part of the World the Man of Sin should be worshipped as a Saint than that by another the Holy One of God should be rejected as an Impostour For the blessed Spirit of Truth who alone can guide us into all Truth hath told us expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Daemons That there shall arise a great one in the Earth that shall oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God shall sit in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God Whose coming shall be after the working of Satan with all Power and Signs and lying Wonders and with all Deceivableness of Unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the Love of the Truth that they might be saved And that for this cause God shall send them strong Delusion that they should believe a lye that they all might be damned who believed not the Truth but had pleasure in Vnrighteousness And since this Prophecy must needs be fulfulled it was highly necessary that the Holy Ghost should forewarn us to beware of all those false Doctrines and corrupt and abominable Practices which this grand Impostour should endeavour to obtrude upon the Church of Christ as necessary to Salvation one of which the Apostle cautions us against in the words of my Text. Let no Man beguile you of your Reward c. The Text in the Original is something difficult and hath therefore occasioned some difference in Translations though none so great but that any one of them that I have seen and I have consulted several contains as direct a Prohibition of the Worshipping of Angels as the Greek it self For whether we render the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no Man judge against you as Beza or Let no Man condemn you as Diodate or Let no Man master or govern you as the French or Let no Man seduce you as the Vulgar Latin and the Rhemish Translation or Let no Man beguile you of your Reward as our Translatours have rendered it it comes all to one and the same thing viz. that no Man upon Earth hath any Power to impose upon us the Worship of Angels but whosoever goeth about to do so puts a dangerous cheat upon us to the hazarding of our Eternal Salvation The main difference that I can observe consists in joining the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it may be indifferently either to the preceeding or following words If we join it to the words that go before it the Sense will be this Let no man beguile you of your Reward or condemn or master or seduce you willingly arbitrarily usurping over you a Power and Authority which was never committed unto him and so they will look with a malignant Aspect upon his Holinesses pretended Supremacy If we join it to the words that follow it the Sense will be as our Translatours have rendered it in a voluntary humility or being a voluntary in humility and so the Worship of Angels will appear to be but Will-worship having no Foundation in Scripture These things being premised I shall confine my self to our English Translation which in my Judgment is of all that I have seen the most faithfully rendered according to the Original and out of the words of my Text I shall observe this that no Man whatsoever hath any Authority to impose upon us the Worship of Angels being a thing absolutely unlawful and repugnant to the Will of God for the proof of which proposition besides some other Arguments which we may produce the Apostle furnishes us with four in my Text. 1. This Worship of Angels is a false and voluntary Humility a Will-worship invented by Man not enjoined by God 2. It proceeds from a real and carnal Pride He that goes about to impose it upon us intrudes into those things which he hath not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind 3. It is highly injurious to the incommunicable Honour and Prerogative of our Lord Jesus Christ they that are guilty of it hold not the Head 4. It is destructive and deadly to our own Souls and the End of it will be Damnation for he that prevails with us to join in this Worship beguiles us of our Reward First This Worship of Angels is a false and voluntary Humility a Will-worship invented by Man and not enjoyned by God Of all the Temptations with which Satan is wont to assault our Souls there are none so dangerous as those which he offers to us under colour of Religion The common Baits of sensual Pleasures of worldly Profit or Honour and the like sinell so rank of the old Serpent that he that hath but half an Eye may discern that there is an Hook under them and it is merely the Predominance of his Corruptions that prevails with any Man to swallow it But when he assumes the Habit of an Angel of Light when instead of tempting us to Vice he recommends to us some extraordinary Grace and Virtue as being not yet sully understood nor practised by us according to the true intent and meaning of the Gospel it is not every Man that will look for a cloven Foot nor be able to discover it under such a sanctified Disguise and it is no marvel that even some learned Men have been imposed upon by the Stratagem Now of all those Excellent Graces which the Gospel requires of us there is none more lovely and amiable none that doth more adorn and beautifie our Souls and renders them more pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God through the Merits of Christ than Humility and therefore no Temptation could be more likely to prevail with Persons inclinable to Devotion than one that was gilded with the specious Pretence and Shew of so incomparable a Virtue Upon this plausible Foundation the grand Enemy of our Salvation established the Worship of Angels among some Hereticks very