all Temptations That Excuse is overthrown by the constant Continuation of the kind Influences of the Holy Ghost We receive not now indeed those miraculous Gifts with which the Apostles were once endued Nor is it necessary that we should receive them Those contribute not directly to the securing of our Salvation which may be equally obtained without them and lost with them All that is necessary all that is convenient for us is yet continued to us The Holy Ghost still diffuseth his inestimable Benefits to the Souls of Men excites them by inward Motions confirms them by his Assistance perfects them by his Graces which least we should doubt that he still plentifully bestoweth on us for want of some external Assurance he hath instituted the Holy Sacraments more particularly the Eucharist as visible Pledges of his Distribution of Grace to all faithful Believers herein bestowing no less a Benefit to the Members of the Church than he did when he formerly descended as upon this day attended with mighty Signs and Miracles with the Gift of Tongues and Cure of Diseases We are assured that altho' any one speak with the tongues of Men and Angels altho' he be able to remove Mountains yet it is possible for him to miscarry and become a cast-away But to him that receiveth this Holy Sacrament worthily to him that bewails his former Sins and seriously endeavours to reform them to him that enters a new into Covenant with God and lays hold of the Merits of his Crucified Saviour in the Participation of these sacred Mysteries to him that herein reconciles himself to Christ his head by a lively Faith and Repentance and to all the Members of the Church by unfeigned Charity it is not possible to miss his desired end the Salvation of his Soul because God who cannot lie hath promised it by his Word and Spirit the Son hath sealed it by his Blood and the Holy Ghost confirmed it as at first by his Descent upon this day so now also by the sensible effects of his Grace which he diffuseth to all worthy Communicants To these three Persons but one God Father Son and Holy Ghost be ascribed all Honour Power and Glory henceforth and for evermore The Second SERMON ON TRINITY-SUNDAY 1689. At LAMBETH CHAPPEL 1 Cor. II. 11. The things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God THE Doctrine of the Holy and Ever-blessed Trinity in Honour of which this Day hath for some Ages been Instituted and Celebrated in the Church is that alone among all the Principles of Christianity which carrieth an undeniable difficulty along with it and hath been always made use of by the Enemies of the Cross to oppose the Revelation of Christ. Other Doctrines such as the Resurrection of the Body Incarnation of the Son of God and such like may appear Incredible but at the same time it cannot be denied that they are possible And when the Motives of Faith are added to them must by all men rightly Judging be allowed to be credible But it is pretended that the Existence of a Trinity of Persons in the same Divine Nature is even contradictory and therefore impossible that it overthroweth the Primary Notions of our Understanding and allowed Principles of Reason Even many Professors of Christianity who acknowledge all the Revelations of Christ to be true and believe him to have acted by a Divine Mission yet Stumble at this Stone of Offence and therefore to avoid it have taken up unwarrantable Opinions plainly repugnant to the whole Tenour of the Gospel as the Arrians of old and Socinians in later Days That we therefore may not be scandalized with the same Difficulties that we may be able to resist the Delusions and even overcome the Prejudices of these Men it will not be amiss to consider as far as we may with Safety and Modesty that Doctrine which is the peculiar business of this Day For altho ' it becomes us not too narrowly to pry into the Secrets of Heaven and rashly determine Matters the cognizance of which belongeth not to us yet since it hath pleased God to reveal this Mystery to Mankind and make it an Article of Faith it now ceaseth to be a Secret of Heaven and it is both our Duty and Concern to enquire into the Credibility of it For the Christian Religion debars us not from a scrupulous search into the Truth of her Doctrines and placeth no Merit in a blind belief of her Propositions It is accepted indeed by God as an act of Obedience and Merit I mean Merit in a large sence to believe his Promises of a Resurrection and eternal Life after Death as it was imputed unto Abraham for Righteousness that trusting in the Promises of God of giving him a better Inheritance in another Land he forsook his own Country and his Father's House although neither we nor he have received the Assurance of those Promises by the Evidence of Sence He had not yet seen the Land of Canaan and we do not yet enjoy the Possession of those Glorious Promises Notwithstanding all this God neither requires nor accepts an irrational Belief in Man but as He at first endued him with reasonable Faculties so He expects he should make use of them to his Glory which is by no other thing so much diminish'd as by affixing to him Revelations repugnant to Reason and including Contradictions and that the Doctrine of the Trinity is not such I will endeavour to manifest as plainly as the obscurity of the Subject will permit The Foundations of my intended Discourse are laid down by the Apostle in the Text and in the Context of it which therefore it will be necessary to explain and therein I desire you to accompany me by looking upon the place The Apostle had in the first eight Verses of this Chapter declared the nature and simplicity of his Preaching and Doctrine that it was not recommended by pompous and affected Ornaments of Rhetorick that it depended not upon Sillogisms and nice Speculations as did that of the Gentile Philosophers who were esteemed the only knowing Men of the Age that the Matters declared by him were not such as might be found out by the natural Light of Reason or when found out were such as would be applauded by the World as extraordinary flights of Speculation They were not the Wisdom of Men nor the Wisdom of this World Ver. 5 and 6. But the Wisdom of God Matters not to be found out by the sole Guidance of Reason but deliver'd by the infallible Revelation of God who had attested the Truth of them by the wonderful effects of his Power and Spirit manifested in the Miracles and successful Preaching of Christ and his Apostles And least it should seem incredible to any that the Matters of Divine Revelation should be inconceivable to Human Reason acting by its own Power he sheweth us in the ninth Verse That this was no more than was foretold by the ancient Prophets whose Veracity was allowed by
the far greater part of those to whom he writ For it was written in the Prophet Isaiah Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him So that it is undeniable that the Will of God and the Mysteries of Heaven may be unknown to Men acting by the sole Light of Reason but to Men acquainted with the Divine Revelations concerning them may be certainly known Now this is the case of Christianity For as it followeth in the tenth Verse God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit that is by his Son acting by the Spirit and Commission of God and by his Holy Spirit instructing the Apostles in the knowledge of them and confirming them by Signs following And that such Revelation is infallible none can deny for that it proceedeth from one who infallibly knew the Truth of what he taught even the Spirit of God For the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God And least any one should except to these Revelations and deny assent to them because they are things which he never thought of before and which even when revealed to him he cannot well conceive The Apostle shews us that we have no reason to wonder or stumble at this from the obvious Example of the Soul of Man in the 11th Verse The Nature of which cannot be conceived by any Being inferiour to it nor the Secrets or the secret Thoughts of it found out by any Being equal to it For what Man knoweth the things of a Man save the Spirit of Man which is in him Yet would it be unreasonable for an inferiour Being if it could speak and argue to deny that the Soul of Man is endued with noble Faculties because it cannot conceive the Nature of them or for one Man to deny that there are any secret Thoughts in the Soul of another because he cannot attain to the knowledge of them And if things be so then we must allow the Conclusion drawn in the Text Even so the things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God and not unreasonably doubt of the truth of them because we cannot conceive the manner and nature of them So then all Objections drawn from the difficulty of the Conception cease and it remains only to consider whether the alledged Revelation be truly Divine This therefore the Apostle asserts in the 12th Verse declaring his Preaching of it to be founded not upon bare Conjectures and nice Conclusions as were the Systems of Philosophy then received and applauded in the World from which he distinguisheth the Christian Faith by these two Characters that this proceeded from the Revelation of God that from the Invention of Men Now we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God And that whereas the Gentile Philosophy the Wisdom of this World contributed nothing to promote the Happiness of Man and secure to him the Favour of God The other effected both the end of it being no other than that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God Further these Matters when once Revealed and come to our Knowledge as we propose not to others with Artificial Sophistry and Rhetorick so we judge not of the truth of them by pure Arguments of Natural Reason and Logical Inferences Which things also we speak not in the Words which Man's Wisdom teacheth Ver. 13. But as we teach them with that plainness and simplicity which God directeth and confirm the truth of them with those Miracles which he effecteth so we judge of the truth of them no otherwise than by comparing the Nature of the Things revealed with the general Motives of Christian Faith as it followeth But with the Wisdom which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual Now the necessity of this Method in our Enquiry herein the Apostle demonstrates in the 14th Ver. But the natural Man He who judgeth these Revelations only according to his Preconceived Notions taken up from natural Reason and refuseth to believe any thing which he receiveth not from them who weigheth not the external Motives of Credibility reinforcing these Revelations He receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God believeth not these revealed Truths which surmount the reach of naked reason For which reason also They are foolishness unto him because he considers only the difficulty of them and regardeth not the external Arguments of Revelation by which they are recommended So that while he acteth in this irrational Method he cannot know them it is impossible to be convinced of them because they are spiritually discerned not to be found out by the sole Light of Reason but to be received only upon the account of Divine Revelation Whereas he who understandeth well the Motives of Christian Faith and compareth the weight of them with the difficulty of the things Revealed He that is Spiritual Ver. 15. judgeth all things may safely and without Error pronounce of this Matter And in doing so he is not justly to be over-ruled with the Objections of those who consider the thing absolutely in it self and not compared with its Motives of Credibility Yet he himself is judged of no Man Since plain Reason directeth that if the Motives be found weightier than the Difficulties he should declare in favour of the thing Revealed and not be startled at the Difficulties as concerning a subject exceeding the natural Understanding of Man and to be known no otherwise than by the Revelation of God who best knew the truth of it which Revelation we have as it follows in the last Verse For who hath known the Mind of the Lord that he may Instruct him But we have the Mind of Christ. From all that hath been laid down by the Apostle in the Context thus explained we may form these two Considerations whereby to determine the Truth of this Matter I. That we ought not to reject any Articles of Revelation nor be offended at them meerly because we cannot fully conceive the manner of them II. That in judging of the Truth of these Matters we must not consider their internal Probability so much as their external Motives of Credibility First then we ought not to reject any Articles of Faith nor be scandalized at them because we cannot fully conceive the Nature or manner of them For this we cannot rationally do unless we were assured that we fully knew all things and were able to conceive the nature of all Objects Which that we are not we may be convinced if we consider either the Imperfection of our own Understanding or the excellency of many Objects exceeding the Capacity of it 1. The Imperfection of our Understanding appears both from the Consideration of our Nature and from manifold Experience The nature of the Soul of Man is finite and so must the Faculties of it also be One of these is the Understanding which if it were infinite
