AND it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain woman lift up her voice; And had she not done so, had all the Auditory been si­lent, [Page 2] the Stones would have immediate­ly ery'd out and applauded the Speaker. Joh. 7. 46. And yet, though never Man spake as He did, the harder Jews were of full proof here against his Eloquence; A generati­on of Vipers, not to be charm'd by the wisest Charmer, who could as easily resist his Words as they had done his Miracles. Each of these might convince, but both together could not change them; so that their Infidelity over-mastering his Omnipotency, it prov'd a harder task for him to dispossess them, than the dumb man, v. 14. the occasion of our Saviour's discourse here, and of the Jews envy.

Yet could not their untoward dispo­sition make void the word of God, espe­cially when proceeding from the mouth of the Word Incarnate: Here, to be sure, it should not altogether miss of its ef­fect; nor did the Seed sown by him wholly fall on such rocky ground, some part thereof met with a fitter soil to re­ceive and cherish it. One there was, a­mong the rest, of a more tender com­plexion, whom God's hand had chaft into a suppleness capable of his impressi­ons. In the midst of all opposition from [Page 3] the Jewish Doctors, he raises up a cer­tain Woman to check and frustrate it; His Truth opens her Mouth, as his Grace her Heart, to bless him whom they cur­sed, and to proclaim him a▪ Prophet whom they gave out for a Devil. Thus can the Almighty out of the mouth of Infants, or such-like weak Instruments, those that bring them forth, perfect his own Praises, and give them that cou­rage to maintain his Cause which Nature had deny'd them. For let the learned Scribes and Pharisees revile him never so much, this single weak Woman here shall dare to defend his Truth against their Slanders, and magnifie his Person in spight of their malitious Contempt. And now her Tongue, mov'd by that Holy Spirit whom these Revilers blas­phemed and resisted, pronounces not only Christ himself Blessed, but the very womb that bare him, and the paps that gave him suck; reflecting a Glory from the Son on the Mother, which our Lord was not unwilling she should share in; allowing her Blessed, though not most Blessed in that respect; granting it her as her privilege, not as the sole, much less the best reason of her Blessedness: [Page 4] A Blessedness others might not despair of, Men no more than Women, who by a diligent attendance to God's Word conceiving, and by a conscionable prac­tice of its Precepts bringing Christ forth, might each of them become his Mother too; As if our Lord should have said, Thou, O woman, pronouncest the womb bles­sed that bare me, and the paps that I have suckt: And herein thou say'st true, for she is indeed even thus Blessed, and all generations shall call her so: but I will tell thee who are rather Blessed, They that hear the Word of God, and keep it.

I shall not pretend to tell you, as some here doe, who this Woman was, nor what her name; but 'tis not strange those per­sons should be able to find out unknown names, who can at their pleasure Saint folks, as they have done this Woman in the Text; it being as easie for them to Christen, as to Canonize. But of this the Text is silent, and 'tis not of such consequence to know who she was, as what she says; her Testimony being much more material than her Person. Which Testimony here directly points to Christ, and but glances at the Holy Virgin; it being usual with the Jews to [Page 5] magnifie the Parents of those they chiefly intend to commend, and not to be won­der'd at, if a Woman were so willing to extoll her own Sex; or a Jewish Woman the Paps and Womb of a Mother, who could fancy nothing beyond the Milk and Honey of her Canaan.

I shall not consider the words as they point to our Lord himself, ( who is above our praises, over all, God blessed for ever) Rom. 9. 5. but as they occasionally reflect on his Mother; A subject proper to this day's Festival, and wherein there are two things considerable.

• 1. The Testimony given in by this Woman, and allow'd by Christ, that she that bare and nurs'd him up was Bles­sed.
• 2. A Way or Means propos'd by our Lord, whereby others as well as she, might be not only Blessed, but more Blessed than the very Mother of God, considered barely under that Relation; and that is, By hearing the Word of God, and keeping it.

Which two things, when I shall have briefly spoken to, I shall then in the close endeavour, 1. To shew you how the Holy Virgin was in this latter respect [Page 6] Blessed above all her Sex, anointed, like her Son, with the Oyl of Gladness above her fellows, in being as much the Mo­ther of God, and as properly in a Spiri­tual as ever she was in a Carnal sense. 2. And, secondly, to stir you up to an imitation of those her Vertues and Per­fections, which, as they entitled her to this more divine and blessed Relation, will us too, proportionably as they shall be found in every one of us.

The first thing that offers its self here is the Woman's Testimony allow'd by Christ, That she that bare him was Bles­sed; and for that very reason too. In the time of the Law 'twas accounted a great Blessing to be a Mother in Israel; Barrenness being then as infamous, as Fruitfulness was honourable. To have still preserv'd their Virginity, was in most people's conceit as bad as to have betray'd it; insomuch that some have more bitterly lamented that, than their untimely death, or which is more, their sins. The reason which the Jewish Doc­tors give us of this strange passion, was, Because the Messiah being to come, every one that was not barren might hope to be that person that should have the ho­nour [Page 7] to bring him into the World. And as all the Daughters of Israel were most ambitious of it, so about the time Christ came in the flesh, the expectation of the Messiah's Revelation was very high and pregnant.

Whether this Woman in the Text took our Lord for the true Messiah, that great Prophet that should come in­to the World (which yet 'tis not im­probable she might guess him to be by the visible power of his Miracles, and, which was as admirable, the force of his persuasions) is altogether uncertain; But this is certain, that she lookt upon him as an extraordinary person sent from God, and, as such, one that might justly ennoble his Parents and Relations. This, as it was a great Truth, so 'twas not all; and our Saviour did not only here al­low this Woman's Testimony for good, but farther improve it, by expresly re­vealing Himself to be the Messiah, which is called Christ, Joh. 4. 25 the Holy One of Israel, and the glory of its People; a Monarch, but a spiritual one, to whose Sceptre all Nations and Souls should bow; such a King as had Heaven for his Throne, and the Earth for his Foot­stool; [Page 8] That the Desire of Nations was now come, so long before promised by God, foretold by the Prophets, expected by the Patriarchs, infinitely wisht by all just Men, with a desire equal to their necessities; And to be the Mother of such a Prince as this, to inclose Him in her bowels whom the Heaven of Hea­vens could not encircle, to be the Mo­ther of God, Deipara: (A Title bestow'd Rom. 1. 4. on the Blessed Virgin by a General Coun­cil, and which we may safely allow her:) This was more than to have descended from the Loins of the Kings of Judah, or the most glorious Monarchs of the Earth; An honour which the greatest Queens thereof would willingly have purchas'd even with the loss of their temporal Diadems; A thing which ne­ver happened but once, and can never any more, unless a Saviour could again be born; so that there can never any more be such a Mother, because never again such a Son. We reade, Gen. 5. 2. that the Sons of God joined themselves to the Daughters of Men, but that God himself should vouchsafe a poor Virgin that honour he is pleas'd to bestow upon his Church, to call her his Spouse, the [Page 9] great Creator, ( He by whom all things Coloss. 1. 16, 17. Joh. 1. 3. Heb. 1. 2. were made, and do consist,) not disdain to be made the Son of his own Creature, and own himself as it were beholding to that Creature for something, which he that has all things had not, a gar­ment of flesh (such a garment, as he can no more put off now than He can his Godhead, for, quod semel assampsit, nun­quam dimisit.) This, I say, was a strange Condescension in the Almighty, and a peculiar honour done to the Holy Vir­gin, who was cull'd out for this purpose from the rest of Women, and may there­fore very well be styl'd Blessed among, yea and above them, the top and glory of her Sex, as in whom the whole Tri­nity now met to consult, not as at the Creation to make Man, but Deum-Ho­minem, to unite God and Man in one Person of the Word; so that as the Fa­ther bespeaks the Son, Psal. 2. 7. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee: The Blessed Virgin might to her immor­tal honour say too, This day have I con­ceived thee.

Nor was this all; To be such a Mo­ther, was indeed a high Privilege; but Esay 9. 6. to be a Mother, and yet still a Virgin, [Page 10] wonderfull as that Son she brings forth. This had the Prophet Esay long before Mat. 1. 23. foretold, ch. 7. 14. Behold a Virgin shall conceive: But the Prophet Jeremy, not content with that, gives it out for a strange and unheard-of thing, (and so indeed it was) more strange than Christ's coming into the house, the doors being shut, Joh. 20. 26. The Lord (says he, ch. 31. 22.) hath created a new thing in the Earth, a Woman shall compass a Man; i. e. A Virgin (still continuing such, o­therwise sure it were no new thing) shall in her Womb inclose a Man child, and such a Man as the same Prophet styles Immanuel, God with us, chap. 8. 8. V. Scultet. Evangel. Exercit. lib. 1. c. 46. and chap. 9. 6. The mighty God, the ever­lasting Father, the Prince of Peace, (e­nough to silence the incredulous blasphe­ming Jew;) so that these two Glories, like the two Luminaries of Heaven, met in the Mother of our Lord, (which ne­ver happened to any before, nor shall ever hereafter,) that of a Mother and of a Virgin; the Fruitfulness of the one, and the Purity of the other.

But these things, as they were the Holy Virgin's Privileges, and in some sort her Happiness too; so there was [Page 11] something that render'd her yet more blessed, by being a Blessing to us, in conveying to us the greatest good that ever could happen to Men. For as her Son is the Fountain of those living streams which refresh the Sons of Men; so was this Mother the golden Pipe to derive them to them. 'Tis of his fulness we all receive, but by her; The promise of our Redemption, as it was as old as our Fall; Gen. 3. 15. The seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpent's head; so was it literally fulfilled in this Wo­man, of whom St. Paul says Christ was made, Gal. 4. 4. i. e. from whom He took the matter of that Body, wherein He wrought out our Redemption; the full import of St. Paul's [...] and St. John's too, Joh. 1. 14. For however the Anabaptist dream of a Body fram'd in Heaven, which pass'd through the Holy Virgin as water through a Con­duit-pipe; yet cannot this fancy possi­bly consist with the work of Man's Re­demption, which could not have been perform'd but in such a Body as his own; nor could the Seed of the Wo­man be said to bruise the Serpent's head, had not Christ been conceived of that [Page 12] Seed; nor the Promise renew'd to Abra­ham, Gen. 22. 18. In thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed, have been made good, had not the Mother of our Lord descended from his loins too. And surely well may she be call'd Blessed, without whom we could never have been so, since 'twas she that furnish'd those Materials that repair'd our ruines, from whose Bloud also flow'd that most pretious One, which alone can cleanse and redeem us. Our Mother Eve could brag when she had brought forth her first-begotten, (and he but an untoward Child, for St. John tells us he was of that wicked one the Devil, 1 John 3. 12. as all other Reprobates are there said to be, vers. 10.) I have gotten a Man from the Lord, Gen. 4. 1. i. e. (as some interpret the words) That famous Man the Lord, fancying Cain to be that Seed of the Woman that should bruise the Serpent's head: But how truly may each of us now say, Possedi Deum per Virginem, I have gotten the Lord my Redeemer by the means of a pure Virgin, of whom my Saviour was made Man, that I might be made the Son of God. How much better may the Virgin Mary deserve the name [Page 13] of the Mother of all the Living than Eve did, Gen. 3. 20. who at best con­vey'd unto us but a Natural, whereas the former a Spiritual life, in giving us Him who is the Life: so far was Eve from being Mater Viventium in this sense, that she brought forth all her Po­sterity still-born into the World, dead in Ephes. 2. 2. trespasses and sins. She indeed heark­ned to the Suggestions of an evil Spirit, but the Holy Virgin to the Message of a good one; If she were the Mother of the Living, then this, of the Predesti­nate; and if by the former Satan brui­sed our heel, by this Anti-Eve we crush his head, being instated in a better con­dition than we had forfeited. Now if they who were the first [...] Bene­factors to Mankind were thought wor­thy of divine Honours, (the first occa­sion of Idolatry, there being nothing that renders a person more like God than to doe good, especially to oblige all Manking, nothing that could raise such Persons so high in the Esteem of Mortals as such a large and comprehen­sive Goodness,) surely none came so near the Almighty in this so divine a quality as the Holy Virgin did; by [Page 14] whose means not only the Inhabitants of the Earth, but, in some sort too, those of Heaven became certainly and immu­tably Col. 1. 20. Blessed, confirm'd in such a state of happiness by her Son as they are un­capable of losing; And therefore well might the Angel pronounce her Blessed, who, with the rest of his Order, were so much obliged by her; And surely all generations of Men much more, who in part owe unto her their recovery, and those hopes they have of being one day [...] alike Blessed with them; and if St. Paul was Blessed in being a chosen Vessel to bear Christ's name, then the Holy Virgin much more, by conveying a humane Nature to him, who alone makes us partakers of the divine one. All these advantages had the Mother of God; glorious indeed, but not the chief­est part of her happiness; nor was she to value her self for her relation, purely considered in its self; Yea, rather, Blessed are they, says our Lord, who hear the Word of God and keep it.

Whereby it appears how little he set by any carnal propinquity, and how much nearer and dearer to him the Righteous are than his own bloud; not [Page 15] that he did in the least despise his Pa­rents, (for his own Example preaches Subjection to them, Luke 2. 51.) but only preferr Spiritual kindred to Carnal, as he often does, letting us know, That Mar. 3. 32, 35. Luk. 8. 19, 21. to doe the will of his Father which is in Heaven, is, to be his Brother, Sister and Mother, Matth. 12. 50. That true Chri­stian Heraldry is founded in Grace, and not in Bloud; That to be joined unto him in one Spirit is a closer Union than to be united to him in the flesh, and to be obedient to his Commands far more advantageous than to relate to his Per­son. Nay so little would our Lord have us too to prize such outward things as these, that unless in some cases we hate Father and Mother, Wife and Children, Brethren and our selves too, he plainly tells us, we cannot be his Disciples, Luke 14. 26. And for this reason Moses bles­sed Levi, Deut. 33. 9. Who said unto his Father, and to his Mother, I have not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his Bre­thren, nor knew his own Children; but ob­served God's Word, and kept his Covenant. This is certain, that all outward favours and privileges, how pompous soever in themselves, are wholly insignificant and [Page 16] ineffectual without the grace of Obedi­ence, being at best but gratioe gratis da­toe, non gratum facientes, rather ornaments than benefits; which as we are not thank­lesly to over-slip, so neither presumptu­ously to over-ween. See how little ac­count St. Paul makes of them, 2 Cor. 5. 16. Though we have known Christ after the flesh, have familiarly convers'd with him, been eye-witnesses of all those glo­rious things he did, as his Apostles; yet now henceforth know we him no more, we disclaim all such carnal acquain­tance; and if we should know Christ no better, he would not know us, nor own us for his; we might be nearly re­lated to him, and yet be far enough from him, and without him; for so 'tis ex­presly recorded of some of his Brethren, that they did not believe in him; Joh. 7. 5. So far were they from looking upon him as their Saviour, that they took him for no better than a mad-man, one besides himself, Mark 3. 21. (though in process of time some of them indeed became his disciples) and no doubt of Christ's Ge­nealogy not a few were eternally lost. The Jews much prided themselves in be­ing Abraham's sons, and yet one of them [Page 17] that calls himself so, fryes in Hell. What did it avail Saul to be a Prophet, or Ju­das an Apostle, when such privileges serv'd them for no other purpose but to enhanse their damnation? We reade not of any dignified with more glori­ous Prerogatives than these two, the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Evange­list; the one for bearing our Saviour in her Womb, and the other for leaning on his Breast; yet how little had these things benefited them, had not Faith and Piety seasoned such outward privileges, and made them as gracious as they were glorious. Happier Mary for bearing Christ's Sayings in her Heart, than Him­self in her Womb; in that she partook of the Merit, than imparted the Matter and Substance of his bloud; 'Twas not so much the loveliness of her Mother­hood, as the lowliness of her Handmaid­ship that He regarded; And how much happier St. John too, in carrying his Sa­viour in his own bosom, than in leaning on his. The far greater happiness of the two, but common to every one of us; The more excellent way being our spi­ritual relation, without which Christ will 1 Cor. 12. 31. Heb. 2. 11. be ashamed to call us his Disciples, Bre­thren [Page 18] or Mothers. Bring then but a good Ear, but especially a good Heart; Let thy Saviour in by that, and get him form'd in this most sanctify'd Womb of thy Soul; i. e. conceive him by thy Faith in the hearing of his holy Word, and bring him forth by thy Obedience in the practice of its divine Precepts, and then shalt thou be a much happier Mother of thy Lord, than if he had been a part of thine own bowels; Thou hast his own Word for it; Yea, rather, Bles­sed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it; The proper way or means whereby every Christian is to be happy, and more happy than the Mother of God, meerly according to the flesh, and my next part.

Blessed are they, 1. That hear. And no doubt, a Blessing belongs to that in the first place. 'Tis a fundamental and original Duty, the Nurse of all other Duties we owe to God; Hearing and Receiving the Word being the inlet to Faith and Piety. 1. To Faith, for that comes by hearing, Rom. 10. 17. the sense of divine as of humane Discipline. 2. To Piety; so our Saviour, Job. 17. 17. Sanc­tifie them by they word, thy word is truth. [Page 19] For as the first Insinuations of Sin were conveyed by the Ear; so are the first Inspirations of Grace let in by the same door: with this, God began his Law, Deut. 4. 1. and with this, Christ his Go­spel too, Mat. 17. 5. This is my beloved Son, hear ye him. And his voice alone we must hear, not the voice of strangers, Joh. 10. 4, 5. The proper object to which our great Shepherd here limits our Hearing; being the Word of God, not the uncertain Traditions or pre­tended Revelations of Fanatical Men, vainly pufft up by their fleshly mind.

I shall not press the necessity of a Du­ty so frequently and clearly requir'd by the Scriptures, nor indeed need I, Men being generally so fully persuaded of it: Jam. 1. 19. and 'twere to be wisht they were as swift to practice as they are to hear. All their devotion now is plac'd in hearing; (as if like Athenians, their whole time were to be spent in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing;) All their serving God is an Ear-service, as their profession little else but an Eye-ser­vice. We see many flock to Sermons and Lectures, just as they use to do to [Page 20] Plays and Shows, only to feed their Eyes and Ears. Man's whole Body is become 1 Cor. 12. 16, 17. Eccles. 1. 8. one great Ear, and that such an itching one as is never to be satisfy'd with hear­ing, no more than their Eye with see­ing. Such a [...] there is in this part, such a canine appetite and craving for spiritual food without any digestion, Omnia te adversum spectantia, a continu­al taking in there is without bringing forth any thing. This is certainly a common, and 'tis an evil disease under the Sun, which Satan labours all he can to nurse up; nor is it a small delusion of his to shrink us all into an Ear; for when he cannot draw us wholly from the service of God, he makes us single out one part from all the rest, to mag­nifie that, and cry it up alone, with neg­lect, and even with some disgrace to all besides it. Wherein how successfull his policy has been in these our days, ap­pears by this, That the Church is gene­rally so throng'd at Sermons, and so empty at God's service. It must needs appear strange to our reason, why hear­ing of the Word should so much get the start of, and eat out all the rest of the more substantial parts of God's service; [Page 21] whereas it is its self, although the first, yet but one part of it, and subservient to practice, and consequently as inferior to it as the means is to the end. And that the Primitive Church had this opi­nion of it, its practice evidently de­clares, which was to finish the Sermon before they began the Service, and by promiscuously admitting all sorts of peo­ple, Heathens and Infidels, Jews, Schis­maticks and Hereticks, Catechumeni and Poenitentes, to the former; but totally excluding such persons from their As­semblies when the Liturgy began, as that part of divine Worship which none but holy and sanctified Men were in a due capacity, in their esteem, to partake of. I urge not this to decry Preaching or Hearing, but only to prefer doing to it as the more important Duty of the two, and to which the Blessing is chiefly appropriated, Joh. 13. 17. as it is Jam. 1. 25. and imply'd in the Text, which styles them Blessed that hear the Word of God, but much more them who keep it.

But then what is it you will say to keep it? Is it to be a little moved with it? To rejoyce in it for a little season, [Page 22] or to tremble at it? Why this is no more than what an Agrippa, a Herod, or a Felix might doe. A few sudden qualms of Conscience, and pangs of a su­perficial sorrow for sin; some faint de­sires vanishing like flashes of Lightning as soon as they appear; some insignifi­cant resolutions of amendment and new­ness of life may be found in a Balaam, nay in the most profligate wretches; Or, lastly, is it to applaud the Preacher and his fine-spun Discourse, and to be ravisht with his Eloquence? Some in­deed there were in the Prophet Ezekiel's Ezek. 33. 31. time of that humour, that reckoned of Sermons no otherwise than of Songs; the Musick of a Song and the Rhetorick of a Sermon, all was one with them; they could give a Prophet the hearing, commend his sweet air and delicate strains, and that was all; Their devo­tion expir'd with the harmony: They hear thy words (says God there speaking of them) but they will not doe them. And of such Auditors there are store enough at all times, who will afford the Preacher nothing but their Ears; and no sooner is the Sand run out of his Glass, but his Words are out of their Memories. Let [Page 23] us not mistake our selves; that word that must save the Soul, must be an en­grafted Jam. 1. 21. word; not a superficial seed float­ing on the surface of the Heart, but ta­king deep root there, and springing up in the visible actions of a good life. 'Tis not the Conception, but the Birth of the new Man that makes us Christi­ans; and better were it for us that this divine Issue should never come to the birth, than we want strength to bring it forth; and that Christ should never be form'd in us, than we prove abortive. But if by hearing we receive the im­mortal Seed of his Word; if by a firm purpose of doing we conceive, by a longing desire quicken, and by an ear­nest endeavour travel with it, then in­deed God's Word, yea God himself, the eternal Word is incarnated in us, and we become as much his Mothers in the Spirit, as the Blessed Virgin was in the Flesh.

And herein was it that the Mother of God was in the best and most advanta­geous sense Blessed, as one in whom the Word was twice Incarnated, her Lord and his Gospel; much more Blessed in sucking the sincere Milk of the Word [Page 24] from her Sons Paps (those golden ones, Revel. 1. 13.) than in affording him her own. 'Twas her glory and her chiefest happiness that she kept all her Sons say­ings, and pondered them in her heart; an Eulogy given her no less than twice in one Chapter of St. Luke, ch. 2. v. 19, 51. This sacred Ark had the two Tables of the Law and the better Manna laid up in it, which she continually treasur'd up in her heart, feeding upon it in her pri­vate thoughts, and digesting it in her practice; being as well a Daughter as a Mother of God, and her Soul more fruit­full than her Womb. So that this Mary too chose the better part: It was, I say, her Choice this; whereas to be the Mo­ther of God but her Privilege. In this latter capacity she only furnisht her Son with a humane Nature, but in the for­mer she procur'd her self a participation of his divine one. There Christ was made her Son, and here, her Saviour; and 'tis upon the account of her Faith Elizabeth blesseth her, Luke 1. 45. and so does St. Augustine pronounce her more happy, Percipiendo fidem Christi, quàm concipiendo carnem Christi; nay he plain­ly tells us, that this latter Conception [Page 25] had done her no good at all without the former, Nihil Mariae profuisset (says he) Lib. de S. Virginit. c. 3. nisi feliciùs Christum corde quam corpore gestâsset. To bear Christ in her Womb was little to the having the Holy Ghost in her Soul; and to conceive of him lit­tle to the bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, Faith, Humility, Patience, Love and the like Graces, whereof she was a sacred Repository; like the Ark, over­laid and in-laid with Gold, adorn'd with outward Privileges and inward Graces, nay like that King's daughter, Psal. 45. 14. more glorious within than without. This Spouse of God shining out radiis Mariti, cloath'd with that Woman, Re­vel. 12. 1. with the Son of Righteousness, who deckt her with his light as with a gar­ment. And how could it be otherwise? How was it possible that He on whom the Spirit rested and abode, should not Esay 11. impart of it to her in whom he so long Joh. 1. 31. ch. 3. v. 34. dwelt, and in greater measures than to any mortal, He who himself received not Coloss. 2. 3. the Spirit by measure? If in him were hid all the Treasures of Wisedom and Knowledge, surely the Blessed Virgin must needs have been highly enricht by them; and while he sanctify'd the Bap­tist [Page 26] in his Mother's womb, did he not think we much more sanctifie that Womb wherein, with himself, the fulness Coloss. 2. 9. of the Godhead dwelt bodily? where the whole Blessed Trinity met, the Father being with her, the Son in her, and the Holy Ghost over-shaddowing her? Sure­ly being so near the Fountain of Grace and Glory, nay having it in her Soul, those single Perfections which singly meet in others, all concenter'd in this great Saint.

Among which give me leave to pro­pose some of the more eminent ones to your imitation; as, 1. Her Faith, in cre­diting the Message of the Angel. 2. Her entire Resignation of her self to the Will Luk. 2. 29. of God, Ecce Ancilla Domini. 3. Her Modesty, in being troubled at the pre­sence of a Man, and those Praises he be­stow'd on her, being, it seems, un­acquainted with such guests or addresses, a thing which now-a-days would perhaps be constru'd ill breeding. 4. Her Pru­dence in examining a Message, which at first blush seem'd to look like a Temp­tation, casting in her mind what man­ner Luk. 2. 34. of Salutation that should be; so jea­lous was she of her honour, that she [Page 27] durst not trust the divine Messenger with so choice a Jewel, till she saw it should be safe; till he could find out a way to reconcile her, being a Mother, with her Purity, otherwise to her even an Angel of light had been but an An­gel of darkness. This was not Unbelief in her (as 'twas in Zachary) but Cauti­on; He indeed requir'd a Sign for that which was within the ordinary course of nature; She none at all, though in a business far above nature; not in the least questioning the thing its self, but desirous only to be inform'd of the man­ner Luk. 2, 34. of it, since she knew not a man. 5. Add we to this her Devotion, in con­stantly visiting God's Temple, where, after our Lord's Ascension, we find her assembled with the Apostles and other Saints of God, Acts 1. 14. as in the fre­quent exercise of the Acts thereof, Me­ditation and Prayer; It being a general Tradition, that when the Angel deliver­ed her his message, he found her on her knees; and, if we may credit St. Ber­nard, V. Tayl. Gr. Ex. r [...]. p. 17. (but how warrantably I know not) at that very instant begging earnestly for the Salvation of the World, and the Revelation of the Messiah. 6. Lastly, [Page 28] To crown all, her profound Humility, (that heavenly Ladder whereby God descended to her, and she mounted up to him) and that even in the midst of far higher Ecstasies and Revelations than the great Apostle was afraid of; And yet no pretence of Merit, no assuming to her self any portion of that glory which be­longed unto God; and she wholly a­scribes to him in these words, He that is Mighty hath magnified me, and Holy is his Name.

Which clearly shews how inconsistent with, nay how diametrically opposite to her Modesty and Humility those praises are which Popish flatterers so frequently bestow upon the Blessed Virgin, and how impossible 'tis to excuse their [...] that is, (as they are pleas'd to explain it) not so high a kind of worship as belongs unto God, and yet higher than what is due to any other Creature besides her self. A strange middle sort of Adoration, that has no ground or foot-step in Scripture, and no better than flat Idolatry. Prayer and Invocation are the Almighty's Pre­rogative; This Incense must not smoak but on his Altar; and the calves of the lips are a sacrifice which must be offered [Page 29] to none but to a God that heareth pray­er, Psal. 65. 2. and can alone grant our requests. This he challenges as his pe­culiar right, Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the time of trouble; so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise me. And to him the Saints of God have always address'd their Petitions, David for one, who, Psal. 5. 2, 3. professes that unto him he would direct his Prayer. And therefore 'tis ob­servable that the Angel here salutes the Holy Virgin, but does not pray to her; and her self says, that all generations shall call her Blessed, not invocate her for Blessings, as the Papists doe; and not only so, but in other respects too equal her to God, as by freeing her from all sin, both original and actual, (whereas her self, by calling Christ her Saviour, Luk. 1. 47. professes her need of him,) so especially by making her a vast and inexhaustible Ocean of all perfection, the property of him alone in whom all fulness dwells, and of whose fulness we all (the Virgin Col. 1. 19. Mary not excepted) have received: and all this upon a plain mistake of the word [...] which implies not any infus'd qualities, or inherent gifts, but God's meer gratious acceptation of her. [Page 30] And yet as great an affront as this is to the divine Majesty, there is yet one thing more intollerable, that these Men not content to allow the Virgin equal to her Son, will needs give her a kind of Command and Authority over him; as if now in Heaven he were to be sub­ject to her as once on Earth, and she were a Queen - Regent to govern and comptroll him as it were in his Mino­rity: Witness those expressions, Mon­stra te esse Matrem, and, Jussu Matris im­pera salvatori, words which I dare not English, and which their Rosaries and Litanies are stufft with. Nor does their Practice bely their Expressions; their Addresses being more to the Mother, than to the Son; and her Temples ha­ving almost swallow'd up his, which are now become Shops of lying Mira­cles; one of them especially, that of Loretto, all Wainscoted within with them; and its self the greatest of all, as having been carried, if we will believe them, from Bethlehem by Angels, and by them plac'd where now it stands. I shall not trouble you with a description of all their fopperies, their superstitious bow­ings, cringings, and lighting of Can­dles [Page 31] to our Ladies Images, their ridicu­lous dressing and undressing them, their vows, offerings and presents to these dumb Idols, so like the Cakes offered up to the Queen of Heaven, Jer. 7. and the like; which if they do not out-doe, at least they bid fair for Heathenish Idola­try; if this be not to worship the Crea­ture more than the Creator, 'tis at least Rom. 1. 25. Gal. 4. 8. to doe service to her who by Nature is no God, and who can no more endure it than St. Paul could a sacrifice, Act. 14. or the Angel in the Revelations, chap. 19. 10. divine Worship; or, to come a little more home, than St. Peter, to be styl'd Universal Bishop of God's Church; a Title they will needs force upon him, though himself expresly disclaims it, 1 Pet. 5. 3. No; let us honour the Bles­sed Virgin as becomes the Mother of God, not as a Goddess; she is but a Creature how glorious soever, and we are not to make her an Idol, neither to invoke her Name nor adore her Person; we allow her God's Mother, but not his Rival; place her we may as near his Throne as Religion will suffer us, not in it (in the Throne God will be Gen. 41. 40 greater than any) style her Queen of [Page 32] Saints, while Christ remains the Sove­reign King of them, and 'tis honour e­nough for this Queen to be solo Deo mi­nor, to be blessed even above the Angel that proclaim'd her so; yea, if they will have it, above all Saints and Angels too; but still below her Son, who is over all, God blessed for ever, Rom. 9. 5.

In a word, Our endeavour should be to copy out those Perfections which were so eminent in this Blessed Mother of our Lord; Her Faith, by our ready assent to God's Word; Her Devotion, by frequently meditating on it (a book which, like Ezekiel's rowl, must be ea­ten Ezek. 3. and well digested;) Her Purity, by Jam. 1. 27. keeping our selves unspotted from the Jud. v. 23 World, and hating even the garment Rev. 14. 4. spotted by the flesh, always remem­bring that they who follow the Lamb are Virgins; Her Prudence, by trying the Spirits, by proving all things, but holding fast that which is good, suspec­ting even an Angel from Heaven, could he propose any thing to us that should seem to cross a Precept of Christ, and dreading not only every little stain, but the very suspition of it; Her Obedience, by an entire submission to God's revealed [Page 33] Will, and, which is the crown and per­fection of all grace, her Humility. These are the Copies we are to transcribe, the best Gifts to be coveted, such as will adorn and perfect us, make us holy and glorious; other may have more pomp and lustre in themselves, these most use and benefit to us; and therefore let our aim be to be pure as the Mother of God, we who are commanded to strive to be perfect, even as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect. And if we hear the Word of God and keep it as she did, the Lord will as certainly be with us as He was with her, and we at last be with him where she now is, eternally Bles­sed in the fruition of the most Blessed Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; To whom let us ascribe, as is most due, everlasting glory, &c.

Amen.

THE greatest blessing God could bestow upon us, or we receive, took its rise from Man's sin. The sin of the first Adam was the cause, or at least the occasion, of the Incarna­tion of the second. Had the former [Page 35] still continued in Paradise, the latter had not come down from Heaven: In­nocence was to be lost before it could be recovered; nor was the Physician but for the sick, nor the Redeemer but for the captive.

But as the first Man did not therefore sin, or was ordained to sin, that the Son of God might be incarnated; so his Goodness, who can fetch light out of darkness, took advantage by that sin to manifest its self in its expiation, and his Wisedom contriv'd a way to make that very sin instrumental to a greater good than Man had forfeited; which gave occasion to a Father to style Adam's first Transgression Foelicem culpam, a happy crime, that procur'd him such a Redee­mer as could doe him more good than 'twas in his own or Satan's power to doe him hurt, and so well repair his Ru­ine as to make it more advantageous to him than his Innocence. He is now a gainer by his loss, his falling so low has but rais'd him up the higher, being made more happy by his very unhap­piness; so that where Man's sin did a­bound, God's grace has much more a­bounded.

[Page 36]And never sure did it more abound than at this time, when the Son of God took our humane nature upon him that he might unite it to his divine one; Visited us from on high, to this end, that he might redeem us; was born only to dye for us, cloathed with our flesh to be in a capacity to suffer in it, and by his own suffering to advance us to glory in Heaven.

And next to that his transcendent Mercy of giving us Heaven, is this; That He prepares us for it; That He is pleased to refine as well as to exalt us. We may now behold him as gratious in his Commands, as in his Returns; as kind in what He exacts from, as what He bestows upon us; His reforming our Nature being the greatest honour it ever received, next to his own wearing it. Had our Lord only pardoned our sins, and not removed them, the guilt in­deed might have been gone, but not the shame; whereas now both are done a­way by Him, by his not only impu­ting Righteousness, but requiring it. So that his Incarnation, besides the prima­ry end of redeeming us, has another too, which is to make us worth the re­deeming, [Page 37] nay capable of being truly re­deemed, that is, of being made Parta­kers of the fruit and benefit of his Re­demption: For as Christ gives us his Righteousness, so he expects we should return him ours; We receive indeed all our Merit from Him, but upon condi­tion that we afford him our Obedience. He will save us from our sins, provided we forsake them. Nor is it enough for us here to be innocent, if we be not holy; nor holy too, if not exemplary. Holiness is the Badge and Livery of our Profession, and Perfection the Crown of it. By that, we are his People; by this, his peculiar and chosen People indeed. A Title due to none but those who are not content to doe great things, if they be not ambitious still of doing greater; if they have not a Zeal in some measure answerable to their Obligation, and wholly give up themselves to Him, Who gave Himself for us, that He might not only redeem us from all iniquity; but withall, purifie us to Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

In which Words we have,

• 1. The Person, in the Relative, Who.
• [Page 38]2. His Bounty and Goodness, in the clearest, the highest, and most endear­ing Expressions thereof, His giving Him­self for us.
• 3. The Design or End of this his Gift; and that twofold:
  • 1. Redemption, That He might re­deem us from iniquity, and from all iniquity.
  • 2. Sanctification, That he might pu­rifie us to Himself a peculiar peo­ple, zealous of good works.

Of these in their order.

I. Who this is that gave Himself for I. Person, Who. us, we reade in the verse before, That it is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But if you would fully know who He was, you must go to the beginning of St. John's Gospel, no one word being a­ble to speak him out but that which Himself is there styl'd by, and which He always was. If we should say, That is God, we should not say enough, for He is also a Man: But how poor a thing is it to say He is a Man, when He is also a God?

St. Paul prefaceth this Article thus, Great is the mystery of Godliness, God ma­nifested [Page 39] in the flesh: Great sure, when it is the vast Complexum of the Crea­tor; and more, even a Creature too, where God is not all, and Infinity but a part. He who is in all things else, All in all, is here not the whole: He who did send, and who was sent; He who was given, and who gave Himself, shall make but one part, being indeed both but one. St. Paul in opposition to one Heresie, affirms Him to be really a Man; and in opposition to another, to be as really over All, God blessed for ever. This Infant was the Ancient of days, born at this time and before Eternity. Here you may behold Eternity beginning, and Im­mensity confin'd; a Virgin Mother, and an Infant God. This is that which St. Peter tells us the Angels desire to look into, but cannot see; Those Intel­ligences understand not this; They have with us the Benefit, not the Knowledge of it; And when themselves are saved by it, they can never understand how we came to be so. They are indeed naturally above us, (for God has made us lower than the Angels,) but now is Psal. 8. 5. our Nature set above them. The Scrip­ture is very sparing in discovering those [Page 40] glorious Beings; yet this we reade, that they worship God and tend us, are mi­nistring Spirits to his honour and our preservation. How did it surprize them, think we, after so many Ages to see Immutability change, and God become what He once was not? He turn'd the chiefest of their Order out of Heaven for endeavouring to be like Him; and Himself became like us to bring us thi­ther. Their Maker made Himself a Man, and perhaps received some addition by this diminution. Before, He could in­deed Command; but now He cannot only doe that, but, what is often more, He can also Obey. Besides, that He can prescribe Laws, He can now observe them; Give the Rule, and be the Exam­ple. Thus does Almightiness, if not in­crease, yet exert new vigour in the strength of its very Infirmities; and the Humanity becomes a qualification super­added to the Divinity; the Veil not on­ly to cover, but adorn it.

The Stoicks have an impudent brag, That Men who live according to the rules of Vertue and their Sect, are to be preferred before God Himself; because, say they, He is good by the Necessity [Page 41] of his Nature; They, by the Wisedom of their Choice. Temptations never as­sault Him, but these have conquered them; that is, He is indeed without Temptations, but themselves above them. To compleat their happiness, there is nothing wanting but Immorta­lity, which although they cannot attain; they do more than so, for they deserve it. See here now a supposition, which no Philosophy nor Impudence it self could ever fancy; God himself submitted to the duties, to the infirmities of a Man, to every thing of him besides the sin; nay, that He might be like us in every thing, He came as near sin as He could possibly, without the guilt of it; for He was made sin for us, though 2 Cor. 5. 21. he would not commit any; He would be a Criminal, though without a Crime; or a Criminal with our Crimes, though not his own.

In this low condition of his see the Son of God's Love, bearing his wrath; submitting to, as if He were not One with Him; and besides forsaken by Him, as though He had not been his very Self. But that our Lord may not lose the Glo­ries of his Humility, the Honour of his [Page 42] Manhood, the Exaltation which was due to his being humbled; so that the Man has gotten a name and a place a­bove Angels, and only lower than the God Himself always was: He who was Heir of all things, is not ashamed of an Inheritance He hath obtained. This Title of his own procuring was thought not unworthy to be joined to that He was born with, and the Man hath got a Name the God disdains not to be called by. See now Him, who made the Heavens, for more than Thirty years together, behaving Himself as a Candidate for them; meriting what He was born to, as if his own Actions had been to instate upon him his Nature; his Obedience to qualifie him for his Su­premacy; his Submission to God to as­sert his Equality with him; and from his very Humanity have a kind of Title to his Divinity. He has a Throne in Heaven due to his very leaving it; and that which He hath purchased so very glorious, that some have mistaken it for his Eternal one.

To all this which He hath obtained for Himself, let us add what He hath merited for us in that flesh He this day [Page 43] took upon Him, and wherein He wrought out our Redemption, offering up Him­self to God, and giving Himself for us, the greatest gift He could give or we receive; whereof in the next place.

II. Who gave Himself for us. Every II. Part, Christ's Bounty. word here has its weight. 1. He gave. 2. Gave Himself; and 3. For us.

