most Signal Testimonies of my love I rebuke and chasten They are the Oxen destined for slaughter which graze in green Pastures but those appointed for a more mild and gentle usage are dayly harrased with labour and subject to travail The barren Tree is not beaten but the Tree planted by the River side bringing forth fruit in due season We read that the Stones which were to beautifie the Temple of Solomon were hewn and squared before they were thought meet for so glorious a Fabrick every Christian in like manner must expect to be encountred with sorrow and calamities to fit and polish them for the building up that Triumphant Church whereof Jesus Christ is the Head no marvel then that great are the troubles of the Righteous For if we reflect on them with an impartial eye we shall conclude them highly conducive to the good and benefit of Gods Children For do I own the right and Sovereignty of God over me if so I must consequently submit to his hand kissing the Rod that scourgeth me and then my afflictions will be more medicinal then afflictive For without doubt we cannot fufficiently relish the sweetness of good without the tryals of evil Joseph mounted on the Triumphant Chariot of Pharaoh by Prisons and Fetters David to the Throne of Saul by many persecutions and they thought their great prosperities to be much more pleasant because they were ushered in by sharp afflictions as Wine is most pleasant after the Lees of Vinegar Nay let us but consult Nature we may make the same remarques where we shall behold the Sun darting forth more brisk and lively Rays after an Eclypse The Sea more calm after it hath been discompos'd and ruffl'd by a Tempest and the Air much fairer when it hath wept those showrs which did obscure its brightness upon which account Seneca did affirm that as Storms and Tempests did contribute to the clearness of the Heavens and smoothness of the Sea even so the enterchanges of prosperity and adversity did much contribute to the happiness of men How could we judge of that pleasure the Spring and Summer entertain us with if they were not ushered in by the piercing winds and cold of the two contrary Seasons Neither can happiness delight us till we first bear the affronts of infelicity For was it it the power of humane nature to prescribe an antidote as a preservative from all manner of miseries that very want of miseries would prove an occasion of misery because the mind cloyed with continual happiness would prove a glut and burthen to it self disgusting that at last which an intermission would have rendred pleasant Doth not that meat which is most pleasing to our pallats by our dayly feasting thereon both take away our appetite and proves loathsome and not to be endured Even so it is with the pleasures of this world never more unpleasant than when they are not served up with the sowr herbs of adversity But perhaps some may here object that if we can never relish happiness without a mixture of evil we might thence infer the Angels were not sufficiently happy because they attained their perfection of bliss without passing through tribulation for like the Lillies of the field they neither spinn'd nor toyl'd to be cloathed with the robe of glory I answer There is a great difference between the condition of things eternal and things temporal Angels entred almost as soon into felicity as being They being placed in the upper Region of the the World where miseries cannot approach and being so singularly favoured by God needed not to be ballanced by the counterpoize of adversities but as for us we are born in a soil as fertile in calamities as Forrests with Birds and Rivers with Fish and are likewise extreamly ignorant of Gods grace when we long enjoy prosperity We grow wanton and are ready to kick against our Maker so long as we are puffed up with prosperity till the Scene is changed and we come to act a more melancholy part and then adversity opens our eyes that we may perceive those noble felicities which attend and wait upon her and also maketh us to understand who is the Author and Original from whence they proceed And this is the reason why Angels are perfectly happy without afflictions but men must first be afflicted before they can be happy made miserable before they can be glorious because they are not capacitated for the infusions of grace until they have freed and ridd themselves of all earthly matters whatsoever We must never look to ascend Mount Tabor till we first have climbed Mount Calvary nor can we eat of the Honey-comb he fed on after his Resurrection until we have pledged him in that Vinegar and Gall he drank upon the Cross God will have it so for several reasons whereof these are the principal The first reason why God visits us with afflictions may be to Withdraw us from the love of this World For whilst we are swallowed up with the pleasing conceit of the flourishing condition of our goodly Heritages and prosperous fortunes our devotion proves a melancholy disturber and one that exacts too severe a service from the minds of generous Spirits God is imagined as one who deals after too rough and rugged a manner because he will not licence us to be always revelling in our jollities but expecteth some certain parts not only of our lives but also of every day to be set apart for his service and worship and this makes Religion to meet but with a slight entertainment at our hands this makes us stopp our ears at the voice of the Charmer our hearts are wholly ravish'd with the delightful reflexions on our great abundance till we prove totally forgetful both of our eternal interest and also of the respect due to him who hath blessed us with the fatness of the Land They are the cloddy incumbrances of the World that debase and clogg our spirits making them listless and unactive which like Bird-lime hamper and entangle our souls indisposing our minds for the most noble and clarified contemplations of eternity But when the pruning-hook of afflictions comes to lop off these corrupting branches then are we brought to hate that which before was the delight of our eyes and sole possessor of our hearts and to hunger and thirst after that which formerly seemed crude and nauseous to our Palates Ill weeds are to be destroyed before we can sow good Corn neither is the Soul capacitated for the entertainment of divine truths until some sinister accident accident and cross affliction hath cleansed and purged it from the dross of the World Aurem cordis Tribulatio aperit quam saepe prosperitas hujus mundi claudit Tribulation opens the ear of the heart which is too frequently shut and deafned by worldly prosperity Thus Antiochus when he enjoyed the constant Series of a smiling fortune boasted himself superior to God himself but when the inconstant Goddess withdrew her beams and
