Religion so worthy of God to reveal so proper for us to be taught in as that system of true Piety and unaffected Morality that he has brought to Light WHEN I say Morality I do not understand Morality in the usual lame and defective signification of it as it regards our outward behaviour towards Man But rather the whole of our profound submission and obedience to the first and second Table of the Law And in this true and comprehensive notion I affirm that it was our Saviour's design to advance it unto practice and reputation amongst Mankind THE Jewish Religion take it all together was rather Gods indulgence and toleration than his law and commandment And tho it had the Seal of his Authority yet it was not in it self the best Religion but the best that they could bear When they returned from Aegypt the impressions of their servitude were not so soon worn off but that their proneness to Idolatry and former slavish dispositions remain'd And ever and anon upon all occasions for a long time after they relapse into their superstitions and Aegyptian Ceremonies IF we view them in the best periods of the Jewish Oeconomy their Religion was defective Many things were plainly permitted or tacitely conniv'd at as Polygamy and Divorce and some degrees of uncharitableness and revenge which natural and uncorrupted reason dislikes and condemns But when Our Saviour appear'd it was then high time to recover the World from their beggarly elements and to give us the true notions of Almighty God the spirituallity of his Worship and the extent of his universal Empire over Jew and Gentile and to form our manners by that accurate rule of his Doctrine and Example By which we were not only assured of Eternal Life but partly in a manner put in the possession of it A scheme of Christian Morals is given us in the Sermon on the Mount so pure and angelical that at first view we are forc'd to acknowledge that it came down from the Father of lights We are exhorted to whatsoever things are true honest just pure lovely and of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise to think on these things TO advance and facilitate the practice of this Morality was the design of our Saviour's undertaking when we consider the Gospel in its uniform strength and vigour as also to calm the consciences of men to remove our fears and to teach us to approach the Throne of God with a generous assurance of mind to bind us in the strongest bonds of Society amongst our selves and to liberate us from the yoke of Moses Law This was our Saviour 's business when he took upon him our Nature when we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth 1. I SAY one great part of his design was to form us into true Morals This is the comprehensive character by which good men are distinguished in the Holy Scriptures In this the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his brother Thus runs the description of Job that he was a man perfect and upright one that feared God and eschewed evil AND David's religious man walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart The great character of Moses was that he was very meek above all the men upon the face of the Earth And Cornelius the Centurion is said to be a devout man and one that feared God with all his house which gave much alms to the People and prayed to God alway BUT all along the New Testament the Pharisees are stigmatiz'd that they were cold and indifferent in the great Morals of Religion while they were very zealous and pragmatick to advance the rituals of it They were blind guides who strain'd at a Gnat and swallowed a Camel They tithed Mint Annise and Cummin and neglected the weightier matters of the Law WHEN the whole of Religion is summ'd up in the most compendious manner there is nothing else nam'd but the love of God and our neighbour Or the most ingenuous expressions of both What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God And our Saviour tells us that on the Love of God and our neighbour hangs all the Law and Prophets And this is the same Doctrine that is preached by S. Paul for Love is the fullfiling of the Law And therefore we find that the Prophets upon all occasions did endeavour to withdraw the thoughts of the Jews from the External drudgery of their Religion to that Immortal Deity that was Worshiped and to convince them that if their Sacrifices were not attended with the Love of God and their Neighbour they could not be acceptable The blood of Bulls and of Goats was no entertainment for him that made Heaven and Earth A Soul disengaged from the corruptions of Life and animated in all its actions with true zeal and sincerity was the only acceptable Sacrifice AND the Rituals of Christianity if they are destitute of their true Spirit and Life are of no greater value Our Faith without works is dead in the language of S. James And S. Peter compares our Baptism if separated from Purity of Manners to the washing of Swine And our Communicating without Devotion is by S. Paul said to be our coming together to condemnation It is the pure heart and clean hands the modest and ingenuous temper of Spirit that perfume our Faith our Prayers and our Assemblies When we look into the New Testament this Doctrine runs through all its parts and breaths almost in every Line the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all Men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works And for this very purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil IN all ages men have endeavoured to cross and oppose this part of our Saviour's design and to reconcile by little distinctions plausible and artificial tricks their Religion to their Lusts Some Religion they must have and that which renders them truly acceptable unto God penetrates too deep into the Soul searches the Hearts and Reins and teaches them to live in opposition to the corrupt Spirit of the World and to lead captive secret thoughts and imaginations unto the obedience of Christ The impressions of the Divinity are folded up in the Soul of Man the apprehensions and fears of an after reckoning haunt us whether we will or not