the Propagation of it Afterwards for several Ages the peaceable Principles of the Gospel seldom wanted their effect in private Christians And even wrought so far in publick Societies professing Christianity that for more than five hundred years after Christ it is certain that Christians never warred against others of the same Communion Nor is the blessed Effect of it wholly expired in these degenerate times Witness that great number of Christians which still frequent the Holy Sacrament of whom it is charitably be to supposed that none presumes to approach this holy Table without an entire Resolution of forgiving Injuries and maintaining Peace with all Men. The last part of the Angels Doxology is Good-will towards Men Which expresseth much more than Reconciliation of God to Man implying no less than his favour and kindness to them using the very same word in the Original which God did of his Son when he said of him This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased The Incarnation of Christ and therein the Assumption of the humane to the Divine Nature so far propitiated God in regard to Men that he not only forgave their Sins and was reconciled to them but also admitted them to his Favour made them capable of even preter-natural Happiness even of enjoying himself in Heaven Insomuch that he who had once thro' abhorrence of their Sins repented himself that he had made them and resolved that his Spirit should not always strive with them did now adopt them for the Darlings of his Creation and as the Original word in the Text implieth even took Pleasure in them vouchsafed to Honour theirs by joyning it to the Divine Nature in the Person of his Son and therein raised it to a degree even above that of Angels not only admitting them to that Pardon of past Sins which was never vouchsafed to the Angels but also sending the Prince of Angels and the Lord of Glory to take human Flesh upon him who afterwards ascending with it into Heaven should thereby consecrate the whole Mass of Mankind of which his Body was the first Fruits and thereby make it capable of the same Glory And surely no greater Argument of the Good will of God towards Men or of his delight in Mankind could be desired than to raise them to the Society of himself in Heaven This was the Effect of the delight which he testified to take in his beloved Son the utmost Reward of his obedience that he advanced his Human Nature to his own right hand in Heaven for his Divine Nature was placed there from all Ages and for his Sake admitted all those who should imitate his Life and Obedience to the same Glory The possession of Heaven wherewith the Human Body of Christ is now invested is an Argument that our Nature is capable of it and an Earnest that we shall in due time be raised to the same Honour For Christ our forerunner is entred into Heaven for us Yet are we not left without other visible Pledges of the same hope more particularly this blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ wherein is lively represented the Truth of his Human Nature and our relation to it The Bread declares his Body the Wine his Blood the breaking of the Bread the Mortality of his Body the pouring out of the Wine the shedding of his Blood to purchase Redemption for Mankind The Distribution of both to every Communicant manifests that they are peculiarly concerned in all this that they are Members of the Mystical Body of Christ and by receiving his Figurative Body are assured of obtaining in due time the same Happiness with his true Body now in Heaven By these Figures of his true Body we openly profess our Belief of his Incarnation that he really took Human Flesh upon him for our Sakes and not only in appearance as was the vain Imagination of ancient Hereticks for that cannot be so much as represented which is not real We acknowledge his Divine Nature at the same time by that Adoration both of Mind and Body which ought to accompany this religious Action We profess our Belief that he came in the fulness of time and that in time all the ancient Prophesies were fullfilled in that we celebrate the very time of his Coming as the Intention and the Offices of this Festival directs Lastly We secure to our selves the Benefits of this wonderful Mystery if we do all this with sincere Faith Repentance and Charity So shall we give occasion to the Holy Angels to renew their Hymn to sing Glory to God who is honoured by this Devotion and Thankfulness of his Servants Peace on Earth wherein Men are hereby reconciled to God and to each other and Good-will towards Men who are hereby admitted to the Favour of God and will be hereafter to the Fruition of him Which God of his infinite Mercy Grant FINIS
without controul dared to reject his Doctrine vilifie his Person and put him to an ignominious Death but now they were to be convinced by uncontestable Proofs from Heaven that his Person was more than Humane his Doctrine Divine and themselves guilty of the most Enormous wickedness in crucifying the Lord of Life The Justice of God the Father had suffered Aspersions in not revenging the Sufferings and rewarding the Labours of his Son But now this was to be cleared and the Jews convinced that neither their Wickedness should pass unpunished nor his Merits unrewarded The Devil had triumphed in his supposed Conquest over Christ and his imagination of having baffled the Design of the Redemption of Mankind by procuring the Author of it to be put to Death but his arrogant Pretensions were henceforth to be checked his Hopes to be defeated his Empire to be dissolved All these Advantages were to flow from the Mission of the Holy Ghost and all these our Lord sums up and Promises in the words of my Text And when he is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment In which words we may enquire I. In what Sense all these Effects and Advantages are to be ascribed to the Mission of the Holy Ghost II. How far these promised Effects and Advantages of his Mission were performed As to the First the word reproving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used in the Text in the Original is taken from judicial Proceedings and signifieth a Confutation of the adverse Party by such Proofs and Testimonies as by an impartial Judge should be allowed to be valid The Office therefore of the Holy Ghost was to be the Paraclet the Advocate of our Saviour upon Earth to plead his Cause to produce these Proofs to urge and propose them to the World There were indeed abundant Proofs before in the Nature of the thing but Proofs are not convictive till laid open declared and proposed This was the Office of the Holy Ghost in this he was to be the Advocate of our Saviour and this he performed by pouring extraordinary Gifts upon the Apostles as on this day which might enable them with Power and Eloquence with Courage and Success to propose those Proofs and convince the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment They were to be the Instruments of this Reproof this Conviction not only by their Gifts received and Labours performed as upon this day but by all their Miracles Sermons and Preaching performed in the whole Course of their Ministry All these Actions were equally directed to the same end the conviction of the World yet all in vertue of those Abilities which they received upon this day All their Gifts and Labours were solely owing to his power and derived from his Grant their Knowledge to his Inspiration their Courage and Constancy to his Support their Speaking to his Impulse their Miracles to his Power their Success to his Blessing So that all which they performed ought truly and properly to be ascribed to him All the Miracles Actions and Prophesies of their Lord before the Mission of the Holy Ghost all the Miracles and Labours of themselves after it were to contribute to the Conviction of the World but all the Efficacy the Application of this Conviction was to proceed solely from the Abilities conferred on them at the time of his Mission And thus the Holy Ghost continueth his Office of Advocate not only during the Apostles times but in all Ages of the Church since those Gifts which he then began to dispense to the Apostles he still continueth to diffuse to the Faithful and by the Efficacy of these Gifts it is that the Church is maintained the Faithful enlivened the Conviction continued He then convinced the World by the Preaching of the Apostles and he now convinceth it by the Preaching of their Successors acted with the same Spirit and by the reading of the Holy Scriptures written by them through his assistance and direction His Gifts indeed conferred on them were far more eminent because more necessary his Administration of the Church in their time more remarkable because manifesting the Completion of many particular Prophesies of our Saviour Upon which account the Promises of this Text were then more eminently fulfilled And that they were so I come next in Order to consider First then the Holy Ghost by his coming reproved or convinced the World of Sin because they believed not on Christ as it follows in the 9. Verse By the World we are here primarily to understand the Jews who notwithstanding all the mighty Signs and Miracles performed by Christ denied Assent to his Doctrine This disbelief of theirs before the Mission of the Holy Ghost our Saviour in many places seems to excuse and pardon and St. Pet. in the III. of the Acts V. 17. extenuates their crucifying the Lord of Life by their Ignorance Which Plea would have been but trifling had not their Ignorance in some measure been excusable but after the Mission of the Holy Spirit to stand out against those manifold Convictions that were then offer'd could be no other than an inexcusable Perverseness and Incredulity Of this we may assign two several Reasons First that although our Lord had in his own Person performed many and those stupendious Miracles yet these affected no other than the Spectators of them For while alive he never blazoned abroad his Miracles nor employed his Disciples in spreading the Report and testifying the Truth of them So that however many particular Persons who were Eye-witnesses of his Miracles could not but be abundantly convinced of his Divinity yet the universal Conviction of the whole Nation of the Jews was to be reserved to the Mission of the Holy Ghost When the Apostles were to be endued with Courage and Power from on high to proclaim his Actions and Doctrines to all Men and if need were to assert the Truth of them by other no less extraordinary Miracles Secondly the chief Note affixed by God whereby to judge of the Truth of any Prophet and particularly of the Messias was the Completion of his Prophesies Thus in Deut. XVIII when Moses assureth the Children of Israel That God should raise them up in the latter days a Prophet like unto himself whom they should be obliged to hear in all things he gives them this Token whereby to judge between the true and any false Messias If the Predictions of him who took upon him the Name and Character of the Messias did really come to pass then they should acknowledge him to be the true Messias The most eminent and almost only Predictions of our Lord which could serve as Signs of this nature to the Jews of that Age were the Mission of the Holy Ghost the Resurrection of himself after three days Imprisonment in the Grave and the Final destruction of Jerusalem before that Generation should pass away The first was happily accomplished upon this day when the Gifts of the Holy Ghost