early even in the Apostle's Time which was the occasion of S. Paul's giving the Colossians this necessary Caution against it here in my Text. Theodoret upon the place informs us that they that maintained it necessary to observe the Law introduced also the Worship of angels affirming that the Law was given by them And this wickedness was long practised in Phrygia and Pisidia Wherefore the Council of Laodicea which is the Metropolis of Phrygia made a Canon on purpose to prohibit praying to Angels And even to this day saith he there are to be seen amongst them and their neighbours Oratories of S. Michael Now saith he they did this upon pretence of Humility saying That whereas God Almighty was invisible incomprehensible and inaccessible therefore we ought humbly to sue for his favour through the intercession of Angels Now I would fain know the difference betwixt that Worship of Angels which the Church of Rome calls Catholick and hath declared to be good and profitable for us and this
of ordinary Capacities For sirst learned Men that are as well acquainted with the Hebrew Tongue as the Jews themselves have evidently made it appear that wheresoever this word occurs in any other place of the Old Testament it always signifies a pure and undefiled Virgin and no tolerable reason can be given why it may not signifie so in this place as well as in all the rest nay on the contrary very great reason may be given why in this place above all others it may and must of necessity signifie a Virgin as well as elsewhere forasmuch as otherwise this Prophecy will be made downright Nonsense which is the second absurdity contained in this Assertion of the Jews which I say is obvious enough to be discerned by an ordinary Capacity For this Prophecy was delivered upon this occasion Ahaz King of Judah being much afraid of the Kings of Syria and Samaria that were coming to war against him God sends the Prophet Isaiah to comfort him and to assure him that they shall not prevail against him and withal gives him leave to ask some great Sign to be given him to satisfie him that God would certainly protect him which when he refused to do I will not ask saith he neither will I tempt the Lord God himself most graciously promises to give him a Sign therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign And surely if God pleases to give a Sign he will give such a one as is worthy of himself one that is exceedingly wonderful and extraordinary But after all as the Jews would interpret the Text the Sign only to be this Behold a woman shall conceive and bear a son What Sign what Wonder is there in this Certainly no more than what is to be seen every day every hour every minute in one place or other in the world If therefore we interpret the Text thus it is not reconcileable to Sense But as our Translation renders it Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son this is a Wonder indeed such as the world never did nor ever shall behold but once this is an astonishing Sign worthy of God to give and a Prerogative so eminent as none else but the Messias was worthy to receive Now that our biessed Saviour was born of a pure Virgin is a thing so clearly revealed and firmly attested by persons of unquestionable Fidelity and Integrity authorized and commissioned by God himself to give the world a true account of these matters and guided and assisted by his Spirit in the doing of it that it can be denied by nothing less obstinate than the same malice which would pervert the sense of that famous Prophecy which foretold it That the Evangelists and Apostles have given us this account of the Birth of our Saviour is so well known that I need not insist upon it and to prove that their Writings are the word of God and consequently that they are most certainly and infallibly true is beyond my present Purpose which is to shew that there is not any one Prophecy in the Old Testament concerning the Messias which we find not punctually fulfilled even to the least tittle in the person of our Saviour in that account which the Evangelists have given us of him which sufficiently demonstrates him to be the true Messias and their Writings to be of Divine Authority This manner of our Saviour's Birth is very emphatically expressed by our Apostle in my Text. God sent forth his son made of a woman As he is God he is not made but begotten of the Father by an eternal and unspeakable Generation and as he is Man he was not begotten but made of a woman after an unconceivable manner by the omnipotent Power of God And thus it was necessary that the Messias should make his Entry into the world who was to be conceived and born without sin sanctified from the Womb holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Thus much of the fourth Circumstance relating to the manner of the Messias his appearing in the world He was to be born of a Virgin and so was our Saviour The next thing to be considered is in what Quality and Condition he was to come This is that grand Stumbling-block at which the Jews are irreconcilably scandalized They are very ready to acknowledge that our Saviour appeared in the world in a very poor and despicable State and thus far they believe the Gospel as well as we but because he did appear in such a Condition they utterly deny him to be the Messias whom they still expect to come with exceeding great Pomp and Splendour and Glory becoming so great a King as was to sit for ever upon the Throne of David and to suddue all the Nations of the Earth and to reduce them to his obedience Had our Saviour come in this manner and made their Nation the head of the World it is