tells us how the Hebrews with joy sustained the rapine of their goods Heb. 11.16 because they knew there was a more durable treasure and incomparably better inheritance prepared for them What is it therefore which troubles thy repose dost thou bewail the loss of a Parent Relation or Friend Oh consider with thy self he was not born to live always and perhaps like the Righteous was snatched away earlier from the evil to come Moreover If you truly love God as who cannot but love that which is nothing but essential purity it self How canst thou be afflicted at the dissolution of a man since if he perish not to God he perish not to thee and we must not be sorry as men without hope Why art thou then so sad oh my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me dost thou groan under the pressures of an infirm constitution remember with thy self we should not covet to enjoy life but according to the tenour of its grant we breath under constellations which by their variety of influences create variety of humors and distempers and if this be convenient for the good of the universe shall not private respects and particular interests give place thereunto shall I murmur against my God in grumbling at my sickness or rather ought I not thankfully accept it as a present from the most merciful and benign parent ordained either as a chastisement of my sins or tryal of my vertue and blessed is that sickness whose pains lead to salvation blessed is that war which ends in everlasting peace What is it then which makes thee thus disconsolate do the Walls of a Prison affright thee lift up thy eyes unto the Hills and view those immense spaces above the Heavens designed as a praemium of thy Restraint for the deprivation of a little fresh air and some other contentments depending on liberty what spiritual entertainments mayst thou hope to enjoy when Angels are recorded to have accompanied not only St. Peter but also Paul and Silas in the Prison there thou art free from envy and detraction opprobries and calumnies for where is that malice Oh! where is that cruelty will rage upon the prostrate however where is that wise Marchant who Trafficks for so rich a Pearl so great a purchase and will not venture something on the score of persecution Courage then O my soul and welcome the vexations of hunger cold bonds and imprisonments whips or scourges ship-wrecks or nakedness the perils of the Sea City or Wilderness as boni genii good Angels sent from God to minister for them Heb. 1. ult who are Heirs of Salvation For what saith the sincere Christian Nebe 6.11 with Nehemiah shall such a man as I lye shall such a man as I recant am I a child of God and shall not I fight his battels am I a Christian and shall not I fight under the Banner of the Captain of our Salvation how hath Solomon branded me for a Coward Pro. 24.10 and my strength small if I faint in the day of adversity How can I want comfort in the midst of adversity and trouble Pro. 15.15 when a good conscience is a continual Feast With what confidence therefore will I rely upon my God! Isa 28.16 how patiently will I wait the Lords leisure because faith maketh no hast I will pride my self in my Chains and will not be troubled at diseases for though this Sickness may be unto the first yet not unto the second death I will not flatter the Judge out of fear what man can do unto me for whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe Pro. 29.25 Shall I betray the cause when God hath appointed it to try me shall I offend my bretheren when St. Paul had rather die than be guilty of being a stumbling block unto any Rom. 14. shall I charge my Conscience when its wounds are more intollerable then the tortures of the body shall I apostatize from my profession and turn from the faith when at my enrolment a member of Christ I so solemnly covenanted with him to maintain it unto my lives end No I will valiantly resist the temptations of the three Cardinal enemies of my Salvation the World Flesh and the Devil let my Friends tempt me like Job's Wife let my Flesh flatter me like Eve let my Persecutors bribe me like Balak let them who suffer with me revolt and abandon me yet like Joshua I will still serve the Lord Josh 24.14 and though every one be offended because of Christ yet will I never be offended for he is instead of comfort health and liberty unto me How great were the troubles of Joseph yet the Lord did deliver him out of all how many were the afflictions of Abraham how many were the sorrows both of David and Job yet thou O my God didst deliver them and therefore thou canst and wilt deliver me for thou art my Castle and strong Tower of defence Oh! hast thee to deliver me that my enemies may not triumph over me yet if thou dost not I will follow the examples of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and will not do evil to escape danger For shall I shrink at this when Christ hath done so much for me Oh! the blewness of the stripes and ghastliness of the wounds Oh the pricks of the thorns and piercings of the Nails all which and much more he patiently submitted to to excuse me from the misery I had justly deserved and what shall I deny my Saviour sopoor a kindness so small a request as to do something for him who hath done all things for me shall he give me his heart and his bowels and shall not I return him the same Is there a flame in him and no spark in me no reflecting of a Sun-beam or repairing of the Stream into the Ocean No with Hester if I perish I perish for I am purposed to observe his righteous judgments If my Purse suffer my mony doth but perish if my body be imprisoned my pleasures do but perish if sickness attend me Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole In whatsoever state or condition therefore I am as Holy David so will I comfort my self in the Lord my God 1 Sam. 30.6 this is the Staf on which I will lean for though earthly Crowns are made of Gold yet heavenly Diadems are made of the thorns of tribulation I will not therefore look for pleasures in my way till I have passed the narrow Gate and am arrived at the place where there shall be no more hunger thirst or cold but all tears shall be wiped from our eyes and the Robes of Scarlet washed white in the bloud of the Lamb who sitteth on the Throne for ever and ever To Whom with the Father and Holy Spirit be all Honour Glory Might Majesty and Dominion now and for evermore Amen GODS LOVE TO LAPS'D MAN John 3.16 For God so loved the World that he gave his
only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have ever lasting life SUCH was the unexpressible goodness of God Heb. 1.1 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having in many parcels and in divers manners as the Apostle phraseth it revealed to men the things to come sometimes by Visions and Dreams as he frequently appeared unto Abraham and Jacob sometimes by the coming of his Spirit upon the Prophets 2 Pet. 1.21 for St. Peter informs us how holy men of God spake as they were taught being moved by the Spirit of the Holy-Ghost such were Isaiah Jeremiah and others sometimes by dispatching unto us those immaterial Embassadors of his the Holy and Blessed Angels on their Embassies of love to mankind that he might reconcile them unto himself and at last bring them to Glory But in this latter Age of the World he hath spoken unto us by his Son he hath vouchsafed a mercy of such a quality and noble extent it cannot but incite the most dull and fordid spirit to a pious commemoration of the Nativity of this Mediator betwixt God and Man especially if we reflect on our own unworthiness the nobility of the Person or on this as the only means for lapsed Mans recovery to his Primitive nay to a better state of happiness then that which our First Parents enjoyed Upon which account our Holy Mother the Church hath appointed this day for that solemn purpose that all devout Christians should meet together to celebrate the Birth of our Redeemer and to return our praises and thanksgivings to God for his unspeakable love to Mankind in