uncontrouled Tyranny in the World He had withdrawn the far greatest part of Mankind from the worship of the true God and caused the worship of himself to become the publick Religion of all Nations except the Jews Even the Jews he had often seduced to Idolatry and Disobedience to the Divine Commands and had newly instigated them to imbrue their hands in the Blood of their Messias All these enormous Crimes this continued Rebellion against God and particularly the last and greatest the Death of Christ did require from the Judge of all the World a severe Punishment which is therefore called Judgment in the Text because a Sentence proceeding from the Rules of Justice This Sentence was to be executed under the Gospel of Christ as we are told above in the XII 31. Now is the judgment of this world now shall the prince of this world be cast out The Execution of it was to be performed by the Preaching of the Gospel which should destroy the Powers of Hell free Men from the Captivity of Sin and withdraw the World from the Worship of Devils This to those proud Spirits was the sharpest Punishment which could possibly be inflicted and this was begun by the Mission of the Holy Ghost and carried on and compleated by the Gifts and Graces derived down and continued to the Church from his blessed Influence From the Blessings of this day it was that the Apostles received Abilities and Courage to preach the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the Earth to beat down the strong holds of Sin to ruin the power of Satan to turn Men to the Knowledge and Obedience of God From the Continuation of these Blessings the Church hath been always defended from the secret and open Assaults of these infernal Spirits the Governors and Ministers of the Church have been enabled to preach the Truth and discharge their Office successfully and all the Members of the Church have been established in the Faith and supported against all the Temptations of wicked Spirits So eminently did God upon this day exercise Judgment upon the Prince of this World that thenceforward his Kingdom continually decreased his Oracles were silenced his Altars abandoned his Worship relinquished his Disciples diminished until a glorious Church was founded in all parts of the Earth which by a solemn Engagement her Vow in Baptism professeth Enmity unto him Upon all these accounts did the Holy Ghost as a most faithful Advocate at his first Mission plead the Cause of Christ against his Adversaries whether the Devil or the Jews his Persecutors and upon the same accounts doth that blessed Spirit who was promised to remain with the Church till the end of the World and execute the Office of Advocate till the Consummation of all things still continue to plead the Cause of Christ against all his Enemies and that he should do so is highly requisite The Devil still assaults the Church by open Force or secret Temptations and to these the Holy Spirit opposeth his Gifts and Graces Infidels and Hereticks still profess Unbelief to the Doctrines of it and to these he opposeth the same Arguments of Conviction which were before manifested to have proceeded from his Mission All these remain yet in their full force Lastly even in the bosom of the Church among the Professors of Christianity are many to be found against whom it is necessary that the Holy Spirit should still plead the Cause of Christ which they discredit by their Sins and blaspheme by their Lives crucifying afresh the Lord of life and putting him to an open shame In that no less guilty than all those Enemies of Christ which the Holy Ghost at his first Mission was to convince For did the Jews disbelieve the Doctrine of Christ before the undeniable Confirmation added to it in the Mysteries of this day These Men by their Actions proclaim their Unbelief even after the Reception of this Confirmation Did the Spirit of God take so much pains to manifest the unerring Justice of God in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments After all these Men live insensible of either slighting his Rewards and defying his Punishments Did Christ come into the World and die a painful Death Did God exert his Power in so many Miracles Did the Holy Spirit descend as upon this day to put an end to the Empire of the Devil These Men by Perseverance in Sin endeavour to re-establish it in the World and do effectually restore it in their own Souls Justly therefore may this Eternal Advocate implead these Men before the last Tribunal I have conveyed the Knowledge of the true God even to these Sinners I have convinced them of the Truth of the Christian Faith at least they will pretend themselves to have been convinced I have nourished this Knowledge by causing the Holy Scriptures to be writ for their Edification I have endeavoured the Improvement of it by the constant Exhortation of those my Officers which I have settled in the Church I have assisted it by the grant of all necessary Graces as often as desired yet notwithstanding all this they have lived as if they knew not of it much less as if they were convinced of it All my Graces and Sollicitations of them have produced no other effect than to render their Sin the more hainous in that they have wilfully disobeyed my Commands slighted my Directions contemned my Exhortations and stifled my Motions All false Perswasions which might betray them to Sin and Disobedience I have long since corrected If they imagine the Disbelief or which is all one the Neglect of my Doctrines to be no hainous Crime I have long since convinced the World of Sin If they fancy God not to be an unerring and infallible Judge in the Dispensation of Rewards and Punishments I have long ago reproved the World of Righteousness If they pretend the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil to be irresistable I have long since judged the prince of this world taken away his Kingdom and limited his Power These then are the most criminal Enemies of the Name of Christ who being by me convinced of their Duty to obey his Laws refused to perform them who serving under his banner and kindly intreated by him deserted his Service and delivered up themselves to his and their own Enemy from whose Tyranny I had before freed them What then shall we plead in behalf of our selves at that dreadful day Shall we alledge want of Conviction That we pretend not to or if we should the Holy Ghost hath by the Wonders and Benefits of this day effectually confuted that pretence Shall we say that we believed not God to have been in earnest when he allured us with Rewards or threatened us with Punishments That Plea is removed by the Assertion of the Righteousness of God made upon this day Or shall we excuse our selves with want of extraordinary Assistances and Graces of the Holy Spirit enabling us to perform our Duty and overcome
are quick and knowing Spirits they could not but immediately perceive their Unhappiness and make a just Estimate of the Greatness of it The Sense of this indeed could not but make them lament their Folly and repent also if a violent Sorrow only for past miscarriages could be called Repentance For that the Devils have such sorrow cannot be denied since in this consists their Torment but an unsuccessful Sorrow a Sorrow without submission to the just hand of God a Sorrow which God will not accept and which therefore will continue for ever heightened by the greatest Aggravations as being the result of an unspeakable and which is more irrecoverable Loss not to be ended by Death nor diverted by a stupid inconsideration but placed in a knowing active always thinking and immortal Spirit Such a Spirit endued with such active Faculties and tormented with such dismal Thoughts of Unhappiness may well be supposed to conceive the utmost Degree of Rage and Malice The Disappointment of Pride naturally produceth those Effects in Men which Effects could not but be so much the stronger in the fallen Angels by how much their Faculties were more lively and capacious In Men indeed there are many sins which they are not capable of as all those which arise from the inordinate Appetite of the Body as Lust Intemperance and Covetousness but there are others which are purely immaterial and take place only in the Soul as Malice Hatred Envy and Revenge These those unhappy Spirits possess in their full Perfection which they continually exert either aganist God who inflicted that Unhappiness as a Punishment upon them and altho' he might have annihilated them in their first Attempt yet continues their Existence to them and therein their Misery or against Man who by the Favour of God is made capable of attaining that Happiness which they lost and placed in Dignity above them who had endeavoured to set themselves above their fellow Angels and even equal to God himself Inspired with these wicked Thoughts they employ themselves continually in opposition to the Will of God and because this Opposition can take place only in hindring the Happiness of Man designed and desired by God use their utmost Endeavours to effect it The Disposition of all inanimate Bodies and the Course of the material World God hath determined by fixed and certain Laws of Motion which it exceeds their Power to reverse or change but Man being left to the use of his own Free-will and not determined by the Power of God to any certain Actions admits the interposition of evil Spirits It is true they alleviate not their own Torments nor gain any real Advantage hereby yet ought not this to make us believe that they do not busie themselves in tempting of us since it cannot be denied that Man reaps no real Profit by his sins and yet it is too sad a Truth that Men do often sin and that false satisfaction which Men receive from gratifying their Lusts the Devils obtain by serving their Revenge and Envy So then that the Devils should desire to draw us into the same Unhappiness with themselves is no wonder It is only somewhat difficult to conceive how they should effect their Desires and have any influence upon our Wills To satisfie this Difficulty many have entertained false Notions of things which it will be adviseable to remove before I enter into the direct Consideration of the manner whereby evil Spirits tempt us And first It were needless to refute the Errour of the Manichees or Valentinians who gave to the Devil an independent Existence from God and uncontrolable by him nay all the Attributes of God save that of Goodness allowed him an infinite Power whereby he could force the Wills of Men and bind them to the Observation of his wicked Counsels It is not much to be feared that any Christian would at this time be guilty of such an absurd Heresie Yet many perhaps from the frequent Experience of their own yielding to the Temptations of the Devil may be so far corrupted in Judgment as to believe them irresistible or at least plead this in excuse of their Impenitence To such it may not be amiss to observe that it exceeds the Power of any finite Being to force the Will of Man for that were to overthrow the very Essence of Man and thereby change the ordinary Laws of Nature to which all Creatures and amongst them Devils also are subjected Add to this the many Exhortations in Scripture to resist their Temptations which would have been vain if these had been irresistible the Promise of God also that we shall not be tempted above what we are able to bear which would not have taken place if we could not overcome all Temptations and the Experience of good Christians who daily resist and surmount them Even the worst of Men might baffle them if they would use the natural Power of their Souls assisted with that common Grace which is denied to none So that what the Aposte saith of some Men 2 Tim. II. 26. That they are taken captive by him at his Will is not to be understood without their own Consent yielding up themselves to his Conduct and voluntarily following his Suggestions which also appears from the Apostles command to Timothy in the precedent words of instructing them That they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil A second Errour in this Matter is that God giveth to the Devil an extraordinary Power of tempting Men a Mistake which may be observed in many of the ancient and even modern Writers who hence take occasion to magnifie the Grace of God and the Merits of Mans obedience the First in that God hath graciously contrived this impediment of obedience to Man that so his obedience might become the more meritorious and the latter in that Man performs his Duty notwithstanding so great Impediments This opinion altho' received would not in the least clear our doubt since it would still remain to be enquired in what manner the Devils exercise this delegated Power but that it should not be admitted it is enough to say That it is injurious to the Honour of God If it were is God might justly be said to tempt us contrary to what the Apostle teacheth Let no man when he is tempted say that he is tempted of God For God tempteth no man It is impossible that so excellent a Being should be guilty of such double Dealing as to command the Observation of his Laws and at the same time tempt us to the Violation of them to allure and enable us to obey him by Promises by Threats and by the assistance of his Holy Spirit and to divert us from it by the interposition of evil Spirits employed by him This were to ascribe no less Injustice to him than to the Devils themselves Nay to blacken Him and to clear them in the matter of Temptation For if the Devils herein act by the extraordinary Power of God they act
