well of you yet so far as I ever heard even those who spoke worst of him durst never bespatter him with an Immorality He was a very diligent Pastor of the Flock committed to his Charge and that not only in the course of his Publick Ministry from which without some necessary Occasion he very rarely absented himself but also in his private Converses For besides that every Lord's Day in the Evening he generally spent a considerable Portion of time in Instructing the Youth of his Parish from which Pious and Charitable Exercise he very rarely suffered himself to be diverted even by the Visits of his best and greatest Friends besides which I say his known Abilities in resolving Cases of Conscience drew after him a great many good People not only of his own Flock but from remoter Distances who resorted to him as to a common Oracle and commonly went away from him intirely satisfied in his Wise and Iudicious Resolutions and by these his excellent Qualities and Labours he hath not only purchased to himself a Crown of Glory in Heaven but also so indeared his Memory upon Earth to all that are Virtuous and Good that like the Leaves of Roses still retain their Fragrancy though the Rose it self is withered and dead and that being dead he may yet speak to his surviving Auditors and that the Memory of his good Example and Doctrin may ever flourish among them it is the earnest desire of his Friends that these Sermons of his may be made Publick which though they have not that accomplished Accuracy as they would have had had they had his last hand to them and been prepared for the Press by his own skilful Pen yet as they are they are rightly worthy the Christian Readers perusal and as such I recommend them to his View and remain his Affectionate and Humble Servant Iohn Scot. SERMON I. Psalm lxxvi 7. Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry I Know no Motives nor Arguments more likely to awaken Sinners to their Duty than a due consideration of Gods Infinite Goodness and Almighty Power Knowest thou not saith St. Paul that the goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance Transcendently great is the Goodness of God towards poor Sinners He freely gave us his Son to Purchase Heaven and Eternal Happiness for us He sent down his Holy Spirit to dwell with us that he might sanctifie our corrupt Natures and make us meet to partake of the vast Inheritance of the Saints in Light and he excites us to a due improvement of these assistances of the Spirit by proposing the most glorious Rewards of Heaven and Eternal Happiness Thus God draws Sinners to their Duty by the bands of Love and the cords of a Man that is by Arguments of such an obliging Nature as are most likely to prevail with men whom he hath endowed with Reason and Understanding But how few are there who have so much ingenuity as to be won by kindness The greatest part of Mankind must be treated with severer methods according to the observation of St. Austin Plures sunt quos terror corrigit pauciores quos allicit amor Such saith he is the corruption and degeneracy of our Natures that very few are drawn to their Duty by the Bands of Love the generality of men must be driven to it by the fears of Punishment For this reason the wiser Heathens made Hercules their God of Power their God of Eloquence too intimating that no Arguments are more forcible or more prevalent than those which alarm our fears Now God who is never wanting in any thing that may conduce to our Salvation is observed in Scripture frequently to urge these powerful Arguments upon us Fear-not them saith our Saviour who can do no more than destroy the Body but fear him who is able to destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men saith St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. 11. To the same end and purpose we find Asaph the Author of this Psalm magnifying the power of God in the defeat of Sennacheribs Army Thou hast broken the Arrows of the Bow the Shield and the Sword and the Battel ver 3. The Stout hearted are Spoiled they have slept their sleep and none of the Men of Might have found their Hands ver 5. At thy rebuke O God of Jacob both the Chariot and Horse are cast into a deep sleep ver 6. Those expressions of our Psalmist relate unto Sennacherib King of the Assyrians this Monarchy in Daniels Vision is for its strength compared unto the Lion and it was at its Zenith in the reign of Sennacherib whose very name signifies a fierce Warrier and whose Subjects the Assyrians are deservedly stiled by our Psalmist the Stout-hearted because being flush'd by many Victories they feared neither Man nor God himself whom