more than probable that this one Circumstance would have fully satisfied them and without any scrupulous Enquiry of what Tribe he was born of what Family in what Place and in what manner they would have unanimously proclaimed him to be the true Messias the Son of David and the redeemer of Israel But that a person of so mean and obscure a Birth as our Saviour was one who as to his external Condition made so inconsiderable a figure in the world that the Carpenter the Son of Mary as they scornfully called him should declare himself to be the greatest of all the Sons of men their so long expected and earnestly desired Messias the Son of God and the King of Israel they lookt upon to be so great an affront to their Nation that instead of owning him to be the Messias they reject him as an Impostor and cut him off by an ignominious Death little knowing that in all this they fulfilled the Scriptures and that their very opposition rejection and Crucifixion of him were all necessary and material Arguments which we could by no means have wanted to prove him to be the true Messias Since then we cannot deny that our blessed Saviour did come into the world in a poor and mean Condition far different from that wherein the Jews expected the Messias should appear in such a Condition indeed in which humane Reason would little imagine that God would send into the world his only begotten Son the Son of his eternal Love in whom he is well pleased him who was to be so highly exalted and to have a name given him above every name For all the world as well as the Jews might very reasonably expect that such a person as this would come attended with the most pompous and magnificent Circumstances imaginable suitable to the Grandeur and Glory of him who was to be higher than the Kings of the earth it concerns us above all other Circumstances relating to the coming of the Messias firmly and substantially to prove this which of all others seems to be the most improbable that he was
voice to be heard in the street A bruised reed shall he not break and the smoaking flax shall he not quench He shall bring forth judgment unto truth He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth and the isles shall wait for his law By this one passage which is a plain Prophecy of the Messias it is manifest that he was to be the greatest Prophet that ever should come into the world an Elect and chosen Servant of God in whom he delighted in a peculiar manner above all the rest of Mankind one upon whom he would pour out his Spirit without measure and anoint with the oyl of gladness above his fellows one that was not only to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel but was also to be a light to the Gentiles and salvation unto the end of the earth filling it all even the Isles as well as the Continent full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea Now that our blessed Saviour was such a Prophet as this for greater than all the Prophets of the Old Testament even than Moses himself is manifest in the Evangelical History both from the Doctrine which as a Prophet he taught and from the Miracles which as a Prophet he wrought for the Confirmation of it As for his Doctrine whosoever reads it must needs acknowledge that it contains a far more perfect and full Revelation of the Divine Will than what was delivered by Moses and the Prophets in regard both of Commands and Promises All his Precepts and Commands were such as highly became the infinite goodness of God to give unto us for the refining and perfecting our Nature and fitting us to partake of that Happiness for which he designed us All those seemingly venial Vices and Imperfections connived at in the Mosaical Law were made capital Crimes and strictly forbidden upon pain of Damnation by the Law of Christ All the false Glosses and corrupt Doctrines of the Scribes and Pharisees he hath utterly rejected and condemned as gross Hypocrisie and by his Law whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her is already become an adulterer whoso hastily reproaches his Brother as a Fool doth thereby bring himself in Danger of Hell-fire he that hates his Brother is a murderer he that loves not his Enemy is guilty of an high breach of Christian Charity even so as to deprive himself of the love of God In a word he hath commanded us to be perfect even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect not only with outward but with inward Purity for his Law reaches not only our Hands but our Tongues and our Hearts and he hath told us expresly that not only for our Actions but also for every idle word and every sinful thought we shall give an account at the Day of Judgment And as the Precepts and Commands of our Saviour far exceed those of Moses and the Prophets so likewise hath he enforced the performance of them with the Promise of a far more glorious Reward to the obedient and the threatning of a far more dreadful Punishment to the Transgressors than any mentioned in the Law of Moses And all this he did with far greater Authority as one that was impowered with a higher Commission than Moses and the Prophets Whatsoever they taught they taught in the name of God ushering in their words with this Preface Thus saith the Lord but our blessed Saviour though what he taught was most truly the Word and Will of God which he was sent into the world to reveal unto us yet as one that knew that in him it was no robbery to be equal with God he delivers it not in God's Name but in his own I say unto you throughout all the Gospels And as our Saviour's Doctrine surpasses that of Moses in its Excellency and Purity