by God considers no further than whether it be grateful and acceptable to the Sense becomes clamorous if denied and can never be wholly rooted out while we carry this Body about with us whose Wants and natural Motions are the Spring of it It is indeed absolutely subject to the command of the rational Faculty if this exerts its self vigorously and maintains a constant Guard but if it grows remiss if those natural Motions either by Negligence or the Impression of evil Spirits be raised into strong Passions the Danger is evident Sin lieth at the doors and if not repelled by a vigorous Opposition will force its entrance This constant Rebellion of the sensual Appetite against the Reason of Man is that unhappiness which St. Paul so much complains of Rom. VII I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the law of sin c. This alone is a constant Temptation to Mankind but then most dangerous when excited and fomented by the impression of evil Spirits which imprint in the Imagination all those Arguments which can enforce the Desires of the sensual Appetite and render them plausible In Opposition to these we should prepare our selves by a frequent Meditation and full Comprehension of all those Arguments which may perswade us to the performance of our Duty to the restrainment of our Lusts to the continuance of our Obedience If by an assiduous Entertainment of these Arguments in our Thoughts they become familiar and as it were habitual to us no sooner shall we be prompted to sin by the Insurrection of our carnal Appetites or the Sollicitation of infernal Spirits but the contrary Arguments will present themselves oppose and defeat the other If it be suggested to us that this sin includeth some considerable Pleasure the mind on the other side will remember that God sent us not into the World to take our Pleasure as we should think most convenient but to perform those immutable Rules of Justice and Sobriety which he hath prescribed and for the sakes of which he bestowed Existence on us that this proposed Pleasure is indeed mean and trifling depriving us of a far greater Pleasure and drawing eternal Misery upon us If the Body or Imagination now affected urgeth vehemently for the Grant of their Desires the Soul will consider that it is better to deny an unnecessary Gratification to it than to destroy both Soul and Body by a soolish Compliance with it If Secrecy and Security in the Commission of this sin be suggested Reason will oppose the all-seeing Eye of God will dread his Majesty and fear his Anger If the smallness of the sin be pleaded a knowing Soul will presently call to mind that every wilful Sin is mortal and an open Rebellion against God If the uncertainty of future Rewards and Punishments be objected Reason silenceth the Objection and appeals to the Evidence of those Arguments from whence by frequent Meditation it hath received a thorough Conviction And thus in all other Arguments of sin suggested either by the sensual Appetite or the Temptation of the Devil if the Soul be prepared with an exact and ready Comprehension of all the Motives of Obedience if it hath fully weighed them thoroughly digested them and firmly retains them it cannot want the proposed end the defeat of Temptations continuance of Innocence and increase of Piety To prepare the mind with such Considerations will indeed successfully baffle the Assaults of our spiritual Enemy and to employ it continually in such would wholly prevent his Attempt But because such continual Attention to spiritual Meditations is I will not say rare but impracticable in this imperfect State of Life instead of that Men should endeavour to employ their Souls continually with some certain Thoughts which if not Pious yet at least may be innocent It is a no less true than common Maxim That Idleness lays men open to the snare of the Devil The reasonableness of which Position plainly appears from what I have already laid down concerning the manner of the Devils Operation in his Temptation For this Being by imprinting the first Thoughts of any Object in the minds of Men he hath no where so easie an entrance as where the Soul lies open on all sides uncultivated unemployed In such a state the mind of Man is capable of any Impressions and ready to receive them and when it hath received them will scarce make any other than a feeble Opposition to the plausible Insinuations of evil Spirits And for this Reason I suppose the Habitation of the Devil is so often in Scripture said to be more particularly in the Wilderness and in Desart Places where Men for want of Business or innocent Society wherewith to entertain the Faculties of the Soul lay open to his Assaults Whereas if the mind busieth it self continually either in pious Meditations lawful Concerns of the Body Knowledge and Prosecution of useful Arts and Sciences in a chast Society or innocent Recreations the Imagination being prepossessed with the Conception of those Objects wherein the mind is employed leaves no room for the Suggestions of the Devil and happily precludes them Man is a thinking Being enjoying an active and immaterial Soul which as such must necessarily be always employed in some Cogitation or other If then Men will take no care to direct and regulate their Thoughts at all times the infallible effect will be that they must blindly follow either the fortuitous Conceptions of a roving Imagination or the impressions of external Objects or the secret insinuations of subtile and wicked Spirits In this Condition Man inconsiderately follows that Idea which first strikes him and then no wonder the Devil makes use of this favourable opportunity to take Possession of his Imagination and turn it to his own Destruction Having thus represented to you the principal and most effectual Methods of resisting our grand Adversary the Devil arising from our own natural Power and Faculties I proceed to consider the external Assistances whereby Man is enabled to carry on the same Design with Success and these are chiefly two the Grace of God and the Assistance of good Spirits And of these briefly in their Order The Grace of God and the Inspirations of his Holy Spirit are never wanting to faithful Christians in this spiritual Combat He hath engaged that he will never suffer us to be tempted above what we are able but will with the temptation also make a way for us to escape And this Promise he observes inviolably by enlightening our minds by directing our Thoughts by influencing our Wills Not that all the aforementioned Faculties of the Soul of Man and Abilities of resisting the Temptations of evil Spirits are less owing to him than these more extraordinary Emanations both equally proceed from his Gift both are to be ascribed to his Liberality But the former are the natural Faculties of Man which cannot be wanting to him while he is
Man which depend not upon the good or bad use of them and are never withdrawn from us nor denied to us The latter are the supernatural Gift of God which Man cannot claim in right of his Nature are conferred only to the worthy receiver and are withdrawn upon the abuse or neglect of them It is no hard matter to conceive how God herein influenceth the Soul of Man after it hath been shewed that even finite Spirits can effect it If they could by long Experince find out what Cogitations of the mind were annexed to such Motions in the Brain He surely who did at first unite them cannot be ignorant of them If evil Spirits by the Priviledge of immaterial Beings can communicate Thoughts to the Soul of Man by immediate influence He certainly who is the supreme Lord of all can do much more He may proceed in other Methods nothing being impossible to him nor himself subject to the Laws of Nature However this we must assuredly believe that God changeth not the Order of Nature herein in violently with-holding our Wills from Consenting to the Sollicitations of the Devil He deals with us as with rational Beings pointeth out the right way to us perswadeth us to enter into it fixeth Rewards at the end of it moveth us gently by his Holy Spirit to embrace it but after all will not forcibly carry us into it And thus he deals with us when tempted by the Devil he giveth us sufficient strength to withstand him enlightens our Souls with a full Prospect of those Arguments which may withdraw the Will from his Sollicitations but after all leaves it at Liberty and awaits the issue Not that this extraordinary Assistance is given to all who are tempted of the Devil but that it is denied to none who rightly seek it He withdraws his Grace if it be not earnestly desired if it be not thankfully received if it be not soberly used if it be not rightly improved as he formerly delivered up the Rebellious Israelites to their own hearts lusts and to follow their own Imaginations and as still by the solemn Censures of the Church when rightly applied wicked Christians are delivered up to Satan to be led captive by him at his Will Another method whereby God assisteth Mankind extraordinarily against the Temptations of the Devil is by restraining his force and limiting his Malice The Devil cannot perform any Act of Temptation without the ordinary permission of God and oft-times he is extraordinarily restrained by his Almighty Power from tempting faithful Men beyond the proportion of their Ability to endure God putteth a Hook in the Nose of this Leviathan and fixeth his bounds unto him how far he shall pass and no farther as in the Case of Job where he determined how far his Power of Temptation should extend and forbad him to proceed any farther than to such a Degree And this is one of the general and most conspicuous Benefits of Christianity that by the Reception and publick Profession of it the Devil that old Dragon in the Revelations is chained up his Power abridged his Malice weakned Before the Promulgation of the Christian Religion he had procured to himself an universal Worship in the World except in the small spot of Judea erected Oracles and daily effected lying wonders Men were from their Infancy trained up in his Service and to be subject to him was the Unhappiness of their Education If any opposed his Worship he was presently decried as an Atheist as an introducer of new Religions obnoxious to severe Punishments by the Laws of the Empire if Men entertained a Suspicion of that irrational Worship which he had formed he could amuse the Minds of his followers by seeming Miracles Fright them into his Obedience by Prodigies keep up the Reputation of Divinity by Sorceries and Predictions All this was then permitted to him till the glorious Light of the Gospel appeared his Power then sensibly decreased untill the open Exercise of it was wholly determined by the publick Profession of Christianity in the World He was then remanded to the bottomless Pit ceased to be the Prince of the Air deprived of the Power of working apparent Miracles at least in Christian Countries confined to secret and dark Operations only and even those in great measure enervated and defeated by that ordinary Grace which is bestowed