before mentioned that is unless we rise from Sin to die again Lastly the Justice of God and the incomparable Humility and Patience of Christ manifested in his Sufferings rendred it not possible not fit that he should be holden of Death He died not for his own but for the Sins of others and to demonstrate that his own Guilt drew not that Punishment upon him it was agreeable to the Justice of God to raise him up to relieve the Cause of oppressed Innocence and not suffer his Persecutors any longer to triumph in their wickedness Further by his exact Obedience by his inimitable Patience in suffering the Pains and his admirable Humility in undergoing the Shame of the Cross he did deserve to be raised up that as he had humbled himself in so extraordinary a manner so he should be exalted to a no less illustrious Glory And therefore the Sufferings and Humility of Christ are frequently assigned as the meritorious Cause of his Exaltation It was long before Prophesied of him Psal. CX 7. He shall drink of the brook in the way therefore shall he lift up his head And after his Passion and Ascension it is said of him by St. Paul Philip. II. He humbled himself and became obedient to death even the deash of the Cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him The first step of his Exaltation was his Resurrection which therefore was to relate to both those parts of his Humane Nature which had undergone that meritorious Humiliation Not only his Soul had suffered Agonies and the Contradiction of sinners had resigned it self intirely into the hands of God and submitted quietly to the Execution of that bitter Sentence which was inflicted on him as the Representative of sinful Men had endured the Shame of the Cross the insults of his Enemies a violent Separation from the Body with invincible Patience and Charity But also his Body had partaken in his Agony had sweat drops of Blood had endured Scourgings and Buffettings Crucifixion and the wound of the Spear Both Soul and Body therefore were to share in the Reward of all these Sufferings which began to be bestowed on him in his Resurrection His Body was to be raised from the Grave and his Soul being in no other Sense capable of Resurrection was to be reunited to the Body and both to continue for ever joyned since by his Death and Resurrection he is become the Mediator of a new and eternal Covenant Thus I have passed through the several parts of the Text and from the whole I shall make but one Inference proper to the Solemnity of this day If the Resurrection of Christ be the great and ultimate Confirmation of the Christian Religion that upon which our Faith is founded our hopes are raised that by which the Mystery of our Redemption is compleated the Author of it Crowned and advanced to be the Head of all the faithful who look for the same Resurrection it becomes us to celebrate this Festival Dedicated to the Memory of it with a suitable Religion We are not to account it an Arbitrary institution or the invention of the Church that this day is accounted Sacred beyond all others of the Year Our Lord hath made it so by rising from the Dead and compleating the Redemption of Mankind on it No revealed Religion was yet ever professed in the World which did not celebrate some certain and solemn Festivals at fixed times of the year and to cast off the publick Solemnization of those Festivals upon which the most illustrious Acts of the Life of our Saviour were performed is no other than in Fact to deny all belief in him and relation to him It is not enough to say that he hath declared he will be worshipped in Spirit and Truth He was himself then going up to Jerusalem to celebrate a solemn Festival when he spake those words And surely unless there be solemn times and places of worshipping him in Spirit and Truth it will never appear that he is so worshipped nor is he worshipped in Truth when Men pay no external Acknowledgments of those eminent Benefits which he hath truly obtained to them Himself hath consecrated this day by his rising from the Grave on it The Apostles have Dedicated it to this sacred Use by their own and by Divine Authority The Jews had before celebrated one day in seven in Recognition of their adoring that God who had created the World in Six days and rested on the Seventh and that Seventh day which they celebrated rather than any other of the Week was sanctified in Memory of their Deliverance out of Egypt wrought upon that day as it is Deut. V. 15. Remember that thou wast a Servant in the Land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm Therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day As the Jews therefore dated their Seventh day for ever from that day of their Deliverance out of Egypt so the Apostles began and the Church hath to this day continued to date their Seventh day from the day upon which their Redemption was compleated A Redemption so far greater than that given to the Jews from the Bondage of Egypt that well might the day instituted in remembrance of their Deliverance give way to the day celebrated in Honour of our Redemption This change therefore was made by the Apostles immediately upon the Resurrection of our Lord and even before his Ascension and so no doubt by his personal Direction and Approbation For all the religious Assemblies we find of them both before and after his Ascension were upon the first day of the Week That so as the Jews acknowledged their belief in God the Creator of the World by