sending his Eternal Son to assume our nature and to teach and give examples of holy life and at last to die for them rise again and ascend to Heaven All on this one design that every person in the World that shall receive and obey him shall be rescued from eternal death and then made partaker of everlasting life For this gift of his only begotten Son is a mercy of such a weight that we cannot sufficiently admire and esteem it We with the Husband-men in the Parable did evilly entreat the other Messengers he before sent unto us He now therefore sends us his Son saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they will reverence my Son Amongst the constellation of all the Glorious Attributes of God none shine with a more Orient Lustre than that of his Mercy This is his Benjamin in which he takes the greatest pleasures and most refined delight Insomuch that he would not manifest himself unto us in the Thunder-claps and Lightning-flashes of Mount Sinai but in the Mount of Olives a Mount of peace and sweetness for he so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that every one believing on him and receiving him should not perish but have everlasting life In which words I consider First The impulsive or efficient cause of Mans Redemption the love of God God so loved Secondly the persons to whom he express'd this love the World God so loved the World Thirdly The Instrument or Person by whom this Reconciliation was wrought the only Begotten Son Lastly The end or design of this Gift that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have life everlasting We begin with the First The word God is variously taken in Holy-Writ Exod. 22.28 sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abusively when it is attributed to Angels or Men. to express the grandeur and dignity of their office and place thus it is used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou shalt not revile the Gods So again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is a Judge amongct the Gods Ps 82.1 v. 6. ib. and so again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have said ye are Gods Sometimes the word is used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 falsly when they are erroneously stiled by this name and reputed as God as the Heathen Idols who were the Workmanship of men and thus it is used by Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Turn ye not unto Idols Levit. 19.4 nor make to your selves Molten Gods and so likewise by holy David Psalm 96 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For all the Gods of the Heathens are Idols but it is the Lord who made the Heavens But the word God is taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a true and right sense when it is either used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the whole Sacred Trinity as that of St. John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 4.24 God is a Spirit and so again by St. Paul Rom. 8.31 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If God be for us who can be against us Where is not meant any particular single Person but the Whole Trinity or Three Persons together And so when it is used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when one only of the Divine Persons are signified and St. Paul useth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord and so again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 17.3 This is life eternal that they know thee the Only True God and whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ Acts 20.21 Where by the word God is not meant all the Three but only the first Person the Father So also St. Luke useth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Church of God which he hath purchased by his own bloud So again by St. John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God manifested in the Flesh in both which places is only meant the Second Person the Son So also St. Luke use it in another place only to signifie the Holy-Ghost Acts 5.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou hast not lied unto Men but unto God By the word God in the Text is chiefly understood the Father for though it may be applyed to all the three Persons yet because God the Father is the Fountain of action he is most properly understood by this term both in this and also in some other places of Scripture as that of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 4.4 When the Fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law Rom. 8.3 and so again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God sending his own Son in the likeness of Sinful Fiesh Nay Our Saviour himself was so far from a scribing this action solely to himself that he doth not disown his mission that he received his authority from his Father to come into the World and save Sinners Thus you may may hear him declaring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am not come of my self but he that sent me is true John 7.28 whom ye know not And thus you have had the various readings of the word GOD in sacred History and the definition according to St. John is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is love and what Justice is it for all men to conclude the same For our Creation was an act of the Almightys which proceeded not from any constraint and tye
of necessity but from the abundant freeness and generosity of his Spirit He should not have needed unless he had pleased to mould us into Shape and form us into Creatures What worth or merit can be alledged miserable dust and ashes that we are whereby we might claim a prerogative or Title to a Being Alas it was undeserved nevertheless he did it without force or compulsion which was an Illustrious Act of his free grace and bounty yet farr excelled by that much more eminent one in the Redemption of us from the slavery and servitude of sin and Satan yes and re-instating of us in a better condition then that which our First Parents so justly forfeited To love us before we were I confess is great love but to love us when we had rendred our selves vile yea and worse then nothing what can it be stiled but the heighth of love To love us in our non-entity is an Embleme of a most Noble Spirit but to love us after our monstrous ingratitude I cannot express it Eph 2 7. but in the words of the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the exceeding riches of his glorious and merciful grace For man by his own default had lost his Original Righteousness and was trappand by Satan of all those blessings God of his special favour intended to bestow upon him We were so far from meriting this grand mercy the gift of his only Begotten Son that we had provoked him in the highest measure immaginable and cast all his commandments behind us What can we therefore conceive should move him to give us his Son surely not any loveliness or attractiveness in us We were not such amiable and beautiful Creatures as to cause a God to descend from the Battlements of Heaven and subject himself to the miseries of humane nature but his mercy and wonderful goodness alone which caused him to be invested with the garments of flesh and our Restauration to happiness is to be attributed to nothing but the free Bounty and grace of God For Sense or Reason cannot scruple so evident a demonstration especially if we consider against whom we thus transgressed whose Law it