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
that we have a great High priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God This the Scripture testifies frequently in other places We have such an High-priest saith our Apostle who is set on the Right-hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens a Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not Man Heb. 81.2 and c. 6.20 he tells us that the Fore-runner is for us entred into that within the Veil even Jesus made an High-priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck Now the office of Christ our High-priest consists chiefly in these things 1. In being our Advocate to make intercession for us to the Father If any man sin saith S. John we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous 1 Joh. 2.1 and who is he that condemneth saith S. Paul It is Christ that died yearather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.34 How great a favour how inestimable a benfiet is this to have the only beloved Son of God in whom he is well pleased and to whom he will deny nothing continually to plead and make intercession for us unto his Father They only are truly sensible of this Blessing who are wounded with the Arrows of the Almighty and pressed sore with his hand so that there is no soundness in their flesh because of his anger neither any rest in their Bones because of their Sin They find the benefit of such an Intercession and how desperate and remediless their condition would be had they not such an High-priest that is ever ready upon their true Repentance to make an atonement for them to plead the merit of his sufferings in their behalf and to interpose betwixt them and the wrath of God 2. Christ ascended into Heaven as our High-priest that being thither ascended he might send unto us the Comforter even the Holy Ghost to abide with us for ever This was one main reason of his Ascension as himself declares to his Disciples John 16.7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you This he had promised long before by the prophet Joel c. 2. of that Prophecy v. 28. It shall come to pass saith he that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dream Dreams your young men shall see Visions This promise he fulfilled upon his Apostles upon the day of Pentecost Acts 2. and he performs it dayly to all his elect continually begetting and increasing in their hearts the Graces of his Holy Spirit by the Ministery of his word This is that blessed Spirit of truth that guides us into all truth and teaches us all things that bears witness with our Spirits that we are the children of God and seals us unto the day of Redemption and this Holy Spirit Christ as our High-priest sends unto us from Heaven For although he be present every where in respect of his Divine Essence which is Omnipresent yet by his gracious Operation he is present only in the Hearts of his Elect unto whom he is sent by Christ as a Pledge of his Love to abide with them for ever The third Office which Christ performs for us as our High-priest is to prepare a place for us in Heaven The Sin of Adam had shut the Gate of Heaven against us For nothing that is Defiled or Unclean shall enter into the New Jerusalem but Christ by his perfect Obedience and by his meritorious Sufferings for our Sakes hath Expiated the Guilt of this Sin and by his ascending up thither himself hath opened unto us the Gate of Heaven again and given us assurance that he will draw us up after him This he promised to his Disciples Joh. 14.2 I go saith he to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Thus is Christ ascended into Heaven as our High-priest he is gone thither before us to prepare a place for us a place of endless Bliss and Felicity in those glorious Mansions of his Heavenly Father And so I have done with the Doctrinal part of my Text and shewed you that Christ is really ascended into Heaven and that he is ascended thither as our High-priest I come now to the last Thing I propounded which is to press to you the Apostles Application and to shew you how strongly the Consideration of this Doctrine should oblige us to hold fast our Profession And what can oblige us more to hold fast our Profession to lead a Godly and a Christian Life and to have our Conversation in Heaven than this that we have a great High-priest Jesus the Son of God that is already passed into the Heavens on purpose to prepare for us there an Everlasting Crown of Glory The consideration of the blessed Effects of the Ascension of our Lord if we make a right use of it will enable us to fight the good fight of Faith with Courage to keep our selves unspotted of the World in whatsoever Circumstances we are and to steer our Course aright through all the manifold Changes and Chances of this Mortal Life till we arrive at the end of our Hope even the Salvation of our Souls Let our Condition be what it will good or bad I say the thoughts of this will enable us to behave our selves so as shall be most for the Glory of God and our own Good For first Hath God Blessed us with Peace and Prosperity in this World Hath he given us a plentiful Portion of the good Things of this Life Hath he heaped upon us Riches and Honour filled our Barns with Plenty and caused our Presses to burst out with new Wine Though these things are strong Temptations and very apt to alienate our Hearts from God yet the consideration of our Saviour's Ascension will enable us to overcome them If in the midst of these worldly Blessings we frequently and seriously call to mind that we have a great High-priest that is preparing for us things that are incomparably better and more glorious in Heaven our Eyes then will not be dazled nor our Hearts bewitched with these fading and perishing Enjoyments upon Earth We shall set no higher an Estimate upon them than they deserve but shall be careful to use them with a Christian Prudence and Moderation to the glory of God and the good of our Selves and such poor Members of Christ as we see stand in need of our Charity We shall look upon all these temporal Blessings to be but only lent us for a time but our Hearts and Affections will be wholly fixed with most ardent and longing Desires upon that eternal
shewed to S. Peter when he turned and looked upon him after his fall and by that look infused new Grace into his Heart which immediately burst out at his Eyes in tears of repentance Let us not therefore be high minded but let us fear for happy is the Man that feareth alway but he that hardneth his heart shall fall into mischief Proverbs 28.14 Secondly if we will take heed that we fall not from Grace let us take heed that we fall not into Sin especially into presumptuous and willful Sin against the light of our conscience All Sin whatsoever though it be but a Sin of Ignorance or Infirmity tends more or less if it be not speedily repented of to the impairing and diminishing of the Grace of God in our Hearts which is bestowed upon us on purpose to preserve and defend us from the power of Sin that it may not Reign in our mortal Bodies that we should obey it in the lusts thereof But Sins of Presumption and Wilfulness against our knowledge and the checks of our conscience do not only much impair Grace but they totally exstinguish it and bring us into great danger of final Apostacy For there can be no fellowship betwixt Righteousness and Unrighteousness no Communion betwixt Light and Darkness no Concord betwixt Christ and Belial no Agreement nor Cohabitation of the Spirit of God and Satan And therefore David prays most earnestly against such Sins as these Psal 19.13 Keep back thy Servant from presumptuous Sins let them not have domminion over me then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great Transgression And how deadly a wound such Sins make in the conscience God for our instruction that his example might be a warning to us to beware of the like Sins suffered him to find by a sad Experience That premeditated wilful Murder of one of his innocent subjects changed the Man after God's own Heart into one after the Heart of him who was a murderer from the beginning and made him such an one as Satan would have all Men to be if he could prevail It is impossible while he was in this Condition that he should find any comfort in the performance of his Devotions if he did then perform any at all His Hand his Tongue his Heart were all out of tune all unfit for the Celebration of God's Praises in which they were wo … continually to be imployed Even his own sacred Hymns and Anthems were nauseous to him and the sweet Psalmist of Israel was become a stranger to the songs of Sion Grace was then lost and Sin reigned in him the Spirit of God had for that Time forsaken him and Satan had taken Possession of his Soul Let us take heed then of presumptuous and wilful Sins and every habitual Sin is a step towards them they wrought a sad change in David but they may work a worse in us God was pleased to raise him again but if we fall after the same manner he may perhaps deny the same Favour to us and then our Case is irrecoverable Thirdly If we will take heed that we fall not from Grace let us endeavour daily to grow in it and improve it So S. 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