celebrating one day in seven and manifested their Worship of that God who brought them out of Egypt by Solemnizing for ever that Seventh day in which he brought them out So we Christians should declare that we worship the same God the Creator of the World by celebrating one day in seven and also manifest that we worship him in and through Jesus Christ by Sanctifying for ever that Seventh day upon which the great and last Act of our Redemption wrought by him was performed which is therefore in Scripture called the Lords Day Rev. I. 10. Farther as the particular Day of the weekly Festival of the Jews was determined by their Deliverance out of Egypt wrought upon the Seventh day so the far greatest of their Annual Solemnities was instituted in Commemoration of that Deliverance effected in the first Month of the year This God did institute by a special Command which was at large repeated to you in the first Lesson of this day And exacted the Observation of it with so great Rigour that he declared That Soul which did not keep this annual Feast should be cut off from Israel And can we imagine that God should require such eminent external Testimonies
HENRY WHARTON A.M. ONE and TWENTY SERMONS Preach'd in LAMBETH CHAPEL BEFORE The most Reverend Father in God Dr. WILLIAM SANCROFT late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury In the Years MDCLXXXIX MDCXC By the Learned HENRY WHARTON M. A. Chaplain to His Grace Being the Second and Last VOLUME LONDON Printed for â—i Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church Yard MDCXCVIII THE CONTENTS SERMON I. JOhn XVI 8. And when he the Comforter is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment Pag. 1 SERMON II. 1 Cor. II. 11. The things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God p. 25 SERMON III. Esther V. 13. Yet all this availeth me nothing p. 51 SERMON IV. Job XXXVII 23 24. Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out He is excellent in power and in judgment and in plenty of justice he will not afflict Men do therefore fear him p. 76 SERMON V. Rom. XII 3. For I say unto you through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think p. 99 SERMON VI and VII 1 Pet. V. 8 9. Your Adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour Whom resist stedfast in the Faith p. 124 150 SERMON VIII S. Mark VIII 36. For what shall it profit Man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own Soul p. 181 SERMON IX S. Luk. XVI 31. If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead p. 220 SERMON X. S. John VIII 12. I am the Light of the world He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of Life p. 243 SERMON XI 1 Pet. IV. 18. And if the Righteous sourcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the Sinner appear p. 266 SERMON XII Matth. XI 30. For my Yoke is easie and my Burthen is light p. 291 SERMON XIII 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. p. 318 SERMON XIV Acts X. 24. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it p. 352 SERMON XV XVI XVII 1 Tim. II. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting p. 380 411 431 SERMON XVIII Acts X. 40 41. Him God raised up the third day and shewed him openly Not to all the People but to Witnesses chosen before of God p. 466 SERMON XIX Mark XVI 19. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into Heaven and sat on the right of God p. 494 SERMON XX. Matth. V. 16. Let your light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorify your Father which is Heaven p. 521 SERMON XXI Luk. II. 14. Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace Good-will towards Men. p. 567 The First SERMON ON WHIT SUNDAY 1689. At LAMBETH CHAPEL John XVI 8. And when he the Comforter is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment THE Mission of the Holy Ghost which we this day commemorate was the Final Confirmation and Completion of the Christian Religion which perfected the Mystery of the Redemption of Mankind and at the same time set the last Seal to the truth of it Our Saviour had indeed long before gathered a Select number of faithful Apostles and Disciples but can scarce be said to have founded a Church till he poured out the Holy Ghost upon them Till then their Notions of the intention of Christ's coming into the World were dark and obscure their apprehensions of the Nature and Constitution of the Kingdom to be founded by him false and frivolous and as they certainly knew not what form of Faith to profess so they dared not profess it openly Their religious Meetings were yet in secret and no Attempts yet made to form a Church by Conversion of Jews and Gentiles Their thoughts were not so much fixed upon the remembrance of what their Master had done and suffered as upon the Expectation of somewhat more to be done by him that is upon the hopes of the Comforter which he promised to them They wanted yet those Perfections of mind which might qualifie them for the Execution of their designed Office that Zeal and Charity which might animate and direct all the Members of the Church that Knowledge and Understanding which might fit them for Pastors and Teachers in the absence of their Master All these Advantages were abundantly conferr'd these Necessities supplied by the sending of the Holy Ghost as upon this day Then they received internal light a full understanding of the Mysteries of the Messias a clear Knowledge of all that had been delivered to them then they obtained Abilities to