was we thus contemptuously trampled upon whose I pray was it but the Law of the great Legislator himself Did we not Rebel against the Supream Governour of Heaven and Sin against him who spreadeth out the Firmament like a Curtain and limiteth the Sea that it shall pass no further Isa 9.7 How doth the Prophet stile him Wise in Counsel wonderful in judgment and admirable in the execution of his unsearchable Will He is essential purity it self He abhorreth iniquity with a perfect hatred and utterly detests against every thing that is unjust Yet still it was against him that we offended who is cloathed with righteousness as with a garment and holiness as a Breast-plate It was him whom we provoked and consequently forfeited all natural right and possibility to happiness Yet stand still all ye that fear the Lord and see what glorious things he hath done for our souls Behold how his restless love could never be at quiet until it had employed his Omniscience to contrive means and expedients to reconcile both his Justice and Mercy in reconciling Sinners to himself Nay and this merciful design by the Incarnation of his Son He prosecuted in a way so worthy of himself and highly advantageous unto Man 1 Pet. 1.12 that the Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are ardently desirous to pry into them How did this make St. Paul to cry out Suam commendat erga nos charitatem Deus Rom. 5.8 God commendeth his love towards us in that whilst we were Sinners Christ died for us that is when we wanted all motives to invite and had nothing but our misery to cry aloud in the Ears of God for pity and compassion It is an usual expression when we see one in a deplorable condition to say his poverty or misery speaketh in his behalf but this is more eminent surely in our case and it was our misery was so prevalent with the Almighty as to give us his Son to save us when all expectation and hope of Salvation was taken away And how did this Son express his love to Mankind even as the Apostle tells us He being in the form of God Phil. 2.6 7. thought it no Robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of man and being thus arrayed as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross The sense of which is that it was beneath so great a love to love at a less rate then death it self and from the supereminent heigth of glory to stoop to the extreamest of indignities being abased to the bottom of abjectedness that we might be exalted to the contrary extream O Eternal Fathet of mercys thy love and goodness is unmeasurable and thy tender mercys are over all thy works what a large portion hast thou given us of thy love that to us a Son is Born to us a Son is given Thou hast not dealt so with any other creatures as thou hast done with man on whom thou didst stamp thine own Image cloathed him with immortality and constituted him Supream over the rest of the Creation Nay so great was thy goodness O God that when we had lost our selves by departing from thee we should still be found of the in sending thy Son to save and restore them that were lost Lord what is man that thou shouldst so regard him or the Son of man that thou shouldst thus respect him with all thankfulness and praise we remember this day we extol thy love and the humble descent of the Son of thy love Christ Jesus Oh grant that he may be conceived in the heart of every one of us that by the operation of the Holy Spirit Christ may dwell in us and we in him Oh let that Spirit which was in our Saviour inspire our hearts continually with devout affections towards thee that we may love thee beyond what our tongues can express or hearts imagine and so joyn cheerfully with that Coelestial Chorus who are still giving honour blessing power glory and dominion to thee for ever and ever for this thy unspeakable love to Mankind in giving thy only begotten Son that all may have everlasting life And so I descend from the efficient cause of Mans Redemption the love of God to the parties whom he thus loved and they come under a two-fold Consideration their Quality and Quantity We begin with the First God so loved the World By WORLD may be understood the whole compages of all Beings because every creature by the Passion and Resurrection of our Saviour received almost a new life and was in some measure delivered from the bondage of corruption But by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the text is especially signified all
For what can be a more Popular Argument to use for the seduction of soft-minded and weakly-principled Protestants and to draw them off from us than to extol and magnifie the perfect unity of their Church and to lament and pity the sad distractions and divisions of ours For though men of reading and consideration can easily disprove them and prove it a Church by far less at unity then our own yet still this Argument may be forcible with them who have not leisure and opportunity to come to know so much of them but they daily observe men endeavouring to rend our Church in pieces and cut it into little bits and mammocks Nevertheless I will not flatter my self that those who believe nothing but what themselves speak or own will consent to the Doctrine of this TRUTH to wit That they who pretend an inbred aversion to Popery and exclaim most against Rome are most instrumental in procuring our Slavery unto that see For they are generally so wedded to their Erroneous Opinions that none can behold the beauty and glory of an Object but those who borrow their Eyes to contemplate withal Nay had I not begg'd your Lordships Protection for who dare avow if a Person so honourable will be pleas'd to countenance I could have expected no better than my usual Entertainment the worst of their spleen and malice For if we will not stile Humour Conscience and Novelty Religion if we have not the precise Cut and walk in their Exact Geometrical Saintship or form of Godliness they presently conclude us scandalous and ungodly But let our Opinions and Judgements concentre with their Dictamens and then the Wind is presently turn'd for they will judge more candidly of our actions by blaming the infirmity of the Flesh and weakness of humane Nature for Actions of shame and debauchery because the construction of our Deeds must differ equally with those of our Principles Nay further they will wrest them with the same Licence they mis-interpret the Scriptures to make them speak according to their Sense and Opinion From such Persons I foretell an indifferent usage unless your Lordship favour what otherwise they will certainly disaffect which after your Lordships Pardon for the dedication of these Discourses so unworthy your Patronage is the Humble Request of Your Honours most faithfully devoted Servant R. Scamler THE STATE OF THE RIGHTEOUS Psalm 34.19 Great or many are the Troubles of the Righteous but the Lord will deliver him out of all WHEN the World was in its Cradle and Religion in her Swadling Clouts The Wisdom of Heaven thought it convenient to educate the tender years of Infant-Piety with the alluring hopes of a temporal Prosperity to prompt and encourage men to a ready entertainment of her Services For had Religion in her tender years appear'd with an austere look and morose behaviour she must of necessity have had fewer admirers of her Beauty Least therefore she should meet but with a slender respect and mean entertainment she came into the World with a