on all Christians in the publick Sacraments and Offices of the Church It remains that I add somewhat of the Assistance given to us by good Spirits against the Temptations of evil Spirits of which the Solemnity of this day doth particularly require a grateful Acknowledgment which was piously instituted by the Church in Commemoration of those many and eminent Benefits which we receive from the Holy Angels Among these none of the least is what we now treat of their assisting us in resisting the Temptations of evil Spirits For being ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs for Salvation as it is Heb. I. 14. they apply themselves with unwearied Diligence to this Charitable Office attending the Motions of our Minds insinuating good Counsels countermining the Stratagems of the Devil enlightning the Mind moving the Affections promoting the good of the Soul How all this is performed by them we may easily conceive after a clear Comprehension of the method whereby evil Spirits operate in our Souls For whatsoever natural Power these Possess equally belong to the Holy Angels who partake of the same Nature and differ only in the quality of good and bad If they have the Power of moving Matter and so of affecting our Imagination much more these who are the Messengers of God If they can imprint Ideas in our Mind by immediate influence much more these whose pious Designs are blessed and prospered by their Almighty patron If they by long Observation have found out the turnings and windings of the Heart of Man these possess by Nature an equal knowledge and have obtained a much greater by Divine Communication If they have discovered the less defensible places of the Soul of Man where the Attempt may most successfully be made these have discerned the Arguments of Obedience which are most perswasive to every single Man and fail not to apply them fitly If they prosecute their hatred and wicked Designs against Mankind with unwearied Malice these continue their good Offices with no less constant Diligence and Charity If they be rendered vigorous and powerful in all their Actions by their Subtilty Agility long Experience and comprehensive Knowledge these obtain the same Faculties in equal Perfection and with far greater Probability of success in the use of them in as much as therein these act in Obedience to God they in opposition to him these with a constant Complacency and Prospect of reward to be obtained by it those with a perpetual Vexation as knowing the increase of their Punishment doth attend it these assisted and directed by God those restrained and with-holden by him In
short if the Devils bring great Detriment to the spiritual Interests of Mankind the Angels bring no less advantage to it that it may be questioned whether it were more eligible for Man to suffer the Temptation of evil for the Assistance of good Spirits or to want them both together Only the same Caution which we before observed to be necessary in procuring and continuing the Grace of God is also required here that we render our selves worthy of it by a diligent Concurrence and that as we should not by our Perverseness grieve the Holy Spirit of God so neither should we by our Negligence and obstinate Perseverance in Sin grieve the Holy Angels And this is the only Reward which for all their Labour and Care bestowed on us they require of us that together with them we pay a due Obedience to our common Master that we defeat not their Charitable Designs by our own Wilfulness Worship and other Signs of Divine Honour they affect not nay this they will not receive from us The end of their Labour is to procure Happiness to Man and the Reward of it next to the Conscience of having obeyed their great Master is the satisfaction of their Success in it Their only aim is that we would joyn with them here in paying intire Obedience to our common Creator that so we may joyn with them hereafter in singing Praises to him To him therefore be ascribed the Glory and Thanks of all their Charitable Operations in relation to Mankind to him be rendred all Praise and Honour who at first Created such excellent Beings and afterwards sent them forth to Minister to our Salvation who hath placed in us Souls not unlike to these noble Beings and hath Promised that if we be not wanting to our selves he will in due time make us fully like unto them To him with his Son and blessed Spirit be ascribed all Power Might Majesty Dominion and Adoration henceforth and for evermore The Eighth SERMON Preach'd on the 20th of Octob. 1689. At LAMBETH CHAPEL St. Mark VIII 36. For what shall it profit a Man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own Soul IT is the peculiar Character of the Christian Religion that it is adapted as well to the Interest as the reason of Mankind that it is not only Consentaneous to our Natures but advantageous to our Persons that it not only prescribes to us our Duty but directs us in the way of Happiness Herein it infinitely surpasseth even all the more refined Systems of the Gentile Divinity and Philosophy They pretended to no more than to refine our Reason and enlighten our Understanding by the Knowledge and consideration of Truth But then they could produce nothing wherewith to satiate the unbounded Appetite of the Will and create a real Happiness Many of them indeed asserted the immortality of the Soul but neither hoped a Resurrection of the Body nor any reward of the Soul beside the Conscience of a vertuous Life The Jewish Oeconomy indeed had a reward annexed to it but such as fell infinitely short of the Desires of Mankind and the Capacity of rational Beings as being wholly restrained to the Pleasures of this Life and appropriated to the more ignoble part of Man the Body Whereas our Saviour in this last Revelation of God communicated by him to the World whereby the Happiness of Mankind was fully to be compleated and our Natures raised to the highest Perfection hath consulted not only the Reason but the interest of Mankind He hath satisfied the first by giving us a spiritual and rational Religion not tied up to the beggerly Elements of the World nor wholly immersed in Rites and Ceremonies but agreeing to the Dictates of Nature and first Principles of Reason And then in the second Place he hath advanced our Interest by proposing to us an infinite and eternal Reward far surpassing all the Pleasures and Delights of this World Our most Wise and ever Blessed Law-giver knew very well that the greatest part of Men are more moved with Arguments of Profit than with Considerations of Duty The latter only affect our Understandings but the first strike our Senses and ravish our Will He might as well by the right of Creation as Redemption have enjoyned to us all the Precepts of the Christian Religion without annexing any Reward to the performance of them It had even then been our Duty to obey and a sufficient Happiness by obeying to serve the great ends of our Creator And therefore all the Patriarchs before Abraham served God without any express promise of a Reward much less a Reward of that Nature and Value as is proposed to us Christians They might indeed justly hope for the Favour of God but then that Favour might consist only in providing them food and Rayment and other common Benefits of humane Nature and could not with any certainty be extended farther Since our Saviour therefore together with a most excellent Religion hath delivered to us an assurance of eternal Happiness and requireth our Obedience for no other end than that we may thereby obtain this Reward as we ought to admire and magnifie the infinite Goodness of God so must we condemn our own extreme Folly if we neglect or contemn so great Happiness This is an Argument highly accommodated to the Understanding and Capacity of all Men and therefore is very frequently urged by Christ who beginneth his Sermon upon the Mount in the V. Chap. of St. Matthew with affixing this Promise to the greater and more arduous Duties of the Christian Religion that so the Difficulty of these might willingly be overseen by us upon the Prospect of the Greatness of our Reward So Matth. XIII 44. he compareth the Kingdom of Heaven to a Treasure hid in a Field the which when a Man hath found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field and in the following Verses to a Merchant selling all his Estate to buy on Pearl of great price By which Saleâ— and by the Joyfulness attending it he intimates that all worldly Considerations are to be foregone when they stand in Competition with the hopes of another Life A Position which might justly be esteemed a Paradox if that infallible Mouth had not pronounced it and Reason did not in some measure assure us of the Truth of it But such was both the Wisdom and Goodness of our Saviour in prescribing to us a rule of Life that he chose to make use of all the Arguments wherewith either the Will or Understanding of Mankind could be incited to engage us to the Observation of it that so if the Duty we owe to God for the Benefits of Creation Preservation and Life could not enforce us if the wonderful Love of our Redeemer dying for us could not perswade us if Gratitude to both could not oblige us if neither Reason nor Authority could prevail with us to endeavour the Perfection of our Nature by
Mankind by a studious Communication of the Knowledge of it For this Purpose it was at first acted in the Cities in the solemn Feasts and in the publick Places of Judea not in a Desert or in a Cell not spent in a solitary Retirement or known to few And after that the History of it was by the wise Direction of the Holy Spirit committed to Writing whereby the knowledge of it might be conveyed to all Ages and Nations and that Light which first arose and shone in a small Corner of the World might be diffused through the Universe and become a general and eternal Standard of Duty to all Mankind The Second thing proposed to be spoken to were the Benefits which this Light should conferr upon the World by the Communication of it Which our Lord expresseth in the latter part of the Verse He that followeth me walketh not in darkness but shall have the Light of Life And this is but a natural Consequence for if the Light which Christ communicated to the World by his Doctrine and Example were so illustrious as we before described it was impossible that any Man who obtained the Knowledge of the one or imitated the other should still continue in Darkness in the same Ignorance and Error in which he was before involved He had thereby his Mistakes removed the measure of his Duty ascertained to him and the Knowledge of saving Truth conveyed to him which was the thing our Lord chiefly intended in these Words where he speaks of the Perfection of all necessary Knowledge of Divine Matters which he would communicate to those who should put themselves under his Discipline But then there is another easie and practical Sense of the words which may be of more use to us Light and Darkness in Scripture do most frequently signifie those two contrary States of Life which ought to be led by the Professors of the Gospel which enjoyed the Benefit of this revealed Light and which was wont to be led by those who formerly lived or still continued in the Darkness of Gentilism Hence in the New Testament the Disciples of the Christian Religion are often called the Children of light and that State of Sin and Error from which they were converted expressed by Darkness as Ephes. V. 8. Ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light walk as the Children of light and in many other places And all Sin is called the work of Darkness as Rom. XIII 12. Let us cast off the works of Darkness and Ephes. V. 11. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of Darkness Our Lord therefore in this place teacheth us that his true Disciples they who followed the Conduct of his Light walked in the right way cast off the works of Darkness and were directed into and followed the path which leadeth unto Life Many Sins to which they were before subject were the effect of their Ignorance occasioned by the Darkness of their Mind They knew them not to be Sins Their Judgment which is the natural Light of Man could not direct the Will aright or betrayed it to a wrong Choice even when it was disposed aright and as Reason Wills resolved to follow the Direction of the Judgmeâ—t A miserable State indeed when Men were willing to perform their Duty and knew it not The unhappiness of which our Lord fitly describeth Matth. VI. 23. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness if thy Judgment be corrupted with Error or Ignorance of thy Duty how great is that darkness From this unhappiness our Saviour fully freed his Disciples by teaching them all necessary Truth by informing their Judgment by setting their Duty in a full Light whereby if they would use any ordinary Diligence they could not mistake in the Knowledge and Practice of it Further these works of Darknses even among the Gentiles much less among Christians proceeded not always from the defect of Judgment from the Ignorance of Duty but more ordinarily from the Corruption of the Will were acted against the Dictates of Conscience and known to be Sins while acted Yet fitly called the works of Darkness because as our Lord told Nicodemus John III. 20. Every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light least his deeds should be reproved There is a natural Detestation of Sin when known to be such in all Men which maketh the most profligate Men desire their Sins may be concealed from the knowledge of others not considering perhaps as they seldom give themselves time to consider that they cannot escape the knowledge of God This Corruption of the Will which occasions such works of Darkness Christ hath also provided for and removed by proposing such Arguments of Reward and Punishment as if seriously reflected on cannot fail to perswade by rectifying the Judgment and thereby influencing the Will For besides the external Arguments of our Obligation to God and our own Interest concerned in it every part of our Duty when rightly understood carrieth internal and powerful Arguments of Perswasion with it Further this Sentence of Christ may be of use to us to the discovering the true Followers of Christ and to the making a right Estimate of our own as well as others Relation to Christ. For as he that followeth this Light cannot walk in Darkness so it is impossible that he who walketh in Darkness should follow this Light It was formerly the Condemnation of the Jews that Light came into the World and Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil They retained their Infidelity and rejected the Doctrine of Christ because contrary to their beloved Lusts and Vices And it is now the Condemnation of as many Christians that professing to follow the Light they still walk in Darkness that in the midst of all that Knowledge which by Christianity is conferred to them they practise the same Vices which the Gentiles and Infidels were guilty of betrayed to them by their Ignorance and Blindness who nevertheless call themselves the Sons of Light pretend to be the Disciples of the Author of it and to have a near Relation to him Of such St. John hath pronounced 1 John I. 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth And indeed if the Light of Heaven was not intended only to gaze upon and please the Eyes of Men if much less the Light of the Soul the Doctrine and Truth revealed by Christ was not intended merely to promote the Speculations and gratifie the Fancies of Men if a rational and vertuous Conduct of Life be the natural Effect of a sound Judgment and accurate Knowledge of Duty and the Arguments enforcing it it is but a natural Consequence that this Light wheresoever it is found should exert and discover it self in Actions conformable to it But it is absurd to pretend that Light hath there any influence where the works of Darkness are performed or that two such Contraries
eternal Happiness and true Christian Obedience which no change of Fortune can dissolve no unforeseen Calamity can overthrow Therein the Undertaker is only to answer for his Diligence nor is any thing required to compleat his Success but what is intirely in his Power If he be not wanting to himself he may rest secure of the Reward the Nature the Extent the Duration and the Seat of which our Lord hath fully made known unto Man that so he might not any longer be distracted with anxious Thoughts about it and so hath upon that account also as he Promised in the precedent Verses given Rest unto his Soul wearied before with a Fruitless and uncertain Search of Happiness The last Argument which I proposed to speak of is taken from the external Assistance which Christ hath Promised and doth still continue to his Disciples in the Exercise of their Duty Our Lord in imposing his Yoke upon Mankind knew very well the Infirmities of their Nature the Opposition of his Precepts to their ordinary Passions the Tenderness and Clemency which became the Saviour Redeemer and Mediator of Mankind and therefore did not abandon them to the Conduct of their Free-will alone but assisted their Obedience with the Motions of his Holy Spirit with those supernatural Gifts and Graces which he bestows upon all his sincere Disciples which render the imposition of those Precepts which he laid upon them Easie and Pleasant to them To convey this Grace to all the worthy Receivers of it he hath founded a Church a Society of Men professing and publickly declaring Obedience to him in that manner and with those Rites which himself hath instituted He hath made himself the Head of this Body and as such Communicates the influences of his Blessed Spirit to all the Members of it to us who continue in Communion with it If any separate themselves from this Body whereof himself is the Head they cease to have any Relation to him receive none of those supernatural Assistances which are derived from the Head to all parts of the Body At least they cannot receive them by the ordinary method appointed to convey them And if any pretend new Lights and new Ways they are such as have no Promise annexed to them It is not to be admired therefore what may be truly observed That all Hereticks and Schismaticks dividing themselves from the Communion of the Church have in all Ages endeavoured to take away the Obligation of moral Duties and set up the Pretence of greater Lights of a more refined Knowledge to compensate the neglect of Temperance and Meekness of Justice and Charity They having divided themselves from the Body of the Church cut off the ordinary Communication between Christ and them and thereby depriving themselves of the benefit of those Divine Graces and Assistances which are conveyed by that Channel found themselves unable to Practise those Christian Vertues which our Lord requireth of his Disciples and therefore endeavoured to annul the necessity and Obligation of them But this is not to alleviate but to cast off the Yoke of Christ to Claim the Benefits and refuse the Conditions of the Covenant which he made with Mankind and in the mean while to cheat themselves and others with vain Perswasions and arrogant Pretences Our Lord hath Promised the Assistance of his Spirit and therein he will not fail he hath settled the means of conveying it and that he Will not change If we slight the Assistance we are unworthy of it if we forsake the means we are incapable Let us rightly esteem and implore this Assistance to our selves let us hold fast the means whereby we may receive it that is a constant Communion with his Body the Church in all her Holy Offices and Sacraments so shall we Experience that his Commands are not only Excellent in themselves agreeable to our Nature and rendred Pleasant by their Reward but are also made Easie by his Grace and the Influences of his Spirit In the whole we shall be convinced of the Truth of what he affirmed That his Yoke is easie and his Burden light and find assurance of what he Promised Rest to our wearied Souls The Thirteenth SERMON PREACH'D At LAMBETH CHAPEL Rom. XII 19. Dearly beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto wrath For it is written Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. THE Apostle having exhorted to the Duty of Charity throughout this whole Chapter and enforced his exhortation with many Arguments at last concludeth his Arguments with these words whereby he proveth that to act in a contrary manner were to encroach upon the Prerogative of God and invade what he claimeth peculiarly to himself And surely no less an Argument than the fear of violating the Majesty and the Power of God could deter Men from the Practice and Prosecution of revenge which at first Sight appears to be so natural a Passion in Man and can plead for it self with more plausible Arguments than any other sin whatsoever As that Nature directeth all Creatures to defend themselves and repel the Assaults of Enemies that for this Purpose all Animals are endued with proportionable Strength and Courage that to pass by one Enemy unrevenged exposeth a Man to the insults of Enemies to the scorn of Friends and to renewed Wrongs that it is no other than Baseness and Cowardize an Argument of a mean and timorous Soul to submit patiently to the Affronts and Wrongs of another Man and that to return evil for evil to punish the Malice of an Offender by procuring Loss or Grief to him is no other than a part of distributive Justice of which every Man may be allowed to be the Administrator that so as the smart of Revenge inflicted may punish the Malice of the Aggressor the Pleasure of inflicting Revenge may make some amends for the undeserved Sufferings of the injured Party Such Arguments Men are wont to plead in behalf of Revenge and such did once introduce an universal Opinion in the World that Revenge was not only a Matter allowed but even a Vertue the Duty of every Noble and Couragious mind Consonant to the intentions of Nature and the Office of every private Man Thus the great Masters of Morality among the Heathens among whom nothing is more frequent than such Expressions as these that Revenge is sweeter than Life it self that Moderation is to be observed in creating but none in revenging Injuries that not to revenge a Wrong is an Argument of Fear and Sloth of an unmanly and degenerous Mind On the contrary we are taught throughout this whole Chapter to bless them which persecute us to recompence to no Man evil for evil to live peaceably with all Men and in the last place which concerns my present Design not to avenge our selves but rather give place unto wrath not to take upon us to inflict the Punishment due to any sin of Injustice committed against us but to leave that to be inflicted by God either by
his Enemies as well as Friends at that time The Soldiers sent to break his Legs while hanging on the Cross that so they might hasten his Death whom they supposed not yet to have expired found him already dead Joseph of Arimathea and the devout Women which followed him taking him down from the Cross laid him in his Grave being well assured that he was then Dead His Disciples who if any shew of Reason might be offered would not easily believe him dead from whom they then expected a temporal Kingdom yet were so far perswaded of it that at his first appearing to them they were affrighted and supposed they had seen a Spirit To these Proofs nothing more could be added to Evince the reality of his Death an Evidence which is wanting to all the Relations of Men raised from the Dead opposed by the Heathens to the Resurrection of our Lord. They alledged from Plato the Story of Eris lying for many days among the dead Bodies and after that recovering Life again and pretended that Apollonius Tyaneus whom they set up in opposition to Christ had raised a certain Person to Life But the first was not related by any for more than a thousand years after the Fact was pretended to be done and in the second Case the Heathen Historian confesseth that he dare not affirm that the Person was truly Dead Nor after his Resurrection was it less evident that Christ was truly alive invested with Soul and Body All the Actions of Life and Arguments of a real Body met in his He was seen by a great number of his Disciples who judged it to be such He eat and drank with them which proved his Body not to have been a meer Phantasm or Aerial Apparition He talked and reasoned with them out of the Scriptures which demonstrated that Body to be indued with a rational Soul He appealed to their Sense of feeling commanded them to handle him said to unbelieving Thomas reach hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side which manifests that the Body which he then offered to that