general is also true of this Scripture in particular Namely that tho' there be many Floods yet there are many Fords tho' there be many Depths where the greatest Elephants may swim yet there are also some Shallows where the least Lambs will be able to wade In some places the Holy Spirit soars aloft above the reach of the Highest and in other places he stoops so low as to condescend even to the Capacity of the Meanest And so he doth here in the Text where there are no difficulties to puzzle us but plain things to instruct and direct us The Text is a part of that Epistle which was sent by Christ to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus Ephesus was a large City upon which depended several lesser places as the Learned Hammond and others observe And according to that Government Christ had set up in his Church there was an Angel or Bishop constituted to oversee the Flock of Christ in these places Hence St. Austin speaking of the seven Angels which are mentioned in this Book of Revelations stiles them the Bishops or Governours of these seven Churches Such a Bishop or Angel was set over the Church of Ephesus and Antiquity tells us Onesimus was their Bishop to this Bishop or Angel doth Christ send an Epistle as may be learn'd from ver 1 of this Chapter Vnto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write The whole Epistle besides the Prologue and the Epilogue consists of four Principal Parts First A commendation of them for their Labour and Patience and unwillingness to suffer them that are Evil ver 2 3. Secondly A Reprehension wherein they are blamed for leaving their First Love and abating something of the Zeal and Fervour for the Gospel of Christ vers 4. And Thirdly An Exhortation to things of great Importance here in the beginning of the Text Remember from whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first works And Fourthly A Commination in the last words of the Verse Else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place For the fuller understanding of which words First We will first inquire why the Church of Christ is compared unto a Candlestick Secondly Shew you that this Candlestick may be removed out of his place Thirdly That it is an heavy Judgment to have this Candlestick removed out of his place Fourthly The Causes of this heavy Judgment And Fifthly The Means to prevent it I begin First With the first of these Namely to enquire why the Church of Christ is compared unto a Candlestick That the Church of Christ is compared to a Candlestick is plain from Chap. 1. 20. where we are told that The seven Stars are the Angels of the seven Churches and the seven Candlesticks are the seven Churches And well may the Church of Christ be compared unto a Candlestick since it holds forth the Word of God which is so often compared unto a Light We have a more sure word of prophesie saith St. Peter whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light shining in a dark place 2 Pet. 1. 19. To the same purpose is that of David Psal. 119. 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path The World indeed of it self is a very dark place and stands in need of Light It is a dark and dismal place in respect of those manifold troubles and miseries which infest this Life Now the Word of God is a Light which helps to scatter and disperse these Mists of Trouble So King David found it Psal. 119. 50. This is my comfort in my affliction thy word has quickned me The whole world saith St. Iohn lieth in wickedness and it were impossible for us to find our way to Heaven without the light of God's Word But God is so gracious as to give us his Word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths How ought we then to prize and value the Church of God which is no less than the Light of the World without the direction whereof we must have wandred up and down the Wilderness and never have found out the way to Canaan There is no Salvation out of the Church Nec erit illi Deus Pater cui non est Ecclesia Mater God saith St. Cyprian will not be his Father who doth not own the Church for his Mother Had we been born without the Pale of the Church we had been Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel Strangers to the Covenant of Promise without God without Christ and without Hope in this World Sure then we who are born within the Pale of God's Church and enjoy the glorious Light of the Gospel should rejoyce in this Light and learn to Prize and Value it otherwise we may be deprived of it and lose all the advantages thereof as will appear by considering the Second General Secondly Which is to shew that this Candlestick may be removed out of his place This is plain from the words of the Text where we have our Saviour speaking thus to the Church of Ephesus Except thou repent I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy Candlestick out of his place Christ's Church therefore may fail and be extinguish'd But for the more distinct decision of this point we must carefully distinguish of Christ's Catholick and Universal Church and of some particular Church of Christ seated in some particular Kingdom or Nation as the Church of England the Church of Scotland the Church of Denmark and the like Now 1st It is certain in the first place that the Catholick or Universal Church can never fail and be totally extinguished this larger Candlestick shall never be removed We have several promises in Scripture which assure us of the perpetuity of Christ's Church and that it shall continue even unto the end of the World So our Saviour promises his Apostles Mat. 28. ult Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world And again Mat. 16. 18. it is said that Christ has built his Church upon a Rock and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Thus firm and stable is the Catholick Church as St. Chrysostom speakes elegantly it may be assaulted but not defeated it may be distressed but not destroyed it may be wounded but it shall not fall it may be tossed but not wreck'd it may and shall be militant but yet never be overcome But 2ly Tho' the Catholick and Universal Church be thus stable and perpetual yet no particular Church can claim this priviledge The Church of any particular Place or Nation may utterly fail and have its Candlestick removed from it This is threatned in the Text to the Church of Ephesus and has been the sad fate of several other particular Churches For where are those many Famous Churches in Africa which were so glorious and flourishing in the days of St. Austin Where are those seven Golden Candlesticks those seven Famous Churches of Asia