mild aspect and for her dowry had all the advantages of a temporal felicity entituled upon her followers which was the state of her first manifestation or making her self known to the World But when she was grown somewhat elder and of a more strong constitution God desisted from courting men by the hopes of her portion of splendid preferments and goodly heritages that they might be enamoured of her Beauty and not of the Appendants that he might see whether it was out of pure and undefiled love to Religion or out of affection to the World which made them to comply with the observance of his Laws upon which account he did then command them to renounce the World and all their hopes therein that they should no longer live by sense but Faith that they must expect to be encountred with sorrows and afflictions calamities and crosses if they would be reputed his children and lead a vertuous and godly life And this is that condition of the Righteous Holy David describeth in the text where looking on the miseries they suffer he seemeth to cry Great are the troubles of the Righteous respecting the Promise he seemeth to sing the Lord will deliver them out of all Both which make our lives fitly compar'd to a Musick-book where we shall seldom observe many white notes but they art intermixed with black and both together compose the sweetest harmony God set's us our lesson in a little book it contains no more then two pages one stiled consolation the other dissolution 't is necessary for both to take their turns In the day of prosperity remember thy self of adversity In the day of adversity comfort thy self with the hopes of prosperity For the divine providence mingles our life as one would Wine and Water in the same Cup Some drink the purest others the most compound but all taste a commixtion for great are the troubles c. This Psalm the sweet Singer of Israel compos'd after he had chang'd his Behaviour and feigned himself mad in the Court of Abimelech his deadly enemy which dissimulation proved a means for happy deliverance from that imminent peril which otherwise had most infallibly proved fatal He therefore no sooner saw the net broken and himself escaped as a Bird from the hand of the Fowler but he tunes his instrument and falls a warbling forth the praises of the Almighty saying verse 1. I will always praise the Lord which may serve as a reproach to them who dayly observe the benigne providence of God in protecting them from those perils and dangers which are obvious to all amidst the changes and chances of this mortal life yet seldom or never send up their praises to him from whence cometh their help Nay they will scarce be brought to acknowledge 't is the hand of the Lord which hath brought such mighty things to pass But Holy David here thinks it too mean a performance for none but himself to sing the marvelous kindness of the Lord he therefore entreats others to bear a part with him in this consort of thanksgiving saying Oh magnifie the Lord with me and let us exalt his Name together v. 3. But alas Men think they exceed in their duty if when Heav'n hath been concerned in procuring a deliverance they cry out with the Pharisee Lord I thank thee and conceit it too troublesome and tedious a service to be always telling forth his loving kindess unto others Our Psalmist therefore to prompt and encourage them to this holy duty and to incite them to piety reckons up a Catalogue of the many privileges of the Righteous How that their crys will pierce beyond the Clouds and sound in the ears of God for they are open to their complaint how that he is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit Yea let never so many sorrows and afflictions oppress the Righteous yet still in his appointed time
Dilemma of Christ and you 'll see there are no thoughts this Cup should pass from us He that will save his life Mat. 16.25 shall loose it and he that will loose it shall save it Accept of what part you please there is a life to be lost an Hell either here or hereafter But who is more stupid to the extreamest misery than he who will ruinate his grounds for Heaven to gain a little clay on earth and who is more wise and fortunate then he who will lose his life for him because when Christ shall appear attended with Myriads of Angels the vast Retinue of Coelestial Courtiers he will confer rewards according to the deeds 'T is reported that a Famous Captain should say to a Souldier dying with him Hadst thou done nothing worthy repute but remained obscure all thy life time yet here is honour enough that to day thou dyest with thy Master What honour and glory then is conferred upon thee poor dust and ashes when God picks thee out as the most couragious of his Souldiers to fight in his defence If he hath reserved pleasures unspeakable for them who barely love him what Lawrels and Crowns are prepared for them who love him unto death Where is thy courage therefore O Christian where is thy spirit when thou repinest at whatever God lays on thee of this sad nature dost thou do well to be angry Ransack and search into the bottom of thy soul and see what it is which troubles thy repose 'T is to wean thee from the love of the World 't is to make thee reform and lead a new course of life 't is to try thy patience and love to him to see if it be so entire that nothing can draw thy affections from him 'T is out of pure tenderness and kindness to thy soul that God sends thee afflictions in thy body crosses in thy state yes every sad accident is applyed by that wise Physician of Heaven to eat out the proud Flesh of our corrupt nature for he doth not afflict willingly and grieve the Children of men He is as it were grieved himself that he is constrained and driven to make use of this medicine to heal us of our more deadly wounds and putrified sores Is it not an argument of my insensibility to complain of him who nips and pincheth me to raise and awaken me out of a deep Lethargy and is it not to awaken us out of the Lethargy of Sin that God pincheth us with hardness And what a great influence would it have upon our lives How would it blunt and dull the edge of evils what a mighty salve and cure to a mind discomposed by sorrow seriously to consider Heaven is not only concerned therein but they proceed even from the hand of that God who in the midst of Judgment thinks of mercy and like a mild and compassionate Father pitieth his child when he is correcting him For if thou knowest this and remain impatient go to the Beasts consult Tygers and Lions who will be beaten of their Masters and not repine He who extended my Arteries and Veins he who said unto me live when I was but in the Embryo still in my bloud 'T is he who made me that strikes me he who moderates the World that thinks it convenient to afflict me And what Shall I fight against my God and contend with my Maker shall I dare to struggle with him who can look me into nothing yet this and much more do I when I remain impatient under the heat and Toyl of the day of sorrows To prevent which we must stedfastly resolve to strengthen our courage in bearing our afflictions First With an unruffled and quiet mind we must not in the least murmure though we pass through the Solitary Wilderness in the saddest and most deserted condition if it will conduct and lead us to the Land of Canaan we must not be weary of our burthen but strive to support it with the most serene temper of spirit least