Tryal was that very Body which had suffered on the Cross and still retained the Print of the Nails and the Impression of the Spear That this same Body and Soul reunited was also joyned to the Divinity as before his Passion appeared from his many Miracles wrought after his Resurrection Thus we have a true proper and real Resurrection And that all these things were so we have the Testimony first of his own Disciples the Faith of whom although so nearly related to him cannot be called in question since they laid down their Lives in Confirmation of it Nor can it be imagined that any Men should die for the Testimony of what they knew to be false Of these the pious Women were first Blessed with the sight of him whether it were in Reward of their maintaining their Love and Fidelity to him when his Apostles had forsaken him or that they came into the Garden where the Sepulchre was immediately after the Resurrection and before he was yet departed out of it They saw him knew him and saluted him held him by the feet and worshipt him The Apostles being advertised of it by them hasted to see their Master and received not only a transient view of him but conversed with him for forty days together and by many infallible proofs were assured of the truth of it Afterwards he appeared to more than five hundred at once and at last ascended up to Heaven in the presence of them all To the witness of Friends we will add the Testimony of his Enemies which in all Cases is allowed to be of great weight The Soldiers who were employed by the Jews to watch his Sepulchre plainly saw the Effects of Divine Power which accompanied his Resurrection although being astonished and confounded at such unusual Prodigies they did not well perceive it or perhaps were not suffered by their Fears to stay till Christ should proceed out of the Sepulchre They felt the Earthquake which removed the stone rolled to the mouth of the Sepulchre they saw the countenance of an Angel like lightning and his raiment white as snow upon which they did shake and became as dead Men and coming into the City shewed to the chief Priests all the things that were done as we read Matth. XXVIII II. The Angels and heavenly Hosts had before joyned with Men in celebrating the Nativity of Christ and they here concurred in witnessing his Resurrection The Women coming to the Sepulchre betimes in the Morning presently after the Resurrection and looking for the Body of their beloved Lord in the Sepulchre found there two Angels in white sitting one at the head the other at the feet where the Body of Jesus had lain who said to them why seek ye the dead among the living he is not here he is risen come see the place where the Lord lay Lastly If we should imagine both his Friends and Enemies the report of Sense oft-times repeated to have been deceived in the Opinion of his Resurrection God hath been pleased to confirm the Truth of it and to set his Seal to it This he hath done not only by his Holy Spirit comforting enabling and encouraging the Apostles in Preaching the Mystery of Christ's Refurrection but also in confirming their Testimony with concurrent Miracles As it is Acts IV. 33. With great power gave the Apostles witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus They openly affirmed it upon their own Knowledge and then in Proof of the truth of their Affirmation wrought Signs and Miracles which to the Spectators did as fully evince the Truth of the Relation as if they had seen it done with their own Eyes since it was impossible that God should exert his omnipotent Power in working Miracles for the Attestation of a Lye Thus much for the reality I proceed in the second place to the II. Manner of the Resurrection expressed in those words having loosed the pains of death which are variously interpreted some maintaining that they imply only a Deliverance from Death and rescue from the Grave others that they point out the dolorous Sufferings by which our Lord was brought to the Grave and raising him up to a state opposite to that Humiliation a third sort understanding by them a Destruction of the Power and Dominion of Death All these Opinions are supported with great Reasons nor will it here be proper to enter into a strict Examination which of them rather is to be embraced They are all rational Consonant to the Design of the Apostle and Significative of the manner of Christ's Resurrection I will therefore apply them all The first Opinion includeth only a Deliverance from Death that is a reunion of Soul and Body separated by Death In which Sense it chiefly referreth to the words of David and the Promises made to him here alledged by the Apostle David had been often brought
Worship that is in the Church All which put it beyond all doubt that St. Paul doth in this place treat of the publick worship of God and of publick Prayer to be used in Churches In the first place then if all Prayer be an Act of Worship publick Prayer is more eminently so The intention of private Prayer is in the first place to obtain Supplies to the wants of the Petitioner and then to worship God Whereas in publick Prayer on the contrary the worship of God is the chief design and the supply of Necessities but a Secondary intention So that to intermit the use of publick Prayer and pray only in private is for Man to worship God only in Subordination to his own designs It cannot be denied that publick Worship and Prayer do far more effectually tend to the Honour and Glory of God when Men do openly and in the hearing of all others confess their Subjection to God magnifie his Benefits deprecate his Anger and acknowledge their own unworthiness This is truly and properly to give Glory to God Whereas he who confineth his Devotion to a Closet may perhaps be allowed to have a just Esteem of the Divine Benefits but seems ashamed to confess so much to other Men that he is the Creature of God as well as others that he equally depends upon him that he hath also violated his Commands and wants his Mercy The Psalmist therefore upon the receiving of great and eminent Benefits is wont to affirm that he will praise God in the Congregation as well knowing that such a publick acknowledgement of them did far more contribute to the Honour of God and was also more pleasing to him It is not enough to say that God receiveth no increase of Honour from our Praises For neither doth he receive any such advantage from private Worship yet it would be impious to say that the worship of God is not the Duty of Man But by publick worship Men do more evidently manifest their gratitude to God and the Sense which they have of his Benefits and their own Obligation than by private Prayer and Adoration And upon this account the former is more acceptable to God who delights in the good of his Creatures which good can be no otherwise procured or maintained but by an exact discharge of their Duty one part of which is a just return of Gratitude and Worship to himself God receiveth not increase of Honour from the Praises of Angels any more than from those of Men. Yet all the Descriptions which we find of Heaven represent them as incessantly singing Praises to their great Creator Who not content to retain a reverent Conception of the Divine Majesty in their own thoughts communicate them to each other and publish them to the whole World And indeed to what purpose can we imagine that God should both under the Old and the New Testament found Churches that is separate Societies of Men united by certain Laws and under one common Form of worship if it be not the Duty of all the Members of those Churches to meet together at certain times and places and adore him by one common Form If God had intended to rest satisfied with private Worship in vain did he contrive and found Churches by wonders of Providence as he hath that both of the Jews and Christians in vain hath he given to them particular Laws and annexed many Priviledges and Promises to the whole Society and to the Members of it as such Under the Old Law he required every Male to appear before him in the publick Place of worship three times in the year and commanded publick Worship to be continually paid to himself in daily Sacrifices Yet as he declared altho' he cared not for ten thousand Bullocks nor for Rivers of Oyl he would not remit the Duty and adjoyned Rewards to it because it publickly declared the Subjection of the devout Sacrificers to himself In these publick Forms of worship in the Jewish Temple our Lord while one Earth constantly gave his Attendance at appointed times After his Ascension and the Gift of the Holy Ghost the Apostles as we find in the III. of the Acts frequented the Temple at the usual hours of Prayer and joyned in the common Forms of Prayer there made use of altho' by the Operation of the Holy Ghost then received by them they could have poured out Extempore far more excellent and devout Prayers than those received in the Temple which were of humane Composition If then God so strictly exacted the Practice of publick Worship in all times if Christ and his Apostles so exactly performed it if for this very Purpose God hath gathered and united a Church under common Laws and the hopes of a common Reward what account can they make who either lay aside all publick Worship as superfluous or decry the daily Sacrifice of prayer and praise to God offered up in the Church or when themselves meet once a week to worship God place the Religion of the day in hearing a Sermon which is properly no part of Worship but only an Exhortation to and direction how to worship God In the next place as the Obligation of publick Prayer is greater than that of private so the Promises made to the one are far greater than to the other Our Lord hath promised That wheresoever two or three shall be gathered together in his name wheresoever there shall be an Assembly of Christians joyned together to offer up Prayer and to worship God he will be in the midst of them He will watch over them with his Providence he will own them as Members of his Body he will excite and render effectual their Devotion by the Operation of his Holy Spirit he will intercede with God for the Grant of their Petitions And how effectual must those Prayers be wherein our Lord himself concurrs Or what doubt can remain of the acceptance of our Worship and the grant of our Desires when he is present with us All the glorious Promises of Assistance Pardon Favour and Protection which were anciently made to the Jews worshipping God at the Temple in Jerusalem are now translated to the Christian Churches The only difference is that whereas among them the publick worship of God was confined to one place in the Christian Religion which was given not to one Family or Nation but to the whole World the same Priviledge is made common to all places of publick Worship in all parts of the World wherever Christianity doth prevail To Worship offered up from publick places alone the Promises of the greater and more illustrious Blessings of God are annexed And no wonder since by this alone the publick Religion of any Nation doth appear by this alone the publick Honour of God is maintained in the World While the Tabernacle made by Moses and afterwards the Temple at Jerusalem stood while daily Sacrifices and Worship were performed therein it was an undeniable Evidence that the Jews worshipped the