Text for it seems he believed Christ to have been both able and willing to save him which is in effect to own him for a Mediatour Hence we find him making solemn and earnest Addresses to him for Mercy Lord saith he remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom One would think these Circumstances which I have mention'd namely his deep Sense of his Sins his humble Confession of them his Charity to the Soul of his Fellow Thief and his strange and prodigious Faith I say one would think these Circumstances so wonderful and so extraordinary that they were sufficient of themselves to evidence the sincerity of his Repentance how short soever it was and yet by way of Overplus we have the Testimony of our Saviour himself concerning it This day saith our Saviour thou shalt be with me in Paradise Sure that Repentance must be sincere and perfect which enters into Heaven passeth into Paradise and makes so notorious a Thief all on a sudden so fit a Companion for the Holy Jesus And now let us enquire what matter of Comfort here can be for the bold Daring Sinners of the Times Have they any reason to expect such a lively vigorous and extraordinary Faith Or is it possible they should be so well assured of the sincerity of their Repentance The Age of Miracles did expire long ago and God having abundantly confirmed the Truths of the Gospel by mighty Signs and Wonders did resolve to leave the succeeding Ages of the Church to the ordinary Means of Grace How then can we expect at the Hour of Death to find such a wonderful Faith wrought in those profligate Wretches who have all their Life time despised Gods Ministers quenched all the Motions of his Holy Spirit trampled on the Blood of the New Covenant and shamefully abused all the ordinary Methods and Dispensations of the Gospel And as we cannot expect to find in the Clinicks of the Age such a prodigious and extraordinary Faith as was in this penitent Thief so neither is it possible they should be so well assur'd of the sincerity of their Repentance as he was I am willing to be as Charitable to these Penitents as the Salvation of their Souls will allow me to be And therefore let us suppose such Presumptuous sinners to be deeply sensible of their sins and willing to Confess them Let us suppose them sending for their Debauch'd Companions to remind them of Eternity and the great danger of delaying their Repentance Nay farther let us suppose them watering their Couches with their Tears and making most solemn Protestations of better Obedience if God should restore them to their former Health Supposing all this be done by the Clinicks of the Age is it possible for a Minister to afford them a Cordial or any solid Comfort from this Example of the Text For my part I must declare that I think it impossible We may hope well in the Judgment of Charity but to give them any such Assurance as this penitent Thief is beyond the power and skill of the wisest Minister for the Heart is deceitful above all things and since Ministers are not Omniscious as our Saviour was they cannot pass an infallible Judgment upon the sincerity of such a late Repentance When Esau had lost his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage did not he shed as hearty and unfeigned Tears as these supposed Penitents can do and yet it is said found no place for Repentance Did not Iudas run to the Scribes and Pharisees Did he not confess publickly that he had betrayed the Innocent Blood Nay did he not throw down the Thirty peices of Silver And sure if he had not been in earnest such a Covetous Wretch would never have parted with his Mony and yet we know his Repentance was not right Alas the Horrours of Conscience and the ghastly Apparitions of Death will force men to do many things which God will not accept of because they proceed from fear of Punishment and not from the Love of him Nay let me add yet farther that sad Experience has set its Seal to this Observation That many such Penitents who have made the most solemn Protestations of better Obedience in the time of their Sickness when God has restored them in Mercy to their former Health they have with the Dog return'd to their Vomits and with the Sow to their wallowings in the Mire Thus you see that Repentance of the Thief in the Text was so remarkable so wonderful so extraordinary in all the parts of it as will afford little solid Comfort to repenting Sinners at the Hour of Death 4ly This Repentance of the Thief will be found yet farther extraordinary and such as can afford little Comfort to the Clinicks of the Age if we consider those great and extraordinary Temptations he had to grapple with Christ was now in his worst Estate in the very lowest degree of his Humiliation there was no Beauty no Form no