the Emperour because of his Jealousie lest any of them should aspire to the Crown they told him plainly that our Saviour was a King but his Kingdom was not of this World and for themselves all the possessions they had was a few Acres out of which they paid a good Tribute to him and maintain'd themselves with the rest through their hard labour and great temperance The Laws then and the designs and aims of this Kingdom are different from the Laws the Principles and the Maxims by which worldly men are govern'd 3. WE know they are strangers by their entertainment from the World The World does not treat and entertain those strangers with that kindness and familiarity they shew to their own Children When the Samaritans perceiv'd that our Saviour's face was toward Jerusalem they persecuted him with all the expressions of rudeness and disdain We must not think that the World should caress and flatter us if we are the followers of Jesus for the Kingdom and Inheritance that support us are of an invisible Nature And our Saviour told so much plainly to his Disciples when he was about to leave them John 15.18 19. If the World hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you if ye were of the World the World would love his own but because ye are not of the World but I have chosen you out of the World therefore the World hateth you And again Fear not for I have overcome the World 4. We know strangers by their behaviour by their way of living and conversation If they differ in their habit their air their manner of life we find that they are persons of another Climate This is visible in the Christians though they live in the World yet they are not of the World they are govern'd by the Laws of another Kingdom We are told by the Ancients that the Pagans brought this accusation against the Christians that they differ'd in their Laws and way of living from all Nations under Heaven Thus the Apostle exhorts Phil. 2.15 That ye may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation among whom ye shine as lights in the World And the Apostle Peter exhorts them by their heavenly conversation to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men The light and beauty of Christianity is a constant reproach to the Atheism and Irreligion of the World there is so much of true Majesty and Innocence to be seen in their behaviour they wear his Livery in defiance of all opposition they are known to be of another Kingdom 5. THEY are Pilgrims and Strangers by their motion flight and journey from the World their rest and habitation is not here they are on wing to their Country which is above their designs and thoughts are there their biass tendencies and breathings lead thither they vilifie all the glory pomp and magnificence of this vain World and the Idols that the most part of Mankind worship are no more in their esteem than the toys and rattles of our Childhood The Children of this World dwell here with pleasure the thoughts of their removal are grievous and bitter but we must have the other World constantly in our view and by that prospect order and direct the whole course of our actions And it is easie to improve this truth to our spiritual advantage And 1. Are we strangers upon Earth then let us frequently think upon our Countrey whilst we are almost frozen here in the regions of the shadow of death 'T is comfortable to look above where it is a perpetual Sun-shine This lower Country is overcast with clouds and vapours and thick darkness round about us we hear nothing but scrieches groans and complaints and though we had no share in those infelicities yet it is uneasie to any man that is not utterly void of pity and compassion to behold the lamentable miseries of others OH when shall we be above this hurry and noise this disorder and vexation Can there be any Cordial so strong to support us as the thoughts of those many Mansions that are in our Fathers house Let us with the Psalmist Take his Statutes to be our songs in the house of our pilgrimage When we think of our Country above we sigh as the Babylonian Captives upon the banks of Euphrates and hang our Harps upon the Willows since we are not at liberty to sing the Songs of Zion with that harmony and delight we aim at 'T is said of Cain that he built a City when he went from the presence of God he meant as one glosseth it to fix his residence here But Abraham Isaac and Jacob went from place to place and dwelt in Tents and saw the promises afar off and confessed that they were but Pilgrims and Strangers upon Earth Wo is me saith the Psalmist that I sojourn in Mesech and dwell in the Tents of Kedar How frequently should we mount aloft in our thoughts and meditations Such frequent flights from the Earth would secure us against the flatteries of sensuality nay they provoke us to the most vigorous endeavors after the happiness of another life They teach us to despise this World with all its pageantry and vanity and with magnanimity to bear all the crosses incident to this state They quiet our solicitudes and raise our designs to the most noble and generous undertakings They fill our hearts with joy and peace in believing and amidst all our anxieties and fears teach us to possess our Souls in Patience 2. IF we are strangers here we ought to study the dispositions that prepare us for the happiness reserved for us That Kingdom above is govern'd by other Laws and the inhabitants of that place are at liberty from their sins their fetters are knocked off and they wear Crowns and Diadems more bright than that of the mightiest oppressors 'T is our business to enquire how near we are to that blessed temper of love and tranquillity that prevail in the Regions of Light The general notion of happiness is pleasant to our imaginations but that life and immortality which is promis'd in the Gospel cannot be possess'd but by such whose Souls are of a piece with it self 3. Since we are strangers we must patiently bear the uneasiness of our present condition We must with zeal and courage undergo the roughest accidents of this Life We are not to be caress'd with the delights and pleasures of this World we must fight manfully under the Cross of Christ We are not to meddle with the affairs of the World with that concern and application of mind that the Natives do for we are strangers and it is the highest impertinence for such to engage too far in other mens business Let us not be startled too much with the variety of events here below Let us remain unsolicitous and fixt in our choice for the Skreen is shortly to be drawn and we shall have a