so doth it likewise in its Extent and Universality and whereas the Law of Moses was published only to the Children of Israel that of Christ extends it self to all Mankind wheresoever dispersed over the face of the whole Earth Goye saith he to his Apostles into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature Mark 16.15 And that nothing might be wanting to satisfie us that he was indeed a Prophet sent by God on purpose in his Name and by his Authority to teach this Doctrine he confirmed and ratified it with the broad Seal of Heaven with innumerable and most astonishing Miracles than which greater or more certain Testimony God himself cannot give us for the Confirmation of any Truth These Miracles of his were so many and so wonderful that more could not be expected from the Messias by the Confession of many of the Jews that believed on him When Christ cometh say they will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done Joh. 7.31 Even the Rulers of the Jews themselves as well as the common People were convinced that he did work Miracles and for that very reason they conspired against him and put him to Death as we read they did upon his raising of Lazarus from the Dead Joh. 11.47 Then gathered the chief Priests and Pharisees a council and said What do we for this man doth many miracles If we let him thus alone all men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation To these Miracles we may add also his Predictions of future Events very strange and unexpected and yet all punctually fulfilled to a tittle in the very same manner and order as he foretold they should be All these things which I only name presuming them to be well known to all that live within the sound of the Gospel evidently demonstrate our blessed Saviour to be far the greatest Prophet that ever came into the world even such an one as all the Prophets before him foretold that the Messias should be And as he was a Prophet so he was also a Priest as eminent in that Office as in the other Superior to all those of the Aaronical Priesthood even to Aaron himself who as well as his Successors was but a Type of our great High-Priest Jesus Christ And that he was such a Priest as this is frequently declared in the New Testament and most clearly demonstrated by his performing the Offices belonging to such a Priest which are especially these two First to offer up unto God a most holy perfect and sufficient Sacrifice to satisfie his Justice and to make an atonement for the Sins of all Mankind Secondly to appear continually in the Presence of God making most powerful and effectual Intercession for all true Believers That he hath already performed one of these Offices and that he doth still perform the other we are assured by all the holy Pen-men whose business it was to give us a true and faithful account of these matters First he hath offered up unto God such a Sacrifice
Gospel absolutely deny that there was ever any such purchase made disowning both the Divinity of Christ and the satisfaction of his Sufferings As if the God of Truth had studied to impose upon the credulity of Mankind and when he tells us most plainly in his word that he hath purchased his Church with his own blood that we are bought with a price and that our blessed Saviour gave himself a ransome for all and that not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full sufficient and satisfactory Ransome yet all this while he means quite otherwise than what the words seem to import and none but these few sagacious Sophisters are ever able to discover the Divine Fallacy How many thousands are there yet even amongst us Christians who instead of glorifying God in their body and in their spirit openly dishonour him in both glory in their shame and by their wicked and profligate Lives crucifie afresh the Son of God and blaspheme that worthy Name by which they are called Lastly how many Myriads how many Millions are there besides all these that yet sit in darkness and in the shadow of Death Who never heard of the glad tidings of the Gospel nor have had their understandings enlightened and their hearts revived and awakened out of the deadly Lethargy of Pagan Ignorance and Superstition and Idolatry by the benign and salutiferous influence of the Son of righteousness Who instead of glorifying God give away his Glory to his greatest Enemy and do Sacrifice unto the Devil These are sad Considerations that infinite Mercy and Love should be received with such prodigious Scorn and Ingratitude that so invaluable a price as God hath given for us should be paid in vain for the greatest part of Mankind that but a small and inconsiderable number in comparison of the whole Race of Adam should wash their robes and make them white in the blood of that Lamb that was slain for the sins of the whole World and was a Sacrifice every way sufficient to make an atonement for them all Who can reflect upon these things without sorrow Since then the Case is thus with us that most of us are liable to lose the benefit of this Price by neglecting to perform this Duty of glorifying God to which it hath indispensably obliged us let us briefly consider the reasonableness and necessity of this Duty that we may be the more encouraged unto it upon these following Accounts First this Duty of glorifying God is exceeding reasonable forasmuch as God himself is the only Object in the world that is in and for himself glorious and adorable It is a Maxim in Heraldry that the King is the Fountain of Honour how much more then is that Prerogative peculiar unto God By whom Kings reign and Princes decree Justice From whom all