Comeliness in him that he should be desired The Chief Priests the Scribes and the Elders mocked him all that passed by reviled him wagging their Heads Of his own Disciples some denied him and all of them shamefully and most ungratefully forsook him This poor penitent Thief was the only Confessor he had And what Inducements had he at this time to own him He could expect no Wordly Advantages all that he could promise himself was only this that as he was now Crucified as a Malefactor only so for such his Confession his Torments would have been enhanced and he persecuted as a Martyr And can now the Clinicks of the Age shew us any such extraordinary Repentance Is Christ now under the same Circumstances of Pain and Ignominy that he was then Do not all our Creeds tell us that he is now at the Right Hand of God That He is made the Head of all things both in Heaven and in Earth And will it be any such heroick Act of Faith now to seek unto such a Glorious and Triumphant Saviour Sure there is a vast difference between the case of the Thief and the case of the presumptuous Sinners The Thief had no inducements to fly to Christ for succour and these have none to fly to but their Saviour There is therefore but little solid comfort for such Penitents in the Example of the Text. 5ly The case of the Thief will yet further be found extraordinary if we consider the time when he obtained Mercy it was no ordinary time but a time when God was shewing a publick Act of Grace and Mercy to the World God at this time was giving his own Son out of great love to Mankind And therefore it might seem proper and well becoming so solemn a time that there should be some Monument of this Infinite Mercy It may possibly deserve your serious observation that God Almighty did always something extraordinary to grace the several Passages of our Saviours Mediatorship We know at his Nativity a Glorious Star shone in the Air
Judge at the last Day and he comes because he is the Son of Man It will not be amiss to enquire briefly into the Reasons of it 1st God has committed the Judgment of the last Day to the Son of Man because he has appointed it should be Visible This is fairly hinted in the Text where it is said they shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven God himself is a Spirit and consequently invisible but the Son of Man is Visible and therefore he is appointed to Ride the Circuit that he may be seen of all his Enemies And that we might take the more notice of this Reason it is repeated again Chap. 26. 64. where Christ tells his Enemies that hereafter they shall see the Son of Man sitting on the Right hand of Power and coming in the Clouds of Heaven It seems the Son of Man shall come and his Enemies shall see him and be confounded at the sight of him This may be farther confirm'd from Act. 1. 11. where you 'l find the Angels preaching this Doctrin This same Iesus who is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven The Comparison is here made between our Saviour's Ascending into Heaven and his returning again to Judgment Ascendit visibiliter descendit visibiliter He Ascended saith Gerhard in a visible manner and he shall descend to Iudgment in a visible manner too 2ly God has committed the Judgment of the last Day to the Son of Man for the reward of his Obedience and greater exaltation of his Human Nature It is but Justice in God to make this Son of Man Judge the World seeing he came into the World and was judged by it It is but equal to invest Christ with a power of Absolution and Condemnation seeing he was Condemned by us to dye and dyed that he might be in a capacity to Absolve us It is but reasonable that all the Sons of Men should bow before his Throne and submit to his Judgment who disdain'd not for our sakes to stand before the Tribunal of wicked Men and receive the Sentence of Condemnation To this purpose are those Expressions of St. Paul Phil. 2. 8 9. Being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto the Death even the death of the Cross Wherefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow He that came at first to save us must it seems come at last Judge us And it is but just that he who before carried a Reed in his hand and was derided by his Enemies should hereafter sway a Scepter of Righteousness and break his Enemies in peices with a Rod of Iron But 3ly God has committed the Judgment of the last Day to the Son of Man for the greater Comfort and Consolation of the Godly What a joyful sight will it be unto all sincere Penitents when they shall see the Advocate become their Judge and none but their Saviour siting on the Throne of Glory For he knows all the Frailties and Infirmities of our Natures He knoweth our frame and remembreth that we are but Dust Yea he will be yet more ready to pity us seeing he was pleased to assume our Natures bear our Infirmities and to be tempted in all things like as we are Well then may the Godly be said in Scripture to long for this glorious appearance of the Lord Iesus Well may the Bride in the Revelations cry Come Lord Iesus come quickly seeing this Day of Judgment will be to her no other than the Day of Nuptuals A Day in which Christ will be married to his People and admit them unto the nearest Union and Communion with himself and that unto all Eternity 4thly God has committed the Judgment of the last Day to the Son of Man for the greater Terror and Confusion of the Wicked The Angels who were present at our Saviours Ascention tell his Disciples Act. 1. 