one earthly the other heavenly Secondly THIS opposition appears if we will consider the things that the World most admires loves and preserves We are exhorted by S. John 1 Ep. ch 2. v. 15. Love not the world nor the things that are in the world for all that is in the world the Lust of the Eyes the Lust of the Flesh and the Pride of Life THE Lust of the Eyes tempts out Covetousness the Lusts of the Flesh set on fire those appetites that deserve that name in the strictest notion of the phrase The Pride of Life are honors preferments and glories that men pursue with so much concern and eagerness But How poor and despicable are these things to the enlightned eye of a Christian that sees by the eye of Faith How thin are they how unworthy of our choice how disproportionate to the Soul of Man how feculent and paultry are the pleasures of Sense attended with so much toil in the purchase vanity in their enjoyment uncertainty in their continuance And if the World had nothing else to make it vain beyond all expression but this one thing that those who have admired it most and sought those satisfactions from it have been forced at length to acknowledge that there was nothing in it but vexation of Spirit This I say might convince us that the things the World most admires are very unsuitable to the Soul of Man BUT instead of such things the Christian Religion offers to our view and choice the pure and masculine pleasures of Devotion the savour of God the peace and tranquillity of our Consciences the victory and dominion over our lusts and passions and those riches that are at Gods right hand in the Heavens The chast and solid satisfaction of having overcome our vices brings more true honour than the atchievments that are proclaimed by the loudest fame 'T is more glorious to overcome evil habits and inveterate diseases of the mind than to surprize or take by open force a City IN a word let us but remember what are the conquests glories and triumphs that are exposed to our view by the Christian Religion and we shall find that they move in a far higher Sphere than the little things that take up the time talk business and thoughts of worldly men THE voluptuous Man sacrifices his Soul to the appetites of the flesh as if it had been given him to make provision for the lust thereof The rich Miser pierces himself through with so many cares and fears lest his Angels should take wings to themselves and fly The Ambitious is filled with a Phantom of honour which he hath painted in his own fancy that he forgets his sleep and all things else to place himself where he would be BUT the Christian Religion teacheth us not only to neglect but despise such fantastic apparitions such dreams such nothings that the blind World adores with so much pageantry and folly We are taught by it to recollect our selves from this hurry and madness to strip those things naked of their borrowed lustre to pierce into their very essence and feel that we are not made for such mean things as human fancy and opinion hath magnified beyond their true size when we come up close to them and consider them then their paint falls off and we must acknowledge that we were fools to the greatest degree So intangled are the Labyrinths of the World which made Augustus Cesar wish so frequently for his retreat and ended many of his Discourses to the Senate with the pleasant hope of his retirement that now bore up his Spirit under the load of so many affairs He had so many Armies at his command the Roman Empire to maintain them he enjoyed the applause of the Wisest Senate yet how did he sigh after the advantages of enjoying himself WE are in the truest sense the off-spring of God why then should our affections be mean Why should we so much admire what is despicable for the world passeth away and the fashion thereof but our Spirits and thoughts run parallel with eternity nothing less can satisfie the immortal Spirit of Man THEREFORE are we exhorted so frequently in the New Testament to place our affections on things alove and not on the things of the Earth to remember that here we have no continuing City that here we are Pilgrims and Strangers that when this tabernacle is broken down we have a house with God not made with hands eternal in the heavens These and such treasures are the things that we are taught to admire by our Religion these are the things we are commanded to pursue since we are Heirs and Co-heirs with Christ HE holds forth to us a Crown of immortal happiness that the sight of it might provoke us to the most heroick efforts of virtue piety self-denyal mortification patience and humility Now it is most evident that the World and the Spirit of Christianity pursue and admire things of a different nature But this opposition will more fully appear if we consider Thirdly THE rewards by which the World allures to its friendship and those proposed by our Saviour what do men expect from the World when they have sold themselves to serve it when they have sacrificed their time and strength to court its honours and follow its genius Such as have prostituted their very Souls to comply with its folly and wickedness how miserable is their gain or rather how infinite is their loss how emphatick is the Interrogation of our Saviour What hath a man gained when he hath lost his own Soul We find the World cannot relieve a Man when he hath most need of help and consolation LET him but put the friendship of the World to the Test when he groans under the terror of Conscience or when his Soul is ready to leave his body and then let him sincerely declare what weak and brittle reeds these things are that he most admired to support him against his own fears WERE we so wise as in our fancy to go down into the Grave before we are carried thither to converse with the dead that are gone before us to live a while under ground to wrap our selves in our Winding sheets and then from that place of silence and darkness to view the things that keep the Men of the World so much in agitation WOULD not we be astonished to see Men made after the Image of God so much enslaved to those Idols of fancy to those shadows that vanish so quickly to such trifles that are the object of childish appetites Did we but call to mind the present regrets and tortures of the damned Were we allowed to see Dives turned down from his sumptuous Table his stately Palace his numerous attendants and fine linnen into the scorching flames of Hell And on the other side could we see the Martyrs that have gone through the flames of persecutions and disasters now seated above malice and misery in the Regions of peace