execute the Office of Preaching to which they were designed and Courage to undertake it Then they began as to possess an assured and rational Belief of Christ so to profess and declare their Belief in him So that the Reception of the Holy Ghost was to them what Baptism is to us an entrance into the Church of Christ according to what our Saviour had foretold to them after his Resurrection Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence These were the Advantages conferred upon the Faithful by the coming of the Holy Ghost but these were not all The chief design of his coming was to lay the Foundations of propagating the Belief of Christ through the whole World and to offer the benefits of his Death and Passion to all the Members of Mankind to assert the Divinity of Christ to manifest the truth of his Doctrine to vindicate the Honour of God to convince the World of their Obligation to believe in him and to confound the opposition of his Adversaries To this grand Design the aforementioned Gifts bestowed upon the Apostles were subservient being such as enabled them to Preach the Word and confirm the Truth of it to all Nations under Heaven The Publication of the Gospel had hitherto been reserved shut up in dark Speeches and Parabolical Expressions confined to an Hundred and twenty Disciples which we read to have been the number of them in the First of the Acts. But from this day it was to be set in a clear Light communicated to all without obscurity or reserve and propagated to all parts of the habitable World The Person of our Saviour Christ had hitherto appeared mean and contemptible no Signs or Tokens of his glorious Kingdom were yet to be found but now he was to be rescued from that Imputation by visible and undeniable Effects of Divine Power his Kingdom was to commence in the hearts of Men and become Glorious both from the Number and Piety of his Followers The Jews had
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
Stone Lastly by the Merits or Guilt of the Soul the Body will be hereafter either saved or condemned If then all the Blessings of Heaven be primarily bestowed upon the Soul if this be the only receptacle of moral Vertues and Divine Graces if the Son of God vouchsafed to do and suffer so much for the Salvation of it if all the future Happiness of the Body depends upon the well-doing of the Soul certainly this Soul deserveth our greatest Regard and Consideration as by which alone we obtain the Favour of God and are made like unto him by imitating his Perfections as far as our finite Nature will permit us in the Practice of Vertue and Holiness of Life In the next place 't is the Excellency of our Souls alone which distinguisheth one Man from another and maketh any Person more excellent than his Neighbour It is a childish mistake of Men to imagine that Riches or Honour or temporal Greatness gives a real Excellency to Mankind or confers a true Dignity upon the Possessors of them since all these outward Advantages are common to the worst and most profligate of Men who as they are most miserable in themselves so they deserve no other than the Slight and Contempt of all who know them Not to say that all these things are frail and momentany of which a Man may be bereaved in an hour either by the inconstancy of Fortune or the Malice of others But we cannot imagine that our Wise Creatour should assign that to be our chief Perfection of which we might either be deprived or defrauded and that our Happiness should be in the Power and at the Mercy of another Man In that Case we should have been more miserable than all the rest of the Creation if it were not in every Man's Power to become Happy So true is it that all the Excellency of Man consists in the great and eminent Endowments of his Soul which the poorest of Men may obtain and when obtained can by no Art or Fraud be taken from him Thus the Scripture giving an account of the eminent Perfections of Daniel the Honour and Reverence paid to him and Dignities conferr'd upon him gives this as the Reason of it Because an excellent Spirit was in him Dan. VI. 3. It was that alone which caused him to surpass the ordinary Rank of Men and made him the Favourite of Heaven Not that a more excellent and perfect Soul was infused at first into him than into the rest of Men for all Souls are created equal and are capable of the same Improvements but that he had adorned it with all the Perfections of Reason and Religion and thereby rendred it worthy the Favour of God and Esteem of Men. And herein clearly appears both the Goodness of God and the Happiness of Men that all these Improvements and Cultivations of the Soul are equally possible to the Poorest as well as the richest Men. Poverty and temporal Calamity cannot exclude us from the utmost Perfection and in that from the greatest Happiness It is in the Power of the meanest Person to be truly more Excellent than his rich Neighbours and to ensure to himself the Favours of Heaven although not the Riches of the Earth Thus God hath in Truth made an equal Distribution to all Men by assigning to all Souls an equal Capacity For as for the Goods of Fortune when put in the Scale with Piety and the interests of Religion they deserve not the least Consideration There are some Endowments of the mind indeed which are not common and cannot be obtained by all Men as Learning and an exquisite Knowledge These may put in a fair Plea for an intrinsick Worth and Excellency as being inseparable from