1. He gave. A Gift this as much above Man's Desert, as 'twas above his Comprehension. 'Twas a free gift too; no Attractive here but misery; no Mo­tive but his own goodness. The Roma­nists indeed, to establish their rotten Doctrine of Merit, will needs persuade us that some Ancient Fathers, before and under the Law, did ex congruo, if not ex condigno, merit Christ's Incarna­tion, or at least the hastning of its ac­complishment. This conceit of theirs they mainly ground on Gen. 22. 18. where 'tis said to Abraham, In thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed, Because thou hast obeyed my voice; As if that, Because, denoted the meritorious Cause of Christ's Incarnation to have been Abraham's Obedience; whereas Zachary ascribes it not to the Merits of [Page 44] any the most holy persons of old, but to God's mercy and free promise to the Fore­fathers, Luke 1. 72. St. Paul to the riches of God's mercy, Ephes. 2. 4. To his benignity and loving-kindness to man­kind here, Tit. 3. 4. As our Lord Him­self does also, John 3. 16. God so loved the World, that He gave his only begotten Son; and so well did that his Son love it too, that He gave Himself for us, says the Text.

2. Himself. And surely more He could not give. For as the Apostle speaks in another case, Because God could Heb. 6. 13. swear by no greater, He sware by Him­self: So may we here, because He had no greater thing to give us, He gave us Himself. The Almighty could go no higher than this; Infinite goodness was here at its non ultra. He who is All in All, could bestow no more than that All. More then He could not give; but could He not have given less, and that less have been enough? Or might not the party offended have freely re­mitted the Offence without any farther satisfaction? or have obliged some o­ther to make it? Sent some glorious Creature, some blessed Spirit of the no­blest [Page 45] Order of created Beings to be a sufficient expiatory Sacrifice for Man­kind, and so have sav'd Himself the trouble of an Incarnation? 'Tis not for us here to be too inquisitive, what God might have done; let us rather admire and extoll his Goodness for not content­ing Himself with less than what He did, and withall dread the severity of his Ju­stice not to be atton'd by any other Sa­crifice than that of his own Son. And indeed the most glorious, the most in­nocent and perfect Creature God could make being but Finite; it cannot possi­bly be conceived how it could satisfie an infinite Justice; much less was it in the power of Man to satisfie for himself, of the party guilty to expiate its own guilt: This knot was too hard for any but a God to untie; Nay the Godhead its self, it seems, could not doe it with­out the assistance of the Manhood: For as the divine Nature could not suffer, so the humane one could not merit; This furnished the bloud, but that made it passable and valuable; None then but He who united both Natures in the Person of the word Incarnate; He who was [...] God and Man, could [Page 46] be a perfect Reconciler of both Parties. This, as his Justice and our Necessities required; so his alone Goodness promp­ted him unto, and his as infinite Wise­dom found out the only way to doe it, by taking our Nature upon Him, and so giving Himself for us.

3. For Us. This circumstance does yet very much heighten the Blessing, and set off God's infinite Love to Man­kind, That He should give Himself for us, us Sinners and Rebels, and for us a­lone. Were there no other Objects for his Mercy besides us? Were there not Angels to be redeemed as well as Men? Or were they not worth the Redeem­ing, who were by Nature so much a­bove them? That God should pass by them, and only vouchsafe to look upon us, This is the great Mystery of his Love; And that He did so, is clear from Heb. 2. 16. Verily He took not on Him the Nature of Angels, but He took on Him the Seed of Abraham; whereupon He is called the Saviour of all Men, but not of Angels, 1 Tim. 4. 10. Whether it was because the sin of Angels had more of V. Dave­nant. Colos. P. 92. Wilfulness in it, and less of Temptation; or because they did not All fall, as we [Page 47] did, some of them still preserving their Station, let the Schools dispute. These may serve for plausible Conjectures; but to find the true cause hereof, we must go out of the World, and seek it in the bosom of the Father, and in the bowels of his own Son, whose Love did even transform him into us this day; where­on He was born for no other purpose, but to dye for us, and by his meritori­ous Death rescue us from the slavery of Sin, the primary end of his Incarnation, and the third Thing to be spoken to.

III. That He might redeem us. For III. Part, 1. End. Redempti­on. the better comprehending the benefit we reap from the Incarnation of our blessed Lord; We must consider the main end and design of it, which, the Text says, was to redeem us. Now Redemp­tion being a Relative, supposes Bondage. (For we cannot say his Irons are struck off, who never had them on; or pro­nounce him releas'd, who never was a prisoner.) Now such was all Mankind till Christ delivered it, by taking upon Him the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men. For as Aristotle hath made some men born slaves, and, [Page 48] as others tell us of a Law whereby all the Posterity of Captives were Bond­men; So in Divinity 'tis a certain truth, that not some, but all Mankind are born under the Fork, and that the Womb of our first Parent was like that in Tacitus, Subjectus servitio Uterus, a Womb from which issues a race of Slaves. Christ then found us in Captivity, and that, according to the Divinity of the Schools, a threefold one. 1. To Sin, as the Me­rit obliging. 2. To Death, as the Re­ward or Punishment. 3. To the Devil, as to the Executioner. And to each of these the Scripture hath assign'd a Domi­nion over us, and that in terms of the greatest subjection, and which in the conveyance of Power give the strongest Empire. For the first, St. Paul hath told us, That we are the servants of Sin, Rom. 6. 20. so far 'tis our Master; And in another place 'tis said to reign in our mortal Bo­dies, That makes it our Prince. And ver. 12. indeed as some have found out a plat­form of Government among the fallen Angels, who, though their Principles be crooked, yet being obey'd by Wills as crooked, observe an irregular Rule and a perverse Order even in Hell; so [Page 49] Sin rules in us too by Principles: For there is, saith St. Paul, a Law of Sin. Rom 7. 23. But then 'tis such a Law, as if it should be Treason for any Subject not to Mur­ther his Natural Prince, or Adultery not to Ravish, or Blasphemy not to take God's Name in vain. 'Tis such a Law, as if two Anti-Tables should be written, which should make it Sin, not to break the Commandments. Lastly, Let the Apo­stle tell you what Law it is, 'Tis a Law Rom. 7. 23. of the Members warring against the Law of the Mind; and not only warring, but bringing it into Captivity, Rom. 7. 23. Sin herein far exceeding the Author of it; For he only aspir'd to be like the Highest, but Sin hath made an inversion in the Soul; advancing Sense into the Chair of Reason, and placing the Beast above the Man. And though it may leave us to a natural liberty in moral actions, (for 'tis harsh to think that Ju­stice and Temperance are but guilded Sins,) yet for actions of Grace it has so glewed and settered the Soul, that it cannot possibly mount up to Heaven. 2. Next, for Death, Men have made a Covenant with that, saith the Scripture; Esay 28. 15. and, if Contract be not enough, we reade, [Page 50] Wisd. 1. v. 14. of a Kingdom of Death; so that Christ did not only find us Cap­tives, but Captives slain. Teneo à primor­dio homicidam culpam, says Tertullian: Adam's Throat was our open Sepulchre; who, in that fatal Apple, did not only murther his Children like Saturn, but, like Thyestes in the Tragedy, did eat them. After that Transgression, there pass'd an Act upon us, It is appointed for Heb. 9. 27. all Men once to dye; Nay it were a de­gree of happiness to dye but once, if nothing remained for punishment (for nothing can suffer nothing.) But we were to be raised to another Death, and, like drowsie Malefactors, that had lain down with their Sentence, were to be awakened out of sleep, to be put upon the Rack.

3. The Scripture almost every-where styles the Devil the Prince of this World; His Kingdom had enlarg'd its self from that place, about which the Schools dispute, to every rebellion and disorder of the Soul; where as in a conquer'd Province, per cupiditates regnavit, saith St. Augustine, He reigned by his Pro­consul Sins; There also making himself the Prince of Darkness, by our ignorance; [Page 51] and the Prince of the Air, by raising Tempests through all the Regions of Man, and exercising an universal and absolute Power over him. For such was his power in the World, when the Savi­our of it came into it. There was then a general defection from God; Satan's Synagogue had in a manner swallowed up God's Church, who had but one corner of the World left him, and there­in for a long time but a moving Taber­nacle; and when a fix'd habitation, but one house, wherein a very few to serve him; while the Devil's Temples were every-where crowded with Priests and Sacrifices, and his Altars smoak'd in all places with Incense: so that the Earth, and the fulness thereof, seem'd now his; and he, though cast out of Heaven, to have reveng'd himself, in some sort, of God by thus dispossessing him, as it were, of the Earth. Nor was the De­vil's power more Universal than 'twas Absolute, over men's Bodies and over their Souls too. Their Bodies he pos­sest and tormented at pleasure, insomuch that his very Priests might have receiv'd Death with as much ease as they did his Oracles, entring into Men as he did in­to [Page 52] the Hoggs; hurrying them violently into perdition; commanding Parents to make their Sons and Daughters pass through the fire to him; tearing and Luk. 9. 39. Mat. 17. 15 bruising those he had got into, and cast­ing them sometimes into the water and sometimes into the fire: Nor did he ty­rannize less over Men's souls than bodies, blinding their understanding, putting out the light of natural reason in them; first corrupting their Judgments, and then their Manners; from Error in judg­ment, the passage being natural and easie, to Error in practice; and accordingly St. Paul tells us how vain men became in their imaginations, even to worship the Creature instead of the Creator; to change the glory of the uncorruptible God into Images made like to corruptible Men, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creep­ing things; which made God give them up to all manner of uncleanness, as you may reade at large, Rom. 1. 21, &c. In such slavery had the Devil not only Heathens, (his own people, as I may call them,) but even the Jews them­selves, God's chosen people; who after so many Miracles of Power and Mercies, so many excellent Statutes and Ordi­nances [Page 53] to direct them in the true man­ner of his Worship, as had not been de­livered to any Nation besides, did not for all this fall short of the worst of Heathens either in matter of erroneous judgment or vitious practices: The pro­fane Sadducee had corrupted all good Manners, and the hypocritical Pharisee perverted the Law by his false Glosses and Comments on it; so that when our Saviour appeared on Earth, an universal deluge of Wickedness had over-spread the face of it: And thus all Mankind being the Devil's by right of Conquest 2 Tim. 2. 26. [...] taken by him as it were in War, (the true import of that word) and bound fast to him with his Chains of darkness of gross error and vitious­ness; 'twas high time for the Son of God to come down, to rescue miserable Men from these several Captivities; which he did three manner of ways: 1. By Commutation. 2. By Conquest: and 3. By way of Ransome, or Purchase.

1. By Commutation. For when we were prisoners to Death by sin, God made an exchange, delivered his Son over to it for us, became our Scape-goat, like the Ram substituted in the place of Isaac; [Page 54] and, as the Apostle speaks, tasted death for every man, that we might not be de­voured Heb. 2. 9. and swallowed up by it.

2. By Conquest, as it referrs to Power; and thus our Lord offered violence to Hell; snatcht us as brands out of its fire, and rescued us as so many preys out of the teeth of the roaring Lion; deliver­ing Col. 1. 13. Heb. 2. 14. us from the power of darkness, and translating us into his kingdom; vanquish­ing Rom. 16. 20. death, and him that had the power of death, the Devil, and treading him under our feet: And not content with that, he spoiled principalities and powers, making Col. 2. 15. a shew, or as the word [...] im­ports, an example of them openly, and triumph'd over them in himself, or in his Cross.

3. By way of Purchase or Ransome, as it referrs to Justice. Thus Christ made a perfect satisfaction to God by laying down a price for us, and paying the ve­ry utmost farthing of our debt; and so came not only to give us an Example, as Socinians fondly dream, (which the Prophets of old might, nay every good and vertuous Man may still doe, and in this sense become our Saviour as well as He;) And therefore St. Peter plainly di­stinguishes [Page 55] these things, between Christ's suffering for us, and his leaving us an example, 1 Pet. 2. 21. And the Scrip­ture every-where is express to this pur­pose, That Christ came to give himself a ransome for all, so says St. Paul, 1 Tim. 2. 6. Nay so says Christ Himself, Mat. 20. 28. He came to satisfie for us, the Joh. 16. 11. clear import of the [...] and the like words so fre­quently occurring in Scripture; and of those expressions of St. Paul, of Christ's being made sin and a curse for us; his 2 Cor. 5. 19, 20, 21. Gal. 3. 13. Col. 2. 14. blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinan­ces that was against us, and the like. These were the several ways whereby Christ freed us, and this was the main design and end of his coming in the flesh this day; and we can never truly value the Blessing of it, but by reflecting on the Misery of our former slavery, whereby we became Servants to Corrup­tion, 2 Pet. 2. 19. and so beneath and viler than Cor­ruption its self, as the Servant is below his Master, (the Condition of every one Joh. 8. 34. that committeth sin, and is at the mercy and under the power thereof, its eternal drudge, forc'd to go and come as it bids him,) and consequently lay under the [Page 56] guilt of Sin, and so obnoxious to God's Judgment, and under the sentence and condemnation of Death; all our life­time Heb. 2. 14. subject to this bondage too, and at the mercy of our most cruel and im­placable enemy the Devil; who could have no power over us but what our Sin gave him.

And now that we are restored to this glorious Liberty of the Sons of God, let us stand fast in this our Liberty. The Son of God has done his part, He has made us free indeed, if we will be Joh. 8. 36. so, (for nothing can re-enslave us but our own wills,) and 'tis strange we should desire to be slaves when we may be free; nay, a strange choice this, ra­ther to be Sin and Satan's slaves than God's free-men; To be not so much conquered by Hell, as willingly subject to it; not so much Press'd men, as Vo­lunteers in its Service; To be led by Satan at his will, and with our own too; in love with his chains of dark­ness, 2 Tim. 2. 28. and desirous to have our Ears bored through with his Awl in token of our Eternal vassalage. Doubtless Christ, by coming down from Heaven, never design'd Redemption for such [Page 57] willing Slaves; never intended to buy them who sell him, and that for naught, (as every Sinner doth;) nay, who sell themselves▪ with Ahab, to doe wickedly: He did not put such a price into fools hands that will not sue out their freedom with it; nor give men this liberty only to be licentious, and so no otherwise free than, as St. Paul Rom. 6. 20. expresseth it, from righteousness. Did He therefore break off Sin and Satan's yoke from our necks, that we should cast off his; or make us the Sons of God, that we should make our selves the Sons of Belial; impatient of any yoke, though it be of his own most easie and light one? Did He therefore cancel our old debts, that we should study to make new ones; as if the end of his coming in the flesh had not been to re­deem us from our old Conversation, but to it? No sure: He came to buy us; Ye are bought with a price, says our Apo­stle; 1 Cor. 6. 20. and therefore ought we to glorifie God in our bodies, and in our spirits, which are Gods: God's, as well by right of Redemption as of Creation. If we be delivered by Him from the hand of our Ghostly Enemies, 'tis that we should [Page 58] serve Him without fear indeed, but not cast off his fear. And surely the obli­gation is very strong and binding, and the Consequence unavoidable; He hath saved us, and therefore we must serve Him; promote the honour of our Deli­verer, and advance the interest of this our great Lord and Master. Servants, says the Philosopher, are but [...] living Tools or Instruments to be used or employed at the discretion of their Masters. They are not sui juris, not their own Men, and all that they ac­quire is for him they serve: Nay, by the Civil Law, ingratitude to their deli­verer did make Men forfeit the benefit of their freedom. And surely, if we a­buse Ours, and Him that bestows it, Our Lord may justly return us to our former slavery; make us Satan's slaves once more, who refuse to be God's free­men; and his slaves we are, while bound unto him by any one of his Chains; and since the least of them will be strong enough to tie us fast to him, let us break all his bonds asunder, and cast away all his cords from us.

An Obligation which lyes upon us as at all times, so now especially when we [Page 59] are to partake of the benefit of that Re­demption Christ has wrought out for us: His Bloud was the price of it, ( In whom we have Redemption through his bloud, the Remission of sins, Ephes. 1. 7.) and the Cross the Altar where that price was paid, or else there could have been no perfect reconciliation for us. So the same Apostle, Col. 1. 20. Having made peace through the bloud of his Cross, by him to reconcile all things. So that re­mission of sins, peace with God and with our selves, freedom from the sla­very of Sin, Death and Satan; all this is the purchase of Christ's bloud shed upon his Cross, and apply'd to us in his blessed Sacrament, to which we are now invited. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you, says Christ, Mat. 11. 28. In like manner does he bespeak us here too; Come unto me all ye that are in bondage to Sin and Satan, and I will release you; Subdue the power of them by my grace, and restore you at last to the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God; Let the door-posts of your Hearts be sprinkled with my bloud, and the destroying An­gel shall pass, and not hurt you. O let [Page 60] us then hearken to His most gratious invitation; and having such encourage­ment, draw near, to his Holy Table, with a true heart in full assurance of faith; and Heb. 10. 22 for the time to come wholly give up our selves to Him, who gave Himself for us, this day of his Birth, by taking our Flesh, and now offers up Himself again for us at his Passion, whereof this Sacra­ment is so lively a representation, and seal of our Redemption. In a word, as Christ has redeemed us, so let us for the time to come walk as the redeemed of the Lord, and his peculiar people, that so we may obtain those Blessings which belong to such, both here and hereafter. Which God of his infinite Mercy grant, &c.

Amen.

I Need not be very exact in repeating what I so lately delivered hence to you on these words, it being so fresh in your Memories: Only give me leave, for the better carrying on of this Second Part of my Discourse, to name the Heads I then proposed; which were these.

[Page 62]1. The Person, Who gave himself, Christ Jesus, God and Man.

2. His infinite Bounty and Goodness, in the clearest, highest and more endear­ing Expresses thereof, His giving himself for us. A free Gift, a great one too; for surely a greater thing God could not give than Himself; and an undeser­ved Gift; the parties on whom it was bestowed being Sinners and Enemies to God, and so in no manner of capacity to receive or deserve it.

3. The Design or End of that Gift; and that twofold:

1. Redemption, from the slavery of Sin, Death and Satan. And thus far I then proceeded. That which now re­mains to be spoken to, is,

First, What Christ chiefly design'd to redeem us from, and that is said to be Iniquity; and withall, the extent of that Redemption, All iniquity.

2. The other great End of Christ's gi­ving himself for us, namely Sanctification; To purifie to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Of these in their Order.

Who gave himself for us, that he might [Page 63] redeem us from iniquity; From our slavery and bondage to Sin, not from our subjection to Men. This was no part of that liberty Christ came to pur­chase for us. The Servant is still obli­ged to perform Obedience to his Ma­ster; nor does Christianity give Him here any Manumission. Servants, be obedient to them that are your Masters Ephes. 6. 5. according to the flesh, with fear and trem­bling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; that is▪ with all diligence and sincerity, as unto Christ, who sees your hearts, and lays this Command on you. Nor, 2dly, does the Law of Christ ex­empt Subjects from that subjection they owe to their natural and lawfull Prin­ces: A Jewish conceit, which many pri­mitive Christians were too ready to en­tertain, especially such as having newly shaken hands with Moses; thought that at the same time they cast off his Yoke, they might lawfully renounce all Obe­dience to Heathen Governors. We know the Jews expected such a glorious con­quering Messiah, as should give them the Necks of their Enemies, and the Empire of the whole World; and accordingly, to strengthen this fancy, they wrested [Page 64] all those obscure passages of the Pro­phets to a literal, which were only meant in a spiritual Sense. A conceit more ex­cusable in a people so long enured to a Carnal Oeconomy; which made their Thoughts so low, that they could rise no higher than the Milk and Honey of a Temporal Canaan. But our Saviour has expresly confuted this their gross er­ror, Joh. 18. 36. by telling Pilate, that his kingdom was not of this World; no more than it was his business to cancel any natural or civil Obligations between Men, or break those bonds wherein they stood related and engag'd one to ano­ther. He came to save his people in­deed, but, as the Angel expresses it, from their sins, and no otherwise; Mat. 1. 21. That is, not only from the guilt of them, and the punishment due to that guilt; but also to rescue and free them from the power and dominion of their sins, from that course of vitious living, wherein themselves, with the rest of Mankind, had before been engaged: A slavery which of all others being the saddest, (it being a kind of liberty to be given up to the lusts of Men, in com­parison of being delivered up to those of [Page 65] our own hearts,) nothing but the Son of God could deliver us from it; and we find all his Attributes engaged in that task; his infinite Wisdom to find out a way to glory between God's Ju­stice and Man's Sin; his infinite Power employed in accomplishing that way; his infinite Mercy discovered in par­doning, and his infinite Grace in subdu­ing and conquering Sin. And that this was the great design of God's sending his Son into the World, and of his gi­ving Himself for us, we learn from the 11 and 12 Verses of this very Chapter: The grace of God, says our Apostle there, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared un­to all men, teaching us to deny ungodli­ness and worldly lusts. So Acts 3. 26. St. Peter tells the Jews, that God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless them; how? not in saving them from their Temporal enemies, but in turning every one of them from his iniquities. St. John says the very same thing too, though in different words, 1 Joh. 3. 8. For this purpose the Son of God was mani­fested, that he might destroy the works of the Devil; the word there is [...], that he might dissolve, or loosen those chains [Page 66] of Satan, wherewith he had fast bound and kept all men in captivity to Him­self. And ver. 5. of that chapter, Christ is said to be manifested to take away our sins, i. e. as to free us from the guilt of them, by his 1 Joh. 1. 7. Revel. 1. 5. Bloud; so from the 1 Cor. 6. 11. filth and stain of them, by his Spirit. Thus you see 'twas iniquity Christ came to redeem us from, and, how, as much as in us lyes, we frustrate the very end of his coming, and of his redeeming us, if we enslave our selves to those sins, from which he came to free us. If our own interest, even that of our eternal Salva­tion, be not enough, let the kindness and infinite love of God in stooping so low as to become one of us, to redeem us from those sins, which make us worse than the beasts that perish, oblige us to quit them. By undertaking▪ the Faith of Christ, every Christian ties himself to a strict life; Let every one, says the Apostle, that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity, 2 Tim. 2. 19. and not only from some, but all kinds of it; from All iniquity, even as Christ re­deemed us from All.

[Page 67]2. Without which addition our Re­demption had been but lame and imper­fect, but our Slavery had not been so; since any one unmortified Sin is enough to render us its Vassal. There are in­deed too many Rimmonists among us, that would be content to allow Christ something, but not all; to part with many, but not every sin; to defie gros­ser ones, and utterly inconsistent with their Christian profession, but not such as they are pleas'd to call their failings of Infirmity and the spots of Children. These Men consider not what the Text says, That Christ having redeemed us from all iniquity; to retain any one known sin, is to despise and make void his Redemption, at least to themselves; and that to allow themselves in that one, be it never so small to their appre­hension, is still to remain in the bond of iniquity, any part of Sin's wages en­titling them to its service: For this, at best, is but partial Obedience to God; and every partial Obedience does as well imply our partial Disobedience to Him also. And where is that Man, who if he may have but one darling Sin, and be suffer'd to enjoy that, would not wil­lingly [Page 68] bate you all the rest? That would not be exact in some duties, if he might commute for others? One Man will be as sober as you would have him, if he may be allow'd to be proud; and ano­ther as chast, so he may have leave to be revengefull. But these middle sort of people are like to get little benefit by Christ's Redemption; They have the fate of Neuters to be hated by both Par­ties; like Borderers, to be equally spoiled by both Nations. And surely if this state be not the worst, 'tis certainly the most troublesome, where the Man's Practices thwart his Principles; such a one is not less divided from himself than from his God; His single self is at least two parties; His Heart's the seat of a perpetual Civil War; He is often led Captive into both quarters; and while he renews his strength, 'tis only for a fresh defeat; and he lays in treasure to no other end, but to be worth another pillage. And there is one thing highly considerable in the case of this middle person, That he hath neither the com­forts of Vertue, nor the pleasure of Sin; the satisfaction of doing his duty being sowred by his thoughts of the frequent [Page 69] omissions of it. When a Man loves God, and hates his Brother, is a severe and a proud person; such a one is just so ex­cellent as to deserve our pity, because he hath undergone the trouble of doing some good, and miss'd the reward of it: In whom so much Vertue was in vain; so many good things to no purpose; and who possess'd such rare advantages, that it might be the more remarkable how he lost them too. These have the sad honour of being instances how near Men may come to Happiness, and yet fail of it; They shall have the misera­ble Comfort, that in them it shall be no­ted how much choice treasure may be cast away. Thus what the Historian Tacitus. says of a Nation, may be affirm'd of Mankind in a Moral sense, Nec totam libertatem pati possunt nec totam servitu­tem; That they would be neither abso­lute slaves to sin, nor wholly free from it; be neither under the law of Righte­ousness, nor altogether under that of Iniquity; that is, not wholly Christ's enemies, nor yet well his friends. But as it was his design to free us wholly from the slavery, so likewise to cleanse us from the stain and pollution of every [Page 70] sin; As to be our Redemption, so our Sanctification; He came to rescue, and withall, to refine us; To purifie unto him­self a peculiar people, zealous of good works; The second great End of his coming in the flesh, and the last thing observa­ble.

To purifie, &c. Of all the Religions which ever were yet in the World, there is not any that hath so provided for the regulating of humane actions as Christi­anity hath done. All others have rather been employ'd in Expiations for sin, than Deleteries of it; in performing such rights for which God should pardon them, rather than in doing such actions for which he should love them; the ut­most of all their hopes being but for a Re­mission, whereas ours aim at a Reward. This bewails our infirmities, so as to draw us from them, and fit us for that happiness which it designs to procure us. And therefore He, who was the Author thereof, did never intend to justifie us by his Righteousness, unless he might also sanctifie us by his Spirit; or pro­cure us pardon for past sins, without se­curing us, as far as we were capable, from future ones. That was indeed the [Page 71] proper task of his Priestly; This, of his Prophetick Office; There he did expiate, Here he continually teaches us, not only to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, but withall, to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; and that both by his Precepts and his Example; which how effectual they are, if duely observed and followed, to the cleansing of us from all filthiness of flesh and spi­rit, beyond whatever the World saw till He came into it, will easily appear to any that shall confront Christ's Precepts (particularly those delivered in his Ser­mon on the Mount) and his Practice with those of Heathens or Jews either. From the former of these two, what Purity could be expected, whose very Religion its self was Impurity? whose Divinity taught Men to violate Huma­nity, and whose ceremonious Worship was nothing else but a Solemnity of the foulest Vices. Their Practices and Prin­ciples, their Lives and Judgments, ha­ving been alike corrupt, as St. Paul de­scribes them, Rom. 1. Nor was it pos­sible how it should be otherwise, where Men's Sins and their Religion were the same thing; where their Gods and their [Page 72] Inclinations did equally contribute to Wickedness. The most abominable Sins we know among them had their Tem­ples, where Theft, Drunkenness and Adul­tery were ador'd; and to prostitute their Bodies, was most sacred; and their very Altar-fires did kindle those foul heats, from whence 'tis that Uncleanness is so often in Scripture styled Idolatry. And this was the condition of the Heathenish World before our Lord's Incarnation. 'Tis true indeed, that the more intelli­gent part of Mankind was not so de­bauch'd in its Understanding, nor alto­gether so loose in its Practice. Some few possibly there were who did a little resist the common stream, and still re­tain so much of natural reason as serv'd them to discover the follies and impuri­ties of others, but very little to reform either others or themselves. Something perhaps it did towards that too, and in all likelihood make way for the more easie admission of Christianity; which gave occasion to that unwary expression of one who styl'd Aristotle Christ's Fore­runner in Naturals, as St. John Baptist was in Spirituals: And upon the like ground 'tis that others affirm Christ's In­carnation [Page 73] to be clearly deducible from Plato's Writings. How warrantably, I know not; but this I know, That some of the Heathen Philosopher's Vertues are little better than Christian men's Vices; and many of those Rules they give us to walk by very crooked; nor did the exactest of them strictly observe them, or follow their own Prescriptions. And to say the best of the Rules themselves, they were such as were fitted to the outward Man, and did not at all require that inward Purity of the Heart which Christ has severely enjoyn'd his Disci­ples; and is indeed the most effectual and only proper instrument to beget true Holiness in Men. Wherein the Christian Religion has as well exceeded the Jewish, as the Heathenish one; which entertain'd and amus'd its self rather with external performances affecting the Sense, than divine and spiritual, which alone could purifie the Soul. The rea­son the Apostle gives why the legal Sa­crifices could not make him, who did the service, perfect, as pertaining to the Consci­ence, because they stood in meats, and drinks, and carnal Ordinances, Heb. 9. 9, 10. Nor could all their other Purifica­tions [Page 74] doe much neither towards the cleansing of the Mind, which might be still in the Mire, while the Body was in the Laver, and remain as bestial as those Creatures to which it was beholding for its cleansing. Besides, that the Jewish Promises being so remote and obscure, so low and mean, and relating so much to this life, that 'tis question'd by some whether they pointed at all to any o­ther; they could have but little influ­ence on the more spiritual part of Man, which can never rest satisfied with what is so unproportioned to, and so much less than its self. All which defects are abundantly supply'd by Christ, who has not only given us better Precepts, but, as the Apostle says, established them on Heb. 8. 6. better and clearer Promises; such as in their nature are most apt to engage us, to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of 2 Cor. 7. 1. flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God.

To all which we may add the power­full assistances of God's grace, and the force and efficacy of Christ's example; whereby He has not only pointed out the way to us, but trac'd it Himself, be­ing both the way and the truth. All such [Page 75] pressing Motives to Purity of life, that 'tis Morally impossible for any to name the name of Christ, and not to depart from 2 Tim. 2. 19. [...] all Iniquity. And therefore Athenagoras in his Apology for Christianity, plainly tells us, (and 'tis a great truth,) That no Christian can be a bad man, unless he be a Hypocrite; or pretend to so holy a Master, and be so unlike Him: To be­hold the Lamb of God without spot or 1 Pet. 1. 19. blemish, and be himself a Leopard. And surely He that shall consider how that the whole Discipline of the Jewish Reli­gion was but Purity in Type, and all the Ceremonies of their Worship but so many Figures, or rather Doctrines of Cleanness, must needs grant that Purity which the Christian Religion advanc'd, and which the Mosaical one did but adumbrate, to have been of a far higher strain; and cannot but in reason confess there lyes now up­on him a much stronger obligation to Purity, he being not only washt in Christ's own bloud, (that bloud which alone can purge his conscience from dead Heb. 9. 14. works to serve the ever-living God,) but baptized with the Holy Ghost and with Fire. And now tell me whether any can well pretend to be redeemed by that [Page 76] bloud wherein he finds no power to sanctifie him? Without doubt, whatso­ever Christ worketh for us, He worketh in us too. If he clear us from the guilt of sin, he does likewise cleanse us from the pollution of it; If he free us from the obligation and the punishment, he does withall from the power and dominion of it; and while he quenches Hell-fire without, does at the same time quench that of Lust within us. These things are not to be separated; and when we find them so, or find our selves the same men Christ found us, still in our sins, though he has used all possible means to draw us out of them, we certainly frustrate all the ends of his Incarnation; He is not born for us, but against us: This Child is not set for our rise, but for our fall. His taking our Flesh will doe us no good, if we doe not walk by his Spirit; and that we shall not doe, if we be not Holy as well as Innocent; and not only perform▪ those excellent things He requires from us, but love and become zealous of them, that so we may be indeed his Peculiar Peo­ple.

[Page 77]A Title which some in our days are pleased to appropriate to themselves, who yet shew little of that which must secure it; renouncing good works in their own practice, and decrying them in▪ others as the mark of Antichrist's, ra­ther than of Christ's People. These are they who talk so much of Faith, and set it up in opposition to good Works, (an error worse than theirs, who make them joint Causes with Christ's Merits in our Justification;) such there were in our Apostle's time, who, because He did so much magnifie Faith to beat down the Jews conceit of being justified by the Works of the Law; did so far Idolize it, as to think all good works useless, when once they had taken upon them the pro­fession of Christianity. And there are, and too many among us, who bury all thoughts of good works in a pleasing, but deceitfull Contemplation of Faith, as exclusive of those good works whereof 'tis so naturally productive; and which can no more be separated from it, than heat from light. 'Tis Faith indeed which alone Act. 15. 9. purifies the heart; that is the very foun­dation and root of all other Graces; without which our Profession is but an [Page 78] empty Name, and our most glorious performances but so many glittering Sins; But then 'tis such a Faith as sup­poses good works, or else 'tis but a dead, Jam. 2. an invisible Faith; good works being the only evidences of its reality, where­by we approve our selves unto Men as Mat. 5. 16. Heb. 13. 16. 1 Pet. 3. 15. well as glorifie God; stop the mouths of the Enemies of the Gospel, make our calling and election sure to our selves; and 2 Pet. 1. 10. Tit. 2. 10. our profession good in the sight of o­thers, by adorning the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all things, and by the practice thereof resembling Him, who went about doing good. And upon these Act. 10. 38. and the like accounts we find our Apo­stle highly magnifying, and earnestly calling upon Titus to press the necessity of them, chap. 3. 8. This is a faithfull saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have be­lieved in God might be carefull to main­tain good works: these things are good and profitable unto men; so profitable, that without them the Text expresly affirms they cannot be God's peculiar People.

And here we may see how strict an Exactor of them our Lord is, who is [Page 79] not content with our performance of, without our affection to them; nay, re­quires the very heat and fervor of that Vid. Leigh L. Com. p. 715, 716. affection; will have us doe, and withall be zealous of them, which is more than barely to doe them, and cannot possibly consist with any coldness or indifferency to them. Such a temper He requires, whose Zeal did even eat him up, that we should follow after righteousness, [...] 1 Tim. 6. 11. as the word is, eagerly pursue and even persecute it, be active and violent in quest thereof, never leaving off our pursuit till we have obtain'd it. He who, like Gallio, cares for none of these things, but is indifferent to them▪ shall be as little car'd for by God, and such as are neither hot nor cold in his service, he will spew out of his mouth. Nescit tarda molimina Spiritûs sancti gratia; God's Spirit fires that Soul it does inspire, ma­king it active and industrious to im­prove his Graces, to add one link or o­ther still to the Chain of them, To faith, 2 Pet. 1. [...]. vertue; and to vertue, knowledge; and so 1 Tim. 6. 18. on: To strive not only to be rich in good works, but richer than others; and to be ambitious [...] still to excell and surpass all others in Goodness. [Page 80] It being their Lord's will that his peo­ple should not only be holy, but eminent; not barely innocent, but perfect too, as far as they are capable of perfection in this life, or, at least, to endeavour to be so.

And surely there cannot be a stronger Motive to persuade them to be so, than the honour and advantage such a Rela­tion will procure them, as to be God's peculiar People, chosen by Him out of the rest of the World, admitted into his special favour and protection; a Peo­ple Mal. 3. 17. Hos. 1. 10. whom He shall love and value as his chiefest Treasure and choicest Jewels. These alone He thinks worth the pur­chasing, even with his own dearest bloud; These alone have indeed the Benefit, Act. 20. 28. others but the Tender of it; For these was He born, and for these did He ef­fectually 1 Joh. 3. 8. dye. Not for them who build up those works of the Devil which the Son of God came on purpose to destroy: who in works deny him, and (as the Apostle characterizeth them, Tit. 1. 16.) are to every good work reprobate: Nay more than that, even zealous of bad ones, laying hold on Damnation; and are not only Candidates of, but Factors [Page 81] for Hell. Nor 2. for them who revel it upon the score of Christ's Righteous­ness; and while they turn his Grace in­to wantonness, and so deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, (being upon that account no less Anti­christ's, 1 Joh. 4. 3. than they who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh;) yet take sanctuary in his Name, as if that Name were a charm against the Almigh­ty's threats, or serv'd only for a gourd to sit securely under the shadow thereof. Is this to be God's peculiar People? Or did He in so much mercy chuse us out of the Heathen World, that we should be more wicked than Heathens for that very reason, because we are Christians, and therefore ought to be much better? And who is there, since the appearance of God's grace, whom so excellent a Religion as he professes, a Religion that came down from Heaven, renders more just and sober, more chast and tempe­rate, or any way more vertuous than some of those very Heathens, whose Re­ligion came from Hell? And yet stands high upon his profession, and thinks that shall bear him out. 'Tis true indeed, the Devil is not worship'd now, as then [Page 82] he was, with a Religion of Impieties; and yet the same, if not viler things, are made to consist with Christ's Reli­gion, as well as with that of the Devil; and Men have found a way to yoke Christ with Belial, to reconcile his Doc­trines of Purity and their own Sins to­gether; nay to make this Holy time al­so nothing else but a more solemn op­portunity of sinning, and themselves more Beasts, because God now became Man for them. But I forbear, and shall not dwell any longer upon so harsh a subject, as unfit for such a time of Jubilee as this is, for so it is, if we may believe an Angel; Behold I bring you good ti­dings of great joy, which shall be to all people, Luke 2. 10. Let us then rejoice, but still in the Lord, as it becomes the Just and Righteous; and give thanks unto him for a remembrance of his Goodness to us; Let us walk honestly as Rom. 13. 13, 14. in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provisions for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof: Put him on by an application of his Merits, and an imitation of his Vertues; by our Faith in, and by our [Page 83] Obedience to Him, that we may cele­brate this time with the Duties of it, make it a Festival of our services to Him for the everlasting benefit we still reap by it. God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness: He hath 1 Thes. 4. 7. called us as to glory, so to vertue, the path-way to it, 2 Pet. 1. 3. 'Tis a great mistake to think, that because Christ came to redeem us from Sin and Hell, therefore the liberty he has pur­chased for us extends so far as to free us from Holiness too. No sure: As we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, so were we re­deemed, you see, by Christ to perform them, and in a more exact and higher way than ever the World before was acquainted with. God did, no doubt, pardon many things, not only in Hea­thens, but even in his own peculiar Peo­ple the Jews, which he will not in us; our obligation to a stricter Holiness now being so much the stronger, by how much our light is clearer. The times of this Act. 17. 30. ignorance God winked at, (says our Apo­stle, speaking indeed of Heathens, but applicably to Jews too, in comparison of us, Christians;) He pass'd by many [Page 84] things in them, who had not such clear Revelations of his Will as after-times had; but now he commandeth all Men every-where to repent. For since God hath vouchsafed to come down Himself from Heaven to shew us the way to it; since Himself has gone before us in that way, and left such manifest prints of his divine Foot-steps, as we may trace him all along by: If after all this we will not follow him, but tread on still in those pernicious ways that lead to Hell, we are to blame our selves for putting a barr to our Redemption. Christ hath done enough for us, and yet something he has left us to doe for our selves, to redeem our selves from our vain Con­versation; be zealous and fervent in the practice of those good works he com­mands and requires of us, that we may reap the benefit of that Redemption he hath purchased for us, while we give him the glory of it; the glory of his infinite Humility and Condescension in stooping so low as to take our vile Na­ture upon him; the glory of his Good­ness in being so willing to succour and relieve us; and, lastly, the glory of his Wisdom and Power, who alone was able [Page 85] to contrive a way to doe it, and could bring it to pass. A Power this, beyond that of the Creation, (if any one Work of the Almighty may be said to be greater than another,) and more glorious too; That being call'd but the work of his fingers, Psal. 8. 3. This, of his whole Arme, Psal. 98. 2. There he only made us Men; Here, new Men.