fail for he is everlasting truth and he cannot lye Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the Ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by night which divideth the Sea when the waves thereof roar the Lord of Hosts is his Name If those Ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever These Promises are made to the Spiritual seed of the true Israelites as is proved by S. Paul And therefore to remove all our doubts and diffidence all our distrust and hesitation they are confirm'd by his Oath Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his Counsel confirmed it by an Oath That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us 3. THE Promises are precious in regard of their durableness I mean that the things promised are eternal There is nothing liable to decay that can give true repose to the Spirit of a Man the Christian Religion settles the frame and satisfies the enquiries of our Souls by bringing life and immortality to light Nothing else can satisfie the vast capacities of the mind of Man The endless duration of our happiness is express'd in the Scriptures by full and plain phrases And this is the promise that he hath promised us even eternal life And again in the Gospel of S. John He that keepeth my sayings shall never see death And S. Peter assures us that we are begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you And can there be any thing that so adequately satisfies the boundless desires and intellectual appetites of a reasonable Creature as an eternal weight of glory O Eternity who can forget Thee that remembers himself and the frame of his Nature Who can contemn eternal things that thinks that he himself is any thing more excellent than the Beasts that perish Have we naturally such strong inclinations to immortality and can we despise the Gospel that prepares and trims our Souls for life eternal Who can reflect on the variety and Spirituality of his own thoughts and yet conclude that he was made to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof Let no such thoughts dwell within thee but rather look at the things which are not seen For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens And now when we look upon whole Gospel its entire frame and design we may safely say of it as the Apostle says of its Promises that it is Great and Precious in all its lineaments and features Especially when we consider the great design that is carried on by the Gospel and that is nothing less than to make us partakers of the Divine Nature And this leads me to the fourth Particular that I promis'd to speak to viz. 4. THE Scope of the Gospel and its Promises to restore the Image of God on the Souls of men to repair the breaches and decays of Humane Nature to make him look up again to Heaven with briskness and innocence as he did when he was newly form'd by the finger of God to restore life unto the degenerate World not that animal and feculent life that oppresses the Divine Nature but a life of true Reason united to God and fitted for the Society of Angels to make Man as near unto God as Humane Nature could allow and all Mankind who allow themselves the exercise of their Reason must acknowledge at first view that this is the top of Humane Glory the heighth of true felicity the elevation of Reason to its noblest exercise and object to be made like unto God THE Eternal Son of God became Man that he might heal the bruises and wounds that we received by the first A-Adam To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name Which were born not of blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God Behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the Sons of God We must be new moulded into the Image of our Maker we must live no more unto sin but unto God we must be acted by higher Motives and Principles than the Life of Nature We must steer our course towards Heaven by other Engines than such as set the World in motion And so much is imply'd in that saying of our Saviour He that loveth Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth Son or Daughter more than me is not worthy of me And he that taketh not his Cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me To make this a little more clear I shall enquire into two things 1. Why there must be such a thorough change of our Nature 2. Wherein do the Characters of the Divine Nature plainly appear 1. There must be such a thorough change of our Nature Whether we consider 1. The plain account of Scripture Or 2. The Notions we have of the Deity Or 3. The Corruption of our Nature and its distance from Heaven 1. Do but consider the plain account of Scripture Without Holiness it is impossible to see God He that is in Christ hath crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof He that hath this hope purifieth himself even as he is pure God hath declared in innumerable places of Scripture that there is no access to his favour but by an entire reformation his eyes penetrate to the Center of our Spirits all things are naked and open before him Though the Gospel hath the Nature of a Covenant it is no less the transcript of his Nature than his Royal Edict Holiness is as much our happiness as our duty and no arts no shifts can preserve the favour of God and our sins together How strangely presumptuous must they be who think to compound with the Almighty and venture to bring instead of a true heart sincere love and filial simplicity Sacrifices Oblations and Perfumes To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of the burnt offerings of Rams and the fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the blood of Bullocks or of Lambs or of He-Goats Learn to do well seek judgement relieve the oppressed judge the Fatherless plead for the Widow The New and the Old Testament the Patriarchal as well as the Mosaic Dispensation the Pagan as well as the