otherwise we should dare to charge God foolishly But then again in the second place we must also express our thankfulness to God that he hath thought us worthy to suffer for the name of Christ extolling and praising him that he hath made us miserable For as the General places the stoutest men opposite to the hottest services and sharpest encounters not that he ows them a spite or bear them a grudge but to manifest the confidence he reposes in their Man-hood and to lead them to triumph Yes and this is the method of our heavenly Father to pick out the best spirited of his Servants and the chiefest of his Darlings that he may crown them with the most noble triumphs and to conduct them to the greatest honours Let others therefore shrink at the sharp combats of the World let them cowardly faint under the strong opposition of their adversaries but as for me saith the undaunted Christian the more enemies I encounter the greater will be my Crown the harder the labour the more noble my reward when my enemies encrease I 'll call new bloud into my veins let them overpower me with their multitudes I will overcome them by my courage let them come about me like Bees and encompass me in on every side yet in the name of my God I will destroy them Blessed by my God that I am the man appointed to fight the Lords battels that he hath begirt me with perils and encircled me with afflictions I have vowed and am stedfastly purposed to behave my self so couragiously that humanely be it spoken it shall not repent him of his choice Blessed be my God that I am ranked amidst the first of Christian Souldiers that he looks upon me poor and sinful wretch that I am capable of such glorious atchievements Iet others then swell with fatness but O my God let me be chastened every morning let others come in no misfortune but oh scourge me and and lash me in this World that I may not be tormented in that which is to come let me eat my Garlick and Onyons in this Aegypt that I may feed on the Grapes and Pomegranats in the Land of Promise let me here feed upon husks that I may be refreshed with the satted Calf at the Supper of the Lamb. Amen And thus you have seen the Righteous in trouble like the Israelites in exile but now the Lord like Moses comes to deliver them hitherto God seemed to sleep as Christ in the Storm but now he rebukes the Tempest and the obedient waves bow themselves into a Calm for though great are the troubles of the Righteous yet the Lord will deliver him out of all Consult but the Old Trrnslation and you will find the words in the present tense Eripit eum ex omnibus illis Which Phrase is frequent and obvious among the Promises in Holy Writ to intimate unto us the speed and certainty of the things promised God will not leave his Children in
Mankind and people in the World Thus St. Mathew useth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wo unto the World because of Offences Mat. 18.7 Yes thus our Saviour himself interpreted it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the World cannot hate you but me it hateth where is meant the People or Inhabitants of the world After the same manner Satan is frequently stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prince of the World because he rules and governs in the affections of men and enthrones himself in their hearts But indeed Expositors are various in their constructions thereof some translate it Sic Deus hominem dilexit God so loved the little World Man some hominem ad imaginem Dei factum Man made after the Image and Similitude of God others hominem lapsum et mundanum fall'n and worldly-minded-man all which Translations contribute to extoll and magnifie the wonderful Love of God For is it not worthy our admiration to see light and darkness enter a League To see the torrid and frigid Zone unite and embrace each other To see JEHOVAH and the Gods of EKRON the Ark and Dagon reconciled to see the God Israel and Baal meet together and the Prophets of the Lord and Sons of Belial kiss each other Yet all these was fall'n man compared to him who is nothing but purity it self yet still how does he court this depraved and sinful creature to a reconciliation Shall we not envy his honour and admire his love who will lay down his life for the sake of a righteous man shall we not then be rapt with wonder when we consider the Immensity of the Divine Love to laps'd man to see the eternal Son of the Most High God descend into the lower parts of the earth and in a manner embrace a Dunghil nay beyond that to expose and submit himself to the cruel stroke of the most ignominious death that he might snatch sinful man from a lamentable downfal and mount him from a miserable earth to the Regions of Immortality and Bliss Herein is love John 4.10 not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our sins O thou great and All-seeing eye of Heaven what moved thee to glance so favourable a countenance on us miserable sinners what moved thee to send so kind an Embassage of peace to us vile worms to us who were unworthy thy compassion though never so earnestly implor'd to us who had deserved thy wrath more than thy smiles thy Thunder and Lightning thy indignation and anger but not the least drop of thy mercy How comes it to pass thou inexhaustible Fountain of Love thou showr'st down thy goodness upon us in so plentiful a measure 't was thy mercy O God Oh! praised be that mercy which saved us from destruction 't was thy pity and compassion not our tenderness to thy Laws which sheltred us from thy fury 't was thy love and goodness alone Oh! for ever magnified be that love which induced thee to be so bountiful unto us with all thankfulness and reverence O God we desire to join with those Sons of Glory and bright Morning Stars in singing according to our abilitie and power Glory be to God on High for his unspeakable love in giving his only begotten Son that whosoever do believe on him should not perish but have eternal life for thou sent not thy Son into the World to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the Wonders which he doth for the Children of Men. Which is no more then Justice and our bounden duty to perform for if we consult what we are by nature what shall we conclude our selves but Children of wrath the finful Offpring of disobedient Adam made obnoxious to the worst of deaths before we were entituled to life by sinning against God without whose Reconciliation we cannot but perish For though it is true Man at his first creeping into the World was placed in the Regions of felicity and favoured as one of the Darlings of God yet was he not as quickly disobedient to the commands of his Creator how justly therefore was his Crown forfeited and he deprived of all that happiness God had conferred on him when he was banished Paradise and in the sweat of his brows to earn his bread And if he fell so did we by being in his Lovns for since the advantages of that blessing God promised him if obedient had respect to his Posterity then certainly the curse which was the consequence of his disobedience did not relate to his particular interest alone but was of universal influence and he propagated infection to the last and utmost of his Posterity From our First Parents therefore we derive a curse whose Legacy bequeathed us was sin and damnation and all Man-kind were Joynt-heirs of the same Inheritance the wrath of an incensed God Thus holy David confesseth