To conclude; Let us beg of Him, who by taking our Flesh became our Brother, to make us such whom He may not be ashamed to call his Brethren; 1 Cor. 15. 49. That as He now bare the Image of the Earthly, by being made after our Image, so may we bear the Image of the Hea­venly, by being made conformable to his. And let us bless Him who sent his Son to bless us, in turning every one Rom. 8. 28. of us from his Iniquities, as well as in satisfying for them. And since his Be­loved Son has so lately wash'd our Rev. 7. 14. Robes, and made them white in his bloud; let us not defile them again, but keep them unspotted from the World, and hate even the garment spotted by the Flesh; purifying our selves as He is 1 Joh. 3. 3. v. 13. pure, that we may with comfort look for that blessed hope mentioned in the [Page 86] verse immediately preceding, even the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; And when He shall appear, follow that immacu­late and unspotted Lamb into those Re­gions of Bliss where now He is, and whither he has already exalted our na­ture; To which place God in his good time bring us all for the Merits of his only beloved Son and our blessed Re­deemer; To whom with the Father, &c. Amen.

Soli Deo gloria.

THere are not any Writings so harmonious, and every-where consonant to themselves, as the Holy Scriptures. The Old and New Testament, like Glasses set one against another, reflect a mutual light; so that [Page 88] as Moses and the Prophets testifie of Christ, Christ bears witness to them▪ and all the Types of the Law have their Anti-Types in the Gospel which direct­ly answer them.

Thus the Gospel for this day is but the Eccho to the Epistle. There the Prophet Malachi fore-tells, That the Lord the Messias, whom the Jewish Na­tion sought, should suddenly come to his Temple; and here we find Him, with his Blessed Mother, in that Temple, each of them appearing there in obedience to the Mosaical Law; the one to be purifi­ed, the other to be presented.

And as this day's Festival takes its denomination from these two legal Rites, so the Text expresly mentions each of them.

• 1. The Purification of the Mother, with the circumstance of its proper time, in the former part of it, When the days of her Purification were accomplished.
• 2. The Presentation of her Child, to­gether with the several circumstances of the place where, and the Persons that presented him, in the latter, They brought him to Jerusalem; that is, as 'tis ex­plain'd, ver. 27. His parents brought him [Page 89] into the Temple at Jerusalem to doe for him after the custom of the Law, which was to present him to the Lord.

Of these distinctly; and first of the Purification of the Mother. This we find expresly required by the Law of Moses, Levit. 12. 2. where 'tis said, If a woman have conceived seed and born a man-child, then she shall be unclean seven days; ac­cording to the days of her separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And 'tis added, ver. 4. She shall then, i. e. af­ter the circumcision of her Male-child, con­tinue in the bloud of her purifying thirty­three days, she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary untill the days of her purifying be fulfilled. Which legal Rite, as it did, no doubt, point to that spiritual Purification, which was to be made by the bloud of Christ, the immaculate Lamb, to be shed for all Joh. 1. 29. 1 Cor. 5. 7. Mankind on the Altar of the Cross; so did it insinuate to the Jews their Ori­ginal corruption, that they, as well as other descendants of Adam, were concei­ved Psal. 51. 7. in sin, and brought forth in iniquity. For to what purpose should there be such care taken for the cleansing of the Vessel, had it not before been tainted? [Page 90] Or why should a Sin-offering be requi­red, where there was no sin to expiate? The Law of Purification then evidently proclaims our uncleanness, and tells us that our very Birth infects the Mother that bare us. She might not, we see, till the seventh day converse with Men, nor till the fortieth day appear before the Lord in the Sanctuary, nor then with­out a burnt-offering for thanksgiving, and a sin-offering for expiation; and that of a double sin, viz. of the Mother that conceived, and, as St. Paul tells us, was first in the Transgression, and of the Son 1 Tim. 2. 14. that was conceived. And this Rite, with­out question, the Holy Mother of God observ'd in conscience of that natural Corruption which was common to her with all other Men and Women, propa­gated to her as a branch of the first stock, and which, by the Oblation made by her, she publickly confessed to God and the Congregation. From whence it will follow, that as they are gross Conc. Trid. Sess. 5. flatterers of Nature, who tell us she is clean; so they are no less Idolaters of the Virgin Mary, who exempt her from all stain, Original or Actual. For besides, that our Lord's sharp rebuke, Joh. 2. 3. [Page 91] implies some such fault as was inconsi­stent with a spotless impeccable condi­tion; her willing submission to the Mo­saical Rite here, and her professing her own need of a Saviour, Luk. 1. 47. are sufficient Arguments to stop their mouths, who will needs force those Eu­logies upon her, which her self utterly disclaim'd both by word and practice.

But whatever stain there might be in her own Conception, 'tis certain, she was most free from any particular sin as to that of our Lord's, and rather sanc­tified than polluted by bearing Him, who could draw no infection from the loins of Adam, as not conceived in the ordi­nary way of Mankind, but by the ver­tue of the Holy Ghost over-shaddowing Luk. 1. 3 [...] her. Happy Mother! Whatever impurity then there might be in others, there could be none at all in the Son of God; and if the best Substance of a pure Vir­gin had in it any spot, it was sufficient­ly scowred off by that Holy thing which was conceived in her by the Holy Spi­rit; and did in a far more extraordinary way sanctifie that Womb wherein Him­self lay▪ than that wherein the Baptist.

[Page 92]Upon all which accounts the Holy Mother of God might well have chal­lenged an Immunity from all Ceremo­nies of Purification; she needed no pur­ging, since she had no stain. This was for those Mothers whose Births were un­clean; hers was from God, who is Pu­rity its self; The Law of Moses reach'd only to those Women which had con­ceived in sin; she conceived not that Seed but by the Holy Ghost; That ex­tended to the Mothers of those Sons which were under the Law, whereas hers was above it; yet does she not wrangle with the Law upon any of these scores, but cheerfully submits to a twofold Rite of Purification and Obla­tion; waves all her Privileges, and chu­ses Duty; subscribes to the Law of that God whom she carried in her Womb and in her Heart, the true Mother of Him who came to fulfill all Righteous­ness, Legal as well as Moral; and though he knew the Children of the Kingdom free, would yet pay Tribute to Caesar. These Rites then she observ'd, not for her self, but for us, to give us a four­fold Example, of Charity, Obedience, Humility and Gratitude.

[Page 93]1. Of Charity. Among other Acts, whereof this is not the least, not to scan­dalize our Neighbours: For as no man Rom. 14. 7. See v. 13. (according to St. Paul's rule) liveth to himself; We are oblig'd in all our acti­ons to consider others as well as our selves; and many times to abridge our selves of our own freedom, to comply with their infirmities; and part with our dearest liberty, for their satisfaction. It was this, no doubt, which made the Blessed Virgin to do so, where the dis­pensing with her self for the observation of this Ceremony, must needs have gi­ven the Jews no small occasion of scan­dal. For when she brought her Son into the Temple, they who were wholly strangers to the great Mystery of the Incarnation, who neither knew Her to be the Mother, nor Christ to be the Son of God, but lookt upon them with an indifferent eye, as persons within the verge and compass of the Mosaical Law, and equally ty'd up to a strict obser­vance of all its Ordinances, must needs have taken great offence at the omission of any the least of them: All such neg­lect would have been construed a breach of the divine Institution, which no [Page 94] Man's innocence or dignity could in their judgment have warranted. But as it is the property of true Charity not to seek her own; so did this Blessed 1 Cor. 13. 5. Mother of God chuse to depart from her private right, rather than prejudice the common good, or violate the peace of the Church; and rather draw an in­convenience on her self, than yield the least occasion of offence to God's Peo­ple. Thus did she abstain from all ap­pearance of Evil; not from that only which was really so, but which had the face of, and lookt like it; avoiding as all crime, so all suspition thereof; and having an eye as well to her Reputation as her Innocence: A Temper scarce to be met with in this vitious and offen­sive Age; where Men are not content to be wicked, if they may not withall be scandalous; corrupt others as well as themselves, by putting stumbling-blocks in the way of their weak and blind Bre­thren. So far are they from yielding Obedience to those Laws they may have some colourable pretence to avoid, that they make it their great care and study wilfully to break those they are necessa­rily obliged to. All things are lawfull for [Page 95] such persons, and all things expedient too; Law and Honour, Reason and Conscience they can as easily shake off, as Sampson his withen Bands; defie the Magistrate and the Church; cry up Christian Liberty, to the ruine of Chri­stian Obedience, without any regard ei­ther to other Men or themselves. Let them learn another lesson from the Mo­ther of God; who would rather lose her own right, than give others a seeming offence; and let her Example teach us Obedience, though to the prejudice of our just Liberty: And let us not on the other side rashly censure them as Law­breakers, who sometimes, perhaps, may omit a few little Punctilio's of the Law, not out of any Contumacy or Spirit of Opposition, but to gratifie the humour of a tender, though erroneous, Consci­ence.

2. A second Example we have here of Obedience. A Vertue few have, who yet pretend much to all others; but a Vertue, without which all the rest sig­nifie little, and which is the best of Sa­crifices. Had the Blessed Virgin pre­sented her Son to God, and not her self too, even That very Offering would [Page 96] have little availed her. There she in­deed offered up his Person, Here her own Will; which we can, for the most part, more hardly part with, than with our dearest and most beloved Children. But this Blessed Mother most willingly parts with both to God; as freely re­signs up her self to Him here, as when she first received the happy news from the Angel, that God had design'd her to be that Person of whom he should take flesh, with an Ecce Ancilla, Behold the Handmaid of the Lord: She quarrels not with the Law, but observes every Iota and Tittle of it; The due time, when the days of her Purification were ac­complished; the due place, the Tem­ple; the due Oblation too, a pair of Turtle Doves; so officious was she in the Ceremony, as to admit of no excuse in any the least circumstance of her O­bedience; and so defective are most of us, even in the main Duties of Morali­ty. Surely that Soul is not fit for the Spiritual conception of Christ, that is not conscionably scrupulous in obser­ving all God's Laws. 'Tis not in our own power to make choice of some part, where God requires an entire sub­mission [Page 97] to the whole. His Commands exact our strict Obedience, even to to those things which seem to us of little importance: Our Measures here are not to be taken from the Nature of the things themselves, but from the Authority of that God which imposes them, whose Will, not our Reason, is to determine us; and there may be as great contempt of his Will in neglecting or refusing to obey it in lesser as in grea­ter instances; nay, many times much greater, where the things are of a more easie observation; as the greatest Sin that ever Man committed was but the eating of an Apple. The instance of the Blessed Virgin's Obedience here, was in that which many now-a-days would think very trivial; 'twas but in a cere­monial part; the Mint and Cummin, not the weightier matters of the Law; yet since God required so punctual an observance of that, and the Blessed Vir­gin so exactly paid it, there will be lit­tle excuse left for Schismaticks, who de­spise the decent Ceremonies of the Church out of Piety and Devotion, thinking thereby to doe God good ser­vice; and less for them who wilfully [Page 98] disobey the more substantial important Precepts of the Gospel. If the Holy Virgin had such respect to the Law of Bondage and Severity, then surely ought we to pay a far greater to the Law of Liberty and Grace; and if she so religi­ously observ'd a Ceremony, which to her was but indifferent, with what care ought we to keep those Moral duties of the Gospel which require our Obedi­ence, not out of Love only, but Ne­cessity.

3. A third Lesson we may learn here from the Example of the Mother of God, and that is Humility, which was as signal here as her Obedience, and the cause of that Obedience: For all Obedi­ence proceeds from Humility; which is as ready to take Laws from others, as Pride can be to give them. 'Twas this which sub­mitted Christ to the Rite of Presentati­on, as it did the Blessed Virgin to that of her Purification; though his Innocence might well have exempted him from ap­pearing in the crowd of Sinners, and her Purity from being rankt amongst the Unclean. It was no small derogation to her Honour to submit to such a Rite, whose very designment was to upbraid [Page 99] their guilt who observ'd it. They who are truly humble, are even ambitious of Contempt; catch at all opportunities which may debase them, and boast of that dishonour which turns to God's glory; as David danc'd on before the Ark, notwithstanding Michal's taunts: And his Language there is, that of every 2 Sam. 6. 22 humble spirit, I will yet be viler. Thus would the Mother of God own her self legally unclean, who morally was not so; and bring her Doves to the Altar, who was more innocent and harmless than those Doves she brought; too faint an Emblem of her own spotless Purity, as the Lamb was of his, who knew no sin, though he was content to be made sin for us.

4. There is one Lesson more behind, and that is of Gratitude; which, though in the general, may concern all persons to pay their solemn Thanks to God in the Congregation, especially after any signal and notable Deliverance, which is one great Reason of this day's Festi­val among the Jews; yet in the particu­lar instance of legal Purification, it may seem only to point to Mothers, and ob­lige them publickly to express their [Page 100] gratefull acknowledgment of God's mer­cy to them, in preserving them from the great peril of Child-birth. We see the first appearance of the Mother of our Lord was in the Temple to present the Lord with a burnt-offering as well as a sin-offering; That, as a Sacrifice of Praise; This, as a Confession of her na­tural Impurity. Which Jewish custom, no doubt as it gave just ground, so good warrant for that Office our Church pre­scribes for the Churching of Women; and though there had been reason e­nough to justifie the Equity of her Com­mands in the very Nature of the thing its self, yet sure the Authority of the ancient Church of God is here of great force and a leading president: For although the Political and Ceremonial Laws of the Jews are in the Particulars abroga­ted, yet not in the General; it is indeed so in the Circumstance, but not in the Substance. The Moral of that Rite will still remain a debt, as long as such a Deliverance continues a Blessing; which none can deny it to be, but they per­haps who never were acquainted with the danger from which Women in that case are rescued; or think there is no [Page 101] such thing as Gratitude due for any de­liverance, though to an Almighty De­liverer. Let the Example of the Blessed Virgin teach them to be more thankfull for Blessings; who was no sooner either able or allow'd to walk abroad, but she travels to Jerusalem; she goes not to her own House at Nazareth, but to God's House, there to offer up her Thanks and Praises. If Purifyng were a Sha­dow, yet Thanksgiving is a Substance. Those whom God hath blessed with fruit of Body and safety of Deliverance; if they make not their first Journey to the Temple of God, have little reason to expect a second Preservation, since they can as soon forget the first as they usually doe their Pains: such Women partake more of the Unthankfulness of Eve, than of Mary's Devotion.

But then as that Devotion appears in the early Tribute of her Thankfulness, so that Thankfulness by more than ver­bal Expressions. She would not appear before the Lord empty; and although her Appearance was in formâ pauperis, yet something she would bring to the Altar. We are all willing enough to serve God of that which costs us no­thing: [Page 102] such cheap Votaries are as frequent now-a-days, as to pray for fashion, or fast for frugality. Here is a present mean in­deed in its self, but sutable to the Offer­er's ability, and far more acceptable to God than the Widows two Mites, Mark 12. Her Poverty could not furnish her with any other Present but two Doves; she was not rich enough to provide such a Lamb as the Law required, but she could bring that Lamb which that legal one did typifie, and without which that other would not purifie; a Lamb which gave Vertue and Merit to her Offering, as it did to all precedent Sacrifices of the Law; an Offering greater than the Temple its self, and which sanctify'd that and the Altar too, even the Lord of the Temple, whom she presents to the Lord; the next thing to be consi­dered.

The Blessed Virgin had more business Part II. The Presen­tation. in the Temple than her own; she came thither as to purifie her self, so to present her Son, having nothing so pretious as himself to make Oblation of to God. And this also the Law of Moses requir'd, Exod. 12. and 13. 2. And the reason of [Page 103] that Rite God himself is pleas'd to give, Numb. 8. 17. why the Israelites should consecrate their first-born to him, to mind them of their great Deliverance, when he smote the first-born in Egypt to be a Memorial or standing Record of God's particular favour and mercy to that People, in that their miraculous Pre­servation from the destroying Angel, and withall a Type of Christ the true Paschal Lamb, whose Bloud should save all Mankind from a worse Destroyer, and free us from the Bondage, not of Egypt, but of Hell. And indeed the Anti-type here does in all points answer its Type; for Christ was both the Lamb and the first-born too; the only Joh. 3. 16. begotten Son of God, as well as the first-born Son Matth. 1. 25. of the Blessed Virgin, who bare none before or after him, whatever Heliadi­ans dreamt: And therefore St. Paul calls him the first-born among many Brethren, Rom. 8. 29. A style justly belonging to him, both upon the account of Grace, as by whom we are born a-new, and made 1 Pet. 1. 3. 1 Cor. 5. 17. new Creatures, Ephes. 5. 2. So of Power too, as being the first-fruits of them that sleep, 1 Cor. 15. 20. and the first-born of the dead, Coloss. 1. 18. Upon all which ac­counts [Page 104] he belong'd unto God, not only as the Son of God by eternal Generation before time, and by miraculous Concep­tion in time, but also by the common course of nature. But though he might have pleaded an Exemption from that Law, whereof he was the Author; yet, as good Princes use to observe those Laws themselves make, he was most willingly subject to this Rite of Presen­tation upon the same grounds his Holy Mother was to that of her Purification, to teach us the same Lessons of a most exemplary Obedience, Humility and Cha­rity; when we see that he who was free from the common condition of our Birth, would not yet, since the Mosaical Law requir'd it, deliver himself from those ordinary Rites, which imply'd the weak­ness and blemishes of Humanity. And indeed, as it became him to countenance his own Institution, so did our Necessi­ties, and his own Justice, require his Obedience to it. 1. Our Necessity did so, that by submitting himself to this Mosaical Rite as to that of Circumcision; and so making himself a debtor to the Law, he might redeem us who were under Gal. 4. 5. the obligation and curse of it. 2dly, His [Page 105] Justice, to make that full satisfaction to that Law which we had broken, and him­self had obliged himself for our sakes to fulfill. For although He was the Most Dan. 9. 24. Luk. 1. 35. Holy, and Act. 2. 14. the Just One; and as such, out of the reach of any Law, which, as St. Paul tells us, is not made for the righ­teous Man, and much less for him who 1 Tim. 1. 9. was Righteousness its self; yet was He, in some sense, the greatest of Sinners, namely, by Imputation, being charg'd with the Sins of the whole World, and consequently obnoxious to the Law as our Surety and Undertaker. Thus was He presented this day in the Substance, or as St. Paul, Rom. 8. 3. phrases it, in the likeness of our sinfull flesh, and in the same sense must be said to have been purified too; and therefore whereas some Copies with our Translation reade in the begin­ning of this Text, [...] Her purifica­tion; others, as Erasmus, have it [...] and some [...] His or Their Purification, including the Child as well as the Mo­ther, both appearing this day in the ha­bit and guise of Sinners, though each of them spotless; She by Grace, and He by Nature too.

[Page 106]2. For these and the like Reasons would our Lord be this day presented, and the place wherein was the Temple at Jerusalem, which received a second and better Consecration by his Presence, than it had done by Solomon's Dedica­tion. This was God's House, and whi­ther should the Son of God, who had no other, be brought, but to his Father's House? There God had a long time dwelt, At Salem was his Tabernacle, and his dwelling at Sion, Psal. 76. 2. And in that place 'twas fit our Lord should first appear. And this his first Offering in the Temple, which some have styl'd his Morning Sacrifice, was but a Preface to that his Evening one, which was to be made on the Cross. In the former, he was redeemed; in the latter, he did re­deem us; giving himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour, Ephes. 5. And as the Jewish Holy Priest was in several respects a Type of Christ; so his entring into the Holy of Holies was but a Figure of this Heb. 9. his Presentation in the Temple, as well as of his Sacrifice on the Cross. Nor was that his Presentation any thing else but his solemn Consecration to his [Page 107] Priestly Office; and no place sure so proper for that as the Temple. But be­sides, that the Law required he should be presented here as the first-born; an obligation common to him with others, who in that consideration were God's peculiar Portion, and consecrated to him as soon as born: He was himself the Lord of the Temple; and as such, was concern'd to make his first appearance there, upon these several accounts: 1. To give Authority to his own Ordi­nance, to set his Seal to what himself had commanded. The same God was the Author as of the Gospel, so of the Law, of the Jewish Synagogue, as well as the Christian Church. Moses was but the Overseer of the Work, God the Con­triver of the Building and the Architect; and there was not one Pin in the whole Structure, either of the Tabernacle or Temple, which himself did not precisely order, even to the meanest Utensils thereof he appointed all; every Ordi­nance, every little Rite and Ceremony was from him: Moses did all according to the Pattern shown him in the Mount; a Servant he was, and as such, faithfull in the House of God; but Christ was [Page 108] the Lord of it, and therefore in honour oblig'd to maintain whatsoever his Ser­vant Moses had done by his order and direction. 2. He appear'd in the Tem­ple to visit and repair it. It was now grown ancient and much decay'd, quite fallen from its primitive beauty and lu­ster; All the glory thereof was without, only in the external Pomp and Magnifi­cence of its Structure; nothing within it but dust and filth: the abomination of hypocrisie, and profaneness of desola­tion; and the worst thing there was the Priest himself: All was now very much out of order: God had long and often complain'd by his Prophets of the Pro­fanation of his Sanctuary; and our Lord was constrain'd at last to cleanse it Him­self, by whipping the buyers and sellers Matt. 21. 13. therein, who had made his House a House of Merchandize, and a Den of Thieves; wherein he express'd an extraordinary zeal, transporting him beyond the bounds of his natural meekness: Nor doe we find that ever he discovered so much holy Passion as in this instance: Thus, as himself tells us, for Judgment came he into the World; and this Judg­ment was to begin at the House of God; [Page 109] and as he came with his Fan in his hand to purge this his Floor, so the Prophet Malachi makes this the great reason of his coming to the Temple, Chap. 3. v. 3. That he might sit there as a refiner and purifier of Silver, to purifie the Sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they might offer unto the Lord an of­fering of Righteousness. Thirdly, He came to the Temple to put an end to it, i. e. to the Mosaical Oeconomy, whose very designment was at first but Temporary: Heb. 9. 10. Col. 2. 17. For the Temple, as the Tabernacle, was never intended for God's fixt and setled Psal. 40. 6. Habitation; and though the former was the more lasting of the two, yet neither of them was to be Eternal. The Pro­phet Daniel (as other Prophets before him) had expresly fore-told, that when the Messias came, he should cause the Sa­crifice Dan. 9. 27. and the Oblation to cease; break down all Jewish Altars, and make the whole World his Temple: God had in­deed long dwelt in the Temple at Jeru­salem in his Spiritual and Typical Pre­sence. There was nothing either plac'd or done within those Walls whereby he was not resembled; but now the body of those Shadows is come, and presents [Page 110] himself where he had ever been repre­sented; and when that which was per­fect was come, 'twas fit that which was imperfect should be done away: That Moses should veil to Christ; the Servant give up the keys of the House to his Lord, who was to erect his Church on the ruines of the Temple; chuse and or­der to himself a new Family, and govern it by better and more spiritual Laws. The true and full meaning of that of St. Paul, Rom. 10. 4. Christ is the end, i. e. the perfection of the Law; which he came not to destroy, but to fulfill; No more than the Temple, but in order to the erecting of a more glorious Fabrick; and when he pull'd down that once stately Building, he did it not in an in­stant, but by degrees; rent not the Veil thereof till at his Death, nor quite de­molished it till a good while after; such respect had he for that place which himself had chosen, and so long ho­noured with his Presence, that he would not have it fall, but with a State an­swerable to its first rising; and when the legal Rites and Ordinances were dead, provided them a pompous Fune­ral and a solemn Interment.

[Page 111]4. To this I may add a fourth Rea­son, which is this; That he might at once represent and consecrate us all to God as the first-fruits of the whole lump: For as he was our Head, so did he ap­pear as the Representative of all Man­kind; the second Adam was as publick a Person as the first; and whatever Mis­chiefs were deriv'd from him to us in that common capacity, as great Advan­tages flow'd to us from Christ as an uni­versal restorer: If we run away from God in Adam, and his shame has ever since made us hide our heads; Our Lord, by wiping off that disgrace, and regain­ing our lost innocence and honour, has, by his appearing in the sight of God for us, given us boldness now to come in­to and stand in his Presence.

These were the reasons of Christ's Pre­sentation in the Temple; and surely it was never more glorious than when the Owner thereof was within the Walls of it: For now was the hour and guest Ezek. 36. come, in regard whereof the second Temple should surpass the first. Now that Prophecy of Haggai received its ch. 2. 9. full accomplishment, when our Lord first appear'd in it. For that it could [Page 112] not be otherwise understood, 'tis evi­dent; because if we consider the Wealth, the Majesty, the external Pomp and Structure of the first Temple, the se­cond was not in these respects any wise comparable to it. But 'twas the Pre­sence of Christ in the flesh that made the latter so far out-shine the former; the Prophet so interpreting himself, v. 7. The desire of Nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts: and then it follows, ver. 9. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former. So that that pre­diction could not be applicable to any other glory but that wherewith our Lord fill'd the Temple this day; and the rather, for that this Prophecy was not made till after the destruction of Solomon's Temple: an Argument suffici­ent to silence the most contradicting Jew, and force him to acknowledge whether he he will or no, that this Prophecy was ne­ver fulfilled till Christ was presented in the Temple. But our Lord, who foresaw that that gain-saying People would not be sa­tisfied; for their farther Conviction, provided two such Witnesses as were be­yond all exception, and such as might [Page 113] bear down all opposition to the truth of this prediction; Simeon and Anna, both of a reverend Age, and disciples of Moses; of a holy and unblameable Life, that waited for the consolation of Is­rael, and were led by the Spirit into the Temple on purpose to meet the Lord of the Temple, whom at this time they there expected and found. In all which respects, these two persons were most proper credible Witnesses of this truth, though there was something more to recommend Simeon's testimony, if the conjecture of many learned Men may here be of any force and credit, who make him the Son of Rabbi Hillel, the Master of Gamalael, St. Pauls Instructer in the Law, and withall a Priest, as in all probability he was, and 'tis not ob­scurely intimated by some Priestly Offi­ces done by him in the Temple; as the taking of Christ in his Armes, and the blessing of the People in the behalf of God, acts peculiar to the Priest. And thus much may serve concerning the place, where our Saviour was presented; it remains now that I speak something of the Persons that presented him, the third and last Thing.

[Page 114]3. They brought him to Jerusalem; They, i. e. his Parents. The Law requi­red this too; and they were as willing to perform this good Office, as the Law to exact it. That which God gives us, we should return to him, our Children especially. Children, and the fruit of the Womb, are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord, says the Psalmist, Psal. 127. 4. and we are to present them to him whose portion they are, and from whom we received them. And as they are not so much ours that beget, as his that bestows them; so should it be our endeavour to make them more his; than our own. Nor is it enough that we suffer our little ones to come to God, but we must bring them, when of themselves they cannot come, and as soon as we receive them. The care of Parents ought to supply the natural defects of their Children, by a timely Consecration of them to him, not only in their Baptism, (which yet some scarce baptized persons will not allow, though Christ's Circumcision, which was in ef­fect our Baptism and his early Presenta­tion in the Temple, directly confute their Opinion and Practice,) but in their [Page 115] future Education too, by bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Ephes. 6. 4. Lord, and teaching them to bear his yoke Lam. 3. 27. in their youth; which is Solomon's coun­sel too, Prov. 22. 6. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will never depart from it. Those cha­racters of Piety, which are imprinted in these smooth unfullied Tables, will not easily be raz'd out: They will be both fairer and more lasting; and these unstain'd Vessels will constantly retain a smack and tincture of that devotion which first seasons them. 'Twas St. Jerom's delight Epist. ad Eustoch. to hear Children balbutire Christum, smat­ter of Christ before they could well speak of him: and Basil bragg'd of Ma­crina his Nurse, a disciple of Gregorius Epist. ad Neocaes. Neocaesariensis, who by often repeating to him what she had learnt from her Ma­ster, made him suck Vertue from her with her Milk. They who first give up their Children to the World, and then to God, are as bad as those Israe­lites who ▪devoted them to Moloch. This Law, we see, requir'd the first-fruits of Persons as well as of Things; then sure­ly there is reason we should give him the Flower of our. Childrens age, not [Page 116] the Bran. Such Morality we may learn from this Constitution of God, that the best of all kinds is fittest to be Conse­crated to the Lord of all; and that eve­ry thing we have is too good for us, if we think any thing we have too good for him. Happy are those Children who derive a spiritual as well as a natu­ral Life from their Parents; and as hap­py those Parents who beget them more to God than to themselves, and, with those of Christ, bring them to the Tem­ple before they can walk to it; God will make those obedient to such Pa­rents, who have been so carefull to make them so soon subject to himself; bless them mutually for each others sake, both here and hereafter.

But while I speak of the Mystery, let me not forget to mind you of the Du­ty it exacts from us. Every Circum­stance here is Symbolical. If the Bles­sed Mother presented the Child to God, then must we present him too as our Sa­viour and Mediator, and with him our selves, to be a living Sacrifice, holy Rom. 12. 1. and acceptable to him. For unless we first present him, 'tis to no purpose to present our selves to God. If he go [Page 117] not first to the Temple, we had as good stay at home. God seems to speak to us here, as the Prophet did of Jehosha­phat to the King of Israel, 2 Kings 3. 24. Surely were it not that I regard the pre­sence of Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. If it were not for Christ, God would not regard either our Persons or our Gifts: All our Offerings and Devotions then must be united to this Holy Pre­sent, that by the Merit and Excellency of this Oblation we may exhibit to God an Offertory, in which he cannot but de­light for the Combinations sake and So­ciety of that his Holy Son, in whom a­lone Mat. 3. 17. he is well pleased. Appear ▪then we must before him in this our Elder Bro­thers habit, or we shall never steal away our Heavenly Father's blessing: For all we have is by and through him, and 'tis with him God gives us all things. Our Birth-right descends to us from this first-born of all the Creatures; All the Privileges of it; Our Kingdom and our Priesthood are derived from him, who Rev. 1. 6. 2 Pet. 2. 9. alone makes us Kings and Priests unto God. But then, 2dly, if we doe not present our selves and all our Offerings [Page 118] with Christ in that manner whereby himself was presented, we shall gain little by his own Presentation this day. And here three things offer themselves to our direction, how we may pre­sent our selves to God, and all we have, so as that our Presents may be accepta­ble to him.

This they will be, 1. If they be pure. 2. If early and of the best. 3. If offered up in the Temple: All coucht in the Mystery of this day.

First, Our Presents must be pure, and to this end we must purifie our selves before we presume to address our selves to God in his Holy Temple: For if our Persons be not pure, our Of­ferings will never be so; since God looks not to the Hand, but the Heart of the offerer. And as his Eye is upon the Righteous, and his Ear open to Their prayer; so the best Sacrifice of the wic­ked is an abomination to him. Cain's Present, no doubt, was as rich as Abel's, but not so acceptable for the Donor's sake. Come we then into the Temple of God, but not till our selves be also his Temples; and those Temples so well swept and garnisht, that they may be a [Page 119] fit habitation for his Spirit. I will wash Eccles. 5. 1. mine hands in innocency, aad so will I go to thine Altar, says David, Psal. 26. 6. There is none of us that can pretend to be as pure as the Mother, much less as the Son of God; yet each of them would be legally cleansed before they would appear in the Temple. Nor was our blessed Lord brought thither till he had been circumcised, to teach us, that the spiritual Circumcision of our hearts is a most necessary qualification to make us fit presents for God: And as his Ex­ample preaches Purity▪ so doe his and the Blessed Virgin's Offerings here pro­claim the Necessity of it; a Lamb and a pair of Turtle-Doves being the proper▪ Emblems of Cleanness.

Secondly, As our Presents must be pure and spotless, so early ones. And this not only the legal Offerings, a Lamb of a year old and two young Pigeons, did imply; but our Saviour's Example declares, who was no sooner born, but presented to God. Our young Services are most gratefull to the Almighty: His Soul delights in the first ripe fruits, Micah 7. 1. in the first-fruits of our Age, not the remains of our Harvest, Cain's [Page 120] Sacrifice. He cares not for such Trees as St. Jude speaks of, whose fruit wither­eth, and which bud not till the Autumn, verse 13. He who, Jer. 1. 11. made choice of the Almond-tree, because it blossom'd first. 'Tis true indeed that a late Sacrifice is not always refus'd, but an early one sure is most pleasing to him; and though the last Comers in­to the Vineyard had their penny, yet doubtless the first were the most wel­come; and therefore Christ is said to have loved that young Man in the Gospel, who had kept all God's Command­ments Mat. 19. 20 Psal. 71. 15. from his youth up: Besides, a late conversion is seldom true; for setting a­side Abraham in the Old Testament, and Nicodemus in the New, we have not many instances of Men converted in their Old Age. And surely when we see how soon the Child Jesus was brought to the Temple, we ought not to think it reasonable for us to stay so long from it, till we must be fain to be carried thither like so many Carkasses to our Graves. This is not that fat of the Sa­crifice God requires of us; The blind, Numb. 18. 12. the lame and the decrepid are not fit Presents for him.

[Page 121] Thirdly and Lastly, Our Presents will then be most acceptable when they are offered up in the Temple. As Christ's first publick appearance was there, so was his last too, a little before his Passi­on. Nor was it only in compliance to the Law that he first visited this place, but withall, to let us know where we are likeliest to find him. The Temple at Jerusalem was then God's only House, Deut. 12. 5, 6, 7. Dan. 6. 10. Psal. 138. 2. 68. 29. out of which no Sacrifice was accepta­ble, and towards which Holy Persons address'd themselves; where-ever they were, their Faces and their Hearts too were still towards this place. But our Devotion is not so limited, Jerusalem is now every-where, and every Christian Church as sacred as ever the Jewish Temple was, where, with Holy Simeon, we may meet our Lord and embrace him; admit him into our Heart, as he took him up in his Arms. In this place does God more particularly exhibit Himself, and Blessing to be sure will go along with him where-ever he goes. In such Holy places as this, as he has put his most Holy Name, so does he usually manifest his choicest Mysteries to us; and there is no doubt but he will doe so, [Page 122] provided we come thither, not with de­signs of Vanity and Curiosity, Sensua­lity and Prophaneness, but as Simeon and Anna did by the impulse and motion of his blessed Spirit. Thus then let us come to the Temple, and, with Holy David, wait for his loving-kindness in the Psal. 48. 9. midst of it; not forsaking the assembling of our selves together in this House of God, if we expect that Christ should make one of our number. If we fly from his Presence here, we shall withall run away from his Blessing. St. Thomas we know was not with the other Apo­stles, Joh. 20. 24. when Christ first appeard to them; and to that his Absence, some have im­puted his Incredulity. If Peter be out of the Ship, he may sink; and if Shi­mei out of Jerusalem, he may dye for it. The Church is our best Sanctuary and securest place of Refuge. In this Ark we shall be safe. Here let Christ find us, and we shall find him, especially if he finds us in such a way and equipage as he expects to find us in; with that Evangelical Purity, Obedience, Humi­lity, Devotion and Gratitude he challen­ges from us; He will then, no doubt, present us to his Father with himself; [Page 123] give Merit and Value to our Persons and Offerings by vertue of his this day's Presentation: Our Eyes shall then see his Salvation, and we at last, with Holy Simeon, depart in peace to meet him in the Heavenly Jerusalem, that Holy of Holies, whereinto this our High Priest is now entred, and where he ever liveth to present himself and his Merits, and make continual intercession to God for us, even the Church of the first-born which is written in Heaven, whither he bring us who is our Fore-runner and Heb. 6. 20. Harbinger to provide us Eternal Mansi­ons there, through Jesus Christ, &c.

THE Text points directly to Christ's Passion; The piercing therein mentioned clearly shows it; which being the last Act, takes in the whole Series of that Tragedy. Our Evangelist, in the Verse before, observes two things: 1. That the Souldiers brake [Page 125] the leggs of two Malefactors, but not of Christ. 2. That one of them with a Spear pierced his side, and thereout came water and bloud. Both which were literally fulfilled, according to the Scriptures, at our Lord's Crucifixion. But besides the literal, there is a spiritual Sense, which was also to be fulfilled, not only at the Conversion of some of Christ's Cruci­fiers, but of every Penitent Sinner, who should pierce Him with his Sins, as the Souldier did with the Spear; and should therefore be concern'd so to look upon him, as to be Himself too pierced with that sight. So that although the Pro­phecy here may seem, at first blush, to be confined to the Jews, it must be ex­tended to all Christ's Piercers, whether Jews or Gentiles; To those, as to the Instruments; and to these, as the Occa­sion of Christ's Death and Passion: And accordingly, I shall, in the handling of the Words, have an eye all along to both; And therein observe unto you these four Particulars.

• 1. The Spectacle it self, or Object here presented to our view, couch'd in the Pronoun Him, i. e. Christ.
• [Page 126]2. The Qualification of that Object, imply'd in the word Pierced; Christ, not as glorified, but as crucified; Not in his state of Exaltation, but Exinani­tion; Not as he is now sitting on his Throne, but as he was in the days of his Flesh, in a mortal condition, hang­ing on the Cross; a spectacle of infirmi­ty to Men and Angels.
• 3. The Act it self here required; and that is Looking on.
• 4. And lastly, The Spectators, who are called to this sight, viz. As many as either did or should pierce Him, whe­ther in a literal, or in a spiritual and mystical Sense, which will bring us All within the compass and into the num­ber of his Piercers, as those who, upon a strict inquiry, will be found equally guilty of spilling the bloud of the Son of God, and to have pierced Him as much, perhaps, some of us more, than the ve­ry Jews themselves did, who were the immediate Actors in this Tragedy.

1. The first thing that offers it self here to our consideration is the spectacle or object of our sight, which in its natu­ral order claims the precedency: For [Page 127] something must be lookt on, else our looking will be to no purpose. And that which is here proposed to us is worth our beholding, The Son of God, or rather more properly the Son of Man, who a­lone was liable to Vulneration, and could be pierced. That it is He, whom the Prophet Zachary, chap. 12. 10. from whom the words of the Text are bor­rowed, points to, our Evangelist's appli­cation here renders unquestionable; be­sides, that the Prophet David had long before applied them to Christ, Psal. 22. 17. They pierced my hands and my feet, clearly fore-signifying our Lord's Cruci­fixion. Which two plain Predictions of David and Zachary, because they pinch the Jews, they have therefore used more than ordinary industry and arti­fice to elude them; and their main shift is, to appropriate this latter Prophecy to King Josiah, but without the least shew and colour of truth. For although the piercing might collaterally and allusively suit with the manner of his Death, who is said to have been shot to death with an arrow in the fields; yet principally and directly it aims at Christ, who was God as well as Man, (which could not be [Page 128] affirmed of Josiah;) for such the Pro­phet Zachary says He was, making Him the same with Him who immediately before promiseth to pour upon Man the Spirit of Grace and Supplication, which can agree to none but God Himself. And so our Evangelist, Revel. 1. 7. plain­ly tells us, That the Person here pierced is such a one, as shall hereafter come in the Clouds; Nay, Christ himself says so too, that He shall one day come with power and great glory; and that All the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn when they shall then behold him; Matth. 24. 30. which is in effect what Zachary had foretold and St. John repeats.