Enthusiasm THEY that acknowledge no Mysteries in the Gospel despise its Original and Divinity and by consequence they trample on the Priesthood also and therefore the followers of Socinus on this account are odious that they have forsaken the Belief of all Ages and what was received in the Christian Churches since the first Plantations of Christianity they have stript our Religion naked of its Mysteries and made the Holy Scriptures to bend and bow to that Scheme and Model that they have formed in their own fancies AND then again if this Well be so deep we can neither furnish our selves nor others with these Waters of Life without earnest Prayer profound Meditation and great Humility a serious and close application of Spirit So S. Paul advises Timothy Be in those things and it is an Apostolick Precept Give thy self to Reading CAN we think to beat down the Counter-batteries of Hell by carelesness and negligence ignorance or inadvertence Men will not resign their Reason without the best Arguments duly applyed and the Mines of the Holy Scriptures are not only rich but very deep we should dig in them night and day It was the great Commendation of Apollos that he was mighty in the Holy Scriptures BUT I go forward to the third Thing that I think implied in this Metaphor and that is the freedom unconstrain'd activity force and strength of their ebullitions 'T is a Well of Living Waters which cannot be contained in one place but must burst forth to water the Hills and Valleys high and low rich and poor When we remember what a World we live in how refractory and stubborn to the Yoke of Jesus we must not be niggardly of our Instructions we must reprove rebuke exhort in season and out of season with all long-suffering and doctrine here a little and there a little agitur de summa rei and there are no measures to be set to our endeavours but the measures of Charity It was said of the antient Christians upon that Monument rais'd to the Memory of Dioclesian that Superstitionem suam generi humano inculcabant they did embrace all occasions to make men acquainted with the truth and excellency of our Religion INDEED we should set our selves to do this with the greater readiness when we consider the opposition that we are like to encounter either First From the Malice of Satan or Secondly From our own Weaknesses and Infirmities or Thirdly From the Perverseness Hard-heartedness and Incredulity of them to whom the Gospel is preached First I SAY from the Malice of Satan When the Gospel began first to be proclaimed to the Nations the Powers of Hell did swell with fury and indignation they began with all spite and rage to crush the very beginnings of it he gathered together all the Forces and Legions of Darkness to consult how the growing Religion of Jesus might be stopped But the Apostles fortified themselves in the words of the Prophetic Psalm Why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things It is the Devils very Nature to retard the Gospel 't is he that inspires Hereticks casts stumbling blocks in our way and finds out a thousand methods to stop our progress 1 Thess 2.18 We would have come unto you once and again but Satan hindered us and his endeavours in a peculiar manner are levelled against the Clergy who are most terrible to his Kingdom and beat down his strong holds and retirements in the Consciences of Men. Secondly WE are hindered by our own Weaknesses and Infirmities When we see so little success of our labours we are like to grow faint and give over and say with the Prophet Lord who hath believed our report 'T is true We have this treasure in earthen vessels and these Vessels are brittle and soon shattered and when we would vigorously and zealously serve our God we are dragged down again to the Earth by this dull and lumpish Body that we carry about us we cannot shake off human Passions Affections and Infirmities we are not priviledg'd to run his Errands so nimbly as the Angels do we are apt to despond and to suffer the flesh and its lazy whispers overcome our quickest motions and most zealous resolutions Oh! then to be within the Holy of Holies where the brightness of his face and the light of his Countenance can never suffer us to grow weary sullen and melancholy in his Service We shall minister before his Altar in the Sacrifices of Praise and Hallelujahs without fainting interruption or slumber BUT Thirdly We are opposed by the perverseness incredulity and ingratitude of the World When we contemplate the Arguments and Nature of our Religion we would think that they are so strong that no Soul could resist them but when we come abroad into the World and endeavour to reason men out of their folly and wickedness how hard is this undertaking How many Sermons are lost upon the inconsiderate multitude We must after many years endeavours sit down with sorrow and complain of their incurable madness THEY have hardned themselves against all reproof we must make our approaches to their hearts and cut out our way through Rocks and Iron Bars and inveterate Prejudices they have fenc'd themselves against our serious entreaties and stopped their ears like the deaf Adder when we have charmed never so wisely and affectionately HAD we nothing else to do but to let men see the reasonableness and excellency of the Christian Religion the folly and danger of Sin and Vice then our work had been easie as indeed it is honourable but we find to our sad experience that when we have chased them from one Cavil to another when we have shamed them out of all their denyals and exceptions they still keep their hold in defiance of all our Remonstrances The God of this World hath blinded the minds of men lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them How hard is it to recover the World from Sensuality and Error How difficult to make them love the Precepts of our Saviour and the Doctrine of the Cross To deny themselves and crucifie the flesh to forgive injuries to bless them that curse us to despise the World and all its trifling interest This is the aim of our Religion and this is it which men are loth to practise this ought to provoke our Zeal to the highest flame and make us set our faces against tho stream and current of wicked practices against all immoralities and errors THE Church like some Aromatick Spices the more you press them the more fragrant they smell their effluvia fly on all hands and their Smell perfumes the Air. The more we are besieged the more the Gospel takes Air like those precious Spices mentioned in the Verse before my Text so skilfully plac'd and so orderly disposed that by their Order suaviorem reddant odorem So the Prince of Poets in his Pastorals Sic