it Ps 51.5 in sin did my Mother conceive me and in iniquity she brought me forth Now what had been the wages of this sin but eternal death what had been the fruit which they plucked from the Forbidden Tree in the disguise of an Apple but everlasting ruine had not the wonderful mercy of God found out an expedient to salve his Justice and save us For had he not dealt thus graciously with his Creatures what could we have in reason expected but to have been swept away in the Deluge of Divine indignation that he should have dipt his Arrow in the Poyson of that Serpent which gull'd and mocked us and exhaust were it possible his whole Magazine of Thunderbolts that he should have girded his Sword upon his Thigh and take Vengeance upon us making us to suck the Lees and dreggs of that intollerable potion reserved for the Sons of Perdition This was the fruit flourishing on the Tree of Knowledge this was that miserable plight and woful condition into which we had brought our selves we had deserved the worst of Gods fury by breaking our bands and Covenant with him Stand still therefore all ye that forget God and admire his goodness and tell me if there be any God like unto our God or any Father like unto our heavenly Father who forbore to enter into the Armory of his wrath or to affright us with the furrows of a contracted brow for notwithstanding we were born Heirs Apparent to calamity without end yet loe he sent his only begotten Son to cut off the entail We have sinned O Lord and dealt wickedly but this Lamb of thine what hath he done that he should be thus battered and bruised wounded and bloudy to save us from the Stripes we had justly deserved how great was thy love to us to send him who was in Heaven with thee to us on earth in the likeness of sinful flesh Oh! what charming love was this how pretious are the thoughts of it to us Grant then O
one should perish and so again God himself hath sworn that he delighteth not in the death of a sinner But perhaps some may contest that if it be the intention and will of God that all should be saved how comes it to pass so many fall short and miss of the reward designed by God glory everlasting I answer The Holy Scriptures have recorded Gods will to be two-fold his Absolute and his Conditional Will The former God used when he framed the goodly Structure of the World and said let there be light and there was light let there be a Firmament and there was a Firmament So likewise when he created those incorporeal intelligencers the Angels he spake the Word and they were made he commanded and they were created This is the absolute and only irresistable Will of God But in matters relating to the Salvation of Men he made use of the Second his Conditional Will And those Conditions were three The First was in Paradise eat not and thou shalt live but how soon did we forfeit this Covenant by an hankering and prurient desire after the Tree of Knowledge The Second was under the Law do this and thou shalt live And here though the spirit was never so willing yet so many were the weaknesses and infirmities of the flesh that we groaned under its weight and were not able to perform it until Christ the fulfiller of the Law came to ease us of its burthen and then he made a third and new agreement with us under the Gospel and that is believe on the Son of God and thou shalt be saved To the performance of which he hath afforded such powerful aids and encouragements that we may observe the tenour of his Laws and live for ever For the ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace But if we will not observe his Laws but break our bonds asunder we justly forfeit our right in Christ and may charge God foolishly but thank our selves for damnation For though our Creation was the work of Omnipotency alone yet the salvation of our souls can never be effected without our endeavours He hath opened a fountain for us to bath in but if we refuse to wash and be clean who is to blame for the continuance of our Leprosie Nay further he doth not only to our Justification add the invitations of his grace and holy Spirit to dispose our selves for it promising to ease and refresh such as are weary and heavy laden with the burthen of their sins but positively declares he stands at the door of our hearts knocks and solicites to enter but if we will not fuffer the King of glory to come in may not he justly defie the World to object the least fault and blame on his side since he hath done to his Vineyard whatever could be thought requisite to make it thrive and prosper and if they finally perish as I shall shew more at large by and by are they not the authors of their own perdition by their rejecting those abundantly sufficient graces he hath offered them to accept So that in the extremity of their misery they will be forced to confess thou art Righteous O Lord and thy judgments are just But some further object that though the satisfaction Christ made was sufficient for the whole World yet say they it was not effectual that is I conceive he did not intend all should participate of the benefit thereof And what is this but by the worst kind of enclosure to circumscribe his All-sufficient goodness to set banks and shores to that unlimited Ocean of mercy which cannot consist with the wisdom and goodness of Christ for if he paid a full and plenary satisfaction for the offences of all men was it not as easie and more agreeable to his mercy to communicate the benefits to all than to appropriate them only to a few and little parcel of men Any in the shape of a man would censure it a meer delusion for the King of Great Britain to proclaim himself Redeemer of all the captivated Christians under the Tyrany of Ziim and Ochim Turks and Infidels if he should send over Ransom large enough for all yet afterwards cashiere the poor Captives hopes of liberty by interpreting himself though I proclaimed and sent sufficiently for all yet I meant Redemption only to a few Would not this renew our griefs and augment our sorrows and if it was so with God what anxieties and fears what troubles and scruples would it move in our minds whether we were the persons whom the King delighted to honour for if we conceited we were the Children elected by God and God had resolved from eternity to save us what licence would it give to our unbridled desires by presuming too much on the Patience and long-suffering of God when we believe we cannot be dis-inherited from being Coheirs with the Son of God and so make us neglect the working out our salvation knowing that our labour is in vain because before we were God had determined we should not miss of our Diadem of glory But blessed be God no mans state is fixed or unalterable before he hath a Being much less from eternity or before the foundations of the earth were laid nay now we have a being it is possible to pass from the state of death to the life of grace 'T is true when we are cut off from the Land of the living and are arrived at our long home then our condition and the decree of God is unchangeable for where the Tree falleth there it lyeth Eccles 11.3 They that die in peace shall arise in glory with the King of Peace and they who die in their sins shall be raised 't is true but receive small comfort from the Sun of glory for they shall be banished from his presence Let this consideration rouze us from the Lethargy of sin that we may work whilst the day of salvation lasteth before the night cometh when no man can work What we do let us do quickly for though the marrow may seem to swell in our bones our bloud hot and boyl in our veins though we pride our selves in the strength and flower of nature yet still is not our time in the hand of God who can tell what a day may bring forth Seeing then God hath expressed so high a Love to us let us not turn his grace into wantonness for he that believeth on him that sent me saith Christ hath everlasting life And St. John tells us He is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world This was an Act of Oblivion out of which none was excepted He came to revoke the general Sentence the Decree gone out against all men For as I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the Death of the wicked but that he turn and live He hath set before us life and death Oh! let us choose life that we may