2. Him then we are to look on, but how? not now as coming in the Clouds; That sight is reserved for another time, that of his second coming to judge the World; We are here directed to view him in another gate and posture, as one that was Himself judged and condemned by the World: For although to view him sometimes in the former manner may be very usefull, yet is it not so pertinent to our present occasion. The Text presents Him to us as pierced, in [Page 129] a suffering, not in a triumphant condi­tion; nay, suffering all the outrages and indignities which the witty rage and malice of Men could expose him to. A prospect, I confess, very unpleasing to a Jew, nor indeed very gratefull to most Christians. No marvel if the Jew turns away his Eyes from such a sight as must needs upbraid him with his guilt. This were to bring his bloud upon him. And what Murtherer can take delight in view­ing the Carkass of that person he has murthered? May he not justly fear that his Wounds should bleed afresh in his sight? Christ crucified is to the Jews a stumbling-block, says St. Paul, 1 Cor. 1. 23. and I wish he were not to the Greeks, i. e. to all Heathenish unconverted Chri­stians, foolishness too. To the greatest part of them it is and ever was indeed a spectacle of horrour, but not to all of them. For we see the Text speaks of some, that should look on Him whom they had pierced; And some of them we find, Acts 2. did look upon Him with weeping Eyes and bleeding Hearts; with more joy, comfort and satisfaction than ever they had before lookt upon him with an­ger, rage and despight. And when that [Page 130] whole Nation shall see their error, when God shall remove that thick veil that is yet over their eyes, how clearly shall they then behold and cordially embrace Him as their only Saviour and Redeemer, whom once they rejected and crucified as the vilest of Malefactors? But to us, who own him, or at least pretend to own him as such, what sight can be more glorious, what more comfortable than of a crucified Saviour? And yet, alas! how few of us can endure such a sight? How soon are we cloy'd with it? How ready to say with St. Peter, when the least mention is made of his Suffer­ings, This be far from thee, O Lord. We distast what Christ embraced, and can­not endure so much as to think of what he refused not to undergo. How would his Miracles attract our Eyes, were they wrought before us! How should we be ravished at a second Transfiguration, and say with the Apostles who beheld it, It is good for us to be here! Should Christ ascend up again into Heaven in our sight, as he did in that of his disciples and fol­lowers; Act. 1. 11. should we not need an Angel, as they did, to check us for our too much gazing? And yet let me tell you, [Page 131] that such a prospect as that would not be more glorious than of a Christ nailed to his Cross, nor yet perhaps so usefull. It would rather raise our curiosity, than inflame our affections; rather amaze and astonish, than benefit us. The Text therefore gives us a more advantageous one of Him; It bids us look on him as pierced, and pierced even for us, who pierced him; It bids us view this Sun of Righteousness, more glorious in himself, more benign to us, in his Setting, than in his Rising; More beautifull in his Eclipse, than in his full Lustre; To Heb. 12. 2, 3. look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith; who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, and de­spised the shame; and to consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners a­gainst himself. This was the aim of all St. Paul's preaching, We preach Christ crucified, 1 Cor. 1. 23. This, the top of his Knowledge; I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified, 1 Cor. 2. 2. This, his only Glory; God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, Gal. 6. 14. And here to our joy and comfort may we view him, [Page 132] Redeeming us from the curse of the Law, Gal. 3. 10. Abolishing in his flesh the En­mity, the Law of Commandments, Ephes. 2. 14, 15. Blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us, and nailing it to his Cross, Col. 2. 14. Recon­ciling the World to Himself, making our peace, expiating our offences, satis­fying the Justice of an offended God, re­pairing our loss, and restoring us to a better condition than we had forfeited by our Transgression; In a word, van­quishing Hell, and opening Heaven for us. And ought not this to be matter of glorying to us? Can any sight be more worthy our beholding? Any ob­ject more deserve to be lookt on than such a one as this? At this time espe­cially, when the Church solemnly in­vites us to this Spectacle? When, as St. Paul speaks Gal. 3. 1. Jesus Christ is evidently set forth crucified among us? This the Text prophetically tells us, Christ's crucifiers should doe; and in­deed All that expect to have their part in the Merit of his Death and Passion must doe, that is, by a serious and often­repeated Meditation have Christ cruci­fied always before their eyes. For we [Page 133] are not to look upon the words of my Text only as a Prophecy, but as a ne­cessary Duty, obliging us to fix our eyes constantly on this object, Christ pierced for us; and that we may the better doe it, let us take a more parti­cular and exact view of Him, and con­sider Him as pierced both in his Body and in his Soul; In every Member of That, in every Faculty of This, the bet­ter to estimate his Sufferings and raise our Devotion and Admiration.

Consider we then Christ as pierced, 1. In his Body; Let us behold the Man, as Pilate exposed him to the eyes of the Jews, all in Bloud, all as it were one Wound, pierced in every part of his Body. His Head torn with thorns; his Face bruised with buffetings; his Shoul­ders crusht with the weight of that Cross which he first bare, before it bare Him; His Back plowed up with Whips, his Feet and Hands bored with Nails, and his ve­ry Heart pierced with the point of the Spear. I am not able to paint out those dire Sufferings Christ endured in his Body, but must draw a Veil over them and leave them to your own Meditati­ons. [Page 134] And yet this is but the least part of what our Lord suffered for us, that which our bodily eye can discern; All this is but the outward piercing, and but, as it were, skin-deep, in comparison of the piercing of his

2. Soul. For what is the pain of the Body to that of the Soul? And this had its piercing too. What Simeon said of the Mother by way of Prophecy, That a Sword should go through her Soul, Luke 2. 35. was more signally verified of the Son of God. The Arrows of the Almighty did not only stick in his Flesh, but pierced his very Soul through. That Bloud, which streamed from him in his Agony, was not so much the Bloud of his Body as of his very Soul. And 'twas this pier­cing which drew that sad and lamentable complaint from Him, Matth. 26. 38. My Soul is exceeding sorrowfull, even un­to death. Surely it was the apprehen­sion of somewhat more horrible than either Pain or Death that made him so heavy and sorrowfull of Soul. Evils are wont to crucifie the Mind in the expec­tation, rather than in the suffering. It is a double misery both to fear and un­dergo it. God hath mercifully provi­ded [Page 135] this ease for our Souls in the often ignorance of things that happen, that they streighten not our Thoughts ere they load our Backs. Who of us em­braceth not Pain before Perplexity? How often doe we groan and cry for a ready dispatch in our lingerings? Defiring ra­ther to dye, than to feel or fear death and live? Yet was our Saviour both terrified and crucified; Terrified in the apprehension of Wrath, and in the per­pession of Death, crucified; Not only the sorrows of Death, but the very pains of Hell came about him; and God's dere­liction was that which made up the greatest part of those pains, Mat. 27. 46. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? was That which most tortured Him. Christ's Enemies had now mocked, scour­ged, pierced Him, so that from head to foot every Member was deformed and dislocated, yet He opened not his mouth. He is silent and patient at all the vio­lence Man offered him; He only com­plains of the absence of his God; He bewails not what He feels, but what He misses; and could have endured any mi­sery, that could not abide to want his V. Ga. pas p. 309. God. And what a loss, think we, was [Page 136] this to want the presence and favour of God, though but for a moment? which where it is perpetual does, in the judg­ment of Divines, make up the greatest part of Hell? But, you will say, How could God forsake Christ, unless Christ forsook Himself? Certainly God and Man were so unchangeably, so inseperably combined in Him, that so strict an Union could not possibly suffer the least Divulsion or Desertion. True in­deed; And therefore the Godhead, at this time, denied the Manhood, not his Person, but his Patronage; not his Pre­sence, but his Protection. Divinity here winks and withdraws it self from Hu­manity, that our Lord might now be bereft of all comfort and favour, who took upon Him to sustain the wrath of all. Well then might his Soul be heavy unto death, which had such a load as the sins of Mankind and God's wrath, due to those sins, hanging upon it. These were the Arrows of the Almighty that went through his Soul; This, The poyson thereof that drank up his Spirit; These, The Terrors of God that did set themselves in Array against Him, to use Job 6. 4. Job's expression. The spirit of a Man [Page 137] may well bear his infirmities; but a woun­ded spirit, a spirit so wounded as his was, by the hand and stroke of an omnipo­tent God, who could bear but He that was God's equal; and yet even He com­plains, who yet did bear it. How easi­ly could He have vanquished the malice of Hell, who stoops at the power and anger of God? If any thing could add to this affliction, to this piercing of his Soul, on Man's part, it must have been those bitter taunts, those cutting re­proaches he suffered from the ungrate­full Jews, or rather those despights He foresaw Sinners should doe Him, who should make a mock of Him, and of those Sins which pierced Him; or, at least, so slender a reckoning of all his piercings, as to have no sense at all of them, and, as if they were a matter not worth look­ing on, should never bestow so much as one Thought upon them; nay, by their constant sinning, and that without any remorse, should crucifie afresh the Son of Heb. 6. 6. God, and put him to an open shame; tread­ing 10. 29. him under foot, and counting the bloud of the Covenant, whereby they were sancti­fied, an unholy thing. All this, and more than our faint apprehensions can reach [Page 138] to, our Lord had in his prospect, and which pierced his very Heart by that foresight He had of it; and so brings us Christians within the compass of those that pierced Him.

Indeed the Text literally points to the Jews and their Assistants, the Roman Souldiers, as the Authors of Christ's cru­cifixion, and the immediate Executio­ners thereof. And it cannot be denied but that All of them had a hand or head in this Act. They brought him to, they stretcht Him on his Cross; They pierced his hands and his feet; they stood staring and looking upon Him, says the Psalmist, Psal. 22. 17. All of them, in their several degrees, were guilty of the Fact; some, as procuring his Death, as the whole Nation of the Jews; some, as commanding the Execution, as Pilate; others, as doing it, as the Gentile Soul­diers: And we are ready, and not with­out good cause too, to condemn their cruelty. But this is only to mind the Evil they did, not what Evil Christ suf­fered: This is to be angry with them, but not to justifie our selves, who pier­ced him as well as they, and some of us more deeply than many of them did. [Page 139] Let us not mistake our selves. It was their Sin that did practise, but it was ours that procured our Lord's Death. We would fain shift our Sin on the Jews and Heathens, who were but the Instru­mental causes here, whereas we are the Principals. 'Tis not the Executioner that properly kills the Man, nor yet the Judge; Solum peccatum homicida est; Sin only is the Murtherer, and every Sin­ner the Executioner of a Saviour. All Men are the Meritorious causes, for whose Transgressions He was pierced. The Lord hath laid on Him the Iniquity of us All, says the Prophet, Esay 53. 6. It was the Hypocrisie of our Hearts that mocked Him; It was the Bribery of our Hands that buffeted Him; The Oaths of our Mouths that spat in his Face; We betrayed Him with our wanton kisses; We whipt Him with the cords of our Op­pression; We gave Him Gall and Vinegar to drink by our luxurious Intemperance; Our Pride in vain Apparel and Orna­ments platted a Crown of Thorns upon his head, and stript him of his garments; In a word, our mighty Sins were the Nails which pierced his hands and his feet, and the Spear that was thrust into his side. [Page 140] The glory of the Lord was brought to shame for our shamefull lives; The Lord of life was put to death for our deadly sins, and the word became speechless for our crying Ones. So that I may justly bring this home to every Man in this Congregation, with the Prophet Nathan's, Tu es homo, 2 Sam. 12. 5, 7. Thou art the Man that piercedst Christ; and every one of us, were that question put to us seriously, which was once to him scoffingly; Matth. 26. 8. Prophecy who smote thee, may, without the gift of Prophesying, return the answer, It is We that smote Him.

We have now found out the Piercers here; And who but They ought to be the Spectators of that Tragedy which themselves have occasioned. Indeed all Mankind are the They in the Text, that have pierced, and therefore must look upon him. But what is it to look upon him? Is it only to gaze upon a Cruci­fix with the superstitious Papist, and have our Minds look one way, while our Eyes look another? Is it to look up­on Him with dry Eyes and unrelenting Hearts? Or only to look, and no more? To afford him a passing glance of our Eye, and then fix it perhaps on some [Page 141] vain and sinfull Object? Surely the looking here implies more than so; it re­quires the Exercise of all our Senses and Faculties, in the judgment of the He­brew Doctors, as Grotius on this place observes, out of Exod. 20. 18. and Jer. 2. 31. It requires our Memory to recall, our Understanding often to reflect and ruminate on Christ's Passion, and enga­ges all our Affections about it. It ex­acts our most serious Attention, and our often-repeated Meditations. We must so look upon, as to look into Christ pierced for us; so look on, as never to look off Him; That by frequent viewing the dimensions of his Cross, we may be Eph. 3. 18. able to comprehend, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height there­of, and to know the love of Christ, there dying for us, which passeth knowledge. St. Peter speaking of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, 1 Pet. 1. 12. tells us, ver. 13. that the Angels desire to look, or as the word [...] there imports, curiously to pry into them; and the more we doe so, the greater benefit shall we reap by it. For at every our looking here, some new sight will offer it self to us, to raise our admiration and exercise our affections: [Page 142] It will make us love Him who was pier­ced for us; and it will pierce us through with sorrow for having pierced Him: It will move our Pity, raise our Faith, and exalt our Hopes to their highest pitch. That we may then look upon Christ pierced to our benefit and com­fort, let us doe it these five ways: With an eye of Pity and Compassion, of Sorrow and Regret, of Love, Faith and Joy.

1. With an eye of Pity and Compassion. And this is no more than what we com­monly doe to all afflicted persons. The misery of Sufferers, be they who they will, naturally attracts our Eyes, and turns our Bowels towards them. At least we are apt to pity, if not so cha­ritable as to relieve them. The poor wounded Man in the Gospel, who fell a­mong Thieves, though he found no help from the Priest and Levite that passed by, but only from the good Samaritan, yet even they went near and lookt upon him, Luke 10. 32. We need no other Motive to pity any Lazar that lyes in the streets, than his wounds and sores exposed to our view. These sensible Arguments usually work upon and sof­ten the hardest Hearts. Nay, the vilest Malefactors, when led to the Scaffold [Page 143] or the Gallows, draw Tears from our Eyes, though we know they suffer but what they deserve. Common humanity inclines us to compassionate them; and we consider not then so much who they are, as what they are to endure. Thus Pilate, to move the Jews pity, thought it enough to expose Christ to them all bruised and besmeared with Bloud; as conceiving that such a fight would stifle their Malice and raise their Compassion towards him. This, in his opinion, was enough to make a Jew re­lent. And can we consider our blessed Lord, all bruised as he was for us, and not so much as pity him? There are three things which usually dispose us to pity suffering persons; The greatness of their Misery, and the dignity and inno­cence of their Persons. Extraordinary Misery calls for extraordinary Pity to­wards any; but who can behold an in­nocent, and withall a great Person in di­stress, and yet be insensible of it, espe­cially when himself is the cause of it? Even Herod and Pilate, and one of the Thieves too, proclaim'd our Lord's inno­cence; they took him for an innocent Man; and we who know him to be no [Page 144] less than the Son of God, who took upon him the form of a servant, and yet hum­bled Luk. 23. 14, 15. himself even to the death of the Cross, and that meerly for our sakes; ought to melt into Compassion as oft as we reflect on his direfull Sufferings, and, with St. Paul, be crucified with him, at least by a most sensible fellow-feeling of what he endured by our procurement, that he may not complain of us as he does of those hard-hearted Passengers, Lament. 1. 12. Have ye no regard all ye that pass by the way? Nay, since there never was any sorrow like his sorrow, nor any Person like Him that endured it; our Compassion ought in some measure to bear proportion to that his Sorrow, especially since we our selves were the Authors of it. And so,

2. Ought our Sorrow also to be answer­able to his; They shall look on him whom they have pierced; so look on Him, as to be themselves pierced too with sor­row and grief for having pierced Him. This, in the Original Text, Zach. 12. 10. was a Prophecy of what Christ's cruci­fiers should doe: and in the following verse it is said, In that day there shall be a mourning in Jerusalem; which some [Page 145] construe of the day of God's vengeance upon the Jews for their Sins, especially for that of piercing Christ, by reason of the Calamities it should bring upon them. This is Theodoret and St. Hie­rom's Interpretation on this place, fol­lowed by our Dr. Hammond on Revel. 1. 7. That when the Jews should see Christ coming with Majesty to execute Vengeance upon his Crucifiers, in the day of his visiting Jerusalem, they should then, though too late, bemoan their own folly and madness. Which Prophecy so taken, is the same with that of our Sa­viour, Matth. 24. 34. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the Heavens, and all the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn: and with that of St. John, Revel. 1. 7. Behold, he cometh with Clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also that pier­ced him: and all kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of him. Which last prediction began to be accomplished in that day, when Christ came in power to execute Vengeance on Jerusalem by the Roman Army; at which time, no doubt, they experienced that fatal ruine which they had imprecated upon them­selves, His bloud be upon us and upon [Page 146] our Children, Matth. 27. 25. Though the final accomplishment shall not be till the last and great Day of Judgment, when He shall come in Person to inflict that heavy Doom of Condemnation, not only upon those who actually crucified, but upon All that reject Him: At which time it is impossible to imagine, what weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth; what howling and wringing of hands, what despair, horrour, and astonishment, what a bitter mourning and lamentation there shall be.

I could wish this were seriously, speedi­ly and sadly thought on by all sorts of impenitent Sinners, that as they have their day of sinning, God will, sooner or later, have his day of punishing: And as the day of a Sinner's Impenitency is a day of carnal rejoycing; so the day of God's vengeance shall be a day of bitter mourn­ing. Wo unto you, saith our blessed Sa­viour, who now laugh, for you shall mourn and weep, Luke 6. 25.

But although this be an usefull Medi­tation, I conceive that other interpre­tation to be more genuine and pertinent here, which construes this Mourning men­tioned in the parallel Text of Zachary, [Page 147] not to be penal, but penitential. Indeed some Expositors glance at the Mourning Luk. 23. 27, 48. of the Women, which was in the day of our Saviour's Passion, when beholding his sorrows, their Bowels yearned, and their Eyes melted with Tears; At which time also others of the Spectators smote their Breasts, and were astonished. But this Mourning here relates not so much to the Spectators, as to the Actors in the Tragedy; to those not who saw, but who pierced him. And since in the fore-cited place of Zach. 12. 10. it is set down as an effect of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication, or, as some reade it, La­mentation, which was to be poured out upon them; and is mentioned there ra­ther as a Promise, than as a Threat: It cannot rationally be expounded any o­therwise, than to intend that godly sor­row, which shall in that day, in the day of the Jews conversion, be expressed by them for so heinous a crime. And doe we not find this Prophecy in part ac­complished in St. Peter's Auditors, when they felt the very Nails and Lance where­with they had pierced Christ, sticking fast in their own hearts, and piercing them with horrour? For so we reade, [Page 148] Acts 2. 37. that at his Sermon, they were pricked at their hearts, and said unto Pe­ter and unto the rest of the Apostles, Men and Brethren, what shall we doe? The Spirit of Grace was then poured upon them, and so at once their Ears, Eyes and Hearts were opened to hear reproof, to see and bewail their wickedness: Nor was it a slight and superficial Sorrow, but a great and deep Mourning; so deep, that it went to their heart; and so great, that, according to the Emphasis of the Greek word, [...] there used, it was as if the sharpest points of many poy­soned Daggers and Scorpion's stings had been all at once fastned in their hearts. Thus they who had shed the bloud of Christ by the instigation of the Devil, shed tears by the effusion of the Holy Ghost; and as they had cruelly woun­ded him to the death, they were peni­tently, and mercifully by his Word and Spirit themselves wounded with Repen­tance unto life. Which piercing, as it was in part accomplished in those few Converts fore-mentioned; so shall it have its fuller and more perfect fulfilling on the whole Nation of the Jews, when they shall see their error and be all turn­ed [Page 149] unto Christ, as St. Paul tells us, Rom. 11. 11, 32. I heartily wish it may, as no doubt it was intended, be fulfilled in us too, and that my Sermon may have the same effect on you that it had on Peter's Auditors, That looking on Him whom we also have pierced, we may, with them, be pierced at the heart too. We find that at our Lord's crucifixion all Nature mourned, all the Creation groaned, Rom. 8. 22. The Sun put on blacks, the Earth trembled, the Rocks cleft asunder, and it were strange if we, of all God's creatures, should remain insensible, and express no sorrow when we behold the Lord of Nature suffering, and for us too. What a shame were it for us that the dumb, inanimate Creatures, should up­braid us as the Children their fellows in the Market-place, Matth. 11. 17. We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. Let us then bear our part in this Quire of Mourners; but with this dif­ference, that our Mourning be not so much outward as inward; not so much in the face as in the heart, a heart prick­ed with sorrow for having pierced Christ; and not so much for the smart, as out of the sense of our Sin; not so much for [Page 150] our selves, as for him, for his sake whom we have crucified; for no Tears prevail with God, but such as are wept over Je­sus Christ: If he be not the flame in our Breasts that melts our Hearts; if he be not the Object that draws forth our Tears, though we should weep Bloud, our Bloud shall be but as Water spilt upon the ground: If we grieve, and not in and for Christ, our grief will be but Hypo­crisie, at least but Formality. This is the Sorrow, this the Mourning which our piercing of Christ calls for as a proper effect of the Spirit of Grace and Supplica­tion; and it must come in at the Eye; For the way to be pierced with Christ, is to look upon him. Iisdem quibus vide­mus oculis, flemus; The Eye is the instru­ment both of Sight and Sorrow: That must affect the Heart. What the Eye never sees, the Heart, as we say, never rues. If the Understanding be not con­vinced of Sin, our Hearts will never be moved at it. Sight of Sin must pre­cede Sorrow for it. The Prodigal first came to himself, ere he returned to his Father. Look we then to Christ, but let us reflect upon our selves too, that our Eyes may dissolve into Tears, with­out [Page 151] which Christ's Bloud shall not wash away our guilt of having spilled it. Let us sorrow, but with a sorrow according 2 Cor. 7. 10 to God, such as may work in us repen­tance unto Salvation for having crucified the Author of it, and then we may look upon Him, to our comfort,

3. With an Eye of Faith; which is another prospect here mainly intended. For the looking on in the Text is an Al­lusion to the beholding of the brazen Ser­pent, Num. 21. 9 a Type of Christ crucified on the Cross, as himself tells us, Joh. 3. 16. It was not the brazen Serpent it self, but their looking upon it that cured the bitten Israelites. It was their Faith that did it, which came in at their Eye, though it usually does at the Ear, and gave it a healing quality; As it was not the Wo­man's touch, but her Faith that drew out Vertue from Christ to stanch her issue of bloud. It is the generally received opinion, that the Souldier who pierced Christ, one Longinus, was, when he did that act, blind; but by vertue of that pretious Bloud, which sprang on his Eyes from our Saviour's side, he had his Sight restored, and was hereupon con­verted, and after became a Bishop of [Page 152] Cappadocia, and in the end died a Mar­tyr. What truth there is in the History, I know not; but very much surely there is in the Application: If by Faith we will look upon him whom we have pierced, that Sight shall not only clear our Eyes to discern, but touch our Hearts, and dis­pose them to embrace a Saviour. No spiritual Cure to be wrought on us with­out our Faith. We find that Christ in all his miraculous Cures of diseased Per­sons still required their Faith as a neces­sary preparative to their healing, as if Omnipotency it self could doe nothing without the Patient's belief; nor will the diseases of our Souls be ever reme­died without the concurrence of ours too. The Prophet Elijah, by applying the Members of his Body to those of the dead Child, fetcht it again to life: Let us stretch every part of Christ pierced to our Souls, and they will soon be re­vived, be they never so dead in trespasses and sins.

4. We are to look upon Christ pierced with an Eye of Love. This, we know, naturally comes in at the Eye too; Oculi sunt in amore duces. Now as there is no such Attractive of Love as Love; so [Page 153] never was there any such Love as that of Christ in dying for us. It was our Sin that gave Him his Wounds, but it was his Love that made him receive them. And we may reade that Love, Esay 49. 16. to use the Prophet Esay's expression, in the Palms of his hands, that were stretcht out for us upon his Cross; In the Prints of the nails, which could never have en­ter'd Him, had not his Love made them a passage; And in the point of the Spear, which lets our Eyes into the very Bow­els of his tender Love and Compassion towards us. Well may each of us say with the Holy Martyr Ignatius, My Love was crucified for me. If the Jews that stood by Him, when he was about to raise Lazarus, said truly, Behold how he Joh. 11. 36. loved him, when he shed but a few Tears out of his Eyes; much more tru­ly may we say of Him, Behold how he loved us! for whom He shed his very Heart-bloud; the utmost Expression of Love, as Himself tells us, Joh. 15. 13. Greater Love than this hath no Man, to bestow his life for his friends; and yet greater love than this did he shew forth by laying down his life for us who were his Enemies; I say, by laying it down; [Page 154] for no man had power to take it from him, Joh. 10. 18. It was his own pure Love, not any force, that compell'd him to dye for us. And therefore our Obligation to love him ought to be so much the stron­ger, by how much his suffering for us was more free and voluntary.

5. Lastly, Let us look on Him whom we have pierced, with infinite Joy and Exultation; not for that we have pierced Him, which ought to produce a quite contrary Passion in us, but that he would suffer himself to be pierced for us, who only deserved to be so. What should have become of us, had he not under­gone the punishment due to us? Where had we been, but for his Passion? It is by his stripes that we are healed; It is his meritorious Death that hath procu­red us Life; It is his pretious Bloud shed on the Altar of his Cross that hath re­conciled us to God, that hath vanquished Death and Hell, and opened unto us the gates of Heaven, having thereby obtained eternal Redemption for us; which we shall Heb. 9. 12, 26. certainly partake of, if we will but look on him whom we have pierced, in such a manner as we ought to doe, with an Eye [Page 155] of Pity and Compassion, of hearty sor­row and contrition of Faith and of Love. If we will doe so, we may then lift up our heads, for our Redemption draweth nigh; We may then rejoyce too with joy unspeakable and full of glory, looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour at his second coming, to deliver us from this present evil World, and to restore us to the glorious liberty of the Sons of God. But, on the contrary, if either we will not look at all on Christ pierced for us, or so slight­ly as not to be in the least affected with that sight; nay, even despise his Suffer­ings; make a mock of Him, and of those Sins which pierced Him; persecute Him in his Members; rend his mystical Body by Discord, and his seamless Coat by Schism; corrupt the Purity of his Doc­trine by Heresie, and shame Him and his Gospel by our vile and wicked Lives; We shall then have another, but a very dismal and uncomfortable sight of Him; not only the merciless Jew, who actu­ally shed his Bloud, but the loose pro­phane Christian, who hath trampled it under foot, shall see him then to his eternal horrour and confusion. I say [Page 156] shall see him; see him whether he will or no. It shall not be in his choice whe­ther he will see him or no. Every Eye, says St. John, shall then see him, even they also who pierced him, and all kindreds of the Earth shall wail because of him. The whole World then shall be the Theatre on which this sight shall be shown, and every Man thereon a seve­ral Spectator. And what a dreadfull sight shall that be to all unconverted Sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles, when Christ their Judge shall appear in a visi­ble shape with those Wounds in his Bo­dy which they gave him! How success­lesly shall they then cry unto the Rocks and Mountains to fall upon them, and co­ver them from the presence of this Lamb, once dumb before the Shearers; but then with his very voice, glorious and mighty in operation, breaking the loftiest Cedars in pieces! In vain doe we now put off this evil day from us, and, with St. Pe­ter's mockers, question the promise of his 2 Pet. 3. 4. Coming. Behold he cometh, saith St. John, Revel. 1. 7. He is even now on his way, and will as certainly come, as if he were already present. Nay, is already come, if we may believe St. James, Behold the [Page 157] Judge standeth before the door, Jam. 5. 9. And who may abide his second Coming? when he shall come in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel, which his Son preached? 2 Thess. 1. 8. His first Coming was in Humility and in Weakness, but his second shall be in Majesty and Power. How shall the Scene then be changed? And with what face shall the enemies of this Cross be able to look on him then whom they had here so often pierced? Consider we these things, and let us prevent one sight by another; and let every one of us prepare to meet our Lord in such a garb and posture, as that we may be able to look upon him then with comfort. And that we may so doe, let us beg of Him to look upon us as once he did upon his Apostle that de­nied him; that with him we may weep bitterly for having pierced him, and so fulfill the Prophecy of the Text in the best sense of it; in that of the Prophet Zachary, and not of our Evangelist, in the fore-cited Revel 1. 7. That we may here by Faith see him, with St. Ste­phen, [Page 158] sitting at the right hand, and there making intercession for us by those Wounds which we have given Him, that we may hereafter for ever behold him in Glory.

Amen.

THE precedent Verse, and this of the Text, represent Christ unto us in a very different condition; That, in the low ebb of his Exinanition; [...] Ire­naeus. This, in a high pitch of his Exaltation. In the former we find him under the [Page 160] power of death; In the latter raised up to life; There a Worm, and no Man; Psal. 22. 6. Here more than Man, Declared to be the Son of God with power by the Resurrection Rom. 1. 4. from the dead.

Christ had given sufficient evidence of his Manhood in his natural Infirmi­ties and Necessities; but, above all, in his Passion: But the main proof of his Di­vinity was to be taken from his Resur­rection. A proof at this time most ne­cessary, in relation to his greatest Ene­mies the Jews, who were so apt to tri­umph in his ruine, to fancy they had now prevailed against him; to say with­in themselves, Now that he lieth, let him Psal. 41. 8. rise up no more; and once more to lay that in his Dish, which they objected to him on his Cross; He saved others, Mat. 27. 42 himself he cannot save.

With these buisy mockers which gnash­ed upon him with their teeth; these Athe­ists that could say, Where is the promise of his return? and that had called him 2 Pet. 3. 4. in express terms a Deceiver, St. Peter Mat. 27. 63 had to doe; and had not the Holy Ghost appeared a little before in a cloven tongue of fire on his head, his own could never have been able to make them credit such [Page 161] a thing as a Resurrection; Christ's much less, to whom they were so spightfull: It was necessary then that so great a Mi­racle should make way for another as great, which was to persuade them in­to a belief of Christ's Resurrection; Men so incredulous, that they would not Luk. 16. believe, though one rose from the dead, as Lazarus had done; who having brought them news from another World, they, for his pains, would needs have sent him Joh. 12. 10. back to the place from whence he came; so that nothing now but the sight of him they had so lately crucified (if yet that would doe) was sufficient to con­vince them; whom though St. Peter could not present to their Eyes, yet their Ears hear the certain news of his return from the Grave; That he that was dead, was now alive; That that body Rev. 1. 18. which had been sown in weakness, was now rais'd in power; by a power no less than divine, the power of an Omnipotent God; a power able to break in pieces the chains even of death its self; strong ones indeed to hold all others, but weak to hold him who was as well God as Man; Whom God hath raised up, &c.

[Page 162]From which words, Four things are to be gather'd.

• 1. The Certainty of Christ's Resur­rection, set down here as matter of fact, Hath raised up.
• 2. The principal Agent, or rather, the sole efficient Cause of Christ's Resurrec­tion, God; Whom God hath, &c.
• 3. The Manner how 'twas done, Re­movendo impedimentum, by taking away whatsoever might obstruct it; the rowl­ing away the stone, as it were, from the door of the Sepulchre; the untying of a hard knot; Having loosed the pains of Death.
• 4. And lastly, the Necessity of all this; a most convincing and irresistible Argument, and therefore brought up in the rear to make all sure, Because it was not possible he should be holden of it.

Of these in their order, and of such practical Inferences as doe arise out of them: And first of the first Particular, the Certainty of Christ's Resurrection, in these words, Hath raised up.

1. There is not any truth in Scrip­ture, Part 1. The Cer­tainty of Christ's rising. which God has been so carefull, or (as I may so say) curious to secure as [Page 163] that of his Son's Resurrection; Which he did as by taking away all grounds of doubting of it, so by making use of all manner of proofs to ascertain it. For, first, whereas Sceptical Men might have questioned whether Christ died truly or no; or, if so, whether his disciples did not come by night and steal him away; These two grounds of suspition God took care to remove: The first, by that Evidence the Centurion gave in to Pi­late of his real dying; besides that of so many Spectators, who beheld that stream of bloud wherein he poured forth his Soul unto death: And the second, by the ex­act care of the High Priest, who caused a vast stone to be rowled before the door of the Sepulchre, adding his Seal and Soul­diers of his own chusing to guard it from the attempts of the Disciples; who, had they had a will, had neither power nor courage to break open a Sepulchre hewen out of a new entire Rock, or force such a strong guard as kept it; much less Money to bribe their silence, as the High Priests and Scribes did; And to say that his Disciples stole him away, while Matth. 28. the stout Watch-men slept, was surely no better than a Dream, or rather not [Page 164] a Dream, but a studied Lie; and yet such a Lie too, as does most clearly con­firm the truth of our Lord's Resurrec­tion.

But then secondly, As God took a­way all cause of doubt, so did he draw Arguments from all Topicks to prove this great Truth. Heaven and Earth here gave in their Evidence: For not only the Souls of Holy Men were fetcht thence to be united to their Bodies for proof of that Resurrection by which themselves were raised; but the Blessed Inhabitants of Heaven, the Angels, came down on purpose to publish it to the Wo­men, as these did to the Apostles, to whom Christ shewed himself alive too, after his Act. 1. 3. Passion, by many infallible proofs, and expos'd himself to their very Senses; who did not only see and hear, but con­verse and eat with him after he was risen from the dead, that they might not mi­stake his Body, as once they did, for a Phantasm; or Christ for a Spirit, having flesh and bones, as they found he had; and retaining still the marks and prints Joh. 20. 20. of the nails and spear, to shew the Iden­tity, as well as Reality, of that Body which arose; The very Infidelity of an [Page 165] Apostle being not the least confirmation of our Faith too in this particular. Not to mention other instances, the Earth­quake, the empty grave, the stone rowled away, the linnen cloths curiously wrapt up together as dead Witnesses, when there were so many living ones, Angels and Men; and among these, such as were ready to seal this Truth with their dear­est Bloud; of such credit and honesty too, as might highly recommend their Testimony to our belief; of such Pru­dence, Experience and Holiness withall, as neither could betray them to Error, nor suffer them to abuse the credit of others: Such were the Holy Apostles, who with great power gave witness of the Act. 4. 34. Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and whose principal office it was to doe so, as ap­pears upon the Election of St. Matthias into the place of Judas, grounded upon this necessity, Act. 1. 21, 22. To whom we may add no less than five hundred Brethren at once, all agreeing in the same 1 Cor. 15. 6, 8. Act. 1. 3. story: ( Nemo omnes, neminem omnes fe­fellerunt;) which made their Evidence rise to such a strong demonstration, as was sufficient to stop the mouths of Christ's most contradicting Enemies, and [Page 166] open ours to confess with the Disciples and Primitive Christians, The Lord is risen indeed, Luk. 24. 34.

Thus we see how exact the Holy Ghost was, as in removing all such Doubts as might in the least obstruct our Faith; so in using all manner of Ar­guments to confirm and establish the un­doubted Truth of Christ's Resurrection, not only to show the possibility of a Resurrection in general by so pregnant and visible an Example, but the impor­tance of it in regard of ours, where­of our Lord's was the Fountain and Pledge.

1. I say, the clearing of the Truth of Christ's Resurrection was absolutely ne­cessary, in regard of the slowness and indisposition of most Men, and in all times, to admit of the possibility of a Resurrection. The Philosopher, we see, could not digest it; To the Stoicks and Epicureans it became matter of laughter, who took it for some new Goddess, Act. 17. 18, 32. Nay, some of the Disciples themselves lookt upon it as a Fable, [...] Luk. 24. 11. A considerable Sect too among the Jews, the Sadducees, ut­terly deny'd it, Act. 23. 8. Simon Magus [Page 167] and the Gnosticks were of the same per­suasion, and so was Marcion, as Tertullian in­forms De carne Christi, e. [...]. De Resur­rectione carnis, c. 56. 2 Tim. 2. 18. me, who deny'd the truth of Christ's flesh, and consequently his Nativity and Resurrection, as Valentinus's Disciple did the Resurrection of that Flesh he con­vers'd in. Some there were who affirm'd 'twas already past, as Hymenaeus and Phi­letus; Others turn'd it into a meer Vid. Ter­tul. de car­nis Resurr. c. 19. Al­legory, a Renovation, Matth. 19. 28. A state of the Gospel call'd a New Heaven and a new Earth, 2 Pet. 3. 13. And the World to come, Heb. 2. 5. And lastly, how doe all loose Christians decry it as a thing utterly inconsistent with their interest! It was requisite then that this foundation should be laid very deep in men's Hearts, which the Holy Ghost fore-saw so many would endeavour to over-throw.

2. 'Twas absolutely necessary to clear this Truth, in regard of the importance of it to Christ's glory, and the happiness of all true Christians.

1. To Christ's glory, which in the esteem of Men being much eclipsed by his Death, was to shine out brighter by his Resurrection; for nothing but this could take off that stain which his igno­minious [Page 168] Sufferings had cast upon his Ho­nour. And hence Christ scarce menti­ons his Death, but he still closeth with his rising again the third day. Which was Mat. 20. the reason of the Jews exquisite care to secure his Sepulchre, that the last error, Mat. 27. 64. as they call'd it, might not be worse than the first; That is, lest the reputation of a glorious Resurrection should bely and confute all their former Calumnies and Reproaches; as indeed it did: For by this his Resurrection his Godhead was clearly manifested, which else must needs have been obscur'd and call'd in questi­on; there being nothing so unsuitable to a God as to suffer, especially to dye. A little loss of Bloud, we reade, made A­lexander the Great quit all his Pretensi­ons to Godhead: And St. Augustine tells Lib. 18. de civit. Dei, c. 5. us out of Varro, That the Egyptians made it Capital to affirm that their God Apis was dead, forbidding any mention of his Sepulchre: Nay, St. Peter, v. 29. concludes David inferiour to Christ from his Death and Burial, and Sepulchre, still remaining: For although Christ's Sepulchre did remain still to St. Peter's, as it does yet to our times; yet his Body did not abide in it as David's did, and [Page 169] still does in his; if we will take an An­gel's Mat. 28. 6. word for it; Come see the place Luk. 24. 6. where the Lord lay: and again, He is risen, he is not here. For had he remain­ed there, as David did in his Grave, he had then seen corruption, and so had been no God.

2. This Truth was to be clear'd and confirm'd in regard of our advantage: For had not Christ risen, we should still 1 Cor. 15. 17, 19. have remain'd in our sins, and been of all men most miserable, by depriving our selves of the Goods of this life, and ha­ving no expectation of those of a bet­ter: Nay, in a worse condition than the Beasts that perish, who innocently fol­lowing their natural appetites, have no­thing to check or restrain them. All our Theological Vertues would be to no purpose too; Our Faith, our Hope, our Charity vain, (the substance of St. Paul's whole discourse, 1 Cor. 15.) All our Mo­ral Vertues also would be not only use­less, but troublesome: Justice, Tempe­rance, Fortitude, and the like, but so many insignificant Cyphers; adding no­thing to the summ of our Happiness, but much to the abatement of it; Si post mortem nihil, ipsáque mors nihil. For [Page 170] who would stick to devour others, who should himself so quickly be made a prey to Death, and be swallowed up of the Grave? Who would deny himself the use of those Pleasures, which should ne­ver return? There would be no Hope for us, if no Resurrection; and no Re­surrection for us to be sure, if Christ had not risen. Which consideration made the Apostles (one main part of whose Office, as I told you, 'twas, to be Witnesses of his Resurrection) to lay that still in all Churches as the first corner-stone in that spiritual Fabrick, as 1 Cor. 15. 4. St. Paul does, That Christ rose again according to the Scriptures, calling this his Gospel, 2 Tim. 2. 8. and placing it among his grand fundamentals, Heb. 6. 2, 3. as it is a principal Article of our Creed, which St. Peter offers here to his Auditors as most necessary for them to know in or­der to their Conversion, who would ne­ver have been persuaded to embrace a crucified Saviour, a stumbling-block to Jews, 1 Cor. 1. 23. and a rock of offence, which was to be taken out of their way that they might come to Christ; who being now represented to them in a more pompous and glorious shape of a [Page 171] triumphant Conqueror, might in some sort be more suitable to those Idea's they had of a Messiah, and so be more wil­ling to become his Subjects. Thus did these few words, hath raised up, take a­way that veil that had hitherto been over their eyes, and made them see him they had pierced; and readily own him for their Saviour, who had so visibly been rescued from the Jaws of Death; that the bare mentioning of the matter of fact, whereof many of them had been eye-witnesses, without any other argu­ment, was sufficient to change those late implacable Persecutors into Converts.