God saith Isaiah In all publick Sacrifices there was some Ceremony to signifie the translation of the punishment from the People to the Sacrifice Thus the Person among the Heathens that was appointed for a publick Sacrifice had all the Imprecations of the People heaped upon him as he went along the streets But our Saviour did not only expiate the sins of one City Kingdom or Family but the sins of the whole World past present and to come in their most heinous Nature and numberless Aggravations He made Atonement for them all by that one peculiar Sacrifice which needs not again be repeated because it had no imperfection He himself alone bore our sins in his own body on the Tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness And our sins are thus for ever buried if we do not reinflame the Wrath of God by our impenitence Now when we remember the Love of Jesus in dying for us and all the circumstances of his Disgrace and the variety of these peculiar Vertues that appeared in him under his saddest Torture may not we pray in the words of the Greek Church By thy unknown sufferings Lord have mercy upon us NOW I go forward to the second Particular that I propos'd to speak to and that is by whom this Cup was ordered and prepared And our Saviour tells S. Peâ—er that it was the Cup his Father gave him to drink The sufferings of our Saviour were not casual and fortuitous but duly weigh'd by infinite Wisdom So much the Apostles St. Peter and St. John in their Scraphick Prayer acknowledge Of a truth against thy Holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy Counsel determined before to be done I might illustrate this Truth 1. From the signification of Ceremonies under the Law particularly that of the Scape-Goat and the Red Heifer 2. From the Prediction of Prophets especially the Prophecies of Isaiah and Daniel 3. From the nature of his Undertaking whether 1. the Sacrifice that he offer'd or 2. the Religion that he planted I say from all those Heads I might demonstrate this great Truth viz. that the sufferings of our Saviour were weighed and ordered in the Divine Counsel But I must leave this and the third Particular also which was the alacrity and readiness of his Soul to drink this Cup insinuated in the Question propos'd to St. Peter Shall I not drink the Cup that my Father giveth me And those things I leave at present that I may make some Application of what I have already insisted on And 1. CAN we read the History of his Passion without any Concern Are we made of Flint Marble or Adamant O stupid and inconsiderate Sinner Wilt thou look upon him whom thou hast pierced by thy sins We find that when this Tragedy was acted universal Nature seem'd to groan The Sun did hide his head the Earth blush'd to be the Theatre of so much Villany and have we no sense at all When we remember that we were principally accessory to his grievous Torments He was bruis'd for our iniquities he was wounded for our transgressions the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes are we healed Shall we again crucifie him afresh by our treacherous and perfidious impenitence This is a higher outrage than that other committed by the Jews As for his Crucifiers many of them were converted but this obstinate contempt of his Love sets us without the bounds of Mercy tho his mercy be above the heavens and over all his works To provoke him again by our sins is a downright affront to his Love but after such undeniable proofs of his kindness to disbelieve the Gospel is utterly inexcusable Infidelity makes the nearest approaches to the sin against the holy Ghost which I take to be the malicious opposition of that Light and Evidence which God offers for our Conviction When the Messias came he proved his Mission and Authority by the most convincing Miracles and Signs more glorious than ever Moses wrought nor was it reasonable to expect that he should bring with him fairer Credentials to recommend himself and his Doctrine than those he displayed before his Country-men But his Countrymen shut their Eyes against the Light He came unto his own and his own received him not And we are guilty of the very same sin if we trample upon the Gospel which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed by them that heard him He seal'd the Truth by his Death confirm'd it by his Resurrection and by the various Gifts of the holy Ghost proves beyond all contradiction that He is at the right hand of God the Father Secondly DID our Saviour thus die for us Then we ought to treat our selves with greater regard than to be inslav'd to our former sin Did he hide the glory of his Divinity that he might redeem us from misery and despair by his own Blood Was it for this that he took flesh of our Flesh that we might be made partakers of the divine Nature Why do we live like so many mean sordid abject Creatures as if we were confin'd by the frame of our Nature to the Earth only As if we could look no higher than the trifling interests of this World So sadly have we forgot our selves and though very frequently our Pride makes us hateful to God and odious to one another yet do we truckle under the meanest Vices We were not redeem'd with corruptible things such as silver and gold but with the precious blood of the Son of God This is the Argument that St. Paul makes use of to heighten our esteem of our Brethren Wilt thou make thy Brother perish for whom Christ died And the Argument of St. Peter to aggravate the folly and wickedness of the Hereticks that they deny'd the Lord that bought them To be bought by the blood of the Son of God is the powerful Argument of the Gospel against Sin and if we resist this we may justly fear to be delivered up to a Reprobate Sense Our sins set us at the greatest distance from God he is Light Beauty Strength and Perfection and Sin is folly weakness error and deformity Let us therefore fly from it because so horrid in its Nature so dismal in its consequences that nothing could attone it but the Blood of the Son of God Thirdly HERE is the true remedy against despair So reasons S. Paul He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things And a little after Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died This is the powerful Oratory that prevails before the Throne of God nay it is irresistible in the mouth of a penitent sinner Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord
FROM what was heard let us go forward to what was seen and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and sat upon each of them 1. There appeared Tongues The Apostles that were formerly silent had now their tongues loos'd they lifted up their voice like Trumpets and spake the wonderful things of God and the Jewish Proselytes from all Nations that were now at Jerusalem were astonish'd to hear the poor Galileans open up the profoundest Mysteries so readily and so successfully their Tongues as if they were cloven by the finger of God spake those words that were like sparks of fire in the Souls of men now they appear'd to be the genuine Disciples of him who spake as never man spake who taught as one having authority whose words did reach the Souls of men with life and force and pierc'd between the Soul and the Spirit between the joynts and the marrow It was then true of the Apostles what was prophetically said by the Psalmist of our Saviour Grace is poured into thy lips therefore God hath blessed thee for ever The streams of their heavenly eloquence ran smoothly and fluently in Mysteries in Revelations in Reproofs in Directions in Counsels in Wisdom in Knowledge in Purity not exactly limned and proportion'd by elaborate periods and artificial dresses but in the greatest plainness mixt with the greatest power they deliver'd their message how boldly and how pertinently did they confute the slanders of Infidelity With what courage did they upbraid the Sanhedrim with the Murder of the Lord of Life Who among their Scribes and their learnedest Pharisees durst encounter the Wisdom of S. Stephen when once filled with the Holy Ghost How flat are Humane Reasonings against the Wisdom of God How feeble and how dull are all contrivances against the Council of the Almighty And now the Apostles found the Prophecy concerning the Messias in a great measure verified in his Disciples The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the Learned that I should know to speak a word in season to him that is weary 2. THOSE Tongues were cloven There are some Tongues cloven by the Devil that can nimbly shuffle themselves into different figures and are so accurately vers'd in the little arts of dissimulation that you may come much sooner to their meaning when you understand every thing that they say in a contradictory sense than when you swallow it down in the literal meaning S. James telleth us that with the same tongue we both bless God and curse man but the Tongues of the Apostles were cloven for a more noble end viz. that they might divide aright the Word of God unto all Nations under Heaven Parthians Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia in Judea in Cappadocia Pontus Asia Phrygia and Pamphylia strangers of Rome Jews and Proselytes Cretes and Arabians all of them heard the Apostles in their own language speak the wonderful things of God The Church was no longer to be confin'd to the Land of Judea but from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof the Worship of the Living and true God was to be set up in all Nations without distinction of Jew and Gentile So our Saviour tells the Woman of Samaria that the hour was come when the Worship of the true God was neither confin'd to Jerusalem nor the Mountains of Samaria but that he should be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth 3. THOSE Tongues appear'd in the similitude of Fire the Tongues of the Apostles were fired from Heaven and this is evident whether we consider 1. The Heat of their Zeal or 2. The Light of their Doctrine or 3. The Force Activity and Success of their Ministry 1. I SAY View the Heat of their Zeal what a flame was kindled by it in the hearts of other men How did they crowd into the Church when there was nothing to be gain'd by it but Death Disgrace and Martyrdom What a change was wrought upon the Spirits of men by the Light of the Gospel How earnestly and how vigorously did they serve God when they first came over from Paganism and Superstition How joyfully did they take the spoiling of their goods And with what courage did they offer themselves before all Judges Courts and Tribunals to be sacrificed for the Name of Jesus 2. Next to this let us consider the Light that is in it now the World was convinc'd that the Messias was the Light of the Gentiles in the highest sense that He was the light come down from heaven and the day-star from on high that visited us How swiftly did Error Darkness and Superstition flee before him When the Enemy of Mankind did bend all his forces to retard obscure his Victories the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ broke through those Clouds and appeared in its Meridian Splendor maugre all opposition When the Sun ariseth then man goeth forth unto his labour and the Beasts retire into their Dens but when the Sun of Righteousness thus appear'd the Demons that formerly enslav'd Mankind were forced to retire Their Idolatrous Rites and Ceremonies were deserted and made to leave the field to the triumphant Standard of our Blessed Saviour This Light look'd men so broad in the face that they were asham'd of their former folly and wickedness they surrendered themselves captives to its clear discoveries and illuminations for its evidence was so strong and undeniable S. Paul telleth us that it was the main scope of their Commission and Design to open mens eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified 3. FIRE did resemble the Holy Ghost because of its Force and Activity and when we consider the success of their Ministry we must acknowledge that the Power of God was engag'd to second their Commission Who can without the deepest astonishment and Adorations of Gods infinite Wisdom think of the Atchievments of those poor men When we remember what it was that our Saviour commanded and by what means they were to put his Commands into execution and what opposition they ought in all reason to look for if they attempted any such thing what was it then that he did command them No less than to go and teach all Nations i. e. to renverse the establish'd Laws Sacrifices and Customs of the whole World to destroy the Worship of all false Gods to introduce the Mystical Judaism in the room of the Literal of which the Jews were so obstinately fond to reform the manners of all Mankind to teach them to live by new Principles and in hopes of distant and unseen rewards to mortifie and subdue inveterate prejudices and their strongest inclinations to run up the Hill against the force of Custom Law and Example In a word to make the most incredible Changes in the World by such men