Honour both in Heaven and Earth is derived and unto whom it returns again and centers it self as the Rivers in the Ocean When we look upon the Moon shining in its full strength and beauty we cannot but confess that its Light is very pleasant and comfortable to behold but it diminishes much from its Excellency when we consider that all its Lustre is borrowed and that should the Sun withhold its influence the other would be nothing else but a dark invisible Globe So likewise when we consider the Angels and Archangels and all the mighty Powers of Heaven that excel in Strength and Goodness and Holiness we must needs acknowledge that these are Creatures beyond all our thoughts happy and glorious but when we consider further that as great and good and happy as they are yet still they are but Creatures and that all these rich Endowments that they have received they owe to the father of spirits from whom alone comes every good and perfect gift all the Praise and Glory redounds solely to the Almighty Creator Who makes his Angels spirits and his Ministers a flaming fire and to whose Soveraign Will and uncontrolable Power the highest Archangel is as subject and subservient as the most despicable Insect that we trample under our Feet Since therefore it is most plain and undeniable that God is the only Object in the world that is in and for himself glorious and is the Spring and Fountain of Glory and Honour to all his Creatures that do in any measure participate of it reason dictates to us and we need enquire no further that it is our Duty to glorifie him and that should we do otherwise even the very stones under our feet might justly rise up in Judgment against us and condemn us Secondly as God is the only Object that is in and for himself glorious and that in an infinite and incomprehensible manner so he created all things at the first for the manifestation of his own Glory and requires this Homage to be paid him by every one of his Creatures in their respective Capacities For any of the Creatures even for the greatest of them to love himself above all things or to make his own Glory and Honour the end of his Actions is Folly is Injustice is Sin is such foolish and unreasonable Pride as cast the fallen Angels out of Heaven and Man out of Paradise But for God to do thus is both wise and just seeing that Wisdom and Equity requires that nothing less than infinite Perfection should be the adequate Object of infinite Love and Glory and therefore it would be a manifest piece of Injustice of which God can never be capable for him to give that Love or Glory to another which is due to none else but himself alone And accordingly he himself hath told us that he never will do it I am the Lord saith he that is my name and my glory will I not give to another Isa 42.8 No he hath reserved it wholly to himself and for the manifestation of it he hath created all things So the four and twenty Elders confess Rev. 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created The ultimate end of the whole Creation was the Glory of the Creator The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy-work saith the Psalmist Ps 19.1 whoth at considers the certain and regular Motions of the celestial Bodies can chuse but extol and magnifie the Power and Wisdom of that God that made them saying with the Psalmist Praise ye him sun and moon praise him all ye stars of light Let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created He hath also established them for ever and ever he hath made a decree which shall not pass Neither were the Heavens only created for the Glory of God but the Earth also declares the same and his wonders are seen in the Deep Even the merciless and unruly Sea obeys the Decree of him who hath shut it up with doors
Almighty Creatour But though the reasonableness of this Duty must needs be apparent to all Men that believe that there is a God and they that believe not that though they may seem to be Rational Creatures are certainly most notorious Fools yet all Men are not so clearly agreed how to perform this Duty and that is the next thing that falls under our Consideration and the last Particular to be handled in my Text the manner how we must glorifie God we must do it in our Body and in our Spirit forasmuch as he hath redeemed and purchased both of them and both are his For ye are bought with a price c. First We must glorifie God in our Spirit that is in our Soul and in this all Parties are agreed even the very Quakers themselves the most stupid and senseless Fanaticks that have surfeited upon Religion and overwhelmed and oppressed their Reason by that very thing which was designed to refine and perfect it will all of them acknowledge that God is to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and that their Soul ought to bow to him though their Body be as inflexible as a Pillar of Marble And indeed this is the chief and main thing that we are to take care of in the worship of God that our Soul be zealously and earnestly intent upon what we are about for God sees not as Man sees he regards not so much the outward Gestures of our Body though as I shall shew hereafter he expects these from us too but he looks especially upon the inward Thoughts and Intentions of our Heart and if these be not right all our bodily worship is nothing worth If we draw near to God with our Lips and our Heart be far from him if we lift up our Eyes and our Hands to Heaven and our Mind be wedded to the World if we prostrate our Bodies upon the Earth and lay our Mouths in the Dust yet if our Spirit be not proportionably humbled all this is no better