II. And here, to stop the mouth of Part II. The sole A­gent or effi­cient Cause of Christ's Resurrecti­on, God. Carnal reason, which might be apt to fancy a Resurrection impossible, it was necessary for St. Peter, in order to a full persuasion and assurance of Christ's be­ing truly raised from the dead, to let them know that this was done by a di­vine Power; That God, to whom no­thing was impossible, was the only Agent here; He who could kill and make alive; Deut. 32. 39▪ That 'twas his Hand alone which brought this mighty thing to pass, his own right hand that had purchased himself this victo­ry [Page 172] over Death: An Act beyond the acti­vity of any created Being. Whence it is that the Resurrection is in Scripture called the power of God, Matth. 22. 19. and the glory of God, Luk. 11. 40. and the glory of the Father, Rom. 6. 4. Such power and such glory, as he can no more give away to another, than his Godhead. And therefore the Lord is said to descend from Heaven to raise the dead, 1 Thess. 4. 17. It being his own proper work that. For although an Angel shall blow the trump at the last day, yet the voice of the Son of God must be heard before the dead can live. Angels may gather the Elect Joh. 5. 25. from the four corners of the Earth, but God must enliven them. An act so in­communicably his, that the Devil can­not doe it. He who is God's Ape in o­ther things, would fain be in this, or at least be thought able to effect it, to raise his credit among the Sons of perdition. For that Samuel the Witch of Endor call'd up, was but a counterfeit; he was not the Prophet himself, but Satan under his Mantle. Nay all those Heathens, who seem'd to have bid fair to such Miracles as Christ did, as Apollonius Tyanoeus and Vespasian, whom therefore Julian the [Page 173] Apostate opposes to our Saviour to les­sen and decry him, although they are said to have done many strange things, yet doe I not find that ever they preten­ded to be able to raise the dead; As Pharaoh's Magicians, who could counter­feit most of Moses's Miracles, could not with all their skill put life into one sin­gle insect. Here they confess'd the fin­ger of God: and such is the Resurrection, not only God▪s finger, but his arme; an equal act of Power in him to restore, as to create: which St. Paul going about to describe, uses such an Exaggeration of lofty Expressions, as no humane Elo­quence can parallel; Ephes. 1. 19. That we may know, says he there, what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the work of the Might of his power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him up from the dead. Where we may observe a sixfold Gradation, Power and Might, the Great­ness and Might of his Power, the exceeding Greatness of his Power, and a working of the Might thereof; and yet all this still dull and flat, till he quickens it with an active Verb, [...], which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him up from the [Page 174] dead. An act proper to God the Fa­ther, who is entitled to it, ver. 33. and by St. Paul too, Gal. 1. 1. Yet so, as that he has communicated this Power to his own Son, Joh. 10. 17, 18. and 5. 21, 26. As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickneth them, even so the Son quickneth whom he will; who had a Power to lay down his life, and to take it again; to dis­solve Joh. 2. 19, 21. the Temple of his Body, and in three days to raise it up; so that Christ here did as much rise as was raised up; and this the word [...] in St. Luke imports, a Verb of an active signification, imply­ing a Power in himself to rise, and in that respect a certain argument of his being the co-essential and con-substantial Son of God, as the Apostle concludes him hence to be, Rom. 1. 4. in spight of all those his adversaries; who by deny­ing him this Power, prove themselves worse enemies to him than the Jews were, who robb'd him of his Life; whereas these of his Divinity also, as far as in them lyes.

III. The principal and sole Agent Part III. Of the Manner. then in this great Work was God, the Father and the Son; And such an Agent [Page 175] was necessary, since the task was so dif­ficult; the knot which Death had tied being so hard, required no less than a God to unloose it. Now by Death here is meant, not only a seperation of Soul and Body, (though that be the most natural import of the word,) but all those sad things that preceded, as so ma­ny Prologues to his last Tragedy, sty­led Propassiones; All those ingredients in the bitter cup he drank of: Such as were Christ's natural apprehensions of the terrors of Death, the curse of the Law, the load of our Sins upon him, and a lively sense of God's wrath due to those Sins, which put him into an Agony, and made him sweat great drops of bloud; and, to close up all, the bitter pangs of that cruel death he underwent to satisfie God's Justice: All which are compar'd here to the Pangs of a Woman in travail; from which God at last freed him, by raising him up to a life uncapable of pain or sorrow; making him forget his for­mer Sufferings, as a Woman does her Pains when delivered of her Child, Joh. 16. 21.

This is implied in the word [...]; But because to loose the Pains seems a [Page 176] hard expression, and unloosing properly denoting the untying of some knot, and so supposing some chain or cord where­with Christ was bound, and which God dissolved, which the following word [...] seems to make good; some conceive it better to interpret the word Pains by Bonds, as the Syriack does, calling them Funes Sepulchri, those ada­mantina mortis vincula, in the Poet; And Horace. the rather, because the Psalmist promis­cuously useth these words, Psal. 116. 3. The snares of Death compassed me round a­bout, and the pains of Hell gat hold upon me. Both of them signifie no more, but the power of death; those Shackles and Manacles; which the Angel of the Cove­nant struck off from himself, and then from us; which could no more hold him▪ than the withy bands could Sampson; herein a Type of Christ, being but as Flax and Tow to him who was the Power of God; and though he might suffer himself to be entangled, yet could not possibly be holden of them. And that,

1. In respect of the Truth of God's Part IV. The Necessity of Christ's not being holden. Word, viz. those many Predictions and Types of Christ's Resurrection, which [Page 177] else must have been voided. The Pre­dictions are many and clear relating to this point; That of Esay 53. 8. That Christ should be taken from his prison; That of Hosea 6. 2. After two days will he revive us, and in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight: see Esay 26. 19. But most expresly that of the Prophet David, Psal. 16. 10, 11. That his flesh should rest in hope, and that God would not suffer his Holy One to see Corruption; which Prophecy could not be apply'd to David himself, as St. Pe­ter here in the Verses immediately fol­lowing tells his Auditors, because he did see Corruption; but only to Christ, who did not, and who did rise the third day according to the Scriptures, Luk. 18. 33.

As for those Types too, which sha­dow forth Christ's Resurrection, they are many and exactly representative of it; As Adam's awaking from sleep, a Type of the second Adam's from death; Sarah's conceiving when old; Isaac's being sacrifi­ced, and yet living, Gen. 22. 12. An ex­press figure of Christ's Resurrection, Heb. 11. 14, 17, Joseph's being taken out of the Pit, and lifted up out of the Dungeon, as [Page 178] Jeremy was too, and Daniel out of the Den of the Lions, Dan. 6. 23. And more clearly, by Christ's own application, Jo­nah's being taken out of the belly of the Jona. 2. 11. Whale, Mat. 12. 40. All which Types would be meer shadows without their substance, and insignificant Types, if they had wanted their Anti-types, and should not exactly have answer'd them; which they could not doe, if Christ could have been holden by the pains or cords of death.

2. Not possible, by reason of that in­dissoluble tye of Christ's Personal Uni­on; (so strait, that Christ's Body, even in the Grave, was inseparably united to the Deity which drew it to it;) For al­though Death could dissolve his Natu­ral, yet not his Personal Union; and therefore necessary it was, that his Body and Soul should be re-united, that so he might become a perfect Man, which could not be without his rising.

3. Not possible, in respect of God's immutable Decree so determining it; which being still of force, nothing could render ineffectual. God had anointed his Son from all Eternity as to be a Pro­phet and a Priest; so a King, to accom­plish [Page 179] the work of Man's Redemption; none of which Offices could be fully executed, but upon supposition of his ri­sing from the dead. (1.) The preaching of the Gospel was to follow that, Luk. 24. 47. (2.) As was also the preaching of Repentance and Remission of sins through his bloud; the Expiation whereof, as well as our Justification, (the not imputing our Sins to us) was an effect of his Re­surrection, Rom. 4. 25. Who was deliver­ed for our Offences, and raised again for our Justification. God having declared, by raising his Son from the dead, that he had accepted of his Death, as of a sufficient ransome for our Sins. For if Christ had remained still under the power of Death, his satisfaction could not have been perfect, neither could he have applied the Vertue thereof to us. And in like manner was Christ's Resur­rection our Justification: For Christ be­ing V. Reyn. on Ps. 110. v. ult. our true pledge, after he had satis­fied for us by his Death, returning unto Life, gives us a clear Evidence, and af­fords us a sure Argument, that God was fully reconciled, and Life purchased for us. Which assurance we could not have had, if Christ our pledge had still re­mained [Page 180] under the power of death, for as much as his continuance in his pay­ment would ever have argued the im­perfection of it. The summ of all is 1 Cor. 15. 17. this, That our Justification was begun in Christ's Death, but was perfected by his Resurrection; That we have Re­demption by his abasement, and Appli­cation of it by his advancement. (3.) A­gain, The pacification of our Conscien­ces, the confirmation of our Faith, and the support of our Hope depended all upon the Exercise of his Regal Office, which was mainly to triumph over his and our Enemies; the last of them espe­cially, Death; which he could never be said to have done, while he still remain­ed under its Dominion: For then he had never ransomed Men from the power of the Grave, nor redeemed them from Death; but, as it followeth in Hosea 13. 14. Death had been his Plague, and the Grave his Destruction; and so ours too. So far should he then have been from swallowing it up in victory, or leading cap­tivity 1 Cor. 15. 54. Ephes. 4. 8. captive, that himself should have been a slave and a captive to them; so far from spoiling Principalities and Pow­ers, or making a shew of them openly; tri­umphing Col. 2. 15. [Page 181] over them, that the gates of Hell should have prevailed against Himself, and consequently against his Church, contrary to his express Word and Promise, Mat. 16. 18.

4. Not possible, as the word [...] implies an unsuitableness or incongruity, as well as an absolute impossibility; (for id possumus quod jure possumus;) And according to this notion of the word, 'twas impossible, that is, 'twas altoge­ther unsuitable and unbecoming, as I may so say, God, to suffer Christ to be under the power and dominion of Death; It did not become his Love thus to for­sake his only beloved Son; nor his Justice Joh. 3. 35. to suffer his Holy One to see Corruption, to leave his Soul in Hell, i. e. the Grave, who had done no violence, neither was guile Esay 53. 9. found in his mouth; or to let him go without his reward, who by his active and passive Obedience; the Sufferings in his Life, and Obedience at his Death, had merited Heaven for himself and us; Psal. 110. 2: Phil. 2. 8, 9. It being most unfit that he should remain any longer in Death's prison, who had paid his own and our debt, even to the discharging of the very uttermost farthing. And to conclude this point; How un­beseeming [Page 182] the Power of God was it also, (even in the judgment of Reason,) That he that looseth the bands of Orion, should not be able to break Death's cords; That that Death, which God never made, (a meer privation,) should fetter him who made all things, and that no­thing Heb. 1. 2. command Omnipotency its self; That the Devil should be said to have the power of death, and the Prince of life 2. 14. be under that power. Such Chains of dark­ness suit well with that roaring Lion, who goes about seeking whom he may devour; but not at all with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who was to rescue the prey out of his jaws. Certainly He that had the keys of Hell and Death could open the gates of Death to himself, as well as to all believers. The Grave to him was no other than a Womb, which soon grew weary of its load; and 'twas as natural for Christ to force his passage out thence, as for the Child, now ripe for the Birth, to drop from his Mother's Womb. If the Creature groans to be de­livered from the bondage of her Corruption, it is but reasonable to imagine that the Earth could not chuse but be in pain, so long as she became an Instrument of her [Page 183] Creator's captivity; and 'twas as abso­lutely necessary for those Iron gates of death to let out the Lord of life, as it was for those Everlasting ones to be lifted up to receive the King of Glory in­to Heaven.

And into that place, whereinto his Applicat. Resurrection has made a way for Him­self, we hope one day to enter; that where the Head is, there the Members may be also. We have ground for this Hope from St. Paul, 1 Cor. 6. 14. God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. He can, for he did raise up others before he raised himself; Mar. 5. Jairus Daughter, Luk. 7. the Widow's Son, Joh. 11. Lazarus after four days rotting in the Grave, are all preg­nant instances of his Power; Et ab esse ad posse valet consequentia; What he has done, he can still doe; unless we shall fancy his Arme shortned, or that the Ancient of days has lost his strength. And that he will, we have his own Word for it; Joh. 6. 40. Whosoever be­lieveth in me, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. If he can and will, why should we doubt [Page 184] of it? Who hath resisted his Will? Or what can tie up his Hands? Death, we see, could not; her Cords were too weak to Manacle him; and why should we think they can now hold us? He that could break them off from himself, can he not dissolve ours too? Let me then put St. Paul's question to the most doubt­ing Sceptick, Act. 26. 8. Why should it be thought an impossible thing that God should raise the dead? Since we see he has effectually done it in the Person of Christ, and every day does it in Nature. For what is Nature its self but a conti­nual Resurrection? We may see it every Day in a perpetual orderly Succession of Nights and Days, in the Setting and Rising of the Sun, in Winter and Spring. The Serpent's casting off his old Skin; the Eagle's renewing his strength with his Beak; (not to mention the Phoenix ri­sing from her Ashes, which yet some of the Fathers, as Clement and Tertullian V. Tertull. de Resurr. Carnis, cap. 13. use as an argument to prove the Resur­rection;) the Seed corrupted in the Earth, and thence springing up into a full Ear, our Lord's and St. Paul's instances, all Joh. 12. 24. 1 Cor. 15. 36. Emblems, or rather Demonstrations of it. Our very Bodies (to go no farther [Page 185] than our selves) even in our life-time are continually altered, and those we now carry about us are not the same they were a few years past; so that we may change the Tense and reade, not that we all shall be, but that we are con­tinually 1 Cor. 15. 51. changed. Our sleep, what is it but a shorter death, and our awaking thence but a return to life? What are Church-yards but [...] Sleeping­houses, from whose Graves, as from so many Beds, we are one day to be raised up by the sound of the last trump? And as Nature, so Art shadows forth a Re­surrection; That Art, whereby a little rude piece of Earth is refin'd into pure Metal; whereby a Chymist can raise a flower out of ashes, at least to shape and colour; And shall not God be able to change our vile Bodies, and make them like unto his glorious Body? And when he has turn'd Men into destruction, to say, Come Psal. 90. 3. again ye Children of Men. If the Disputer of this World, the conceited Rationalist should deny a possibility of a return from a privation to a habit, a re-pro­duction of the same thing once corrup­ted; Let me ask him, why that God who created our Bodies out of nothing, [Page 186] cannot be able to recall them out of something? For since even Philosophy its self will grant, that in every dissolu­tion the parts dissolved doe not perish, the Materials still continuing; All the Skill here will be but to join and re­unite the scattered parcels. Quasi non ma­joris miraculi sit animare quàm jungere. Tertullian's reasoning here is very con­cluding; De Resurr. Carnis, cap. 11. and we cannot resist the argu­ment. Utique idoneus est reficere qui fe­cit; quanto plus est fecisse quam refecisse; initium dedisse quàm reddidisse. Ita resti­tutionem carnis faciliorem credas instituti­one. An Artificer can take a Watch or Clock asunder and put it together again; and shall not the great Creator be able to doe as much here, to re-unite what he has severed, having still reserved the loose scattered pieces and fragments? The separation of our Bodies and Souls by death, as 'twas violent; so their de­sire of re-union being natural, shall not be frustrated. They are incompleat Sub­stances in that state, and long for their perfection, which is their re-union; for by that are the spirits of just Men depart­ed made perfect, and God will not leave them in an imperfect condition, lest a [Page 187] power and inclination should for ever be in the root, and never rise up to fruit. This may suffice to silence, though not to satisfie Natural reason; especially if we consider, that many Philosophers have had strong apprehensions of a Re­surrection upon the dissolution of the World by fire; a reduction of all things to a better state, as Seneca terms it. V. Sen. Nat. Qu. lib. 3. cap. 26, 27. Nor was there any Article of the Faith more generally believed among the Jews than this, as appears by Joh. 12. 24. and Act. 23. 8. The Patriarchs were certain of it; witness their great care before their death, to have their Bones carried away by the Children of Israel out of Egypt, that they might be buried in A­braham's Field; out of a hope, no doubt, of being the first that, by vertue of Christ's Resurrection, might rise from the dead; as 'tis very probable they were of the Number of those many Saints which arose and came out of their Graves after his Resurrection, and went in­to the holy City, and appeared unto many, Matth. 27. 53. But then to the Faith of a Christian, nothing is so easie as a Resurrection; since God's Word clearly tells us, That Christ is our Resurrection [Page 188] and our Life, Joh. 11. 25. and that our life, which is now hid with him in God, shall one day be revealed, Colos. 3. 3. That God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, Matth. 22. 32. Nay, the Lord of dead and living, Rom. 14. 9. For that he will one day raise them up to life again. For the dead Bodies of Saints, while they lye rotting in the Grave, being still united to Christ, as his Body there was to the Deity, can­not be for ever separate from him; the Members must at last be joined to their Head. If the first-fruits be risen, the 1 Cor. 15. 20. whole lump shall follow. Not one hair of Mat. 10. 30. our head shall perish. He that numbers the sand of the Sea, numbers our dust; nor can the least Attom escape him. All our Psal. 139. 15. members are written in God's book. He that puts our tears into his bottle, locks up the pretious dust of his Saints in his Cabinet, can recall our dispers'd Ashes, and require our Bloud of every Beast that has drunk it; fetch those several parcels of us which have been buried in a thousand living Graves, and been made a part of those Graves which have devoured them. God can make the Esay 26. 19 Earth cast out her dead, cause the [Page 189] Sea to disgorge them, and our dry bones to gather together, as in Ezekiel's Vision, ch. 37. He that calleth all the Stars by Exod. 33. 12. Luk. 10. 20 their names, knows his by name, (for their names are written in Heaven,) and will call them by their names as he did Lazarus, bid them come forth, and by bidding enable them to doe so, in spight of all their bands. Now that we may be of the number, and partake of the lot of these happy ones, we must hear Christ's voice here, calling us to repen­tance and newness of life, that we may hear that with comfort which shall here­after call us to Judgment, and be able to answer it with joy and confidence, Here we are. Let us be sure of our part in the first Resurrection, that the second death may have no power over us. All shall one day be raised; All must one day appear before the Judgment-seat of 2 Cor. 5. 10. Christ, good and bad; But there is a Resurrection of damnation for these, and for those, of life. Both shall come out of their Dungeons; but the one like Pha­raoh's Baker, to an Execution; the o­ther, like his Butler, to an Exaltation; The former shall have [...] the lat­ter only, [...] Sinners shall arise, [Page 190] but the godly be quickned. How hap­py would it be for wicked Men, if they Mat. 26. 24 should never have been born, or should never rise again, since they shall rise no otherwise than as drowsie Malefactors, who lying down with their Sentence, are afterwards awakened to be set on the Rack. But 'tis not so with the God­ly, who sleeping in Christ, doe rest in hope. I would not have you ignorant, Brethren, 1 Thess. 4. 13, 14. concerning them which are asleep, says St. Paul, that ye sorrow not, even as other which have no hope: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again; even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him. What doest thou fear then, O good Christian? Sin? Behold the Resurrection of thy Redeemer pub­lishes thy discharge. Thy Surety has been arrested and cast into the prison of his Grave for thee. Had not the utmost farthing of thine Arrearages been paid, he could not have come forth. But now that thou seest, he is come forth; now that the summ is fully satisfied, what danger can there be of a discharged debt? Or is it the Wrath of God thou dreadest? Wherefore is that but for Sin? And if thy Sin be defrayed, that quar­rel [Page 191] is at an end; And if thy Saviour suf­fered it for thee, how canst thou fear to suffer it in thy self? Surely that infinite Justice hates to be twice paid. He is risen, and therefore he hath satisfied. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, Rom. 8. 34. Lastly, Is it Death that affrights thee? Behold thy Saviour over­coming Death by dying, and trium­phing over it in his Resurrection. And canst thou fear a conquered Enemy? What harm is there in this Serpent but for his sting? ( The sting of death is sin.) 1 Cor. 15. 56. And when thou seest that pull'd out by thy powerfull Redeemer, how can it now hurt thee? It may possibly hiss at, but it cannot bite thee: Look upon the Ser­pent lifted up for thee on the Cross; and this Serpent's sting, if it has any to wound, it can have none to kill thee. If thy Saviour has not quite destroy'd this thine enemy, at least he has brought it under and made it subject; like the Gibeonites, if not banished, 'tis enslaved, and made now instrumental to Christ's Kingdom. Loose thou then the bands of thine iniquity, and those of death, which Christ has bro­ken, [Page 192] shall no more be able to hold thee, than they could doe him. Death in its most affrighting shapes to thee is but a scare-crow, 'tis but the shadow of death, while God is with thee; Nay, 'tis but an [...] a going out, a departing in peace to a Holy Simeon. 'Twas no more be­tween God and Moses, but go up and dye, as 'twas said to another Prophet, up and eat. Ever since our Lord has swallow'd death up in victory, our Tombs become Death's Graves more than ours. Sepul­chrum 1 Cor. 15. 54. non jam mortuum, sed mortem de­vorat; says a Father. Our Bodies are not lost in the Earth, but laid up to be improved; like Porcellane-dishes, which the ground does not consume, but re­fine. In the Transfiguration, that body of Moses, which was hid in the valley of Moab, appeared glorious in the Mount of Tabor. And though we appear now like Aaron's dry rod, yet that dry rod shall at last bud and bring forth fruit unto glory. The Israelites garments▪ indeed, in the Wilderness, waxed not worse for wear­ing; but though our Bodies, which are the garments of our Souls, doe so, and are rent and torn by afflictions and [Page 193] death, yet God can and will mend them: Nay, when these Temples of the Holy Ghost we carry about us are dis­solved, he will so build them up, that as it was said of the first and second Jewish Temples, Haggai 2. 9. the glory of our latter houses shall be greater than that of the former.—Diruta stante Major Troja fuit—God will bless us as he did Job, more at our latter end than at our beginning, and Exalt us, as he did Christ, by our Sufferings. If with him we drink of the brook in the way, (tast of his Cup) he will lift up our heads too. We shall be like him as now He is. A golden Head, and Members of Clay, suit not well together. This is our great comfort, that Christ is risen; for if the Head be above water, the Body is safe. Joseph is alive (said Jacob) and that news revived the drooping Patri­arch. So when we hear that Christ, our elder Brother, the first-begotten from Rev. 1. 15. the dead, is alive too, let us take cou­rage, go and find him out, seek him not in the Grave, ( He is not there, he Luk 24. 6. Mat. 28. 6. is risen; and why should we seek the li­ving among the dead?) but in Heaven, [Page 194] where he now is; and set our affections on things above, and not on things below. It befits us not to lye in our Beds of ease and pleasure, to lye sleeping there when Christ is up: such a spiritual Le­thargy does not suit with a Resurrecti­on. How are we conformable to Him, if when He is risen up, we remain still in the Grave of our Corruptions? How are we Limbs of his Body, if, while He hath perfect dominion over death, death hath dominion over us; if, while he is alive and glorious, we lye rotting in the dust of death. O let us then rouse Applic. to the Sacra­ment. our selves up this day with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah: Let this be our Re­surrection-day too; and that it may be so, let it be our Passion-day also, as it is our Lord's: For as he rose this day for us, so does he now this day dye for us too. And although St. Paul tells us, Rom. 6. 9. That Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more; and that death▪ hath no more dominion over him; or, to speak in the Language of the Text, that he be not holden of it; yet in regard of the constant vertue and benefit of his Death and Passion, he may be said to [Page 195] dye daily for us, who receive him worthily in the Blessed Sacrament. Let me then bespeak you in the words of St. Thomas, utter'd upon another occa­sion, Joh. 11. 16. Let us also go and dye with him; Dye with him unto sin, that we may live unto God through him, Rom. 6. 9, 10. Let us feed on him by Faith, flock like true Eagles to his Ho­ly Carcass, and eat thereof that we may live. This is the way to be rai­sed to glory: Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my bloud, hath Eternal life, (is even now in possession of it,) and I will raise him up at the last day, says Christ himself, Joh. 6. 54. The very touch of the Prophet Elias's bones, Ecclesiasticus 48. 5. could raise up a dead Man to a Temporal; and shall not the sense and application of Christ crucified be able to quicken us, who are dead in trespasses and sins, to a spiritual and immortal Life? O let Heb. 13. 20, 21. us then be planted with him in the like­ness of his Death, that we may be also in the likeness of his Resurrection, Rom. 6. 5. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, [Page 196] that great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the bloud of the Everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good work to doe his Will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Je­sus Christ: To whom with the Fa­ther, & c. Amen.

Soli Deo gloria in aeternum.

WE find the Disciples here in a very sad and disconsolate Condition; Christ had told them, that He was going his way to Him that sent Him, V. 5. and thereupon Sor­row [Page 198] had filled their hearts, V. 6. And no marvel; for they were to be separated from one who hitherto had been their only comfort and support. Had we been under the same circumstances, we should, no doubt, have equally resented that loss. They had had the happy ad­vantage of beholding his glorious Mira­cles, wrought by his All-powerfull Voice, in the cure of Diseases, in the confusion of Devils, and the raising of the Dead; They had heard those his ravishing Discourses, which forc'd his most implacable Enemies, in spight of all their prejudice against Him, to con­fess, That never Man spake as He did: They had been Eye-witnesses of that Eminent Holiness, that pure and un­spotted Innocence, which gave beauty and lustre to all his actions; and of that glory too, which discovered Him to be the only Son of God, full of Grace and Truth. And now unless we can suppose them void of all natural affection and humanity, they must needs have been highly concern'd to hear that He was to leave them. Happy sure not only the Womb that bare, and the Paps that Luk. 11. 27 gave him suck; but the Ears which heard, [Page 199] the Eyes which saw, the Feet which followed, and the Hands which mini­stred unto Him. Abraham rejoyced to Joh. 8. 56. see the Lord's day, though at a great distance; and St. Augustine could not propose a greater satisfaction to himself, next to the Beatifical Vision, than to have seen Christ in the flesh. But these Disciples had not only the happiness to see Him, but withall, to be of his train; to be instructed by his Divine Lessons, comforted by his Christian Promises, animated and encouraged by his Exam­ple, and fortify'd by his Aid and Assi­stance. Upon all which accounts, our Lord Himself pronounceth them Blessed above those Prophets and Righteous Men, who wanted such advantages, Mat. 13. 16, 17.

Blessed then they were in this, as well as other respects; and therefore by how much the enjoyment of Christ's presence was beneficial unto them, by so much the more was the very appre­hension of losing Him harsh and un­pleasing: For although our Lord's As­cension-day (which was the day of his leaving the Earth) was to Him a day of Glory, yet to the Disciples it could [Page 200] not be but a day of Sorrow: It was his going to the Father indeed, but it was a going from them. And how could it be, but that these Children of the Bride­groom should mourn when the Bridegroom Mat. 9. 15. was to be taken from them? This sole Consideration was enough to beget sor­row in them; but there were other Cir­cumstances which help'd to fill up the measure of it; and the chiefest this, That He was to forsake them in their greatest needs: For troubles were now hard at hand, persecutions were sudden­ly to arise, a storm was coming, and all lookt black; they were to be put out of the Synagogues; nay, the time was now coming, That whosoever should kill them, should think that he did God good service, v. 2. So that to lose a friend, such a friend and at such a time, was a very uncomfortable prospect, and there was but too much reason that their hearts should be filled with sorrow. Nor does our Lord altogether blame it. 'Twas not his business to root out those affections which Nature had given Men, but to moderate them. He that took our infirmities, was not severe to those of his disciples. It was indeed a mistake [Page 201] in them to think that their Lord's depar­ture would be disadvantageous to them, but a mistake of carnal Love to his Per­son, that was so dear to them, which he minds them of, and rectifies; Quam incertoe providentioe nostroe! How short­sighted are the best of us, even in those things which most nearly concern us! How apt are we to fancy a loss in our greatest benefit! How earnestly bent many times on that which would be in­convenient, if not mischievous, to us! And how ill a Judge is flesh and bloud, of what tends to God▪s glory and Man's good! St. Peter had no sooner been al­larm'd with the news of Christ's Passi­on; but he presently suggests, Be it far from thee, O Lord, Matth. 16. 21, 22. And while He and the rest of the Disci­ples here were possessed with Carnal thoughts, how ill did they relish Spiri­tual things? Nothing so much barrs up Men's minds against God's truths as worldly prejudice. While they thought Christ was to reign on Earth, they could not so much as dream of Heaven. Up­on the strength of this fancy, so deeply rooted in them, they give all for lost if they lose their Master. It was high [Page 202] time then for him to shew them their error, to let them know, That that sup­posed loss would be their gain, and the cause of his absence, if well understood, would raise a joy in them above their present sorrow; since his going away for a time was only to prepare a place for them to all Eternity, where He and they should one day so meet, as never more to be parted. In the mean while He assures them, That he would not leave them comfortless, but after his de­parture send one from Heaven who should more than supply the defect of his Presence on Earth, even the Comfor­ter Himself, who yet could not come till He were gone: A truth, which though never so ungratefull, yet being profitable, they must hear, and that from the mouth of Truth it self: Ne­vertheless, I tell you, &c.

In the handling of which words, I shall briefly and plainly discourse of these following Heads: Shew you,

• 1. Who the Person promised here is, and how described.
• 2. Who was to send him.
• [Page 203]3. When, not till Christ was gone a­way.
• 4. How expedient it was that the Holy Ghost should come, and that not only to the Apostles, but to all faithfull Believers, by represent­ing to you the infinite Benefits we and all the Faithfull do reap by his coming.

Of these in their order: and,

1. Of the Person promised here, and his Office.

It cannot be deny'd but that the knowledge of the Third Person in the Ever-blessed Trinity was a Mystery lockt up for many Ages. Holy Men of old spake indeed as they were moved by the 1 Pet. 2. 21. Holy Ghost; but 'tis to be question'd whether they were well acquainted with Him they spake by: They were his Or­gans and Instruments, but at that time perhaps little sensible of that divine Breath that did inspire them. He was scarce at all known before under the le­gal Dispensations; those passages of Scripture being dark and obscure which point at him, and Men not ripe then for so high a Revelation: Which is so true, that till the Holy Ghost came [Page 204] down upon the Apostles, and appeared in cloven tongues as of fire on their heads, the knowledge of him was very imper­fect; It being reported of some, (who had been baptized into John's baptism,) Act. 19. that they had not so much as heard whether there were any Holy Ghost; not that they had never heard any thing at all of his Being, (having been bapti­zed by John, who had seen him descend upon Christ at his baptism in the visible shape of a Dove, Mat. 3. Joh. 1.) but that they had not yet been so throughly acquainted with his Gifts and Graces, as afterwards they were. Our Blessed Lord then was the first who clearly revealed him in his Gospel, especially in that of our Evangelist: As Joh. 14. 26. he pro­miseth Him to his Disciples to be their Instructer; But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things. He repeats it again, chap. 15. 26. When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testifie of me. And so here in the Text, where there is such a manifest discovery both of his Person and God­head, [Page 205] that none but an Arrian or a Ma­cedonian; none but He that resists, can doubt of his Existence. Taking there­fore this truth for granted, I shall only speak to his Office, described here by 2. Office Pa­raclete. the word [...] which signifies two things: 1. A Comforter. 2. An Advocate.

1. A Comforter; and such He was to be, 1. To the Apostles themselves. 2. To the whole Church. 3. To each faithfull Believer.

1. To the Apostles themselves: It was indeed a seasonable time to talk to them of a Comforter, when sorrow and distress were coming upon them, and they were to be as sheep without a shep­herd. They had left all for Christ; but while he was with them, they found all in Him, who was dearer to them than all their possessions. While He lived with them, their joy and satisfaction was full and compleat; but a joy that was to last no longer than his Corporal presence, which the Holy Spirit was to supply, and that abundantly. For al­though they could no longer have re­course to their Lord for Resolution of Doubts, or Protection from Dangers; [Page 206] yet should they not want an Oracle to clear the one, nor a Sanctuary to secure them from the other; The Holy Ghost should both enlighten their Understandings, and dispell their Fears; Being endewed with power from on high, Afflictions themselves should prove Consolations unto them; and they should find more satisfaction in their very Sufferings, than worldly Men in their highest Enjoyments; as we find they did, Act. 5. 41. when de­parting from the presence of the Counsel, they rejoyced, and that with joy unspeak­able, that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ's Name.

But then 2. The Holy Ghost was to be a Comforter, not only to the Apo­stles, but to the whole Church of God. The Father under the ancient legal Dis­pensation was a severe Law-giver; re­warding Obedience, and strictly punish­ing Rebellion. He appeared terrible on Mount Sinai; Nothing was to be seen there but Fire and Smoak, and thick Dark­ness; Nothing to be heard but Thunder, and the Trump of an Angel; insomuch that Moses himself trembled and quaked; Such an Appearance suiting well with the Promulgation of the Law, as de­nouncing [Page 207] nothing but Woes and Curses to Offenders. But under the Gospel-Oeconomy there was another face of things. The Son of God, while in the Flesh, had no such marks of terror and severity attending him, more proper to a Creator than a Redeemer: He came not with a Rod, but in the Spirit of Meek­ness. His condition was a condition of Humility, agreeable to one whose King­dom was not of this World; and suitable to his appearance in the Flesh was that of the Holy Ghost, whose descent was indeed in Fire, but to warm and cherish, not to consume; In a mighty rushing Wind to represent his divine Power and Efficacy, not his Impetuosity. 'Twas not such a Wind as God came to Elijah in, which rent the Mountains and brake 1 King. 19. 11. the Rocks in pieces. The motions of the Holy Spirit are not violent. He does not affright those He lights on, nor cre­ate Fear, but Love in that Heart he fills. 'Tis He that makes us cry, Abba Father; That begets in us a holy generous Con­fidence, and speaks peace to his People. The cords he brings with Him are those of a Man, such as chain and captivate Hearts. The Oeconomy of the Divine [Page 208] Spirit was to be an Oeconomy of Sweet­ness and Consolation to the Church, be­coming the Gospel of Peace and the God of all Consolation.

3. The Holy Ghost was to be a Com­forter to all true Believers, not only as begetting Faith in their Hearts, and dis­pelling that Darkness which naturally possesseth their Understandings, but as giving them Peace of Conscience, and that unspeakable joy which the World is unacquainted with, and cannot take from them. Hence He is said to seal them unto the day of their Redemption, Ephes. 4. 30. To be the Earnest of their heavenly Inhe­ritance, and to make them fore-tast the joys of Heaven here on Earth. What comfort, what ravishing joys does he still raise in the Souls of all the Faith­full, by the apprehension and sense he gives them of the Love of God, and that certain hope they have by him of enjoying Him in Heaven? Grace is the Paradise of the Soul, Holiness its Crown; and the assurance it has of God's Love to it, the choicest flower of that Crown. Nor is he thus only a Comforter to each true Believer, but he is so too as his Teacher; and another-guess Teacher [Page 209] than Men are to one another. For let their Methods of Teaching be never so perspicuous, and their care and pains to inform us never so great; yet when all is done, they cannot communicate un­to us either clearness of Apprehension▪ faithfulness of Memory, or soundness of Judgment; and where they find us dull or stupid, all their pains and skill are but thrown away upon us. But the Holy Ghost does so teach, as withall to change the natural temper and disposi­tion of men's Minds; working so upon their Understandings, by the clearness and evidence of those Reasons he propo­seth, that they are not able to resist or stand out against the force of his De­monstrations; drawing them to Him in so sweet, and yet effectual a manner, that although sensible of the effect, yet the way of his Attraction is as imper­ceptible to them as the power thereof is uncontroulable. The Manner of the Holy Spirit's operation on Believers now is very different from that on the Pro­phets of old; which was so forcible, that Elisha could not Prophecy without the help of Musick to compose and tune his Spirit. But under the Gospel-Dis­pensation [Page 210] the Holy Ghost deals other­wise with his Servants. No such En­thusiasms or Transports here; Their Understandings are enlightned without any disturbance to their Bodies; They receive the Holy Ghost's Inspirations without the least astonishment or dis­composure, while he gently glides and descends into them like rain into a fleece of wool, in the Prophet David's expres­sion, Psal. 72. 6.

And thus the Holy Ghost is a Com­forter. But then, 2dly, He is withall an Advocate. The word [...] pro­perly signifies so much; one that main­tains the Cause of a Criminal, or at least of an Accused Person. Now the Spirit does so by justifying our Persons and pleading our Causes against the Accusa­tions of our Spiritual Enemies, 1. Against the Severity of God's Law, and that most righteous undeniable Charge of Sin laid thereby upon us. 2dly, Against the De­vil, who, we know, is styled the Accuser of the Brethren; and doth not only load our Sins upon our Consciences, but far­ther endeavoureth to exclude us from the benefit of Christ, by charging us with Impenitency and Unbelief. Here the [Page 211] Spirit enableth us to clear our selves a­gainst this Father of lyes, to secure our Title to Heaven against the Sophistical Exceptions of this our subtle Adversa­ry; and when by Temptations our Eye is dimmed, or by the mixture of Cor­ruptions our Evidences defaced, he, by his Skill, helpeth our infirmities, and bringeth those things which are blotted out and forgotten, into our remembrance again, Joh. 14. 26. He admonisheth and directeth us his Clients how to order and solicit our own business, what Evi­dences to produce, how to manage and plead them, making up our failings by his Wisdom; and not only so, but (as the word Paraclete here imports) he in­tercedeth also with God for us; not in such a manner as Christ is said to doe, whom St. John also calls [...] our Advocate with the Father, 1 Joh. 2. 1. For as much as that Bloud which He shed for us on the Cross speaks for us better things than that of Abel, and con­tinually pleads our Pardon before the Tribunal of God; but the Holy Ghost is said to make intercession for us with Rom. 8. 26. groanings which cannot be uttered, because he stirreth us up to Prayer, prompting [Page 212] and teaching us also how to pray as we ought to doe in all our Necessities: So that as Christ is the first Advocate, by working our Reconciliation with God; so is the Spirit our other or second one, by testifying and applying the same un­to our Souls.

2dly, He is our Advocate, not only in respect of God, but of Men too, by maintaining our Cause against the World, against Tyrants and Persecutors.

1. Against the World, as oft as it accu­seth us by false and slanderous Calum­niators, laying to our charge things we never did: The Spirit in this case ma­keth us not only plead our Innocency, but rejoyce in the Reproaches of Christ; count our selves happy in this, that it is not such low marks as we are, which the malice of the World aimeth at; but the Spirit of glory and of God, which rest­eth upon us, who is on their part evil spoken of, 1 Pet. 4. 14.

2dly, Against Tyrants and Persecutors. Whence it is that our Saviour, Mat. 10. 19. bids his Disciples not be concern'd what they should speak, when they should be delivered up to Men, because it should be given them in that same hour what they [Page 213] should speak. And he adds, vers. 20. It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. And we know how that God in all Ages did by the mouths of Infants maintain his Truths, to the shame and confusion of Tyrants, who endeavour'd to suppress them.