believe in him Thirdly The Interest that we have in his purchase by our adherence to him and dependence on him He that believes on me though he were dead yet shall he live First THAT our Saviour did raise himself from the dead is certain else our Religion is but a fable and a lying vanity It is S. Paul's own Inference to the Corinthians If Christ be not risen then our faith is in vain and we are yet in our sins And so our Saviour tells the Disciples that Christ must needs suffer and rise from the dead the third day The Spirit of Prophecy did enlighten the Jewish Church and foretold the success glories and triumphs of the Messias He shall drink of the brook in the way therefore shall he lift his head And Isa 53.10 That when he made his Soul an offering for sin he should prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand That because he had poured out his Soul unto death God would divide him a portion with the Great and he should divide the Spoils with the strong All those Predictions have the Resurrection of our Saviour in their bosom and without it they are nothing When he was declared to be the Son of God by the Resurrection from the dead the suspicions concerning his Person were remov'd he appear'd then to be the Christ of God the Lord of all things the Judge of the world And his mean equipage bitter pains and shameful disgraces did but heighten and inflame the Zeal and Devotion of Jew and Gentile How mysterious was the stratagem of his Love to hide the Glories of his Divinity to obscure the brightness of his Majesty by the interposal of human Nature to cloath himself with our flesh that he might die that through death he might overcome him that had the power of death and by his omnipotence raise himself from death and the grave For though he was Crucified through weakness yet he liveth by the power of God He was put to death as a notorious Malefactor exposed to the reproach and contempt of all Nations treated as an Enemy to God and to true Religion his adversaries insulted over him as one stricken smitten of God But when it appear'd that he was the mighty Favorite of Heaven by his Resurrection from the Dead how did this confute their Reasoning How did it baffle their Accusations How did it upbraid their Ignorance and scatter their vain Surmises and aggravate their incurable Malice Since he must needs be acknowledged to be the Messias in defiance of all spite and contradiction The stone which the builders refus'd became the head-corner-stone of the building Being found in fashion as a man be humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Now the human Nature is rais'd above the Angelical in the Person of our Saviour And the hosts of heaven fall down before him that was dead and is alive and dies no more and every creature which is in heaven and in earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea say with a loud voice Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessings The very thought of it delivers us from all our fears as the value and merit from our offences This is the Triumphant Song of the Christian Church the strong Tower we flie to in all our straits and difficulties the immovable Author of our Faith Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us The meditation of it is the strongest inducement to a holy life for he was rais'd to bless us in turning every one of us from our iniquities For as he was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father Even so we also should walk in newness of life And if you be present with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Do we worship him that is risen from the dead and brake thorow the Iron barrs of death and yet remain captive our selves under the tyranny and bondage of our sins Let it appear by our heavenly Conversation that we are acted by a Spirit superior to the World that we are born of God that he that is in us is stronger than he that is in the world for in this the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his brother Do we believe that our Saviour is victorious over Death and the Grave and yet shall we remain slaves to our Lusts and Passions Let the contrary appear that we are united to him in the closest manner encouraged by his Promises and enliven'd by his Spirit Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise think on these things And this is the most proper method to prove to the World the Resurrection of our Saviour and the divinity of our Religion and this was the Argument that the first Christians made frequently use of to confound their Adversaries For how can we be made partakers of the Divine Nature but by the Divine Power Shall we live a Life more pure and heavenly than the rest of Mankind if we are not inspir'd with a Spirit not only opposite to but above the maxims principles and genius of the World Shall the Scythians Persians and Romans forsake their fierceness lasciviousness and pride and become calm and chast and humble if they have no other rule to direct them than the glimmerings of Nature and weak essays of Philosophy Is it possible that we can overcome the Inclinations of Nature Lust Passion and Revenge but by a Spirit higher than Nature Can evil Habits be so soon removed Or can the Ethiopian change his Skin If we are then changed from what we were to the true use of our Reason and the acknowledgments of the Deity and the practice of all Vertue To what cause can this change be imputed but to the Divine Spirit of Jesus whose powerful intercecession prevails to Redeem us from under the dominion of all Error Darkness and Prejudice Do we then believe in Christ risen from the dead Let us live no more to sin but unto him that died for us and