11. that the same Iesus who then ascended into Heaven should descend in like manner as he then ascended up into Haeven Now we know our Saviour when he ascended into Heaven carried along with him the print of the Spear and all those Scars that were made by the Nails and Thorns And these it seems he will bring along with him when he returns to Judgment How then will the wicked mourn as we are told in the Text when they look upon him whom they had formerly pierced Those Wounds which were at first opened to heal their Souls will now open their Mouths and call for Vengeance on them Christ's Eyes saith St. Iohn will now become flames of Fire and such as will certainly consume them his Feet like fine Brass burning in a Furnance and cannot but destroy them Well may the wicked call then upon the Rocks to cover and the Mountains to hide them since the presence of the Lamb will be infinitely more dreadful than the presence of the fiercest Lion For unto such as have trampled this Son of God and Man under foot unto such as have counted the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing unto such I say there will now remain nothing but a certain fearful looking for of Iudgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour these Adversaries Thus I have dispatch'd the Third General and shewn you that this Son of Man must come at the last Day to judge the World and the Reason of it I come now Fourthly In the Fourth place to shew you that He will come with great Power and Glory This is plainly deliver'd in the Text Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and great Glory And 1st He will come with great Glory And 2dly He shall come with Power 1st Let us consider the greatness of that Glory with which this Son of Man shall come to Judge the World Tho' his first coming into the World was mean and contemptible clouded with Poverty and Grief and such other humble Circumstances as were proper for his state of Humiliation yet his second Coming will be splendid and glorious as will appear from these following Particulars 1st Let us consider the immediate Fore-runners and Harbingers of our Saviour's Second coming Kings and Princes have their Harbingers and so has this King of Kings too St Ierome tells us of an Antient Tradition of the Iewish Doctors namely that for fifteen Days together before the great Day of Judgment there shall be transacted upon the Stage of Nature a continued scene of fearful Signs and Wonders The Sea shall lift up his mountainous billows and make a fearful noise with its rouling Waves The Heaven shall crack night and day with loud and roaring Thunders The Earth shall groan under hidious Convulsions and quotidian Earthquakes The Air shall blaze with portentous Comets The Moon shall shed forth purple streams of
be taken in this Figurative sense this Cup represents my blood For it follows presently after I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine saith Christ until that day when I drink it new with you in my fathers kingdom The fruit is called sometimes the blood of the Grape but sure without a figure it cannot be called the blood of Christ. Thus you see that our Church is Apostolical also in denying Transubstantiation 6. The Adoration of the Host is accounted by the Church of England a most dangerous crime for since as you have heard there is no Transubstantiation but it remains bread we dare not pay our Adoration to it which we believe a Creature for it is the plain Doctrine of our Saviour Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve 7. The Church of England in condemning the Worship of Images condemns only what the Apostles and Prophets had condemned before for this charge is given in the Second Commandment Thou shalt not make unto thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them Here we are forbid and that in most comprehensive terms the making of any Image whatsoever to Worship it It is not said Thou shalt not make Images of Idols or false Gods but it is said Thou shalt not make any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing To make an Image of the true God is a violation of this Commandment for the Golden Calves are condemned in Scripture notwithstanding the Children of Israel worshiped the true God under those representations Our Church therefore doth not allow her Members to picture God the Father in the likeness of an Old Man or the Holy Ghost in the similitude of a Bird or Dove For God is a Spirit yea an infinitely glorious Spirit and consequently cannot be pictured without an injury but to worship such Pictures or Images is as S. Paul speaks Rom. 1. to change the glory of the incorruptible God into an Image made like unto corruptible Man and to Birds 8. The Church of England does also justly condemn the Invocation of Saints by mental and vocal Prayers as the Trent Council enjoyns This Doctrine of the Church of Rome by the confession of Learned Papists hath neither Precept nor Example in Scripture to warrant it and consequently it cannot be built upon the foundation of the Text i. e. the foundation of Apostles and Prophets The Temple of old was called the house of Prayer to denote that