than gross Hypocrisie a downright mocking of God who cannot be deceived with counterfeit shews and shadows of Religion If therefore we desire to glorifie God aright we must be sure chiefly and principally to glorifie him in our Spirit and as Solomon advises us we must keep our Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life Prov. 4.23 Now this glorifying God in our Spirit implies briefly thus much That we make a free-will-offering of our Soul unto God committing the keeping of it unto him as unto a faithful Creator permitting him to guide and govern it according to his own good will and pleasure throughout the whole course of our life in whatsoever circumstances both in Prosperity and Adversity so that every thought and motion of it may evermore tend to his Glory He that hath made such an Offering as this unto God will always remember that he is not his own but that his Body and Soul are bought with a price and that both of them are God's and consequently will be careful to direct all his Thoughts Words and Actions to this one end that the Glory of God may be advanced by whatsoever he undertakes He will have God always in his thoughts as the only Object of his highest Love and Adoration and this will make him watch continually over his Soul and keep it pure and undefiled that no unclean thing may enter into that Spirit which is wholly devoted to the God of Purity For certainly nothing can be a more powerful motive to induce us to keep our Heart with all diligence than the consideration of God's Omnipresence and Omniscience that he sees us perpetually in our most private Retirements and searches and knows our most secret and hidden thoughts Hence it was that God himself gave that command to the Father of the Faithful Gen. 17.1 Walk before me and be thou perfect He that walks before God that is he that orders his whole Life and Conversation as knowing and considering that God's Eye is always upon him cannot chuse but endeavour to keep both his Soul and his Body blameless and undefiled and strive to be perfect as his Father which is in Heaven is perfect Again he that hath made such an Offering as this of his Soul unto God will be careful that in all things his Soul be obedient and conformable to the Will of God In his Health and Prosperity if Riches increase he will not set his Heart upon them but with Humility and Thankfulness will receive them as knowing himself not to be a Proprietor but a Steward only of the manifold Blessings of God and will accordingly dispose of them so that God may have the Glory and his distressed Brethren the benefit of his Wealth On the other hand if God sends Trouble and Affliction unto him if he deprives him of his Estate or his Health or both together whatsoever Calamity befalls him he will still bless and praise his Name as well when he takes away as when he gives when he smites as well as when he heals knowing and considering that whatsoever he either enjoys or suffers in this World comes to him from the Hand of an infinitely wise and good and gracious Father that will be sure first or last to make all things work together for good to them that love him Thus will the blessed Will and Pleasure of God be unto him as it were the Load-star to guide and direct his Soul how to steer its course towards the Haven of everlasting Happiness streight and steddy through all the Changes and Chances of this mortal life teaching him that hard Lesson which so few can learn how to separate Riches from Pride and Poverty from Impatience that neither the one may prevail with him to forget God and worship Mammon nor the other to repine at the Divine Providence and to fret and vex himself at the Prosperity of his Brethren If God blesses him he will acknowledge himself to be less than the least of all his Mercies and if he afflicts him he will receive it as the Correction of a tender Father that pities and loves his Children even when he chastizes them Lastly He that hath made this Offering of his Soul unto God whensoever he is in God's House in order to the celebration of his Publick Worship or whensoever he is in his Closet performing his Private Devotions will be exceeding careful to set his Heart and Affections then especially upon those things which are above he will be sure to banish all worldly thoughts out of his Mind and study to behave himself so as becomes one that is admitted to appear in the Presence-Chamber of the King of Kings either to put up his Petitions to him or to receive his Commands following that excellent Counsel of Solomon Eccl. 5.1 Keep thy Foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools for they consider not that
came in a very Mean and despicable Condition so poorly provided for that he had not so much as a House wherein he might lay his Head nor a cradle wherein he might rest but was forced to be content with a Stable for the one and a Manger for the other And all the rest of his Life was answerable to this Mean beginning He was continually affronted and abused and persecuted by the Chief Priests and Scribes and Pharisees and by almost all Men with whom he conversed and after all this he was most perfidiously betrayed by one of his own Disciples denied by another of them and forsaken by all the rest and at the last most barbarously murdered by bloudy and sinful Men. And if God dealt thus hardly with his only begotten Son in whom he was ever well-pleased it would be unreasonable for his Disciples and Followers to expect to fare so much better than their Lord as to be wholly exempted from Afflictions in this Life If the Captain of our Salvation was not made