add that he shall return in like manner as they saw him go that is in Power and great Glory as our Lord describeth his coming to Judgment Matth. XIII 26. It will be of little use to inquire into what part of the Heavens the Body of our Lord was translated yet not unfit to observe that our Lord is said to have ascended into those Heavens by which the most glorious Presence of the Divine Majesty is in Scripture expressed Thus it is said of him Ephes. IV. 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all Heavens and Hebr. VII 10. That he was higher than the Heavens and Heb. IX 12. passing into the holy place even into Heaven it self to appear before the Presence of God that is he was advanced to the same state of Glory with God the Father his Body was translated to the place of his more immediate Presence in Heaven which is fully expressed by his sitting at the right hand of God To determine the place whether in the third in the fourth or above the Heavens is rash and unwarrantable But this we may be assured that whatsoever part of Heaven is the immediate residence of the Divine Majesty whatsoever Region is most Holy whatsoever Place is of greatest Dignity in those Celestial Orbs thither Christ ascended and there now Reigns in Glory III. The Advantages which the Church and all the Members of it received from the Ascension of Christ are many and great The first and most eminent Benefit derived from it was the Mission of the Holy Ghost of which I spoke before A Benefit which was indeed more sensible in the Apostolick times when it communicated to many the gift of Tongues the power of working Miracles or a prophetick Spirit but is at this day no less advantageous since by the Influences and Operations of the Holy Ghost the Church is still maintained the Faithful are enabled to perform their Duty and the unfaithful are converted Thus the Ascension of Christ became a lasting Benefit to all his Followers procuring to them those Graces which otherwise could never have been obtained The Ascension of Elijah made one Elisha left a double Portion of his Spirit with one Disciple to be communicated to no other but the Ascension of Christ was of universal Benefit producing blessed Effects which should extend to all Believers and to all Ages A second Benefit of the Ascension of our Lord is the Confirmation of our Faith which from thence received firm Assurance of the truth of his Doctrine and the Divinity of his Person He had proclaimed to the unbelieving Jews as well as to his own Disciples in the VI. of St. John that he would ascend into Heaven What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before After his Resurrection he said unto the Women Go to my brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father It was not therefore unexpected to the Apostles they were acquainted with his Resolutions herein and when they faw effected what he had before foretold them they could no longer doubt that he was the true Messias Thus although the prophetical Office of our Lord expired upon the Cross all his subsequent Actions offered convincing Arguments to Mankind of the truth of his Mission and the certainty of those things he taught No greater Proof of either could be imagined than his Resurrection from the Dead and when to this was added his Ascension into Heaven there was no more place left for doubt Thus the Faith of the Apostles was confirmed by the Ascension of Christ but their Hopes were much more exalted By this glorious Triumph they saw him put into Possession of that ample Power which they so long wished to be assumed by him which might enable him to reward his Followers and effect those Promises which he had made to them In John XIV he had told them there were many Mansions in his Fathers house and that he went before to prepare a place for them intending to receive them afterwards to himself that where he was there they might be also The former part of the Promise they saw to be effected in his Ascension and thence conceived assured Hope that the latter would be accomplished There can be no greater Motive to believe the truth of Prophecies or Promises than to consider the performance of those which went before The same foreknowledge of our Lord which foresaw the Exaltation of himself could as easily foresee the like Reward to be given to his Followers and the same Power which advanced him to the right hand of God could exalt whomsoever he pleased into Heaven So that his Power could not be questioned and his Will therein he had often declared assuring them Joh. XII 32. When I am lifted up from the Earth I will draw all Men unto me Herein the Hopes of all Mankind received increase and strength They had all impatiently wished for Immortality it was easie to believe that their Souls should still exist but their Bodies were equally parts of themselves They were equally concerned for the future Happiness of both yet that either should be hereafter Happy they were assured only by the Revelation of Christ. He affirmed it he promised it he confirmed it by wonderful Signs and Miracles yet it could not but seem strange that Flesh and Blood should inherit the Kingdom of God that such a gross corporeal Being should be admitted to the Society of Angels that Man who was excluded from an Earthly Paradise should be taken up to the immediate Presence of God All this did seem incredible till they saw an Example of it in the Body of Christ which consisting of the same Flesh and Blood partaking of the same Nature was visibly received into Heaven and placed in eternal Happiness By this they were convinced that the like Immortality of their own Bodies was not impossible and while they considered the Promises of Christ and their own Relation to him that he was the first Fruits of humane Nature their forerunner which is entred into Heaven for them the Captain of their Salvation and the Head of their Society they were fully satisfied that it should in time be granted to them since what he foretold of his own Ascension they saw effected since it was but natural to follow their Captain their Head and their Forerunner and with him to be received into the place of their desired Happiness Farther as Christ is our King and our Priest the Benefits which we hope to receive from either of those his Offices received increase by his Ascension into Heaven As King he is thereby invested in the actual Dominion of his Church enabled to bestow upon her all those Graces and extraordinary Assistances which are necessary for her Well-being As our Priest his Intercessions with God the Father in our behalf are made much more prevalent by his personal Presence with him Under the Law the Efficacy of
the brightness of the Sun the Example of wise and holy Men to the fixed Stars which however far inferior to the Glory of the Sun yet are seated in Heaven and communicate to the Earth a Light never to be extinguished and that at a great distance The nearer we approach to these luminous Bodies the greater Light we shall receive from them The Examples of holy Men while alive are so many shining and burning Lights in their several Generations and even after their Deaths will derive exceeding influence to succeeding Ages so long as the Memory of their eminent Piety and good Works shall be continued Those excellent Graces wherewith they were endued those noble Testimonies of Vertue and Holiness which they gave tended no less to the benefit of the whole Church and the instruction of other Christians than to their own Salvation and if they be not equally beneficial to us at this distance of time it is because we either take no Care to obtain the knowledge of them or suffer the remembrance of them to slip out of our Minds It is undeniable indeed that in this present Age and among us especially the Memory of these things is almost lost which is not the least cause of the prevailing wickedness of the Age and present Examples of equal Lustre are very rare or indeed scarce any yet for all that those Holy Persons cease not to retain their glorious Seat in Heaven and there as the Prophet saith To shine as the brightness of the Firmament as the fixed Stars always maintain their Stations and preserve their Light altho' at any time not seen by us To this glorious Station in Heaven our Lord hath promised to advance all those who by extraordinary Piety and the eminent Exercise of good Works shall endeavour not only to save their own Souls but also to Profit the Church in general and to promote the Salvation of any other in particular May the hope of this glorious Reward excite every one of you to the performance of this Duty of Exemplariness And may God of his infinite Mercy accept and Crown your Endeavours for the sake and Merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to whom c. The One and Twentieth SERMON Preach'd on Decemb. 25th 1690. At LAMBETH CHAPEL Luk. II. 14. Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace Good-will towards Men WHAT the Patriarchs saw afar off and desired what the Prophets foretold and just Men in all preceding Ages did assuredly expect the Manifestation of God in the Flesh and the Salvation of Mankind to be wrought thereby did this Day receive its Final accomplishment by the Birth of our Lord and Saviour the Commemoration of which is the occasion of this present Solemnity Nor can we more fitly commemorate it than by this admirable Hymn which the Angels and heavenly Host upon this occasion sang before us and the Church hath in all Ages since retained in her most Sacred Offices Glory be to God in the highest and on Earth Peace Good-will towards Men. This Hymn seems to have been a part of the publick Service of the Jews and to have been employed by them to express and celebrate the most illustrious Instances of the Divine Goodness to them For we find Acclamations very like to it in several places of Scripture and particularly upon the triumphant Entry of Christ into Jerusalem The Jews being perswaded that their long-looked for Messias was now come and all the temporal Advantages which they fancied would attend his Coming cryed out Peace in Heaven and Glory in the Highest But surely upon no occasion was it ever so justly used as by the Angels upon this Day in which the Divine Glory did so eminently shine forth and the eternal Happiness of Mankind did commence For from the Angels we receive this Hymn and are taught to sing it by their Example which is related in the Verse preceding the Text And suddenly there was with the Angels a multitude of the heavenly Host praising God and saying c. One Angel declared to the Shepherds the glad Tidings of great joy which should be to all People the Birth of Christ but the whole Quire of Angels the Host of Heaven joyned to sing Praise to God and celebrate those Benefits which were that day derived down upon all Mankind Themselves received not like Benefits to Men from the Incarnation of the Son of God yet returned Glory to God for it The Reasons of which it may not be amiss to lay down before I proceed to consider the parts of this Hymn singly First then the Angels were moved to give Thanks to God by the increase of the Divine Glory among Men which they foresaw would be consequent to this Incarnation Their Office is to attend continually before the Throne of God and sing Praises without Intermission to him so that every new increase of the Divine Glory inflames their Zeal in this Holy Office The primary Reasons indeed of that Glory and Praise which they continually yield to God are eternal being drawn from his immutable Attributes of supreme Power Wisdom Goodness and Majesty Yet every illustrious Manifestation of any of these glorious Attributes by external Effects becometh also the Subject of their Praise Thus in in Revel IV. 8. we find the Angels celebrating the eternal Attributes of God in that Hymn Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come And in many other places celebrating the Effects of these Attributes as Rev. XV. 3. Great and marvellous are thy Works Lord God Almighty and XIX 7. Let us be glad and rejoyce and give Honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come Nay as it should seem by comparing the several forms of Doxology to be found in the Book of Revelations the Angels since the Manifestation of the Mystery of God incarnate have in a manner changed the Subject of their Doxologies and confined themselves almost wholly to the Contemplation of this Mystery and the glorious Effects of it For in the beginning of that Book while the secrets of Heaven are still supposed to be Sealed up the wonderful Effects of this Mystery not yet to be fully disclosed all their Doxologies insist upon the general Attributes of the Divine Nature But after the full Declaration and Completion of those glorious Events and Effects of this Mystery which are there described the Argument of the heavenly Hymns is altered and imployed in the celebrating the Victories of the Lamb the overthrow of Satan and the Happiness of the Kingdom of the Messias That is so eminent and admirable is the Mystery of this Day so much conducing to the Divine Glory that since the Completion of it it is become the chief Subject of the Contemplation of those Holy Spirits who hereby best of all discern and are enabled to celebrate that Power Wisdom and Goodness which they before admired in God Farther the Angels celebrated the Birth of Christ as rejoycing at the