the Soul when once acquired of infinite use in this Life and perhaps greater in the next But then there are disadvantages attending such acquired Knowledge which may justly take off the immoderate Desire of it and make it become no reasonable Object of Envy to a pious unlearned Christian. As that it renders the way to Heaven infinitely more difficult to the Possessors of it exposeth them to many and great Temptations not common to all other Persons but chiefly because more and greater Duties are required of them greater and more severe Punishments attend the neglect of them In the more unlearned sort God requireth no more than a hearty Sincerity Belief and sure Trust in the Merits of a Crucified Saviour and living up to the great Truths of Religion and Principles of common Honesty In them he willingly over-seeth small and trivial Faults and imputes not Errors to them unless they influence and corrupt their Practice But of the more learned sort of Christians he requireth right Notions of Religion and worthy Conceptions of the Divine Majesty employing their knowledge to the good of others the Edification of the Church and after all an exact Observation of the most minute Punctilios of the Divine Laws In them mistakes are dangerous and Pardon not so easie to be obtained If indeed at last they be thought worthy of the Joys of Heaven they will shine there in a more eminent Station and brighter Glory But then even the lowest Degree in Heaven is a greater Happiness than we can either imagine or conceive Thus all the truly desirable Perfections of the Soul are possible to all and debarr'd from none Those are no other than an ardent Love of God an active Zeal to his Service a strict Sobriety in our selves and a fervent Charity to all our Neighbours How far these will advance the Dignity of our Souls appears hence that these only make us capable of the Joys of Heaven that 't is the perfect and uninterrupted Possession of these which maketh Angels and the want of these which maketh Devils Lastly Our Body when considered alone hath nothing excellent beyond other material Creatures nor is capable of any Improvements It is taken out of the same Mass of Matter with other Bodies and after the Separation of the Soul by Death is resolved into the same Corruption becomes Filth and Rottenness and in Truth the most odious of all things Nay even in this Life it would be subject to the same miserable Condition with the Beasts of the Field if it were not actuated by a noble and generous Soul which rescues it from the common Calamity of dull and vile Matter and giveth it the Honour to be joyned to and be the Companion of a most excellent and immortal Spirit And so far is this Body from receiving new Perfections in this Life that it continually decays till it be laid in Ashes and become as the Dung of the Earth None yet with the greatest Care and Diligence could give Beauty to their Bodies or as our Saviour expresseth it add one cubit to their stature None with the greatest Art and Industry can make their Senses more quick and accurate But certainly not any can procure immortality to their Bodies a Priviledge which naturally belongs
least it cannot be denied that the assurance of God in the latter part of the Text Vengeance is mine I will repay hath taken from them that common pretence before mentioned of Zeal for the satisfaction of Justice least if Revenge should not be inflicted the Guilt of any sin should escape unpunished This therefore God hath fully provided for who as he is the supreme Lord of all and Judge of the whole World cannot be supposed to fall so far in the Distribution of Justice as to permit any sin to pass unobserved by him neither expiated by Repentance nor attended with Punishment and hath moreover obliged himself by Promise to revenge the Injuries offered to his faithful Servants and that as our Lord saith he will do although he bears long with them Luk. XVIII 25. It would be unreasonable to expect that his Punishments should always be inflicted on the unjust Aggressor in this Life nor hath he promised any such thing The place in Deuteronomy referred to in the Text in the Original runs thus To me belongeth Vengeance or Recompence in time or to be executed in due time It cannot be expected that his Punishments should always immediately follow the Commission of every Crime or Injury unless we desire the World should be in a manner dispeopled and become a Theatre of dreadful Tragedies It is sufficient that he hath ordinarily secured us from the more disquieting Injuries of unjust Men by the Commission which he hath given to the Civil Magistrate to revenge them in his stead And if he should fail in the Execution of his entrusted Office we are not so considerable as singly to deserve an extraordinary Interposition of Providence in behalf of us If we desire this Revenge should be extended yet farther and should punish in this Life and for our Sakes even the Guilt of Injuries offered to us we manifest an inhumane Disposition of Mind delighting in the Miseries of other Men. God hath promised indeed as a benefit to his faithful Servants that he will revenge the Injuries offered to them But if this Revenge be taken in this Life the benefit consisteth not in the Pleasure arising from the suffering of Enemies but either in the Enjoyment of temporal Peace secured thereby or in the perswasion which good Men may thence conceive that they are beloved by God If the Revenge be taken in another Life the benefit consisteth wholly in the latter For far be it from the Spirits of good Men now in Heaven who were injured by bad Men when alive to take delight in the Torments of the Damned because they were once their Enemies and far be it from us to enhance the Joys of Heaven by such unworthy Considerations Complacency in the Sufferings of other Men which is to be found in all Revenge properly so called can find no place in Heaven and that it may find no place on Barth may this Discourse conduce The Fourteenth SERMON Preach'd on Easter-Day 1690. At LAMBETH CHAPEL Acts XI 24. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it HOW Glorious the Resurrection of our Lord was which we this day Commemorate how undeniable at that time how powerful an assurance of all his precedent Promises and Revelations what effect it had both in the Mind of his Disciples and his Crucifiers how effectually it demonstrated to the whole World the Divinity both of his Mission and his Person as the whole Series of their Actions immediately subsequent to it do demonstrate so this Declaration made by them in the Text doth evince They who before had fled upon his apprehension had lost all their hopes at his Crucifixion had either denied or forsaken him who began to doubt whether it were he that should have redeemed Israel and gave up all for lost resumed their Courage and their Faith at the news and assurance of his Resurrection They now saw that Salvation wrought which before they had even ceased to hope for The most incredulous of them could now say to him My Lord and my God nor did they henceforward admit any doubt of those glorious Promises of which they had herein received so great a Testimony They feared not to profess their belief in him openly to Arraign the Impiety of the Jews in Crucifying an innocent Person and him no other than their own Messias the Lord of Life to denounce to them the certainty of their Destruction without belief in him not only to testifie his Resurrection in that great Concourse of the Jews met together at the Feast of Pentecost but also to declare it impossible that he should not have risen again as in these words Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it which present us with I. The Affirmation of the Resurrection of Christ. Whom God hath raised up II. The manner of it Having loosed the pains of death III. The Reason of it Because it was not possible c. 1. The words assure us of the Truth of Christ's Resurrection a Truth both well known to the Apostles who did then relate it and attested by many infallible proofs as it is in the foregoing Chapter Verse 3. so that it could not be denied by those who should only hear it Let us take a view of these Proofs both for the Confirmation of our Faith and to amplifie the Glory of that Mystery to the Memory of which this day is Sacred In relating then the Resurrection of our Lord the Holy Penmen have been very exact in relating all the Circumstances and the Proofs of it manifesting that he was really dead after his Crucifixion and as truly alive again after his Resurrection that this was known to his Enemies as well as his Disciples and attested from Heaven by the Ministry of Angels and by God himself In a matter of so great Concern it was necessary that all the Points of it should be clearly proved and none remain liable to the least Exception In the first place it was required that assurance should be given of his having been really dead An Article which is fully expressed in the Creed the common Profession of our Faith wherein we declare him to have been dead and buried and to have descended into Hell that his Soul was truly separated from his Body the places being therein assigned wherein each were contained from the time of his Burial to that of his Resurrection His Body remained in the Grave His Soul was in the state of other separated Souls in Hell whether we understand thereby either the ordinary Condition of departed Souls or the place of damned Souls I will not now engage in that Controversie it is sufficient to say That either Opinion placeth his Soul in that interval of time among other Souls separated from the Body That the Soul of Christ was thus truly separated appeareth from the concurrent Judgment of
Prayer which maketh this whole Observation concerning the Veneration due to Churches not improper in a Discourse concerning the place of Prayer III. I pass now to the third Branch 〈◊〉 the Text that is the Posture that is 〈◊〉 be used in Prayer which is expressed in those Words Lifting up holy Hands Nor is the Posture of Prayer a Matter so indifferent as deserveth not our Enquiry It is indeed the Error of some that all external Modes of Worship are indifferent but to them who are no professed Enemies to Order and Decency it appears far otherwise For since God is the Creator both of Body and Soul since the Existence of both is derived from him and continued by him since he hath provided for the Body as well as Soul both in this Life and in the next it follows that both ought to make Returns of Praise and Worship to God This the Soul the sole Fountain of Reason doth by loving honouring obeying and submitting to him The Body indeed is not capable of such noble Operations yet is it enabled to give Praise and Glory to God by Gestures implying Adoration Submission and Subjection to him To worship God only with the Body were to make no returns of Gratitude for the Faculties of the Soul received from him and to worship