perfect but through sufferings surely then we shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven except we drink more or less of the same Cup. This our blessed Lord hath assured us shall be the Portion of all that will follow him Luke 14.26 27. If any Man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple And whosoever doth not bear his Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple And In the World ye shall have Tribulation John 16.33 And this the holy Apostles afterwards found true by their own Experience They were all hated and maligned and persecuted whithersoever they went and not one of them died a natural Death but S. John the Disciple whom our Saviour seemed to love above the rest and perhaps was therefore pleased to exempt him from suffering a violent Death as the other did And thus it fared afterwards with their Successours the Bishops and Pastours of the primitive Church yea and not only with them but with the greatest part of their Flock too Every one that was known to profess the Faith of Christ was persecuted as a Traytour and to be a Christian was to be a capital Offender And though at present by the blessing of God the Light of the Gospel shines amongst us gloriously yet even amongst Christians themselves those few rare Examples of Piety those Persons that are extraordinarily strict and careful to live answerable to their Profession in all Holy Conversation and Godliness are generally hated and scorned and looked upon with an evil Eye and suffer more Sorrow and Affliction in the World than other Men. And now I have given you an Account of all those dangerous Enemies and those manifold and great Difficulties and Troubles which the Righteous Man hath to overcome in his way to Heaven And from what I have said it is sufficiently evident that he shall scarcely be saved that is it shall cost him great pains and striving to work out his Salvation and through much Tribulation he shall enter into the Kingdom of God And if the Righteous be thus scarcely saved I need not insist much upon the other Proposition nor spend many words to shew you that the wicked the ungodly and the sinner shall most certainly be damned For this follows from the former Doctrine by an undeniable consequence and therefore the Apostle takes it for granted appeals to your own Judgment and leaves it to your selves to determine the question in the words of my Text If the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear If the Righteous that hath undergone so many Troubles hath taken so much pains to subdue and mortifie his Lusts hath with so much Constancy and Resolution turned away his Eyes and his Heart from the bewitching Baits and ensnaring Pomps and Vanities of this sinful World hath with so much Courage and Faith resisted the Temptations of Satan and quenched all the fiery Darts of the Wicked hath with so much Patience and Meekness born his Cross and indured the Afflictions and sufferings of this present Life is after all these painful and glorious Performances even when he hath gained a full and compleat Victory over all his Spiritual Enemies and is a Triumphant Conquerour over Principalities and Powers still but an unprofitable Servant and dares not appear before God's Tribunal trusting in his own Righteousness but in that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith how then shall the Ungodly and the Sinner that hath taken no pains at all to fight the good Fight of Faith that hath let loose the Reins to his Lusts that hath yielded himself a Slave to his Passions that hath put God out of all his Thoughts hath set-his Heart and Affections wholly upon the things which are on Earth and glutted himself with sensual Pleasures hath harkned to the wicked suggestions of the Devil hath walked according to the Course of this World according to the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that works in the Children of Disobedience hath enjoyed his good things in this Life and hath not come into trouble like other Men be able to stand before the Righteous Judge of all the Earth when he shall be summoned to give an account of all his Actions done in the flesh The case is plain he shall not be able to stand at all but shall be overwhelmed with everlasting Confusion and Misery and Despair The Vngodly saith the Psalmist shall not stand in the Judgment nor Sinners in the Congregation of the Righteous For the Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous but the way of the Vngodly shall perish Psal 1.5 6. If then we desire to stand in that great Day and to lift up our Heads with joy at the coming of our Saviour let us resolve and labour with all our Might now to stand and fight the Lords Battles Manfully against all the Enemies of our Souls Ye see in what Circumstances we are how great Opposition every faithful Champion of Jesus Christ is like to meet with in this troublesome Wilderness before he can arrive at his heavenly Canaan But though the difficulties which threaten us be great yet they are not insuperable but we may by the Assistance of God's holy Spirit who is ready to help our Infirmities overcome them if we will Let not any thing then discourage nor affright us from our perseverance in well-doing but let us animate our selves by the Example of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs and Confessours to run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Authour and finisher of our Faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the shame and is set down at the Right-hand of the Throne of God Let us consider him that endured such Contradiction of Sinners against