live for ever and let us put up our Prayers and say O Almighty and most Merciful Father we adore thy Mercies and admire thy Love to the Word in the Gift of thy Son O blessed Jesu how worthy is thy Love to be had in reverence over all the World for thy voluntary susception and affectionate suffering such horrid and cruel Tortures the Waters of bitterness entred into thy soul and the Storms of Death and thy Fathers Anger broke thee in pieces What shall we do who by our sins have tormented our dearest Lord What contrition and tears can sufficiently express those sad accidents which they have produced Lord have Mercy upon us Christ have Mercy upon us and pity our distress And seeing thou hast done so much for our Souls only speak the word and thy Servant shall be whole Suffer us not to neglect that great Salvation which thou hast purchased for us Dispose us by Love Thankfulness Humility and Obedience to receive the benefits of thy Incarnation and Passion Enflame our Affections more and more towards thee and God the Father whose goodness was not contented in barely loving us but to love us so as to give us thee the only begotten Son of God And so I come to the Organ and Means by which our Redemption was effected the gift of his only begotten Son Wherein we consider both the Action he gave and the Gift it self His only c. We begin with the Action And first He gave it gratis freely and of his own accord for he was omnipotent and could not be constrained by any force all Creatures depending on him alone Acts 17.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In him we live move and have our Being It was not therefore any compulsion but love only which was so generous as to transport it self up to Heaven and assault the Divinity in its Throne drawing from thence the Eternal Son of God 2dly God so loved the World that not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he delivered him and so St. Paul useth it He spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all Rom. 8.3 He was delivered up to the malice and fury of evil men and thence delivered up to the ignominious death of the Cross 3dly Nay God did not only deliver him up but also sent him For saith the Apostle in this was manifested the Love of God because he sent his only begotten Son into the World 4thly And to augment his Love if perfection will admit of addition This Mission is the more to be accepted by us because it was by way of commutation and exchange for us Commutavit filium suum unicum He exchanged his only begotten Son It was the Worlds Price was set to sale and how dearly did he purchase it What reason then have we to spend every moment of our Life in loving praising and glorifying him And when we contemplate these admirable contrivances of his Wisdom and Mercy can we do less than say O God what shall we return thee in requital or wherewith shall we appear before thee When we would praise thee an Abysse of Majesty exhausts in a moment all Encomiums and our adorations what are they before thy Divine Essence Could we render our selves uncreated in deference to thee the Fountain of all Beings it were a poor Homage to thy ineffable Greatness Nay could we annihilate the World and bring all Creatures into their old postures of nothing for thy Glory yet what is this compar'd with what thy immensity might justly expect But while we labour with our Poverty finding nothing created worthy thy acceptance Oh astonishing Mercy behold the perfect oblation of thy Son which thou hast given us the prodigious Effect of thy Love Him we offer unto thee and through him we hope to be accepted None can speak our Gratitude but that word who can only satisfie thy Justice Since by this Gift the very Treasury of Heaven was emptied for a time and the Earth enriched with that pure Sacrifice wherewith thou wert well pleased and the Odour thereof draws upon mankind a continual Floud of Mercies This is a Sacrifice O God thou wilt not despise him we offer unto thee and with him our selves and all that we have beseeching thee to accept of us for the sake of thy Son who was offered up for us all And so I come to consider the Gift it self His only begotten Son Son is a Name by which men oft endeavour to express their endearments and affection to us Thus when Cushi told David of his Sons unfortunate though just 2 Sam. 18.33 death the Text tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latine Commotus The King was troubled and much moved and went up to the Chamber over the Gate where Judgment was administred and wept and said O my Son Absalom my Son my Son and refused to be comforted for his death nay he wished death had been subject to a mistake and took him instead of this rebellious Viper who sought the usurpation of the Kingdom and Death of his Parent And if a Son was so dear to David how dear must he be unto God And consequently what a Noble and Royal Gift must this be of our Heavenly Father It had been too great an Honour to have dispatched unto us the meanest Servant in his Heavenly Court to visit us or if he had deputed an Illustrious Seraphim to proclaim to the World That He who is King of Kings the Great God of Heaven and Earth would be reconciled to his Rebellious Subjects Should we not have been startled at the news of such a Message How much more then when he sends his Son the Prince and Soveraign of the Heavenly Host to be had in no reputation and take upon him the form of a Servant But then 2dly It was his own Son and not anothers He was not an Adopted Son who raised himself by his merits to the Title of the Son of God as Photinus and his Followers would have perswaded the World but he was God of very God and Light of very Light Or was it his Son by Nuncupation and name only as others did imagine but his own Son for otherwise we destroy our belief of the Trinity and conclude the Father Son and Holy Ghost not three Distinct Persons but Names Therefore 3dly Mat. 12.18 It was the only begotten Son of God conceived in the Womb of the Virgin Mary by the powerful overshadowing of the Holy Ghost Here is Love in its Zenith the Son in whom his soul was well-pleased Nay his only begotten Son This is that great Mistery the Apostle speaks of God manifested in the Flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 where we may behold the Eternal Father giving up his only Son in behalf of Mankind polluted and depraved by corruption vitiated by sin disobedient to his Lord and insolent to his King a Worm and no Man a poor scantling of putrifaction and a prey for