But here it may be objected; Was not the Holy Ghost given to the Jewish Church before the coming of Christ? Did He not comfort and support them under a long and tedious expectation of his appearance? Was He not then a Teacher of the Faithfull? and when that Cloud of Witnesses suffered for the Cause of the God of Jacob, when they were sawn in pieces and stoned, was not the Holy Ghost their Advocate as well as the Martyrs under the Gospel? Did He not speak by the Mouth of Daniel, when cast to the Lions, and of the three Chil­dren who chanted out the Praises of God in the midst of the flames of the firey furnace? How then does our Lord say here, If I go not away, the Comfor­ter will not come to you, since, so many Ages before, He was come, and as a Com­forter too? For Resolution hereof, we [Page 214] are to observe, That although the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity be equally the Principles of all those Acts they produce without, according to the re­ceived Maxim of the Schools; yet with Opera Tri­nitatis ad extra sunt indivisa. a considerable difference in relation to those three distinct Oeconomies or Dis­pensations towards the Church. That of the Father lasted till the Coming of Christ in the Flesh; yet so, as that in that space of time 'tis generally believed, that the Son of God did sometimes ap­pear, as to Abraham, Jacob and Joshua, (being a kind of Essay or Prelude to his Incarnation,) and the Holy Ghost did then also impart some degree of Efficacy to the Faithfull. However, This is pro­perly to be reckoned the Oeconomy of the Father. The second, was That of the Son, from his Incarnation to his A­scension; yet so, as that the Father made his voice to be heard at Jordan and Mount Tabor; This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased, hear ye Him. As at another time, in the Audience of the People, Joh. 12. 28. I have both glori­fied it, and will glorifie it again. Then also did the Holy Ghost appear in the form of a Dove; yet still this is to be [Page 215] accounted the Oeconomy of the Son; That of the Holy Spirit commenced from his Descent upon the Apostles, and shall last unto the end of all things; Differing herein from the other two, That in the two first Dispensations Men's senses were usually affected with some extraordinary, miraculous and sensible Objects; God the Father shewing him­self in a Cloud and Pillar of Fire; giving out his Oracles from between the Cheru­bins; consuming the burnt-offerings with Fire from Heaven, and filling the Sanc­tuary with his Glory: And the Son of God conversing so familiarly with Men, that it made St. John say, That which was from 1 Joh. 1. 1, 2, 3. the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life, declare we unto you. Whereas, I say, All was, as it were, vi­sible and palpable here; 'Twas far o­therwise in the Dispensation of the Spi­rit; The Heavens were not seen to part, nor was God's terrible Voice heard in the Air; no Shechinah, no Glory or sen­sible Mark of the Presence of the living God in his Temple. For which reason the third Person in the Trinity has the [Page 216] Special Name of Spirit given Him. For as He is styled Holy in respect of that Sanctification he worketh in us; (though that same Title belongs also to the other two Persons, as having the same Spiri­tual Essence;) yet the Holy Ghost bears the name of Spirit, in regard of his alto­gether Spiritual Dispensation, and those Graces he imparts to each faithfull Soul, which are Heavenly and Spiritual; such as are the Knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, and his inward Vertues and Consolations. As for Know­ledge, it was so weak and imperfect un­der the Ancient Oeconomy, that in re­spect of that our Lord preferrs the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, i. e. the mean­est Christian, to all the Prophets, not ex­cepting the Baptist himself. Nor can it be deny'd, but that the very first Princi­ples and Rudiments of Christianity do far surpass the highest Attainments of the Law. The Jews were under a Cloud, and the Doctrine of the Prophets was but as a light shining in a dark place. All was then Shadow, or rather, Night; and Moses his Veil was over the Eyes of the whole Nation. God made himself known to the Jews, as the God of Abra­ham, [Page 217] Isaac and Jacob, not as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; of whom They had a very wrong Notion, looking up­on him as the Conqueror of the World: such was the very Apostle's fancy of him, and that even after his Resurrection, Act. 1. The ineffable Mystery of the Trinity, that of Godliness, which with­out controversie is great, God manifested 1 Tim. 3. 16. in the Flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached unto the Gentiles, be­lieved on in the World, received up into Glory, were then all riddle. And as our Knowledge now is far clearer than that of God's ancient People was; so is our Consolation and Joy also, being esta­blished on better Promises, revealed with more Evidence, and embraced with more Firmness and Certitude. Death is now swallowed up in victory, and hath lost its sting; so that our Fears are less, as our Hopes are stronger, sweeter and more comfortable; being now not un­der the Spirit of Bondage, but of Adopti­on, which makes us go boldly to the Throne of Grace. The Result of all is this; That the Oeconomy of the Spirit fol­lowed that of the Father and of the Son; That the Holy Ghost was not properly [Page 218] to be styled a Comforter, till Christ went up from Earth to Heaven; and that if our Lord had remained here below, the blessed Comforter would not have come down in that plentifull Effusion of his Gifts and Graces, as he did after our Lord's departure, which is the Third thing proposed▪ But before I enter up­on this subject, I shall first take notice of the sender of Him, which our Lord says was Himself.

I will send him unto you. Christ had Part II. before told his Disciples, That He would pray the Father that He would send them another Comforter, Joh. 14. 16. & v. 26. That the Father would send Him in his Name. But chap. 15. 26. (as here in the Text) He takes it upon Himself to send him; I will send Him unto you from the Father. And both with Truth: For the Father and the Son sent, and had an e­qual share in sending Him. He is there­fore called The Spirit of the Father, Mat. 10. 20. and The Spirit of the Son, Gal. 4. 6. For he proceedeth from both. From the Father 'tis said expresly, Joh. 15. 26. and from the Son, if not in express terms, yet virtually imply'd, in that He is said [Page 219] to be Rom. 8. 9. 1 Pet. 1. 11. Phil. 1. 19. the Spirit of Christ as well as of the Father, and must therefore come from Him, because sent from Him too. The only difference being this, That the Holy Ghost is sent by the Father as from Him, who hath, by the Original Com­munication, a right of Mission, which denotes only distinction of Order: The Father being as the Spring, the Son as the Fountain; and the Holy Ghost as the Stream flowing from both. From whence we may collect two Things:

1. That the Holy Ghost is a real di­stinct Person from the Father and the Son, in as much as He is sent by them. For how can He be the same with them that send Him? If he proceed from the Father, he must be distinct in subsi­stence; and if his Coming depended on the Son's going away, and sending Him after he was gone, He cannot be the Son, who therefore departed that He might send Him.

2. It follows hence, That the Holy Ghost is equal to the Father and the Son; For whatsoever proceedeth from God, must be God; whatsoever par­takes of his Essence, must be equal with Him. And surely if the Son have the [Page 220] same right of Mission with the Father, as we learn from the Text, he must be acknowledged to have the same Essence with him too. And had not the Holy Ghost been Equal with the Son, as with the Father, how could He have supplied his Place? Or what Expediency could there have been in the Holy Spirit's coming, when, being less than Christ, he could have never been able to doe as much as Christ did, and so the ex­change must needs have been to the A­postle's loss, and not, as Christ himself had told them it should prove, to their benefit and advantage? St. Augustine's Prayer then was not impertinent; Do­mine, da mihi alium Te, alioqui non di­mittam Te; Give me, Lord, another as good as thy self, or I will never leave Thee, nor ever consent that Thou shouldst leave me. Nor is it any dimi­nution to the Deity of the Holy Ghost, that He is said here to be sent by the Son. These Expressions, To be sent, or, To come, and the like, being not Ex­pressions of disparagement; For He was so sent as to come too, and to come of his own accord; His coming being free and voluntary. He came in no servile man­ner, [Page 221] but as a Lord; as a friend from a friend in a Letter, the very Mind of him that sent it; which shews an agreement indeed and concord with Him that sent him; but implies no Inferiority, nor any the least degree of Subjection. 'Tis the Spi­rits honour to be sent to be a Leader; and though sent He be, yet is He as free an Agent as He that sent him. Tertul­lian calls Him Christi Vicarium, Christ's Vicar on Earth; But if that argued any inequality in the Spirit, it might as well in the Son too, who is styled in Scrip­ture the Angel and Messenger of God, and is said to go about his Father's business that sent Him.

But to leave this Argument, as more Part III. proper to convince a Macedonian Here­tick, than needfull for any true Believer; I shall proceed to the third Thing, name­ly, The time when the Holy Ghost was to be sent; and that was after our Lord's departure; If I depart, I will send him unto you. But what necessity was there, may some say, of Christ's departing in order to the Spirit's Coming? Might He not have tarried here, and the Spirit have come for all that? Was the stay [Page 222] of the one any lett or hinderance to the coming of the other? Or might not Christ have sent for, as well as go away himself to send him? To this I say, 1. That it was decreed from all Eterni­ty; That God the Father should draw us to his Son, Joh. 6. 44. 2dly, That God the Son should instruct us, chap. 17. 6, 8. And, 3dly, That God the Holy Ghost should assist and establish us in all Truth; And so the whole Work of our Redemption should be ascribed to the Father as electing; To the Son as con­summating; and to the Holy Ghost as applying it: God the Father had done his part; God the Son was at this in­stant doing his too; It remained only that the Comforter should come to perfect both, which could not be till the Son had performed his Task here on Earth, and should go away to Heaven. For the Acts of the Holy Ghost pre-suppose those of a Redeemer. 'Tis the part of that Bles­sed Spirit to inflame our Souls with the Love of God; but in order to this ef­fect, 'tis absolutely necessary that the Redeemer should first appease God. Our first Parent was not able to endure the terror of the voice of his provoked Ma­jesty, [Page 223] but was forc'd to hide his head. And what is each Sinner but as Flax be­fore the consuming fire of his Justice? Till our Redeemer then had disarm'd that Justice; till he had made men's Peace and Reconciliation, the Holy Ghost could not excite any motions of Love in them. It was the design of his Spi­rit to imprint his Image in their Hearts, which consisted in true holiness and righ­teousness: But how could that Image be imprinted on them, till they were first adopted his Children? Or how could they be owned for his Children, but in and through Christ his only begotten and beloved Son? That Peace, which his Holy Spirit brings into and settles in our Consciences, is founded in that o­ther which our Mediator hath procured and merited for us by his Death and Sufferings; nor could our Minds ever have been calmed, had not the Lamb of God taken away the sins of the World. Our Peace was to be prepared by the Father, ere it could be purchased by the Son; and purchased by the Son, ere it could have been applied by the Spirit. The Gift of the Comforter was an effect of Christ's Intercession, I will pray the [Page 224] Father, and He shall send you another Comforter; And it was requisite that He should go away to send that Comforter, since he was the Effect of his Intercessi­on, and that Intercession the last Act of his Sacrifice in the Heavenly Sanctu­ary.

But then, 2dly, it was not fit that Christ should bestow his best and most excellent Gifts on us, till he had reco­vered his first Majesty; or that the Mem­bers should be thus adorned, till the Head was perfectly glorious. 'Tis at the time of their Coronation and Triumph that Kings and Emperors scatter their Lar­gesses; When our Lord had ascended up on high, and had led Captivity captive, Eph. 4. 9. then was it a proper time for him to give gifts unto men; and among the rest of his Gifts, the Fountain and Giver of all Gifts and Graces, the Holy Spirit it self. This St. Peter tells his Auditors, Act. 2. 33. That Christ being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. Christ was first to rise from the dead, and to be glorified, before he could send down the Spirit: [Page 225] And this we learn from Joh. 7. 39. where 'tis said, That the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glo­rified; nor could he be fully glorify'd without the descent and testimony of the Spirit. For, 1. It had been some impeachment to Christ's equality with the Father, had our Lord still remained on Earth; for as much as the sending of the Spirit would have been ascribed to the Father alone, as his sole Act. This would have been the most, That the Father, for his sake, had sent Him; but He, as God, had had no honour of sending Him. 2. Nor indeed till he as­cended up to Heaven, could he have been fully glorified on Earth; his ap­pearance here having been very mean, void of all pomp and state; nothing a­bout Him to strike men's Senses; no­thing of worldly grandeur to affect them who conversed with him; neither wealth nor honour; exposed he was to want, and other inconveniencies of life, and put at last to a cruel and an ignomini­ous Death. What strong prejudices had both Jews and Gentiles against Him up­on this account? And how could those prejudices be removed, so long as he [Page 226] continued in that low state and conditi­on? But they were now quite taken a­way by the descent of the Holy Ghost, which he had so often promised to send after his departure; and which when they saw he made good, their mean opinion of him was soon changed into veneration, when they saw him, who was made a lit­tle lower than the Angels, (nay, who had Heb. 2. 9. appeared on Earth lower than the lowest of Men,) for the suffering of death, crown­ed with such glory and honour: And how can we but adore Him as God, when we now behold Him, that once stood be­fore Herod and Pilate as a criminal, ex­alted above all the Kings and Potentates of the Earth, whose pride and glory now it is to be his Disciples, to doe him ho­mage, and to lay down their Crowns and Scepters at the foot of his Cross? We now see Temples every-where erec­ted to his honour; The most remote obscure Regions of the World enlight­ned by his beams; That Jesus, once so much despised, become now the glory of the Earth; His Name dreadfull to Devils, adored by Turks and Infidels, so that his Kingdom knows no bounds, as it shall never have an end. Had he [Page 227] still remained here below, he had been lookt upon as no better than what the Arrians once styled Him, [...] But now his Godhead is as visible to each Christian, as his Manhood here­tofore was to each Man; the Spirit of God, whom He sent down, having born witness to Him in all those wonderfull Signs and Miracles that were wrought by his Apostles through his Name. And thus we see how that Christ could not have been glorify'd on Earth as God, had he not ascended up into Heaven, and from thence sent down the Holy Ghost.

Nor 3. could the Holy Ghost himself otherwise have been discovered. Christ's stay here would have been a lett to the manifestation of his Godhead also, which appearing in those many great signs and wonders done by Him, had not our Lord gone away, those glorious Works would in all probability have been wholly a­scribed unto him; and so the Holy Ghost should have lost that honour which was due to him, while his Deity should have been concealed from the notice of the World.

[Page 228]4. A fourth reason of the necessity of Christ's departure, respects his Apostles and all other his Disciples. 1. His Apo­stles, who we know were to be sent a­broad into all Coasts, to be dispersed over the whole Earth to preach the Go­spel, and not to stay in one place. Now Christ's corporal Presence could herein have availed them little in order to this purpose: He could not have been with St. James at Jerusalem, and St. John at Ephesus, whatever Ubiquitaries, Papists or Lutherans, say to the contrary, in flat contradiction to all Philosophy and Scripture too, which allows not this priviledge to Christ's Body now glori­fied; Whom the Heavens must receive, saith St. Peter, untill the times of Resti­tution of all things, Act. 3. 21. There He must be till He comes to fetch us to Him; and when He promised his Apo­stles to be with them, always even to the end of the World, Mat. 28. 20. He meant no otherwise than by his Holy Spirit, who should comfort and guide them into all Truth. And therefore it was expedi­ent for them, as our Lord says here in the Text, that himself should go away to make room for the Spirit, as fitter for [Page 229] his Disciples in their dispersed disconso­late condition, since He could be and was present with them all, and with e­very one of them by himself, as filling the compass of the whole World; which cannot be affirmed of our Lord's bodily Presence. 2. Besides, had this manner of Christ's Presence been possible, with­out confounding the Properties of his humane and divine Nature; it had been very inconvenient for his Apostles that He should still have remained with them, considering how carnally affected they were to him; Nay, very convenient it was for them that he should with­draw his Presence, when they grew too fond of it; as we see Mothers deal with their little Children in the like case. We know nothing would satisfie them but Christ's Flesh and his fleshly Presence, nothing but that still them; And we know who said, If thou hadst been here, Lord: As if absent, he had not been as able to doe it by his Spirit, as present by his Body. We know also that St. Pe­ter would have built him a Tabernacle Mat. 17. 4. to keep him still on Earth; and ever and anon his Disciples were dreaming of an Earthly Kingdom, and their chief [Page 230] Seats therein. All their Thoughts and Fancies being gross and carnal, 'twas time to refine them. They were not to be held as Children still, but to grow to Men's estate, to perfect age and strength. If they had hitherto known Christ after the flesh, 'twas fit that henceforth they 2 Cor. 5. 16. should thus know him no more; And so 'tis for all Christians too, who so long as they should stand affected in like sort as the Apostles here were, would, no doubt, run into the same error with them, as to conceit they could not be without Christ's bodily Presence, though the Spirit it self should supply it. Sure­ly 'tis much better for us by faith to con­verse with Christ in Heaven, than by sight to behold him on Earth. Because thou hast seen, thou believest, says he to St. Thomas; Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet believe, Joh. 20. 19. Better it is for us to look to those things that are not seen, than to those that are seen. The time will come when it shall be our chiefest happiness to see our Re­deemer, as Job says, with these fleshly Eyes we carry about us: But that we cannot now doe; or, if we could, that very sight would but astonish and con­found [Page 231] us. The only Glass to behold him in here, is his Gospel; as the only place to find him in, is Heaven. Thi­ther he is now gone from us, and 'tis well for us, as it was for his Apostles, that he is so, and so hath left us to the guidance and conduct of his Spirit. Nay I dare say farther, that 'tis expedient for us Christians that Christ should with­draw even his Spiritual Presence from us in some cases. As, 1. when we grow faint in seeking, and careless in keeping him. When, with the Spouse in the Canticles, we lye in bed and take him Cant. 3. 1. there. When, 2. we grow high con­ceited of our selves, and say with Da­vid, We shall never be moved, Psal. 30. 7. But then may it not be said, If Christ leave us, if he withdraw his spiritual Presence from us, shall we not then fall into Sin? And can that be expedient for any one of us? It is good that I have been in trouble, for before I was troubled I went wrong, says David, Psal. 119. 67. But is it good for any of us to fall into Sin? If I should say so, I have St. Augustine's warrant for it, Audeo dicere, I dare affirm, says that Father, Expedit superbo, ut incidat in peccatum; It is not [Page 232] amiss sometimes for a proud Man to fall (with David and Peter) into some notorious Sin, to fill his Face with shame, and to teach him Humility; That this Messenger of Satan should sometimes thus 2 Cor. 12. 7. buffet him, as he did St. Paul, to keep him down; for the Holy Ghost will not come to him, till he find him in this posture; He will come to none, rest on none, nor give grace to none but to the Esay 57. 15 1 Pet. 5. 5. humble. In all respects then we see how expedient it is that Christ should leave us; that he should withdraw himself from us, as he did from his Apostles; that he should go away to prepare a place for us, where we may be with him for ever; and that we should prepare our selves, too for that better place he hath prepared for us, by withdrawing our Thoughts and Affections from that we now are in. For if that fond affection the Apostles had for his corporal Pre­sence was a hinderance to the Spirit's coming to them; much more will our impure earthly ones keep him off from us. Nor ought we to be troubled, but rather to rejoyce, that Christ, our fore­runner, Heb. 6. 20. is gone before to take possession of a heavenly place for us in his flesh; [Page 233] or, to imagine, that we shall lose any thing by his absence, as if his Spirit could not abundantly make up that loss; or that with his bodily Presence he had withdrawn his love or care from us. In the midst of his Glories he still minds us; He is not only a compassionate High-Priest to pity, but an Advocate to plead, and an Intercessor still to mediate for us. Amidst the Angelical Acclamations and Hallelujahs, he not only hears our sighs and groans, but joyns in the Consort, and shares with us too in our Sufferings. Nay, it is now that he is most intimate­ly present with us, that he dwells in our hearts by faith; and if thereby we hold him fast, he will then never leave us, at least never leave us comfortless, no more than he did his Apostles, but will send the Holy Ghost to comfort us as he did them, for his promise of sending him was not so ty'd up to them as to exclude us, but is general here to all the faithfull, If I depart, I will send him unto you. And thus we see how expedient and necessary it was that our Lord should depart, that his Holy Spirit might come to us; That without his Ascension-day there had been no Pente­cost [Page 234] for us, and so we should have wan­ted our Comforter and all those inestima­ble Blessings He brings along with Him. 1. For had He not come, the work of our Salvation had been but half done. 'Tis true indeed that our Lord, just as he breathed out his Soul on the Cross, did pronounce a Consummatum est; and if we consider the Work it self, he com­pleated all he came to doe for us here below, (for he exactly performed the part of a Mediator, by putting an end to all the Ceremonies of the Law which prefigured Him,) but in regard of us, and making that his work ours, all had not been finished without the Coming of the Holy Ghost. For, to speak after the manner of Men, we know a Word, though written, a Deed, is of no force till the Seal be added; 'tis that which makes it Authentical. Christ is indeed the Word, but the Holy Ghost is the Seal, In whom ye are sealed unto the day of Re­demption, Ephes. 4. 30. 2. Nor is this all: The Will of a Testator is of no force, when sealed, till Administration be granted; Christ is the Mediator of the New Testament, Heb. 9. 15. But the Ad­ministration is the Spirit's, 1 Cor. 12. 11. [Page 235] And without that the Testament is of no advantage. 3. Besides, to make our Estate good, is required Investiture: so that although Christ hath made a pur­chase, and paid a price for us; yet what would this advantage us without Livery and Seizin, which the same Apostle calls The Earnest of the Spirit? 2 Cor. 5. 5. Lastly, What are we at all the better for what Christ did for us, if we be not joined to Him, as He was to us? and 'tis by his Spirit that we are joined un­to Him: For he that hath not Christ's Spirit, is none of his, Rom. 8. 9. and then Christ will profit him nothing. From whence it plainly appears, That what the Father and the Son did for us, could not be compleat or available without the concurrence of the Holy Ghost: They could doe nothing for us without Him, nor we any thing for our selves, in order to our Salvation. For, first, without Holiness we cannot see God, who is therefore called Holy, because he is the cause of Holiness in us, his Office consisting in the sanctifying of us. We are by Nature void of all saving Truth, 1 Cor. 2. 10, 11. None knoweth the things of God, but the Spirit of God; And 'tis [Page 236] the Spirit that searcheth all things, and revealeth them unto the Sons of Men; That dispells their Darkness, enlightens their Understandings with the know­ledge of God, and works in them an assent unto that which by the Word is propounded unto them. Again, 2dly, Unless they be regenerate and re­newed, they are still in a state of natu­ral Corruption; Now 'tis the Holy Spi­rit that regenerates and renews us. Ac­cording to his mercy he saveth us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, Tit. 3. 5. And, Except a man be born again of Water and the Ho­ly Ghost, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, Joh. 3. 5. We are all at first de­filed by the corruption of our Nature, and the pollution of our Sins; but we are washed, but we are sanctified, but we are justified in the Name of the Lord Je­sus, and by the Spirit of our God, 1 Cor. 6. 11. Thirdly, We are not able to guide our selves, and 'tis the Spirit that leads, directs and governs us in our Ac­tions and Conversations, that we may perform what is acceptable in the sight of God. 'Tis He that giveth both to will and to doe; and, As many as are thus [Page 237] led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God, Rom. 8. 14. Fourthly, If we be separate from Christ, we are as branches cut off from the Tree, which presently wither away for want of sap to nourish them. Now 'tis the Spirit that joins us to Christ, and makes us Members of that Body whereof he is the Head; For by one Spirit we are all baptized into that one Body, 1 Cor. 12. 13. And hereby we know that God abideth in us by the Spi­rit which he hath given us, 1 Joh. 3. 24. Fifthly, Till we be assured of the Adop­tion of Sons, we have no comfort, no hope; for 'tis that which creates in us a sense of the Paternal love of God to­wards us. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us, Rom. 5. 5. And the Spi­rit it self beareth witness with our Spirit, that we are the Children of God, Rom. 8. 16. who is therefore said to be the Pledge and the Earnest of our Inheritance. In a word; had not the Holy Ghost been sent to us, we could have done nothing to any purpose; no means on our part would have availed us: Not Baptism, which might wash spots from our Skins, nor stains from our Souls; [Page 238] No laver of Regeneration without renew­ing of the Holy Ghost, Tit. 3. 5. Not the Word, which without the Spirit would have proved but a killing letter: Not the Sacrament; The Flesh profiteth no­thing, 'tis the Spirit that quickneth, Joh. 6. 63. Lastly, Not Prayer, which with­out the Spirit, is but lip-labour: For un­less he help our infirmities, and make in­tercession for, and with us, we know not what we should pray for, as we ought, Rom. 8. 26. To summ up all; It was expe­dient, nay absolutely necessary, that the Spirit should have his Advent as well as Christ. Christ's Advent was necessary for the fulfilling of the Law; and the Spirit's, for the compleating of the Go­spel: Christ's, to redeem the Church; and the Spirit's, to teach it: Christ's, to shed his bloud for it; and the Spirit's, to wash and purge it in that bloud: Christ's, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord; and the Spirit's, to interpret it: The one without the other is imper­fect. Christ's Birth, Death, Passion, Re­surrection, are good news, but sealed up, a Gospel hid, till the Spirit come and o­pen it. Of such importance was his coming, and so expedient, yea and ne­cessary [Page 239] for us it was, that our Lord should go away to send Him to us.

And as he did send Him to the Apo­stles, in an extraordinary manner, in clo­ven tongues, like as of fire, as at this time: so all Christians have a promise of the Comforter, though not of the firey tongues. The promise is to you and to your Children, and to all that are a-far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call, Act. 2. 39. That is, To all that wait for, and are in such a fit posture and condition to receive Him, as the Apostles themselves were: To all, that are like Him, Holy, Pure, Chari­table, Peaceable; That have those fruits of the Spirit, mentioned Gal. 5. 22, 23. That are void of carnal sensual Affecti­ons, than which nothing will more ob­struct his entrance, He being a Spirit, and having therefore no commerce with the Flesh. Christ carnally apprehended, we see, could not avail any thing; and so long as our Thoughts and Desires run af­ter things here below, his Spirit from a­bove will not fill or inflame them. There­fore sur sum corda, let us lift up our hearts towards Him. He will meet us, and Christ will send Him to us, if we meet Him in his way; Send Him, if we send for Him [Page 240] too, if we send up our Prayers to fetch Him down. For being a Spirit of suppli­cation, Zach. 12. 10. the proper means to obtain Him is Prayer. And surely He is worth the asking for, being the greatest gift God can give us, or we re­ceive; In giving whereof, He is said to give us all things, Mat. 7. 11. In whom we have a Teacher, to instruct, The Spi­rit of Truth, to lead us into all Truth, necessary for us; An Advocate, to plead for and defend us; A Comforter, in all our outward and inward distresses: so that Direction, Protection, Consolation; and all that is beneficial to us, or we can desire, we have in Him. But then when we have got, let us be sure to re­tain and to cherish Him; not chase Him away, for then we had better never to have had Him: Be sure not to resist Him by our Pride, quench Him by our Car­nality, and so grieve Him who is our Comforter; if so, the following Verse here will tell us, That He can Reprove as well as Comfort. But on the other side; if we obey his Motions, submit to his Dictates, follow his Guidance and Di­rection, in a word, be led by Him; we shall then be the Sons of God, and the [Page 241] only-begotten of the Father will not fail to send him to us, as He did to his Apo­stles; Then especially, above all other times, when we eat and drink his flesh and bloud in the Holy Sacrament: For as his Bloud was the meritorious Cause to procure us his Spirit; so is his Holy Sacrament the Pipe or Conduit to con­vey Him unto us. For hereby we are all made to drink into one Spirit, 1 Cor. 12. 13. And then as there is plentifull Redemption here on Christ's part; so if we duly partake of that Redemption, there will be plentifull Effusion of his Spirit on us. Which God of his infi­nite Mercy grant, &c. Amen.

Soli Deo gloria in aeternum.

'TIS the great happiness and pri­viledge of Saints to be under the care and protection of an Almighty God: Others have the bene­fit of his general Providence; These of his particular Love and Kindness. The clearest Evidence of that his Love ap­pears in sending his only beloved Son oh. 3. 1 [...]6. [Page 243] into the World to merit Salvation for them; and next to that, in employing Angels to further it; He being our a­lone Saviour, These our Guardians and Assistants. Wherein the Almighty has abundantly provided, as well for the honour as the security of his Servants. For what greater honour, next to the having Christ for our Brother, than that we should have such glorious Creatures Psal. 8. as Angels for our Ministers? Their Na­ture, we know, places them above us, and yet God's Love and their Humility sets them here below us. Even while those excellent Spirits attend on the Throne of God, we may see them waiting on us Men; While they behold his Face there, they cast a benign aspect on us here. These bright Morning­stars do at the same time praise Him, and assist and guide us; Their Employ­ment in Heaven does not exempt them from their Services on Earth, dividing them as it were between those two pla­ces, ever ascending and descending, i. e. perpetually employ'd in discharging their Duties to their Creator, and for his sake performing all good Offices to their fellow Creatures.

[Page 244]2. And hence it is, That in conside­ration of those great and various Bene­fits she receives by their appointed Aid and Ministration. The Church has set a­part this Day as to praise Him who makes use of such glorious Instruments for her safeguard and protection; so gratefully to commemorate those ad­vantageous Services they doe her. And although the Title of this Festival car­ries but a particular denomination of St. Michael's Day, yet does the Church herein celebrate the general Memorial of all Angels; and the Text I have cho­sen leads us to it, as the Scope thereof does to the whole Chapter; wherein the Apostle's design is to compare Christ with Angels, and to prove his Superiority over them, which He does by several Arguments taken.

• 1. From his Sonship: He God's Son
  Job 1. 6. 38. 7. Luk. 3. 38. See Phil. 2. 10.
  by Eternal generation, These only by Creation and Resemblance, v. 2.
• 2. From his Name, more excellent than that of Angels, v. 4.
• 3. From the Worship peculiarly due to Him, even from Angels themselves, v. 6.
• [Page 245]4. From his being the Head of An­gels, who, at best, are but his Ministring spirits, v. 7.
• 5. From his Kingly Authority over all Creatures, Men and Angels too, v. 8.
• 6. From his creating the Heavens and the Earth, which Angels neither did, nor could doe, v. 10.
• 7. And lastly, from his sitting as E­qual with God at his right hand; where­as the most glorious Angels doe but stand there as Ministers of his Will and Commands, and to serve the necessities of his Chosen ones, in the question here put,

In which Words you may observe, Divis.

• 1. Something imply'd or suppos'd; and that is, Their Existence, Are they not, &c. The Apostle speaks of them as of persons really and actually subsisting.
• 2. Something plainly exprest; and those are four Particulars here mention'd:
  • [Page 246]1. The Essence or Nature of Angels; They are Spirits, i. e. intellectual, im­mortal and incorporeal Substances.
  • 2. Their Office, Ministring spirits, and that without any reserve; All of them such, none excepted, not the most glorious, not the most excellent of their Order.
  • 3. Their Commission from God who sends them forth, deputing them their several Ministerial Charges and Em­ployments.
  • 4. The End or Design for which they are employ'd, viz. God's glory and the benefit of those who shall be heirs of Salvation.

These be the several Stages through which I shall lead you: And first, of the Existence or Being of Angels, sup­pos'd in the question, Are they not all, &c.

1. Since the Being of Angels is here Part 1. Their Exi­stence. suppos'd and taken for granted, one would think there should need no far­ther proof of it; and surely 'twould be needless, did not the Infidelity of some Men make it necessary. And 'tis strange [Page 247] that Divine Revelation should not be sufficient to settle this Truth among Christians, which Heathens by the dim light of Nature have so clearly discern'd. For what-ever mistakes they were guilty of as to the Nature, they believ'd the Existence of spiritual Substances; and we find them very curious in ranking and disposing them into their several Classes, and describing the Hierarchy of their [...] with as much exactness, (I had almost said, as good ground) as the pretended Dionyfius has done that of Angels, whom the Schoolmen so passi­onately doat on. And the same reason which taught Heathens so much Divi­nity, fetches this Truth also from the Order of Nature, which seems to re­quire it. For as here we find some things without life; others living, but without sense; some again sensible, and others rational, yet so as to be of a mixt Nature, partly Corporal and part­ly Spiritual; there would want one main link in the Chain of Providence, had not the Divine Power made some Creatures purely Intellectual, such as might be a Mean between God and Man, as Man is between them and [Page 248] Beasts, to prevent a chasm or vacuum in Nature. Besides, since every part and place in the World is fill'd with Inhabi­tants proper for it; it seems but requisite, that the highest Heavens should not be left void of such as might be fit to dwell in those pure and glorious Man­sions.

But not to build so necessary and im­portant a Truth on meer rational Con­jectures, we have a more solid founda­tion for it, which is Divine Revelation; the Scriptures every-where not only mentioning the Being of Angels, but giving us a clear account of their Crea­tion, of their manifold Apparitions and Discoveries to Men on Earth, together with their several Actions and Operati­ons; All which clearly demonstrate their Existence.

For the first: Their Creation may be gathered, though it be not set down in express terms from the first and se­cond Chapters of Genesis, where they are styl'd the Host of Heaven; an usual Title afforded to all Creatures in Scrip­ture-language, but in a more especial manner appropriated to Angels, as 'tis by the Psalmist, Psal. 148. 2. and most [Page 249] suitable to them in regard of their great Power and exact Order. And so all Ex­positors allow it. 'Tis true indeed, there is no such express mention of the Crea­tion of Angels in Moses's Writings, as in those of the other Holy Pen-men; which he omits, not so much, as some would have it, to prevent Idolatry in the Israe­lites, who, had they known Angels, would have been apt to have ador'd them: as for these two Reasons: 1. Be­cause Moses applies himself to the sim­ple Capacity of that People, and de­scribes the Creation of visible and sensi­ble things, leaving spiritual as above their lower apprehensions; and, 2dly, lest Men should think God needed the help of Angels either in the production or disposition of other Creatures; As if the Fabrick of the World had been too great a Task for Himself alone to under­take, as Heathens and some Hereticks also have fancied, to the manifest deroga­tion of the Divine Omnipotency.

But for what reason soever Moses for­bore to speak out here, the Psalmist is plain enough; By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the Host of them by the breath of his mouth, Psal. [Page 250] 33. 6. and clearer yet, Psal. 104. 4. He maketh his Angels spirits, and his Mini­sters a flaming fire. And whereas our Apostle. v. 4. tells us, That God made the Worlds, Colos. 1. 16. He explains the meaning of that expression by things visible and invisible; and these invisible things by Thrones, Dominions, Principali­ties V. Grot. in locum. and Powers, the usual Titles Angels are design'd by. So void of all Reason, as well as of Religion, is that bold, or ra­ther impudent, Assertion of the Author Part 3. c. 34. of the Leviathan, concerning the Crea­tion of Angels, there is nothing deliver­ed in Scripture.

2. A second proof of the Existence of Angels may be taken from their sun­dry Apparitions, both before and under V. Bucan. l. 1. p. 77. the Law, and in the first dawning of the Gospel. There is nothing more cer­tain than that under those several Dis­pensations, especially at the beginning of them, such Apparitions were very frequent. Holy Men in those times had a familiar acquaintance and correspon­dency with Heaven. 'Twas no news then to see an Angel of God. The Pa­triarchs scarce convers'd so much with Men as with blessed Spirits. They were [Page 251] their Guests and their Companions; of their Family and of their Counsel. No­thing of importance was done either at home or abroad without their privity and direction. And he must be a great stranger to the New Testament that finds them not there too very often a­mong the Servants of God. For though God had for a long time withdrawn from the Jews all means of supernatu­ral Revelations, yet at the first publi­cation of the Gospel he began to restore them. 'Twas no marvel, that when that wicked people became strangers to God in their Conversation, God should grow a stranger to them in his Apparitions. But when the Gospel approacht, he vi­sited them afresh with his Angels, be­fore he visited them with his Son. Jo­seph, Mary, Zachary, the Shepherds, Mary Magdalen, the gazing Disciples at the Mount of Olives, Peter, Philip, Cor­nelius, St. Paul, St. John the Evange­list, were all blessed with the sight of them. In succeeding times, 'tis also ve­ry credible what Ecclesiastical Writers report, That the good Angels were no­whit more sparing of their Presence for the comfort of Holy Martyrs and Con­fessors, [Page 252] who suffered for the Name of Christ. I doubt not but Constant Theo­dorus saw and felt the refreshing hand of the Angel no less than he reported to Julian the Persecutor; Nor do I que­stion but that those retired Saints too of the prime Ages of the Church had sometimes such heavenly Companions for the Consolation of their forced Soli­tude, as St. Jerome reports of them. But this is evident too, that the elder the Church grew, the more rare was the use of these Apparitions, as of all other Miracles, Actions and Events; not that the Arme of God is shortned, or his Care and Love to his abated, but that his Church being now setled in an ordinary way, has no need of any extra­ordinary ones, no more than the Israe­lites Luk. 16. 31 Gal. 1. 8. had of Manna when they were once got out of the Wilderness. Nay, such extraordinary ones now would perhaps be not useless only, but dangerous; and we may justly suspect those strange Re­lations of the Romanists concerning later Angelical Apparitions to Saints of their own Canonizing, when we see them made use of to countenance Doctrines of Men. And yet notwithstanding [Page 253] their false play here, 'tis hard to say that all those instances which sober learned Men have given us of Modern Apparitions are utterly incredible. But it has often fallen out indeed that Evil spirits have appeared in this wicked and corrupt Age more than good ones. The frequent experience of later days gives in here its Evidence, and 'tis unreason­able wholly to reject it, there being no other reason but this to doe so, that our selves doe not see what others so pe­remptorily affirm they did, which were to call in question all that our own Eyes have not been witnesses to; and if we will believe nothing but what we see, we may as well doubt whether there be Souls as Devils. And yet so far as men's Eyes may discern Spirits, they may doe it in those possessed Bodies they usurp. For that such Possessions have been and still are in the World, (though more frequent in our Saviour's time than ours) is as hard to deny as that there are Witchcrafts, which yet many will not allow of; and the Pa­pists would take it ill we should de­prive them of this one great Argument to prove the truth of their Doctrines, [Page 254] who, though they feign Possessions where there are none, and conjure up imaginary Devils that they may have the credit to lay them, yet this is no good reason to say there are no such things at all. And this once granted, as we must needs doe, unless we will contradict all credible sensible Experi­ence, there will be no ground left to dispute the real Being of bad Angels, which is an Argument of equal force to prove that there are good ones.