him only with the Mind were to deny the Subjection of the Body to him Both thereâ—â—â— are alike necessary The Worship 〈◊〉 the Soul is indeed more acceptable because the Faculties of it are far more noble but the Worship of the Body is no less the Duty of Man and that especially in publick Worship where the chief Design being the Glory of God the Worship of the Body is the only visible Testimony of the internal Honour pay'd by the Soul to God and that not only because the Words of publick praise and adoration are expressed by the Organs of the Body but also in that the very Gesture of the Body is a Mark of Subjection paid to God since such Gestures used in sacred Places and to an invisible Being are notoriously known to be intended in Honour of God Bodily Worship therefore is absolutely necessary and that such as may express the greatest Submission and deepest Humility The most intense Operations of the Soul are due to God and so are the most significative Humiliations of the Body That posture therefore which expresseth the most humble Submission ought to be employed in Prayer the principal Act of Worship and is indeed an essential Part of Worship Only the particular posture is not determined in Scripture because the Expressions of Civility Honour and Subjection vary in several Ages and Countries So that it was impossible to determine any one Gesture since what was very expressive of Worship in one Nation might be contrary in another The external Mode of Worship therefore was left indifferent to the whole Church because such Modes varied in the several parts of it but in any particular Church it is not indifferent but that it be esteemed absolutely necessary essential and commanded by God which according to the received Customs of that Nation is most expressive of Humility Submission and Subjection If Kneeling be the most humble posture of Respect which obtains in any Nation that ought to be employed in the Worship of God and in that Case to pretend to pray to God standing is not only indecent but unlawful a detaining from God the Honour due to him and offering to him an inferiour degree of Worship when a more exalted degree is possible If by the Custom of the Country Prostration be the most significative posture of Humility that then becomes necessary in Divine Worship If neither Prostration nor Kneeling be in use neither ought it to be employed in Prayer but the same infallible Rule is always to obtain that whatsoever Posture by Custom Institution or Prescription is most significative of Honour and Subjection that ought to be made use of in adoring God and in Prayer which is always accompanied with Adoration To apply this Rule to our own practice It is notorious and undeniable that in the Nation wherein we live Kneeling is the most humble posture that whereof we should make use were we to do Homage to our Prince or to beg his Pardon This posture therefore becometh our indispensable Duty in Prayer wherein we adore God and implore his Mercy In this Nation therefore or in any other where Kneeling is the most submissive Gesture to practise Standing in publick Prayer is in truth to deny that the supream Honour is due to God to refuse to pay that Homage to him which Men are content to pay to earthly Princes as if either he were not worthy of it or themselves were too great and noble to condescend to it In many Eastern Countries Prostration hath been in use and there it was necessary in the Worship of God for the same Reason In others Standing with either spreading forth the Hands or gently inclining the Body and laying the Hand upon the Breast In all these Cases the Custom of the Country was to give Directions to the posture of Religious Worship To enquire which of these is the best and most significative posture is wholly vain since no posture signifieth any Respect in that Country where it is not used and what in one place includeth the highest Honour and Reverence in another may signifie none at all Among the Jews Kneeling with Hands lifted up or spread abroad was the most reverential Gesture as might be proved from innumerable places of Scripture Psal. CXLI 2. Dan. VI. 10. Luk. XXII 41. Acts IX 40. XXI 5 c. and so also among the Grecians St. Paul therefore writing to both of them joyned in one Church in Corinth expressed in this place the posture of Prayer to be lifting up of Hands because that Custom did prevail among them not that he intended to oblige us to the same posture in Prayer who for the same Reason are left to be directed by the Custom of our particular Nation amongst whom the most submiss and at the same time most civil posture is Kneeling with clasped Hands and that if I be not mistaken was always the most received Gesture in the Western World but most certainly was in use from the very beginning of Christianity in the Western Church vid. Tertul. Cypr. It hath been indeed received in all Ages and in all Countries as far as we can find that in Sacrifices the Priest who offers them up should do it standing In Compliance with this universal Custom our Church hath most certainly directed that the Prayers presented to God from the Altar where the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ the great Sacrifice of the Christian Religion is celebrated should be offered up by the Priest in a standing Posture which I would not omit to observe to you lest that Practice should be any Objection against the necessity of Kneeling in time of Prayer since it is founded