Religious Prayer is a principal part of the Worship of God and does not our Saviour say expresly Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve To hear mental Prayers belongs only to God who alone trieth the reins and searcheth the heart and therefore to make such Prayers unto Creatures is to make them more than Creatures The Saints must be Omnipresent if they can hear all their Votaries who pray to them in all quarters of the Earth Now Omnipresence is an Attribute which belongs to the Divine Essence Thou art a God that heareth Prayers saith the Psalmist and therefore unto thee shall all flesh come We are told in Scripture that there is but one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Iesus and since he is most willing and able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him we do not use the Intercessions of the Saints for fear we should injure the merits of that All-sufficient Mediatour who ever liveth to make intercession for us By these few Instances which I have given and I might have given you many more it cannot but be evident to all serious unprejudiced persons that the Church of England keeps close to the Rule of the Scripture and like the Church of Ephesus in the Text is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets And because the Testimony of an Adversary has always been thought considerable I shall conclude this head with the Testimony of Pope Paul IV. who as Bishop Andrews Reports made this offer to Q. Elizabeth that if she would but own his Supremacy he would confirm our way of serving God in all things appertaining to his Worship in the very same manner as we now do Sure this Holy Father would never have confirmed the Religion of the Church of England had he not thought it consonant to the Doctrine of the Apostles But since he was pleased to offer his Confirmation we will requite his kindness by valuing our Church the more upon his Approbation Thus I have dispatcht the Three Generals I proposed I have shewn you That the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is the only Foundation upon which the True Church is built That this Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is sufficiently delivered to us in the Holy Scripture and that the Church of England like that of Ephesus in the Text is built upon this and no other foundation I shall now in the close leave a word or two of Exhortation with you and beseech you to continue stedfast in the Communion of the Church of England It is the chief design of St. Paul in this Epistle to keep the Ephesians stedfast in the Faith of Christ He desires them Chap. 3. not to faint and bows his knees to the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that he would strengthen them by his Spirit in the inner Man He bids them Chap. 4. have a care they were no more Children tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive As he would not have them scared out of their Religion by fear of Persecution so neither would he have them gull'd of it by the sleights and subtleties of false Teachers It is therefore our duty when we have found the True Church to continue stedfast in the Communion of it We must resemble those best of Christians of whom it is said Acts 2. 42. That they continued stedfast in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship But alas how apt are men to barter away Religion for some worldly emolument How many are there who carry their Religion in their Pockets and stick not with Iudas to betray their Master for Thirty pieces of Silver unless perhaps their Covetousness be greater and a larger sum be requisite to patch up their broken Fortunes If Naamans Preferment be inconsistent with his Religion you must allow him a dispensation and permit him to bow in the House of Rimmon and to name no more rather than Pilate will hazard the loss of Caesars favour he will pronounce our Saviour innocent one hour and condemn him the next Thus Christ is made to truckle under the World and Gain will be Godliness in spight of the Bible But those that are sober and serious in the World they will
remember such Texts of Scripture as these Prove all things hold fast that which is good 1. Thess. 5. 21. Take heed lest ye being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own stedfastness 2. Pet. 3. 17. Nay St. Iude carries the duty one step higher and tells us we must contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints Ministers must contend by their Tongues and Pens Magistrates and Gentry by their Power Interest and Authority and private Christians by their Prayers and open Profession of it And if St. Iude would have the Primitive Christians not barely own but even contend and that earnestly for the faith when they groaned under the heavy Persecutions of Pagan Emperours sure we have little reason to be afraid to do so who live under the Protection of a most gracious King And since these things are so I hope I shall need no more than these two Motives to back the Exhortation and to enforce the Duty 1. Let us consider The great happiness of such as continue stedfast in the Faith of Christ and Doctrine of the Apostles 2. The lamentable condition of those that shall dare to disown it 1. Let us consider the great Happiness of such as continue stedfast in the Faith of Christ and Doctrine of the Apostles As the