But then 3dly, What if we do no longer now-a-days see Angels in visible shapes, may we not discover them by their several actions and operations? And do not these necessarily imply the Being of things? Now, besides the Te­stimony of Scripture, which represents Angels standing, moving, talking, and the like; It is apparent that there are many effects in Nature, which as they cannot be attributed to any natural Causes, unless we will have continual recourse to Miracles, we must of ne­cessity conclude them to be of a higher Efficiency. Those many more than or­dinary Tempests, devouring Earth­quakes, [Page 255] firey Inundations and Appariti­ons, which have been seen and heard of so many, though they may indeed have natural Causes; yet 'tis highly probable that these things are not the ordinary Effects of Nature, but that the Almighty, for the Manifestation of his Power and Justice, may set Spirits, whe­ther good or evil, on work, to do the same things sometimes with more State and Magnificence of horror: As the Frogs of Egypt, ordinarily bred out of putrification and generation, were yet for a plague to that wicked Nation su­pernaturally also produced. I might instance in sundry miraculous Preserva­tions, whereunto, in all probability, An­gels concur. How many have fallen from very high Precipices into deep Pits, past the natural probability of hope, which yet have been preserved not from Death only, but from Hurt? How many have been raised up from deadly Sicknesses, when all natural Helps have given them for lost? God's Angels, no doubt, have been their se­cret Physicians. Have we had instinc­tive intimations of the Death of some absent friends, which no humane intel­ligence [Page 256] had bidden us to suspect, who but Angels have been our Informers? Have we been kept from Dangers, which our best Providence could neither have foreseen nor diverted, we owe these strange escapes to our invisible Spies and Guardians? And thus Gerson at­tributes the wonderfull preservation of Infants; from so many perils they usu­ally run into, to the super-intendency of Angels. Indeed where we find a proba­bility of second Causes in Nature, we are apt to confine our Thoughts to them, and look no higher, yet even there many times are unseen Hands. Had we seen the House fall upon the Heads of Job's Children, we should per­haps have ascrib'd it to the natural force of a vehement Blast, when now we know it was the work of a Spirit. Had we seen those Thousands of Israe­lites falling dead of the Plague, we should have complain'd of some strange infection in the Air, when David saw the Angel acting in that Mortality. When the Israelites forcibly expell'd the Canaanites, nothing appear'd but their own Arms; but the Lord of Hosts could say, I will send mine Angel before [Page 257] thee, by whom I shall drive them thence, Exod. 33. 2. Nothing appear'd when the Egyptians first-born were struck dead in one night; the Astrologers would perhaps say they were Planet­struck, but 'twas an Angel's hand that smote them. Balaam saw his Ass dis­orderly starting in the path; He who formerly had seen Visions, now sees nothing but a Wall and a Way; but his Ass (who for the present had more of the Prophet than his Master) could see an Angel and a Sword. Nothing was seen at the Pool of Bethesda but a mo­ved Water, when the sudden Cures were wrought, which perhaps might be at­tributed to some beneficial Constella­tion; but the Scripture tells us; that an Angel descended and infused that heal­ing quality into the Water. Elias could see an Army of the Heavenly Host en­compassing Him, when Gehezi could not till his Master's Prayers had opened his Eyes. We need not make use of Cardan's Eye-salve to discern Spirits in the Air; our Reason may discover them, though our Eyes cannot; and by the manifest good Effects they produce, we may boldly say, Here hath been an An­gel, [Page 258] though we have not seen Him.

All this may serve to confute the an­cient Act. 23. 8. Error of Sadducees, who made An­gels to be nothing but good Motions or good Thoughts, turning them into an Allegory, as Hymeneus and Philetus did the Resurrection. And 'tis observed, that they who deny'd Angels, did with­all deny a Resurrection, and both upon the same ground; their loose temper which prevails so much with their Suc­cessors, inclining 'em to baffle them­selves out of the belief of those things whose real Being brings them so little advantage. 'Tis not strange that such men's Senses should swallow up their Faith, since it deprives them of their Reason; though probably such fancies are rather the issues of their Desires, than of their Judgment. Behold here a cloud of Witnesses against them; not Revela­tion only, but even Sense too, backt with Reason, Authority and Experience of all Ages, and of all Conditions of Men, Good and Bad, Heathens and Christians. If nothing will satisfie their curiosity but a Vision, I must tell them, that the commerce we have with Spirits is not now by the Eye; nor shall [Page 259] any thing confute their Infidelity but Hell, where to their cost, they shall meet with those Devils, whose compa­ny they are here so fond of; and yet their very Infidelity methinks, were they not stupid as well as impious, might serve to rectifie their belief here; which being the unquestionable effect of Satan, is no small evidence of his Existence. I shall not stand to con­fute them, the Text does it for me; If their Faith be not strong enough, their Eyes to be sure will be too weak to dis­cern Angels; these cannot be the Ob­jects of Sense, since they are Spirits; which points to the first thing exprest here, their Nature.

Spirits.] 'Tis an easier matter to Part. I. Their Na­ture. prove that there are Angels, than to describe what they are. Spirits have so little affinity with our Natures, that 'tis no marvel, if they exceed our Ap­prehensions. But this notion suggests so much to us, that they are intellectual Substances, immaterial, incorporeal, and consequently immortal. In all which capacities, most resembling the Almigh­ty, and the fairest Copies of the great [Page 260] Original of all things. Yet are they not void of all kind of matter, no more than the Soul of Man is; it being pe­culiar to the Father of Spirits to be one most pure and simple Act; whereas every created Being, though never so refin'd, admits of some dross, some al­loy; is compounded either by natural composition, as consisting of matter and form, or at least Metaphysical, of the Act and the Power. Yet so far we may and ought to allow Angels to be im­material, as not to consist of any corporeal matter, though never so fine and sub­tle; for this were to destroy the very Nature of a Spirit and our Saviour's ar­gument, whereby he convinced the Dis­ciples that he was no Spirit as they took him for: Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I my self, for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have, Luk. 24. 39. I shall not trouble you with any Philosophical discourse, to prove Angels incorporeal, nor with those te­dious and impertinent Niceties of the Schools grounded upon their being so; How Millions of Angels can lodge to­gether in one point, as a Legion of them Luk. 8. 30. did in one Man; How they move in [Page 261] an instant, and pass from one extream to another, without going through the middle parts, and the like curious mat­ters contributing nothing at all to our edification. Some passages there are indeed in Scripture which at first blush seem to favour the corporeity of An­gels, but in effect make nothing for it. As, first, that they have often appeared to Men in visible forms and shapes, and perform'd such actions as are proper to us, as eating, drinking, and the like; All which was by divine Dispensation for a time, the better to accomplish their en­joyn'd Duties. Yet were those Bodies, whereby they perform'd such actions, no other than assum'd ones; they were no part of their Natures, but only as Garments are to us, and were laid aside when there was no farther use of them: which being made of Air, quickly re­solv'd into it, and vanisht away as their Meat also did. One passage there is in the 6th of Genesis, which being mista­ken, has occasion'd gross conceits in some of the Nature of Angels; 'tis on the second Verse of that Chapter, where 'tis said, That the Sons of God saw the Daughters of Men that they were fair, [Page 262] and took them Wives of all which they chose. The not understanding of which place has betrayed many, and among those some Ancient Fathers of the Church, as Justin Martyr, Tertullian, V. Crack­enthorp. Metaph. p 85, 86. Lactantius, Ambrose, and Sulpitius Seve­rus, into so foul an error, as to conceit, That those Sons of God were no other than Angels, who being enamoured with the Beauty of Women, and defiling them­selves with Lust, of Angels became De­vils: and which is yet as ridiculous a Paradox, That those Gyants there men­tion'd were their Off-spring: As if those blessed Angels, who continually behold the Face of God, could be taken with the Beauty of a little varnisht Dust and Ashes; As if Spirits could beget Men, or Holy Spirits wicked Men. Nay, Ter­tullian Lib. de Ve­land. Vir­gin. c. 7. (who as he had greater Parts than most of the Fathers, so had greater Errors too) to establish one Error by a­nother; adds withall, That for this rea­son the Apostle bids Women be Veil'd in the Church, lest some of the Angels 1 Cor. 11. 10. should once more be Captivated by them. Thus does one gross mistake usually draw on another as gross; and the first great one proceeds only [Page 263] from hence, That in many Copies of the Seventy Interpreters, heretofore the word Angel crept in, as St. Augustine has observ'd. But that those Sons of God were not Angels, but Men, and of the Posterity of Seth, besides the ex­press words of Moses, both St. Cyril and Incubi Suc­cubi. St. Augustine have at large demonstra­ted. And what some erroneously have fancy'd of the good, others as ridicu­lously have done of bad Angels, which Aquinas and Fr. Valesius maintain as a Part. 1. Sum. Qu. 51. Art. 3. probable opinion; and accordingly Bel­larmine himself is not asham'd to affirm, That Antichrist shall be born of the De­vil, and a Woman. (Surely none so fit to be his Father as the Devil, the Father of Lies; nor to be his Mother, as the great Whore in the Revelations.) And therefore one of his Tribe in a book to the like purpose, fraught with no less malice than absurdity, endeavours to prove that Luther was so. But 'tis no marvel that they who hold that Acci­dents can subsist without their Subjects, should also with equal contradiction to Philosophy, affirm, That Devils can be the Fathers of Men; or they who can paint God the Father in a piece of Ar­ras, [Page 264] should make Angels corporeal. All this, I say, proceeds from a false appre­hension of the Nature of Spirits; and Philastrius ranks such Opinions among his other Heresies, which Wierus at large shows, to be as void of Sense as they are full of evil Consequences. For we find that Heathens, who held the Corporeity of their Deities, did withall render them obnoxious to all those vile Lusts and Impieties, which the most profligate Wretches on Earth were ca­pable of committing, and found oppor­tunity of doing so upon the strength of that prevailing fancy. To which pur­pose Lib. 18. Jud. An­tiq. c. 4. I might produce several instances, and among them one famous one, re­corded by Josephus of one Paulina, the Wife of Saturninus, in the Reign of Ti­berius, a noble, beautifull and vertuous Lady, whom one Dacius Mundus, by the assistance of the Priests of Isis, much abus'd upon such an account. These are the wicked Consequents of drawing Spirits into a participation of our Na­tures, and then of our Vices. I shall not dwell any longer on this subject, nor trouble my self to satisfie their curi­osity, who cannot understand how such [Page 265] incorporeal Beings can be capable of that punishment by Fire, which the Scripture says shall be their, as well as their associates, portion. Surely no Man ought to question how they can be ly­able to such a punishment, that finds a Soul within him troubled with Passion, even while no offence or distemperature ariseth from that corporeal part; nor how such spiritual Beings can be wrought on by material Fire, till he can un­derstand what nature Hell-fire is of. That they shall suffer by it, the Scrip­ture assures us, but how, it tells us not; nor can our best Reason tell us, no more than St. Augustine's could tell him, who plainly here confesses his ignorance. Our care should be not to examine what Hell-fire is, but to avoid it; and though we cannot resolve all those diffi­culties which arise from the Nature of Angels, yet since the Text here tells us they are Spirits, we must have so much Faith as to believe it, and conse­quently that they are Immortal; it be­ing impossible that Spirits, as such, should be Mortal, since there can be no internal Cause of their corruption, nor any external physical one: but God, who [Page 266] as he made them of nothing, can in­deed Ps. 104. 29. reduce them to nothing. In which respect no Creature is Immortal, none but the great Creator of all things, who alone, as the Apostle tells us, hath im­mortality, 1 Tim. 6. 16. as eternally sub­sisting by himself, and by no other. But not to speak of the absolute Power of God; 'tis certain, that as to their Nature, Angels are immortal; and therefore by God's Decree too 'tis said of them that have their share in a blessed Resurrection, that they cannot dye for this reason, because they shall then be [...], as the Angels in Hea­ven, Luk. 20. 36. And this is a quality as proper to bad as good Angels, who though Devils are still Spirits, and shall remain objects of God's everlasting Ju­stice as the elect Angels of his Love and Mercy. For though they lost their Pu­rity, they can never lose their Nature. All of them then are Spirits, and so by Nature immortal; and those good ones which kept their station, Heb. 9. 5. glorious, Mat. 24. 36. hea­venly, and 1 Tim. 5. 21. elect ones, and yet such noble Creatures as these has God design'd for the Ministry of his Saints: The second Particular to be considered.

[Page 267] Ministring Spirits.] To God himself Part. II. Their Office. in the first and chiefest place; They are his Creatures, and consequently his Ser­vants. The Psalmist expresly calls them so, Psal. 103. 21. O praise the Lord all ye his Hosts, ye servants of his that doe his pleasure: and Psal. 104. 4. his Mini­sters. Such they are, and Estius well ob­serves it out of the Text; Non dicit Apo­stolus, says he, eos mitti in Ministerium hominum, sed propter homines, quod est longè diversum. They are God and Christ's Ministers, but employ'd by them for the procuring and furtherance of the Elects Salvation. So that their Looks and Services are directly levelled to­wards God, and but glance and reflect from Him upon us. All things, says our Apostle, even Thrones, Dominions, Principalities and Powers, were created as by Him, so for Him, Col. 1. 16. For Him in the first, and for our help and benefit in the second place. And therefore they adore and ascribe glory to him, Esay 6. 3. & Luk. 2. 14. They stand in his presence, ready to execute his Commands; some of them being for this very reason, says a School-man, styl'd Thrones, because they [Page 268] still attend on God's. Hence the Ark of God's presence was between the two Cheru­bins, Exod. 25. 22. And as the Psalmist, in allusion to that place, represents Him sitting between them, Psal. 99. 1. so ri­ding and flying upon them, Psal. 18. 10. Dan. 7. 10. in regard of that quick and ready Obe­dience they perform to his Commands, and to Christ as the Head of his Church, as 'tis ver. 6. Let all the Angels of God worship him. They proclaim'd his Con­ception, Mat. 1. 20. and his Birth, Luk. 2. 11. They Ministred to Him at his Temptation, Mat. 4. 11. Comforted Him in his Agony, Luk. 22. 43. Waited on Him at his Sepulchre, Mat. 28. 2. At his Resurrection, Mat. 28. Ascension, Act. 1. And give glory to the Lamb now in Heaven, Revel. 5. 11, 12.

But as their chiefest and immediate Services are for God, so by his appoint­ment do they minister to his Elect, to their Bodies and Souls.

1. Their Bodies. These are not with­out their care; the very dead Bodies of Saints they have a care of, Jude 9. much more of the living. And our Lord deters Men from doing any hurt to his little ones by this argument, that [Page 269] the Angels of God are appointed for their Guardians, Mat. 18. 10. and when the Psalmist says, There shall no evil be­fall thee, nor any plague come nigh thy dwelling, Psal. 91. 10. He gives the rea­son, ver. 11. For he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all his ways; They shall bear thee up in their Gen. 24. 7. hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. It is impossible to describe the variety of their assistances to us here below. One while they lead us in our way as they did Israel, another while Gen. 32. they fight for us as they did for Joshua; They purvey for us as for Elias, fore­tell our danger as to Lot, Joseph and Mary, and free us from it as they did St. Peter, and the three Children; They Act. 12. 7. cure our Diseases as at the Pool of Be­thesda; They instruct us as they did Daniel and St. John; The Law was gi­ven by them, Act. 7. 53. and they were the first Preachers and Publishers of the Gospel, Luk. 1. 31. ch. 2. 10, 11. And 1 Pet. 1. 12. as God made them instruments to con­vey Knowledge to his Church; so by the Ministry of the Church, as it were in requital of that good Office, the ma­nifold Wisdom of God is made known [Page 270] unto them too, Ephes. 3. 10. Do we run on in our own evil ways, they resist us as they did Moses, Balaam, and St. John, who would have adored them, re­straining our presumption as the Cheru­bin before the Gate of Paradise. Does Satan tempt us to Sin, they rebuke him, and hinder him when he is most busie, as in the case of Joshua the High Priest, Zach. 3. 1. They remove our hindran­ces from good, and our occasions of e­vil; mitigate our temptations, comfort us in our sorrows, further us in our good purposes, assist us in our devoti­ons, 2 Kin. 2. 11. Luk. 16. 22 Mat. 24. 31 13. 30. 1 Thes. 4. 16. present our prayers and holy per­formances to God, promote our con­version and rejoyce at it; and as if this life were too narrow a bound for their Charity, they extend it to the next, car­rying up our Souls to Heaven, when our Bodies return to the Earth, as they shall gather together the Elect of God at the last day, when those Reapers shall separate the Tares for the fire, and the Wheat for God's barn.

This is their Ministry to the Saints of God. But what need of it, some will say? Is it not the Lord that order­eth Psal. 37. 23. all our steps? And have we not [Page 271] Him for our help who never slumber­eth nor sleepeth? Did he need the Mi­nistry of Angels in the Creation of the World? and if not there, why in the Government of it? True indeed, he needed it not, nor does need it, yet is he pleas'd to use it, to manifest and il­lustrate the Order of his Providence in the conduct of his Creatures, resigning some part of its administration and exe­cution to them, while he reserves the whole authority to himself; Not out of any inability or necessity as Earthly Princes, who make use of others Eyes and Hands in the managing of their af­fairs, since they cannot be present every­where but by their Substitutes, but to express his Wisdom in this Order and Power in this subordination and depen­dence of one Creature on another, and of all upon himself. Nor does that Wis­dom more clearly appear any-where than in the choice of those instruments which he has design'd to govern the World under him. The Kings of the Earth do not always observe the strict Rule of Justice in the distribution of Charges and Employments, allowing something to Favour and something to [Page 272] Passion, setting many times such per­sons over others as are fitter to be com­manded than to command, assigning blind Guides to the more clear-sighted: But the All-wise God disposeth things in a far different manner; He chuses out the noblest, strongest and most enlight­ned Creatures to guide the meanest, most infirm and least knowing; makes his Angels so many Intelligences, not only to move and turn about the Hea­vens, but to regulate and steer the mo­tions of all sublunary affairs. So that the Ministry of Angels is so far from extenuating, that it very much extolls the Goodness and Greatness of the Al­mighty towards us, in the execution of his high and holy Providence. It adds to God's glory, and to the honour of Angels themselves to be employ'd by him in so many good and great Affairs; It advances the order and beauty of the Universe, while no creature in it is idle; It begets a greater and more strict friendship between Men and Angels, and affords us strong Consolation in having such a powerfull and mighty Protection.

[Page 273]For these and the like reasons it seems good to the Almighty to use the Mini­stry of Angels; and as they are most zealous for his glory and the good of Mankind, especially since 'tis reconcil'd to God by Christ, so is there not one amongst them but is most willing here to be employ'd. All of them, says the Text, are Ministring spirits. It has been a question much disputed, whether eve­ry one Man have a particular Angel for his Guardian. I find several of the An­cient Fathers, most of the School-men, and some Protestant Divines on the af­firmative. And were this the worst opi­nion of the Romanists, we should not quarrel much with them, since some passages of Scripture seem to favour it. Whether this be so or no, I shall not here undertake to determine, nor in­deed need I. For to what purpose were it to prove that every Man has a pecu­liar Angel assign'd him, when we are here and elsewhere so clearly told that all of them do serve every one of us, while we serve and obey God. He hath given his Angels charge over thee, says the Psalmist in the fore-cited Psal. 91. 10. i. e. many Angels over one particular [Page 274] Man. And as we find more than one appointed to carry Lizarus's Soul into Heaven, Luk. 16. 22. so sometimes we reade of one Angel attending many Men, as in the case of Israel in the expulsion of the Canaanites and Amorites, Gen. 24. 7. and at other times of many Angels atten­ding one Man; as in that of Jacob, Gen. 32. 1, 2. and of Elisha, 2 King. 6. 17. 'Tis not for us to limit the Almighty, nor to retrench that guard He has assign'd us. While we have an heavenly Host a­bout Mat. 18. 10 us, why should we content our selves with one single Assistant? And when we are certain of their protection, why should we dispute their Number? And as it may seem some scanting of the bountifull provision of the Almighty, who is pleas'd to express his gracious respects to one Man in the allotment of many Guardians; so a Platonick piece of Divinity in the School-men, to re­duce them to one single one, for each individual person.

But to let this pass as an innocent, though perhaps erroneous Opinion, their conceit of an exterior and interior Mission, whereby some are said to illu­minate others, and fit them for their [Page 275] several Charges, but never to stir a­broad themselves, may justly, in St. Paul's Col. 2. 18. expression, be styl'd an intruding into things which they have not seen nor can see, and is indeed no better than a flat contradiction to the Text, which tells us, That All, none excepted, are Ministring spirits, to serve the necessity of God's Elect ones. These blessed Spi­rits know no such state, as to think it a disparagement to wait on the meanest Saint. When God sends them, the best of them go, be the errant never so slen­der. They measure not their Obedi­ence by the lowness of their employ­ment, but the Will of him that employs them, thinking no message beneath their Dignity, which God is pleas'd to put them upon. The highest Angel does not esteem himself too good to Mat. 20. 28 obey his Commands in the lowest in­stances of Obedience. And since the Son of God came down on Earth to minister to Men, no Arch-angel will deem it an abasement unbefitting him to serve them. The measures of hu­mane Grandeur are not to be apply'd to that of Heaven, where every abasement (if there can be any such thing in do­ing [Page 276] God's Will) is Exaltation. Let us then imitate them in their humble sub­missions to their Maker; but then let our Prudence be as Angelical as our Hu­mility; if that teaches us to go when God sends us, this should teach us also not to stir or act till he sends us; which leads me from their Office to their Com­mission, They are sent.

The very name Angel signifies a Mes­senger, Part. III. Their Com­mission. and consequently implies a sub­ordination and dependence on some su­perior Being that employs him. 'Tis a name of Office, not of Nature; This belongs to him as he is a Spirit, That, as he is an Agent. God is the supreme cause and disposer of all things, Angels but his instruments. They act not but by his Commission; nor do they run, till he sends them. The Heavenly Host do nothing without Orders from their General, and, like the Centurion's Soul­diers in the Gospel, go and come when he bids them. He gives his Angels charge, Psal. 91. 11 says the Psalmist, and as his Ministers Ps. 103. 21. they doe his pleasure; not their own, ours much less; They are not our Fa­miliars. And though their Help be [Page 277] more powerfull, yet is it not more ab­solute than that of other means, since it dependeth still on the Will of God too; and what-ever Message they deli­ver, or Commands they execute, 'tis that Will still that gives them Motion and Authority. And therefore when St. Stephen says the Law was received Acts 7. 53. by the disposition of Angels, we must not fancy them to be Authors of it, but only the Heralds. 'Twas Christ that gave, these did but publish it. The Law was ordained by Angels, but still in the hand of a Mediator, Gal. 3. 19. The Mi­nistry was indeed of Angels, but the Authority of Christ. And therefore Ju­nius renders those words, Act. 7. 53. You have received the Law in the midst of the ranks of Angels, i. e. among them, attending God, when he delivered it. Thither then they came only to assist at the Ceremony, not as Law-givers, but Attendants, That being a Title pe­culiar to the one great Law-giver, who gives Laws as well to Angels as to Men. These they constantly observe; and if we doe so, they shall be Ministring spi­rits to us, for their Employment lasts still, and the word [...] a Par­ticle [Page 278] of the Present tense implies it: Thus as they are God's Ministers, they shall still be ours too, if we be God's Servants, and consequently heirs of Sal­vation: The last Particular.

Who shall be heirs of Salvation.] i. e. To Part. IV. The End or Design of their Mini­stry. those that shall one day possess, what they now doe certainly expect and wait for. They who are already in Heaven, need not the assistance of An­gels, being themselves, though not An­gels, yet like them, and equally happy in the fruition of the same God. Their Ministry is necessary to bring us thi­ther, but ceases when we are there. They are our Guides here, There they shall be our Companions. Nor are their Services design'd but for those whom God has chosen out of the rest of lost Mankind to fill up the void places of Apostate Spirits. For as Christ him­self is by our Apostle styl'd the Saviour of all Men, but in an especial manner of those that believe: So may Angels be said to be, in some sort, Ministring spirits to Mankind, but with a reserve to those who are God's chosen Vessels. Those may possibly have their common [Page 279] protection, but their particular atten­dance is on these. For as the Almighty makes his Sun to shine as well upon the just as the unjust, and sometimes more gloriously on the latter than the for­mer; so is it in the Ministry of Angels, from which even wicked Men may reap a general benefit, in some instances more perhaps of an external help and assistance than the good, while the best of their Offices are reserved for the best. We know, that whosoever stept down first into the Pool of Siloam, was Joh. 5. 8. cured, whether good or bad; and the Angels brought down Manna in the Wilderness to the rebellious, as well as Psal. 78. 25. to the obedient Israelites. These are fa­vours scattered promiscuously on all; which God is pleas'd to deal out to all Men by the hands of his Ministers, the Angels. But they come not down on the Ladder, but to his Jacobs; nor res­cue any out of the spiritual Sodom, but his Lots. Nor did the Almighty ever design them to be Ministers for good Psal. 91. 12. Mat. 18. 10 to any but the Righteous: Over them he gives his Angels charge, and They are styl'd Their Angels, with an Empha­sis; and, Psal. 34. 7. The Angel of the [Page 280] Lord tarrieth round about them that fear 2 Tim. 2. 10. him, and delivereth them. And, as our Apostle, endured all things for the Elect sake; so doe the Angels doe all for them: To this purpose 'tis observed, That God never speaks by his Angels, but he puts some character on those he speaks to; as such as fear the Lord, are heirs of Salvation, and the like. And this is so true, that if wicked Men enjoy any good in this life by the Angels, 'tis for the Elect's sake they doe so. I will bless them that bless thee, says God to Abra­ham, Gen. 12. 3. Even Reprobates fare the better here for the Saints. God sometimes gratifies his Children with the Temporal preservation of the wick­ed, as he did St. Paul with the Lives of those Infidels that were in the Ship with him, Act. 27. 24. and Lot with all that were in Zoar. The Jews have a Say­ing, Absque stationibus non staret Orbis; The Prayers of God's People uphold the World. The Holy Seed are Statumen Ter­rae, Esay 6. 13. with David, They bear up the Pillars of the Earth. Hippo could not be taken, while St. Augustine lived; nor Sodom destroy'd, while Lot was in it. And St. Ambrose is said to have been [Page 281] the Wall of Italy. And therefore 'tis ill policy, as well as impiety, in any to wrong the Saints of God, much more to endeavour to root them out of the World, as Heathen Persecutors did. Wherein they resembled the Stag in the Emblem, that by feeding on those Leaves which hid him from the Hunter, did but betray themselves to his fury; and, Sampson-like, by pulling down those Pillars, brought the house upon their own heads. Were it not for the Elect, God would make a short work in the Earth, and no flesh should be saved. Rom. 9. 28. Every Angel of his would then be a destroying one; so that whether they preserve or punish the wicked 'tis still in order to the Salvation of those who shall be the heirs of it.

And now what remains, but that while we behold God's Angels ascen­ding and descending, we make their Ladder ours too, to mount up to God, who sits at the top of it, and employs them for our good, and with them give him the glory of those his benefits, which they convey unto us: For all the helps and assistances they afford us, [Page 282] are nothing without his. And therefore when God promised Moses that an An­gel Exod. 33. should go before Israel, but withall threatned them with the subduction of his own Presence; I marvel not if that Holy Man were no less troubled, than if they had been left destitute and guard­less; and that he ceased not his impor­tunity, till he had won the gratious Engagement of the Almighty for his Presence in that whole Expedition. For what is the greatest Angel in Heaven without his Maker? Or what are their Services to us, if his Favour go not a­long with them? Let him then have the chiefest glory who is the Author of them. The Psalmist directs us to this duty; For no sooner had he said, Psal. 34. 7. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him: but he adds in the following Verse, O tast and see how gratious the Lord is; To let us know whom we are beholding to for all the good Angels doe us, and to whom we are to pay our Thanks.

Yet while we pay the main tribute of our Thanks to God, he is content we should have a respect too for his Ambassadors. They are to be honoured [Page 283] for his sake, and next to him that sends them. Nor can any Reverence be too high, which diminishes not of that we owe to our common Maker. We ought to be willing to give them so much as they will be willing to take from us. If we go beyond these bounds, we of­fend them, as much as St. John did, when he would have ador'd them. The Rev. 19. 10 excess of Respects to them, have turn'd to abominable Impiety; which, how­ever St. Hierome seems to impute to the Jews ever since the Prophet's time; yet Simon Magus was the first that we find guilty of this impious flattery of the Angels; who fondly holding that the World was made by them, could not think fit to present them with less than divine Honour. And near a-kin to these were the Angelici of old, who pro­fessing true Christianity and Detestation of Idolatry (as having learn'd that God only was to be worshipped properly,) yet reserved a certain kind of lesser Ado­ration to the Angels. Against this opi­nion and practice, the Apostle seems to bend his style in his Epistle to the Co­lossians, forbidding a voluntary humility in worshipping of Angels, whether [Page 284] grounded upon the superstition of an­cient Jews, as St. Hierome; or the Eth­nick Philosophy of some Platonicks, as Estius imagines; or the damnable Pre­cepts of the Simonians and Cerinthians, as Tertullian, we need not enquire. No­thing is more clear than the Apostle's Inhibition, nor more evident than the Papists direct opposition to that Inhibi­tion, who are no less guilty of the same voluntary humility than they were, who thought it too much boldness to come immediately to God, without making their way to his favour by the Media­tion of Angels; which whether it be not justly to be charged on Papists, let any sober Man judge. Surely as the Good Angels deserve our Reverence, so do they not desire our Adoration. The Evil Angels indeed still required it, and the Devil begg'd it of Christ, that he would fall down and worship him, Mat. 4. 9. but the Good refuse it, Revel. 19. 10. And therefore St. Bernard is too liberal, when he tells us, we owe to the Good spirits Reverence for their Presence, Devotion for their Love, and Trust for their Cu­stody. The former indeed we doe, and we come short of our Duty to them, [Page 285] if we entertain not in our Hearts a high and venerable conceit of their wonder­full Majesty, Glory and Greatness, and such a reverential awe of their Presence, as to doe nothing which may offend them. Take heed that ye despise not these Exod. 23. 21. little ones, says our Lord, for their Angels are with my Father in Heaven. They may perhaps forgive us, these will not. And therefore we shall doe well to consider whether they who behold the face of God, will endure to look upon us (much less to assist us) when we doe that which makes God turn his face from us. We are a spectacle to Angels as well as Men, 1 Cor. 4. 9. They are observers and wit­nesses of all our Actions, but especially of our religious Duties. And for this Luk. 1. 10, 11. cause ought the Woman to have power on her head, because of the Angels, says St. Paul, 1 Cor. 11. 10. While Zachary and the Peo­ple were praying, he sees an Angel of God; who, as Gideon's Angel went up in the smoak of the Sacrifice, came down in the fragrant smoak of his Incense too. Those glorious Spirits are indeed always with us, but most in our Devotions; They rejoyce to be with us, while we are with our God; nor will they any [Page 286] longer be with us, than while we are with Him; while we keep in his ways, they will keep us safe; if we go out of his Precincts, we forfeit their Protection: They will certainly leave us, when we forsake God; and when the Good ones go from us, the Evil will come to us, as in Saul's case: And therefore, to prevent 1 Sam. 16. the coming of the bad, let us be sure to make the good ones our friends; which we shall best doe, by being like them, by imitating them in their Obedience, as our Saviour bids us, in their Purity Mat. 6. 10. and Humility, as also in their Charity, by ministring to others, though never so mean, as they doe to us, who are so much below them, that so we may be the true heirs of Salvation; be sure of their Protection here, and enjoy their Society hereafter. Which God of his in­finite Mercy grant for his sake, who is the Angel of the Covenant, &c. Amen.

Soli Deo gloria in aeternum.

SAint John reflecting on the Honour and Dignity of God's Children, is so affected with that very Thought, that in a Divine Rapture he breaks forth, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the Sons of God! 1 Joh. 3. 1. And [Page 288] then describing the future happiness that Relation should entitle us to, he does it in such terms as shew it unconceiva­ble, ver. 2. We are now, says he, the Sons of God, but it doth not yet appear what we shall be. In like manner St. Paul speaking of the Joys above, describes them Negatively; telling us rather what they are not, than what they are: Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, neither have entred into the Heart of Man the things which God hath prepared far them that love him, 1 Cor. 2. 9. That is, they ex­ceed the apprehension not only of hu­mane Sense, but Understanding.

Now if any could have given us an exact description of those things, then surely these two Apostles: For since Heaven did as it were come down to the one in Visions and Revelations; and the other went up thither, having been caught up into it: Who fitter than these Persons to display the Glories of that Place which themselves had seen? And yet we see the only account they give, or indeed could give us of them, is but this, That they are unaccountable; not to be reacht by Thought, nor to be known but by Enjoyment.

[Page 289]But how obscure soever or inexpressi­ble those Glories appear to such as ex­pect them; This is certain, that they are reserved and laid up in a sure place for as many as God shall account worthy of them. An Estate they have in Re­version, though now incapable of its actual Possession, during their minority. They are Heirs apparent of Salvation, Heb. 1. 14. even in this their nonage, and are as sure of Heaven as if they were already in it. For it is their certain Inheritance. Yet, lest any should wax proud of their Title, they are to remember, that they owe it not to themselves, but to the mere goodness of their Heavenly Father, who both gives them the thing it self and their capacity for it. Gives them Heaven, and makes Heavenly too, and therefore may justly challenge their most hearty acknowledgment of so great a Mercy; which is that the Apostle requires of these Colossians, That they should give thanks to the Father, who had made them meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light.

So that we have in these words,

• [Page 290]1. A Description of the future Hap­piness of God's Children, consi­sting of two Particulars:
  • 1. That it is their Inheritance.
  • 2. An Inheritance in light.
• 2. The Persons who are the true Heirs and Proprietaries thereof, The Saints.
• 3. The Manner of its Conveyance to them, and that is, by Free­gift; It descends not to them by any natural succession, nor is it the fruit of their own pains or purchase; But 'tis God the Father that makes them both Partakers, and meet Partakers thereof.
• 4. Lastly, Here is a Duty on their part to be performed, arising from so high an Obligation, That since the Father had been so bountifull in bestowing on them so goodly an Inheritance, they should not fail to be thankfull to Him for it, Giving thanks, &c.

These be the Parts, whereof briefly in their order; And, first, of the Inheri­tance it self, with the Nature and Con­dition thereof, An Inhertaince in light.

[Page 291] An Inheritance, [...] in the Singular, [...] There is it seems but one common Inheritance, as but one Jude 3. common Salvation, wherein all God's Saints are Heirs in solidum. And let not this trouble any of them. For Hea­ven is big enough and God sufficient for All. There, not the Elder Brother is the only Heir, and goes away with the In­heritance, when many times the youn­ger are Beggars; but we shall All be Heirs and Co-heirs with Christ. Earthly Inheritances are indeed impaired and les­sened by being parcelled out; But this Inheritance in light, like light, loseth no­thing by being communicated to All, wherein every one shall have his Part, and that Part shall be his All. Each vessel of honour shall be filled up, it shall have as much as it can hold, and that is as much as it shall de­sire. All shall shine as stars in the King­dom of their Father, though with diffe­rent lustre, As one star differeth from a­nother star in glory; 1 Cor. 15. 41. Joh. 14. 2. All shall be in their Father's house, but in several Mansions, and with several Portions assigned them. Which difference shall be so far from abating, [Page 292] that it shall increase their mutual Glory, when none shall complain that another hath too much and himself too little; when each other's share shall be his own, and more his own for being an­other's; so that he shall be glorified in that very glory wherein his fellow Saint shall outshine him, and his own Crown for this reason be brighter, because his Neighbour's shall be so.

And as this Inheritance here is but one, so is it a durable one. That very name speaks a lasting Title. What comes thus unto us we look upon as our own, and our own for ever. And indeed without Propriety, and that perpetual, all we have or enjoy is nothing. We are at best but usu-fructuaries, not true Possessors. Glorious things are spoken of Psal. 87. 3. the City of God, and we may say of them what the Queen of Sheba said of the Glory of Solomon's kingdom, that the half thereof is not told us. But sure­ly 1 Kin. 10. 7. among those many glorious things spoken of it, nothing is more glorious than this; That it is a City which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, Heb. 11. 10. And that in Heaven we have an house not made with hands, 2 Cor. 5. 1. [Page 293] but eternal. An House that shall last as long as its Builder, and whose Inhabi­tants shall last as long as both, and dwell therein for ever. For what would all the Glories of Heaven be to us, if we had no other advantage but what Solomon says worldly men have of their riches, to behold them with our eyes. Eccles. 5. 11. What should we be the better for them, if we might never enjoy them, and have no right to the place where they are to be found? What is a Kingdom to him to whom it belongs not? Or a Crown of glory to that man whose head shall never wear it? Had we such a sight of all the kingdoms of the world and of the glory of them as the Devil shewed our Saviour, but withall as lit­tle right to any part of them as that Tempter could give Him; That glitte­ring sight might perhaps dazle our eyes, but never raise any other passion in us, than that of Envy towards them who should enjoy them. And thus it would be with us as to the kingdom of Heaven. To behold this spiritual Canaan afar off without any hope of ever possessing it, to view it as another's Countrey, not our own; would be but such a sad and [Page 294] melancholy prospect as the rich man had when he saw Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, or as our Lord gave the Jews, when he told them, that they should see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the Prophets in the kingdom of God, when they themselves should thence be thrust out, Luk. 13. 28. There is no true satisfaction to be had in any thing wherein we have no In­terest, no lasting Propriety. Without this, Heaven it self would be a Hell to us, as it is to the Damned. But 'tis the peculiar advantage and comfort of God's Saints, that they can look upon it, e­ven while here below, as their Inheri­tance; Christ hath entail'd it upon them, Matt. 25. 34. Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. They have his word for it, which is as sure to them as Free-hold.

II. But what kind of Inheritance is prepared for them? The Text tells us, 'Tis an Inheritance in light, and that in opposition to another sort of Inheri­tance (if I may so call it) styled in the following Verse the power of dark­ness, Vers. 13. yea and Darkness it self, Act. 26. 18. As that which lies in darkness, is main­tained [Page 295] and upheld by it, and shall bring men, without repentance into outer darkness, into the blackness of darkness Jude 13. for ever. From which dismal state the godly being delivered, are said to be called out of darkness into God's marvel­lous light, 1 Pet. 2. 9. Out of the dark­ness of ignorance (the natural state of man) into the light of the glorious Go­spel Eph. 4. 18. 2 Cor. 4. 4. of Christ, which will at last bring them to that of eternal glory. So that the Inheritance here is an Inheritance in light in two respects: 1. In respect of the light of Faith, and the knowledge of God, which englightens us in this life. And 2dly, In respect of that light of Glory which shall adorn and crown us in the next. We have here the out­ward light of the Word before us, and the inward light of the Spirit within us; And if we walk in these lights as children of the light, we have a promise of shining forth hereafter as the Sun in the kingdom of our Father, Matt. 13. 43. Both which lights are in effect but one; That of Faith, a light in part; and that 1 Cor. 13. 12. of Glory, a full and perfect light. For Grace is nothing else but the dawning of Glory; They differ not in substance, [Page 296] but in degree, no otherwise than as light in the Sun when it first peeps out a­bove our Horizon, from that of the same Sun when it is in its Vertical point, shining out in its full strength. Both these lights, I say, of Faith and Glory, make up but one great united Light. And therefore 'tis [...] in the Text, An Inheritance not in lights, but in light; There being but one Light, as there are but one sort of Inheriters thereof, The Saints.

For who fit to partake of this glori­ous unspotted light, but they who are so themselves? or, who have a proper right to this Inheritance, but the Chil­dren of the most Highest? Psal. 82. 6. So St. Paul argues, Rom. 8. 17. If Chil­dren, then Heirs, Heirs of God, and joint Heirs with Christ; Heirs of God indeed, but through Christ, Gal. 4. 7. Holding their Inheritance in Capite, in the right of Him, who is the Heir of all things, Heb. 1. 2. He the natural Heir, They but adopted ones, Rom. 8. 15. But still in Him, Ephes. 1. 5. Having predestina­ted us unto the Adoption of Children by Christ Jesus unto himself. Whence they claim the Inheritance by promise also. [Page 297] For being Christ's, says the same Apo­stle, they become Abraham's seed, and Heirs according to the promise, Gal. 3. 23. And so Heb. 9. 15. They receive the Pro­mise of an eternal Inheritance. Not that they have not the Promise also of tem­poral Inheritances: ( For Godliness hath the Promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come, 1 Tim. 4. 8.) But because the Heavenly is setled only upon them, whereas Temporal Inheritances may, and do, fall to their share, and that in large Proportions, who have neither part nor lot in the Heavenly. I have blessed Ismael, says God, Twelve Princes shall he beget, but my Covenant will I establish with Isaac, Gen. 17. 20, 21. Esau had the like Tem­poral blessing as Jacob had, But not with a, God give thee the Dew of Heaven, Gen. 27. 28. God gives gifts unto men, even to the rebellious, Psal. 68. 18. Common, giftless gifts; But the Inhe­ritance, and, to abide in his house for e­ver, is for the Children, Joh. 8. 35. Nor will these be put off, or sent away, with a few gifts, as the sons of Abraham's Concubines were; nothing less will con­tent them than the Inheritance it self. [Page 298] The Children of this world indeed have Gen. 25. 6. their Portion in this life, and they are satisfied with it; This is our Portion, and our Lot is this, say they, Wisedom 2. 9. But the Children of light, and of a better world, reckon otherwise, The Lord him­self is the Portion of mine Inheritance, says David, Psal. 16. 6. They are fel­low Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, Ephes. 2. 19. Their [...] their Burgeship, is there; They live accor­ding Phil. 3. 20. to the Laws of Heaven, and, even while on Earth, enjoy the Priviledges thereof; being even now Heirs of a kingdom, Jam. 2. 5. The wise that shall inherit Glory, Prov. 3. 35. Heads desti­nated to a Diadem, in Tertullian's expres­sion, which their Heavenly Father hath prepared for, and will at last put upon them, who alone too makes them fit to wear it, meet to be Partakers of the In­heritance of the Saints in light.