Church of Christ is that Golden Candlestick which holds forth the light of the Gospel so it is the Treasurer of all the Riches of Heaven for to it belong the Adoption and the Glory to it appertain the Covenants the Service of God and all the Promises Here we may enjoy all the Ordinances of God and satisfie our Souls with the marrow and fatness of his Sanctuary Yea if we will believe our Apostle in the Verses following my Text every Christian does now grow into an holy Temple in the Lord he becomes an habitation where God vouchsafes to dwell and manifest his special Presence by the saving Operations of his Holy Spirit Happy Souls who have the Honour and the Privilege to lodge and entertain their God! What Joys and Comforts will now crowd into the Soul and attend this glorious Guest And yet all this is only a preparatory for much greater Happiness For these happy Believers as our Apostle speaks are now become fellow citizens with the Saints such are here of the houshold of God and if they make a just improvement of that Grace which is afforded them they shall hereafter be admitted into the Society and Fellowship of Saints and Angels And what Tongue is able to express this Happiness How great an Honour how great a Priviledge was it thought of Old to be a free Citizen of Rome and to have a right to all the Offices and Franchises of that Imperial City So highly valuable was this Freedom that the chief Captain in the Acts tells us he did not obtain it but with a great sum of Mony To these Priviledges S. Paul alludes when he tells the Ephesians and in them all Christians that if they are of the houshold of God and built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets then they are fellow citizens with the Saints that is Denizons of Heaven and free of that City which is above even the heavenly Ierusalem Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou City of God St. Paul tells us Heb. 12. That here dwell an innumerable company of glorious Angels the general Assembly of the First-born That is the Holy Apostles the First-born of the Gospel the Spirits of Prophets Martyrs Confessors and all those just men that are already made perfect Nay farther yet here God the Judge of all vouchsales his glorious Presence and Jesus the Mediatour of the New Covenant appears in all his Glory To be Citizens therefore of this Heavenly Ierusalem is to enjoy the most ravishing Society of Saints and Angels to be admitted to the Beatifick Vision of God himself and to live for ever in Paradise with the Holy Jesus It is to lye with Lazarus in Abrahams bosom feeding continually on the feast of the Lamb and drinking of those Rivers of pleasures which ran at Gods right hand for evermore This one would think should be argument enough to make us hold fast the profession of our Faith stedfast unto the end But if all this will not prevail with us I know nothing that can unless it be what I proposed to be considered in the 2d place Namely the Lamentable condition of those who dare disown and deny the Truths of the Gospel And I cannot give you a truer prospect of their sad condition than in the words of our Saviour Mat. 10. 33. Whosoever shall deny me or be ashamed of my words before men him will I deny before my Father and his holy Angels How many Woes are crowded into this one sentence I will deny him It is to say no more a compendious expression of Hell an Eternity of torments comprized in a word Oh the ineffable horror that will seize the poor Sinner when he stands arraign'd before the Tribunal of Heaven When at the great Assize at the last day he shall see his very Advocate become his Accufer and hear his Sentence pronounced by his merciful Saviour the very hearing of it will be a kind of Hell and the Promulgation of the Punishment anticipate the Execution And now if I could give you a lively representation of the guilt and horror on the one hand and paint out eternal Wrath and Vengeance on the other I might then hope to shew you the condition of such a Sinner as shall be thus disowned and denied by his Saviour But alas this is not all we shall find more ingredients of horror in this Condemnation if we consider that Christ threatens to deny such a Sinner before his Father and the Holy Angels If there could be any room for comfort after the Sentence of Damnation it would be this of being executed in secret But it seems the Sinners folly must be laid open before God and his Holy Angels and all his baseness ript up before the whole World Christ will now in the presence of God the Father of Men and of Angels compare himself who was denied and the Cause for which he was denied together he will now parallel his infinite Merits with a Lust and lay Eternity in the ballance with a Trifle he will now propose that worthy price for which he was denied he will hold it up to open view he will call upon Men and Angels saying Behold that piece of dirt that windy applause that corruptible dower that poor transitory satisfaction for which I was dishonoured and my Truths disowned for which Life Eternity and God himself was scorned yea trampled on by this vile wretched Sinner Judge all the World whether what he despised in the other Life he deserves to enjoy in this How will the vile wretched Sinner then crawl forth and appear in all his filth He will then call in vain upon the