III. How differently soever the Chil­dren of God may share in the same In­heritance; This is certain, that every one's share therein shall be the Gift of his Heavenly Father. The word [...] here imports it; The Apostle alluding [Page 299] to the Division of the Land of Canaan, (a Type of Heaven,) which God had appointed to be done by lot, wherein Himself we know had the main hand; according to that of Solomon, Prov. 16. 33. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposition thereof is of the Lord. Thus it was in the Choice of Matthias to the Apostleship, Act. 1. And thus it is as to our share in the Inheritance of Glory; It falls to us by lot, by the disposition of God the Father; we have no part here but what he gives us. And if so, then no merit of Condignity, nor so much as of Congruity, can be pleaded by us.

And truly one would think it were sufficient to partake of the Inheritance, without making out our own Title to it; That we might be content to be Heirs, without coming in as Purcha­sers; or, if we will needs be so, to be Purchasers on Christ's score, and not our own. But this is too low and mean for some men, who come with Counters in their hand, ready to reckon with God, to shew Him how much he is in their debt, and who stick not to tell Him to his face, that He is an unjust Master, [Page 300] if he pay them not their due wages.

But, 1. Our Lord Himself hath told us, That God is beforehand with us; That whatsoever we can doe is due from us to Him; That when we shall have done all those things which are com­manded us, we must say, that we are un­profitable servants, and have done but that which was our duty to doe; Luk. 17. 10. And then what merit can there be in paying just debts?

And, 2. St. Paul hath told us, That we can doe no good thing without Him too, who worketh in us both to will and to doe of his good pleasure, Phil. 2. 13. So that He crowns His own gifts in us, and rewards not our deservings.

Besides, 3. Our goodness extendeth not to God, says David, Psal. 16. 2. And being unusefull, how can it be merito­rious? Nay, our best works are so im­perfect and so sinfull too, that the ut­most they can expect is but a Pardon, and not a Reward; And were they never so good and perfect, yet what proporti­on can they bear to such a Reward as an Inheritance in light? Our light afflic­tion, which is but for a moment, to a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glo­ry? [Page 301] 2 Cor. 4. 17. where we must not let pass an elegant Antithesis; For Af­fliction there is Glory; For Light afflicti­on, a Weight of glory; And for Momen­tary affliction, an Eternal weight of glory; to shew the vast disproportion between these things; so vast, that even Martyr­dom it self (the highest, utmost proof of our love to God) is, in St. Paul's account, nothing in comparison of that Glory we expect; For I reckon, says he, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us; Rom. 8. 18.

IV. And lastly, The very word In­heritance excludes all Purchase on our part. For this were to renounce Succes­sion, to cast off all Filial Duty and Af­fection, not to own our selves Sons, but mercenary Purchasers; yea, and Pur­chasers of an Inheritance already pur­chased for us by Christ, and for his sake freely bestowed upon us by our Heavenly Father out of His own pure Goodness and Bounty, to which alone we must ascribe it. For we all (the best of us) have sinned, and come short [Page 302] of the glory of God, Rom. 3. 23. And we are told, ch. 6. 23. that, The wages of sin (our proper wages) is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. The Apo­stle might have said (and indeed the Antithesis or Opposition there seem'd to require it) But the wages of Righte­ousness is eternal life; But he altered the Phrase on set-purpose, and chose rather to say, The gift of God is eternal life; That we might from this change of the Phrase learn, That although we procure Death unto our selves, yet 'tis God that bestows eternal life on us; That as He hath called us to his kingdom and glory, 1 Thess. 2. 12. so he gives that glo­ry and that kingdom for no other reason but because, He is pleased so to doe; It is your Father's good pleasure, for into God the Father's good pleasure Christ resolves it, to give you a kingdome, Luk. 12. 32. No merit, nor so much as any good disposition in us for it; He propares it for us, Matt. 20. 23. And he prepares us for it too here in the Text, by making us meet to be partakers thereof.

For what meetness could he find in us for such an Inheritance? Title to it we have none, being by nature the Children [Page 303] of wrath and disobedience, Eph. 2. 2, 3. Mere Intruders here and Usurpers, The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and we, the violent take it by force, Mat. 11. 12. Qualifications proper for it we have none too; That, An Inheritance in light, we, darkness; That, An Inheritance in­corruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, 1 Pet. 1. 4. we corruptible, pollu­ted, and still decaying. [...]—cries out our Apostle, We are not sufficient, not fit (for the word signi­fies either) as of our selves, but our suf­ficiency, or fitness, (call it which you will) is of God, 2 Cor. 3. 5. 2 Pet. 1. 4. who as He makes us Partakers of his di­vine Nature, so meet Partakers of the di­vine Inheritance, not by pouring out the divine Essence, but by communica­ting to us those divine Qualities which will fit and prepare us for the Sight thereof; by putting light into our Un­derstandings and holiness into our Wills, without which no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12. 14. By cleansing our hearts, and washing our hands, that so we may ascend into the hill of the Lord, dwell and rest in his Tabernacle, Psal. 15. 24. He gives us Faith, and with that a Prospect of our [Page 304] Inheritance; and He gives us Hope, and with that an Interest therein; And, to summ up all in one, He gives us his Ho­ly Spirit, the earnest of that Inheritance, Eph. 1. 14. who worketh all our works in us, writes his laws in our hearts, and by Esay 26. 12. Jer. 31. 33. softning, makes them capable of his di­vine Impressions: In short, That divine Spirit, which by Regenerating makes us new Creatures, and so fit Inhabitants for the new Jerusalem, calling us first to Ver­tue, and then to Glory: to that, as the Way; to this, as the End, 2 Pet. 1. 3.

2. But besides this divine Operation, we need divine Acceptation also, where­by we may be accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God, our Inheritance, 2 Thess. 1. 5. For all our works and graces here being imperfect, can never capacitate us for it without God's gratious Accep­tance. And therefore [...] saith St. Chrysost. here. 'Tis God's [...] not our [...] his dignifying of us, not our own dignity, that renders us worthy. And, [...] He makes us accepted in the Beloved, Eph. 1. 6. And when the Saints of God are said to be worthy to walk with Christ in white, Rev. 3. 4. 'tis because He casts [Page 305] his garment of Righteousness about them; and if their good Works (which yet are but God's own gifts) weigh down, 'tis because He puts his grains of Allowance into the Scale.

But what need all this, either Divine Operation or Acceptation, to make us meet partakers of the Inheritance in light, may the Enemies of God's Grace here say? What need we go farther than our selves and our own Nature for it? For Pelagius will tell us, That we are in as good a condition now as Adam himself was before his Fall; Our Faculties the same, as strong and as able as ever; Our Understandings as clear to discern, and our Wills as free to chuse good and evil; That all the harm our first Parent did us, was but to give us a bad Exam­ple, which 'tis our fault if we will fol­low, and since our Happiness depends on our selves, that we are to blame our selves, if we miss of it. And although some have thought this too gross to make Man the sole Author of his own Fate, yet they have very little mended the matter, by so parting stakes between God and him, that they still allow the latter the better share in the work [Page 306] of his Salvation. For they deny all pre­venting Grace (the proper mark of a Semi-Pelagian) although they are plea­sed to grant a concurrent and subse­quent one on God's part to enable him to doe his work with more ease and sureness, which otherwise would cost him more pains and hazard. However they so far agree with Pelagius, as to place this meetness for the Inheritance in Man himself, putting it into his own pow­er to dispose himself to his Conversion by an Act of his own Free-will, antecedent to God's Grace. A piece of Heathen Di­vinity borrowed from Seneca and Tully. For Seneca in a Stoical brag could say, That we live, is from God; but that we live well, is from our selves. And, This is the Judgment of all Mankind, says Tully; That Prosperity is to be sought of Cicero de Nat. Deor. God, but Wisdom to be taken up from our selves. On which Saying of his, St. Au­gustine passes this Judgment, That by ma­king August. de Civit. Dei, lib. 5. Men free, he made them sacrilegious. For what greater Sacriledge than to rob God of his Power to convert us, or at least to let him go but as a sharer with as therein? When, as to the first Act of our Conversion, we are as purely [Page 307] passive as to that of our Creation or Re­surrection. We cannot create our selves, and, being dead in trespasses and sins, no more raise up our selves to a spiritual, than to a natural life: No, God must convert us, that we may be converted: Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned, says the Prophet Jeremy, Lament. 5. 21. & Jer. 31. 18. Nay, The very preparations of the heart in Man are from the Lord, says Solomon, Prov. 16. 1. And, It is God who worketh in us both to will and to doe, says St. Paul, Phil. 2. 13. We cannot come to Christ, except the Fa­ther draw us, Joh. 6. 44. Nor when we are drawn to Him, doe any thing with­out Him; Himself plainly telling us so, Joh. 15. 5. Without me ye can doe nothing; He does not say a little, but nothing. God must prevent and follow us with his Grace, plant good inclinations in us, and nurse them up too. He hath chosen us in Christ before the Foundation of the World, that we should be Holy, Ephes. 1. 4. not that we were so before he chose us. He chose us first too, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, Joh. 16. 15. 1 Joh. 4. 10. He chose us also out of his own love, and then loved us for [Page 308] his choice, and made us Holy by his very chusing us. No Prevision of our Faith or Good Works, but his own free Goodness and Mercy determined his choice; He found us not meet to par­take of the Inheritance, but made us so, says the Text; Could we make our selves meet, we might thank our selves and not the Father, as the Apostle here exhorts the Corinthians and us to do, in the last place.

Giving thanks to the Father, or, as some Translations have it, To God the Father. God is content we should have the Benefit upon this easie and pleasant condition, that we give Him the glory of his Bles­sings. And surely he that grudgeth Him so little for so much, deserves not the con­tinuance, much less the increase of any of them. Still to partake of the streams of the divine Bounty, and never to bless, not so much as to mind the Fountain; still to be receiving and never returning, argues an ingratitude as void of all In­genuity as of Piety. Rivers pay their Tribute to that Ocean from whence they flow, unto the place from whence they come, thither they return, Eccles. 1. 7. Nature teaching us to make our Returns thither, from whence we derive [Page 309] our Benefits. Praise and Thanksgivings are the Reflection of God's glory upon Himself; the constant employment of Saints in Heaven, and most becoming those on Earth, who hope to share with them in their Inheritance; so that of all others it becometh most the Just to be thankfull, Psal. 33. 1. And indeed it is not only a becoming thing, a piece of De­cency this, but of Justice. For Thanks are a Debt we must always be paying to God; A Rent our great Landlord re­quires and indents for, the omission whereof will forfeit our Tenure. Offer unto God thanksgiving—and call upon me in the time of trouble; so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise me, Psal. 50. 14, 15. But then let us be sure to be thankfull to Him, and to none besides Him, since He is the only Author of all our Good. For to misplace our Thanks here, would be as bad as to deny them; Nay, to pay this our Rent to a wrong Landlord, worse than not to pay it at all to the right one. God will by no means give this his Glory to another, nor suffer any to share with Him in our Thanks, since from Him alone we receive All those Thanks are due for. We must then give [Page 310] them to God alone, and to God the Fa­ther, as some Translations have it; not excluding the other Persons in the Tri­nity, but chiefly directing our Thanks to Him; who as He is the Fountain of the Deity, and of all operations in the Divine Nature, so of all our gifts and graces too, Every good and every perfect gift (whether of Nature, Grace or Glo­ry) coming down to us from the Father of lights, Jam. 1. 17. especially the In­heritance in light, which is so peculiarly his gift, that our Saviour appropriates it to Him, telling his Apostles, Mat. 20. 23. That it is not his to give, but the Father's. Hence that Blessing of St. Paul, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ, Ephes. 1. 3. directing his Thanks to Him as the Original of all our Blessings, whe­ther Temporal or Spiritual. Now of these two sorts, the latter being far the greatest, our Thanks for them ought to be so too. We are to thank God then, 1. That He hath made us partakers, and 2. meet partakers of the Inheritance in light. First I say, That He hath made us partakers of so glorious an Inheritance [Page 311] as that in light, it being nothing less than his very self, who is Essential 1 Joh. 1. 5. light, and who dwelleth in that light, which no Man can approach unto, 1 Tim. 6. 16. A rich and a glorious Inheritance indeed, fit Eph. 1. 18. for the Majesty and Mercy of an Al­mighty God to bestow, the unvaluable Bloud of his Son to purchase, and the dearly beloved of his Soul to enjoy. How thankfull ought we then to be for be­ing made partakers of such an Inheri­tance, as is as far above those here be­low, as Heaven is above the Earth, or God above All things! But this is not All. We are in the second place to thank God the Father for making us meet partakers thereof, which is a greater Blessing than we are aware of. We would fain have the Inheritance at any rate, but we consider not whether we be fit for it or no; and if we be not, Heaven it self will be no place of Hap­piness to us, nor shall we take pleasure therein. For Pleasure being nothing else but the suitableness of the Object to the Faculty, (because things agreeable alone can agree together,) then what satis­faction should we find in Heaven, while our selves were altogether Earthly? [Page 312] Light is a pleasant thing to an Eye pre­pared for, and that can bear it; not to that of a Bat or of an Owl, nor to that of a Man that should suddenly be brought into it out of a dark Dungeon; it would rather blind his Eyes than delight them. And what would the Inheritance in light be to a Child of Darkness, but as the pleasure of a rational Man is to a Beast, or of an Intelligence to a bruitish Man? He who is wholly taken up with Sensual Objects, and so unacquainted with Intellectual, rests there and seeks no farther. Tell a Mahumetan of such a Heaven as the Gospel describes, and you may then make him fall in love with that place; when you can per­suade a Hog to leave his Stye for a Pa­lace; or that to lye in perfumes, were better for him than to wallow in the mire. What a Transcendent blessing then is it, and how thankfull ought we to be to God for it, that He makes us meet for the Inheritance above, in order to our better partaking of it; that He gives us his Grace here as a preparative to Glory hereafter; makes us Holy in this life, that we may be capable of being Happy in the next; his Goodness being not [Page 313] more conspicuous in the reward He de­signs us, than in the manner of bestow­ing it; in giving us a Crown of Glory, than in fitting our Heads for it? 'Tis a greater honour to be accounted worthy of it, than to wear it; As Vertue is be­yond a Title, and a Man more than a Place.

And now since our lot is fallen unto Psal. 16. 7. us in so fair a ground, and that we have so goodly a Heritage, let us highly va­lue it; make it our chief Treasure, that our Hearts may still be there, where we have such a glorious Inheritance laid up for us, and such an indefeisible Estate, as shall never be either in another's power to defeat us of, or in our own to lose when once possest of. How do we va­lue our Earthly Inheritances! How dear are they to us! How loth are we to part with them! The Lord forbid it me that I should give the Inheritance of my Fa­thers unto thee, said Naboth to Ahab, when he would have wrested it from him, 1 King. 21. 3. And yet this being but an Earthly Inheritance, whereas ours is an Heavenly; He chose rather to part with his Life, than with the Inheritance of his Fathers; and we are willing to [Page 314] part with the Inheritance of the Saints in light for nothing, to sell our spiritual Birthright with profane Esau, for a mess of Pottage, while every trifling Argument shall make us disbelieve, and every tri­fling Lust make us forfeit it. Is the price of Christ's bloud, the purchase he has made for us of an Eternal Inheri­tance, become so cheap unto us in com­parison of those uncertain perishing ones which the malice of Men can, and death in a very short time will be sure to strip us of, so subject to alteration and de­cay, so polluted and defiled? The Inhe­ritance of the Saints in light is by St. Pe­ter described by three such properties so peculiar to it, that they are not to be found in worldly ones. He tells us, 1 Pet. 1. 4. That 'tis an Inheritance incor­ruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not a­way. Now, 1. Worldly Inheritances, even Kingdoms are Transitory, whereas that of Heaven cannot be moved, Heb. 12. 28. Estates here shift their Landlords; what is one Man's to day, is another's to morrow; nay, all the evidence Men have of their Estates here, shall one day be burnt with the World, and be made void at the Day of Judgment. And yet [Page 315] how do they call their Lands after their Psal. 49. 11. own names, when those names and those very lands that are called after them, shall perish together; when they who are Owners of them shall one day be­come part of their own lands, retain no­thing of all their Possessions but Graves, and in a short time scarce be distin­guished from that Earth wherein they were buried. 2. Again, Should Inheri­tances here be continued to their Own­ers never so long, yet are they fading, still losing their beauty, verdure and lu­stre; there is some moth or canker that continually frets, and at last eats them up. But in Heaven, as we shall have an Incorruptible so an Immarcessible Crown; 1 Cor. 9. 25. Not like Olympick ones, of Bays or Herbs, which immediately withered, even on the heads of those that wore them, but always fresh and green. 3. Lastly, Worldly Inheritances are so far from being undefiled, that their Owners may well blush when they consider how many times they come by them; with how much sin Them­selves enjoy, and Others, to whom they must leave, shall spend them. Yet as pitifull things as they are, how thank­full [Page 316] are we to those who bequeath them to us! And if we think we have reason to be so to Men for such mean Inheri­tances, how much more ought we to be to our Heavenly Father for this In­heritance in light? Now since we can­not be thankfull to him for an Inheri­tance which we are not well assured does belong unto us, it will concern us here to try and secure our Evidence; and for that we need go no farther than the Text. If, as that tells us, it be an Inhe­ritance of Saints, and an Inheritance in light, what Right or Title can we pre­tend to it without being our selves Saints and Children of the light? And if, as St. Peter hath described it, it be an In­heritance incorruptible and undefiled, how can we hope to partake of it, unless our Corruptible even here put on Incorruption, and we endeavour to be pure, as God, who is our Inheritance, is pure? 1 Joh. 3. 3. Heaven is no place for the pol­luted. Into the Heavenly Jerusalem shall in no wise enter any thing that defileth, or is defiled, Revel. 21. 27. Nor will Christ receive any into his Kingdom but whom He shall find, when He cometh, without spot and blameless, 2 Pet. 3. 9. [Page 317] If these things be found in us, Inno­cence, Vertue and Holiness of Life, an entrance shall then be ministred unto us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 1. 11. And so when St. Peter bids us give diligence to make our calling and election sure, 1 Pet. 1. 10. He shews us the way how to doe so, and that is by adding to our faith vertue, and to vertue knowledge, and so on, verses 5, 6, 7. by practising the Vertues of the Moral Law there set down. These are the clear Evidences of the Inheri­tance in light, as well as the means to attain it; which we are to find in our selves continually, and to clear up, still fearing lest any of us come short of our Inheritance, Heb. 4. 1. If we doe these things, we shall never fall. Let our 2 Pet. 1. 10. Inheritance be as sure as God can make it, yet is it not sure to us, till our Consciences can bear us witness that we are the Children of God by obeying our Heavenly Father.

And since he has provided such a glorious Estate for those that doe so, how ought we to despise those poor [Page 318] Inheritances He allots us here below, in comparison of what He prepares for us above? How willing to part with those for that, when He requires it, and we cannot keep both? Heaven will make up all our losses here; it will pay for all at last. And this is the main Argument the Apostle useth here to persuade the Colossians unto all pati­ence Ver. 11. and long-suffering with joyfulness, in the precedent Verse, because by out­ward afflictions God did make them meet to be partakers of such an Inheri­tance in light, as could not be taken from them, as their Earthly Ones dai­ly were by Heathens, Tyrants and Oppressors; That, with other Saints of God, they should take joyfully the Heb. 4. 34. spoiling of their goods, knowing in them­selves that they had in Heaven a better and an enduring substance. Lastly, As God the Father first makes us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light; so when he has once made us meet by his Grace, let us en­deavour, by the assistance of that Grace, still to make our selves meet­er, always blessing and thanking him [Page 319] as for all sorts of Blessings he bestows upon us, so in an especial manner for this in the Text, for the blessed hope and assurance he gives his Saints of partaking one day of such an Inheri­tance, as is All Blessedness. Here He crumbles his Blessings unto us, we have them here by Retail; In Heaven we shall have them all in a lump, and that for ever: All the satisfactions and en­joyments of this present life are so thin, empty and comfortless, that we have need of patience to be able to endure them. The Prophet David found them so; and had He not had a prospect of far better things, as a Cor­dial to cheer up and enliven his Heart, it would quite have failed him; I should utterly have fainted, but that I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, Psal. 27. 15. Let this Faith bear up our drooping spirits, as it did his; And let our Thoughts continually dwell on Hea­ven, and on the Happiness we shall there enjoy, when we shall come into the City of the living God, the Heaven­ly Jerusalem; to an innumerable Company [Page 320] of Angels; to the general Assembly and Church of the first-born, which are writ­ten in Heaven; and to God the Judge of All, and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect, who now partake of the Inhe­ritance in light: To which blessed So­ciety God bring us all, Amen.

Soli Deo gloria in aeternum.

THE main design of Satan, as it hath ever been the same to ruin the Church of God; so his arts and methods to compass it have been various and different. Sometimes he hath endeavoured to destroy her by force, otherwhiles to undermine her by subtlety. His first attempt was to crush her in the Birth; and the second Man that ere was born, dy'd a Martyr. Ever since, the Church has been an Achel­dama, [Page 322] a Field of Bloud, and its Kalen­dar markt all along with Red letters; the profession of truth having still been fatal as to its Author, so to all his fol­lowers in succeeding Ages; distinguish­able not so much by the several Reigns of Heathen Emperors, as those various storms that in their times have fallen upon Christians.

2. But as these storms were ever blown away by the breath of God, and Satan, by strictly winnowing the Church, gat nothing thereby but his own tares; when he saw that Phoenix grew fruitfull from her own ashes, and the fertile bloud of her Martyrs did but bring her in a larger harvest of Proselytes: He then shifted the Scene, laid aside those terrible Arguments of Racks and Gib­bets to compell Men to come into his Kingdom, and took up other more plausible and insinuative, the allure­ments and blandishments of this World to baffle them out of the rewards of a­nother, thinking by out-bidding Christ to gain a more numerous party to him­self; wherein how successfull he has been, the frequent Apostasies of Men in all Ages do abundantly testifie.

[Page 323]3. Lastly, As he met with some of a stouter and wiser temper than to be prevail'd on by either of these Methods, Men not to be beaten off from their Profession by threats, nor drawn away from it by such mean hopes as this World could afford them; His subtlest policy has been to work upon their Judgments, to deprave their Understan­dings, by poysoning the very Fountains of Knowledge, the Scriptures. To which end he made choice of corrupt Teachers as the most proper Engines, who un­der pretence of greater light and stricter severity, might easily beguile unstable Souls; and by speaking perverse things, Act 20. 30. draw Disciples after them.

Such were the false Prophets menti­on'd in the precedent Verse, of whom our Saviour bids us beware, as the most dangerous Enemies of the Gospel; and by so much the more dangerous, by how much the more sly and cun­ning; who since they should come in their Sheep's-cloathing, in the disguise and with the taking pretences of Inno­cence and Meekness, when inwardly they were ravning Wolves, full of Hy­pocrisie, Malice and Cruelty, he gives [Page 324] us here a badge or cognizance whereby to distinguish them; Ye shall know them by their fruits.

Our Saviour speaks here in general of false Prophets, and by them, no doubt, principally designs all such cun­ning Seducers, as should in process of time pervert the Truth of the Gospel, by introducing damnable Heresies into the Christian Church; yet so as to glance at the Scribes and Pharisees, who by their false Doctrines and Glosses had corrupted the Mosaical Law, as he shows they did all along, ch. 5. expresly na­ming them there, ver. 20. and not ob­scurely describing them here by their Sheep's-cloathing, the ordinary habit of the true Prophets in the time of the Law, and abus'd by these false ones, who had nothing of those Prophets but their Mantle.

Accordingly I shall consider these words in a twofold Capacity; First, As they relate to all false Prophets in gene­ral; And, secondly, as they concern the Scribes and Pharisees, and their Succes­sors in particular. And so the Parts will fall out to be three.

• [Page 325]1. That notwithstanding all their paint and daub, false Prophets are to be found out by the true Disciples of Christ; Ye shall know them.
• 2. That the proper marks or signs, whereby to distinguish them, are their fruits; Ye shall know them by their fruits. This for the Doctrinal part.
• 3. The third thing shall be the Ap­plication of it; where, after some re­flexion on the Scribes and Pharisees here pointed at, I shall endeavour to show you, how far their Modern Successors may be concern'd in their imitation, which I suppose will bring all home to our present occasion.

I begin with the first thing proposed, The discovery of False Prophets, Ye shall know them.

That the Church of God has ever Part. I. been pester'd with False Prophets, and shall still be so to the end of the World, we learn from 2 Pet. 2. 1. There were false Prophets among the People, even as there shall be false Teachers among you. A Prophecy sufficiently verified by the constant experience of former and lat­ter [Page 326] Ages; God in his most wise Provi­dence so permitting it, partly for the 1 Cor. 11. 13. Deut. 13. 3. 2 Thess. 2. 10. Esay 29. 13, 14. tryal of men's Faith; partly in his just Judgment on those who love not the Truth; and partly for the clearing of that Truth, by that very opposition that should be made against it. For these and the like reasons, as the Scrip­ture plainly tells us, there must be He­resies; so does it at the same time as­sure us, that they may easily be disco­vered, if we will but make use of that reason God has given us. I know there are who can by no means endure to have their Opinions sifted, nor their Authority questioned; but they are the false Prophets of the Text. Unsound Doctrines can no more endure the touch, than false Wares the light. Their Sacra Eleusinia, Mysteries of Iniquity, are ve­nerable only by not being understood; like the Turkish Alcoran, they must not be lookt into; because the very disco­very of such fallacies is their confuta­tion. Wherein the prudence of Romish Inquisitors is to be commended, like that of the unjust Steward, though not their honesty; Nor can I blame them for not allowing Men the use of so dan­gerous [Page 327] a weapon as their Reason. But our Faith is not to be pinn'd on others sleeves, be they never so great or learn­ed; nor are we to see with other men's Eyes, be they never so quick-sighted. Our blessed Lord having taught us to call no man Master on Earth but Himself; Mat. 23. 10 we must wholly resign up our Under­standings to Him, to others no farther than our Reason tells us they submit to his. And such a judgment of discretion cannot be deny'd the meanest Christi­an, without plainly contradicting those Scriptures which exact it. St. John bids 1 Joh. 4. 1. us try the spirits, and St. Paul prove all 1 Thess. 5. 21. things. Himself appeals to other judg­ment; I speak as to wise men, judge ye 1 Cor. 10. 15. what I say: And the practice of this Duty is commended in the Beraeans, in that they searched the Scriptures whe­ther Act. 17. 11. those things were so, as the Apostles preacht, although they were assisted by an infallible Spirit. And this is no more than what sober Reason will al­low. For as we are not to condemn all Opinions of Men, because there may be Truth among them; so neither to approve all, because some must needs be false; The danger being equal of [Page 328] swallowing all by a blind credulity, or rejecting all by a rash precipitancy. If we reject all, we shall never be in the right; and if we embrace all promiscu­ously, to be sure shall ever be in the wrong. Therefore unless we will ex­pose our selves to an inevitable necessity of an eternal delusion, we must not be debarr'd such a sober exercise of our Un­derstandings as may enable us to distin­guish between the Doctrines of God and those of Men; it being impossible to know the false Prophets from the true, but by stripping them thus of their sheeps-cloathing.

But who shall know them? Our Lord here furnishes an Answer to this Question, Ye shall know them. Ye, my Joh. 7. 17. Disciples, Ye that doe my will, shall know of the doctrine, and judge of those that bring it. There is a strong Emphasis in this Pronoun, Ye. If so many be mis­led by false Prophets, 'tis a clear Argu­ment, that they are none of Christ's Discipiles. Nor is it strange that all o­thers should be imposed on. For while some are naturally ignorant, and can­not; others are wilfully negligent, and care not to try what is offered them by [Page 329] any hand (frighted from an Enquiry either by the imaginary difficulty or trouble of it) either unable to judge what is true, or desirous for their ease to imbrace any thing, be it never so false; Again, while a third sort are of so squea­zy a stomach, that they cannot digest any thing but what suits with their car­nal appetite, nor relish any Doctrine, but what makes for the interest of that Flesh they are enslaved to: 'Tis easie to see why they are so obnoxious to the attempts of those who lie in wait to de­ceive them, and by working on their natural or affected ignorance; or, which is worse, their vices, blow them like glass into any shape or form at the plea­sure of their breath. Nothing is so na­tural to all men as to err; and nothing more common than for most men to be deceived, especially when themselves are so willing, and God in his just judgment suffers them to be so, sending them strong 2 Thess. 3. 10, 11. Rom. 1. 28. Heb. 13. 9. delusions, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they should believe a lie; and delivering them up to those whose interest it is still to keep them in it, and whose business, to beguile un­stable Souls that have no ballast in them; [Page 330] Their Proselytes being usually such as are weak or loose, men that have lost Mat. 24. 5. either their reason or their conscience.

This being the condition of the grea­test part of mankind (to be blinded with ignorance or prejudice against the Truth, and of corrupt lives) no marvel if they be so easily deluded by those who come with all deceiveableness of unrighte­ousness, with their [...] their slight of Eph. 4. 14. hand and cunning craftiness, creeping first into men's houses, and then into their hearts and affections, dazling the eyes of such silly people with glittering pre­tences of stricter severities, with a Col. 2. 18. shew of wisedom, and neglect of the body, of self-denial, rigorous observan­ces 1 Tim. 6. 20. and mortifications, of notions of a higher and sublimer strain, oppositions of science falsly so called, that puzzle their own and others understandings, 1 Pet. 2. 18. and of greater favour and liberty to na­ture, while they promise liberty, and allure through the Lusts of the flesh and a thousand such artifices; No marvel, I say, if every one has not wit enough to dis­cover such gaudy impostures, nor grace to withstand them. These are disguises able to deceive, if it were possible, the [Page 331] very Elect. But that they shall not, we have our Saviour's warrant for it, Matt. 24. 24. The gates of hell shall never fi­nally prevail against the Church nor the true Members of it. Their eyes can see through the sheeps-cloathing, and pierce into that corruption which lies under the painted sepulchres. In vain is the Net spread in the sight of these Birds, not to be caught with such chaff. Ad populum phaleras, Christ's Disciples will soon smell out a Cheat be it never so well laid, these Children of light being in their generation not be outwitted by the children of this world. They will not dance after every Seducer's pipe, nor be charmed by every Siren, charm he never so wisely. Christ's Sheep are rational, and will not follow a Stranger. They are all taught of God, and have Joh. 10. 5. 6. 45. 1 Joh. 2. 27. an Unction from above which teaches them all things, to discover errour and truth, that they may avoid the one and embrace the other. True indeed, the 1 Cor. 12. 10. Apostles had a more extraordinary gift of discerning Spirits than others had, and St. John, upon the very sight of a Cerinthus, could immediately pronounce him Satan's First-born: But every true [Page 332] Disciple of Christ has as infallible a light V. Aquin. 22. Qu. 8. Art. 4. to guide him, which is a holy prudence, and a sanctified reason, that is, as the Apostle phrases it, senses exercized to Heb. 5. 14. 1 Cor. 2. 15. discern good from evil. Let him then make use of these, and they will safely direct him in his choice; nor will the Spirit of God be wanting to him, if he be not wanting to himself. Should an Angel from Heaven object against the Gal. 1. 8, 9. truth, he would not yield to him; or, Should an Angel of darkness transform himself into an Angel of light, his own natural ugliness would soon betray him at last to the eye of a Disciple of Christ, and his noisome stench to his Nose. Sa­tan and all his Minsters have a cloven foot that will shew them; Be their leaves never so glorious or flourishing, yet these trees shall be known by their fruits, which is the Second thing to be consi­dered.

By their Fruits]. Not by any secret Part. II. character of Reprobation nor mark of the Beast stampt on their foreheads, which some with the advantage of their Enthusiastical Spectacles can so plainly see, when they are invisible to all other [Page 333] men's eyes; not by the blossomes of good purposes, nor the thin fig-leaves of a hollow profession; (For Satan may Mark 5. 7. 16. 17. confess a Christ as well as a St. Peter, and Pirates may hang out the Flaggs of those Princes whose Subjects they in­tend to rob; every one can wear Christ's Livery, and none boast more of it than they who are the Devil's servants, as you may find these false prophets here did, v. 21, 22, 23.) 'Tis not by such signs as these then that we must know them, but by their fruits, i. e. by their doctrines, as some; by their practices, as others understand them; or rather in­deed, by both of them joined together, and so making up a full and complete Criterium, whereby to judge of them.

And, first, We may know them by their doctrines: For indeed these be the proper and genuine fruits of a Prophet; Nor can we better judge of the quality of a Messenger than by the nature of that message he delivers. They who make no other use of their being coun­ted Prophets, but to infuse higher de­grees of all kind of Piety and Charity, without doubt are sent from God (for the Devil would never help them to [Page 334] credit and reputation in the World, who should employ it only to the advance­ment of Piety.) On the other side, if their design be to infuse into their Fol­lowers seeds of impiety and injustice, of uncleanness and uncharitableness, of fedition and rebellion, be their preten­ces never so specious, or their behaviour never so fair, to be sure they are to be rankt among the false prophets. The wisedom that is from above, says S. James, Jam. 3. 15, 16, 17, 18. is first pure, then peaceable, easie to be in­treated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisie; whereas, that which descendeth not from above, is earthly, sensual and devilish; al­ways levelled at interest, lust, or pride. And therefore St. Paul yokes seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils, 1 Tim. 4. v. 1. To let us know that the latter is an infallible sign of the former. But here it may be objected; How can we know doctrines to be true or false? To this I answer, 1. Negatively; Not by the maxims of natural reason, which are so far from being infallible, that, if ex­tended beyond the sphere of Philoso­phy, for whose Meridian only they are calculated, they are for the most part de­fective, [Page 335] if not wholly false; stretch them never so far, they can never be adequate to those things which are to be believed, nor any foundation for a di­vine Faith, all assent wrought by them in the Soul being but opinion or science. Nor, 2. from Antiquity, which is so far from being a certain rule, that it can be no certain mark of Faith. Nor, 3. by the writings of learned men, which at best can never pretend to infallibi­lity, and being humane judgments, can make up no more but a humane testimony, and which can never ex­actly be known by all men, some ha­ving neither skill nor leisure to inquire, much less ability to find it out. 2. I answer Positively; That the Scripture is that which must direct us in our search for Truth; this alone being a Rule in it self infallible, as dictated by an infallible Spirit, in respect of us also clear and known, and in respect of doc­trines, to be examined, full and ade­quate: And to this we are sent by Mo­ses to judge of a Prophet, Deut. 13. 1, 2, 3. where though a Prophet should work Miracles, or foretell things to come, yet if he delivered any doctrine contrary to [Page 336] the Precepts of the Law, he was to be rejected. The very Rule St. Paul gives us too, 1 Tim. 6. 3. If any man teach o­therwise, or any other thing ( [...]) and consent not to wholsom words, Tit. 1. 1, 9. 2 Tim. 1. 13. 4. 3. even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing. So Gal. 1. 8, 9. Though we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached un­to you, let him be accursed. Here then is the Test all doctrines are to be brought to, viz. to the Written Word of God▪ to the Law and to the Testimony; we must weigh them all in the Balance of the Sanctuary, and judge of them by that Analogy and Proportion of Faith mentioned Rom. 12. 6. That form of doc­trine delivered, Rom. 6. 17. and of sound words, 2 Tim. 1. 13. That [...] the whole Body, as I may call it, of divine Truths, between the parts and members whereof there is an exact harmony; so that as in the natural body a member would become monstrous should it exceed its due pro­portion to the other its fellow members; if we carefully compare a doctrine con­cerning [Page 337] one Article with a truth concer­ning others, we may then exactly judge of the part by its symmetry and propor­tion to the whole. Where-ever then we find any doctrine either expresly contained in Scripture or deducible thence by necessary consequence and agreeing to the Analogy or Proportion of the Christian Faith, we may con­clude it is of God: if not, to be none of his. Every spirit that confesseth not 1 Joh. 4. 3. that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, (that denies his Incarnation or his Go­spel) is not of God; no more than that doctrine can be, which tends to the draw­ing us off from Christ, and the promoting the interest of Sin and Satan; and they who bring any such doctrine are infalli­bly Satan's Emissaries, not Christ's A­postles; Their very Speech bewrayeth them, and we may easily distinguish them by their Shiboleth; Their corrupt and abominable doctrines will certainly tell us whom they belong to.

2. A Second sort of Fruits, whereby we are to distinguish false Prophets from true ones, are their corrupt practices, the natural issues of their corrupt doc­trines. Heresies are indeed properly sea­ted [Page 338] in the Understanding, and yet Saint Paul ranks them among the works of the Flesh, Gal. 5. 20. because they dispose us to, and ever determine in them. Men first dream, says St. Jude, Vers. 10. i. e. are intoxicated with their own fan­tastical and carnal opinions, and then defile the flesh; first cast off all obedi­ence to God, and then to men, by de­spising Dominions, and speaking evil of Dignities. It has therefore been a con­stant Observation, that most Hereticks have been Ill-livers; and the Scripture 1 Thes. 2. 5. 1 Tim. 6. 5. 2 Pet. 2. 3. 3 Joh. 9. Act. 20. 29. 2 Cor. 11. 13. 2 Tim. 3. 6. Jude v. 4. Esay 30. still brands them, where-ever it mentions them, sometimes with the Character of Boasters, otherwhiles of Flatters and Men­pleasers; sometimes representing them as Self-seekers, and doing all for filthy lucres sake; at other times, as ambitious and af­fecting pre-eminence; sometimes cruel as Wolves; and sometimes subtle and in­sinuative as Serpents, working upon the weakness of silly People laden with ini­quity, 2 Pet. 2. 3. as Satan did on Eve, and soothing them in their Corruptions, to keep them fast and maintain a Party, being full of Jude v. 8. all impurity themselves, notwithstand­ing all their braggs of extraordinary light and sanctity, such as the Scripture [Page 339] describes the Gnosticks to be, who pro­fessing to know God (much better than Tit. 2. 16. all other Christians) did in works deny him, and were abominable, disobedient, and to every good work reprobate. 'Tis true indeed, that the first addresses of false prophets are usually made with all the semblances and exterior appearances of holiness; but those appearances prove no better at last than fantastical illusi­ons; like false meteors, which after a lit­tle blaze usually expire in a stench. Ne­mo potest diu personam ferre. Those vi­zards Seducers put on either fall off of themselves, or are so transparent, that every prying eye may see through them. The sheeps-cloathing is too thin a veil to conceal the Wolf, though he wrap himself up never so close in it. The very affectation of Sanctity ren­ders the pretenders to it suspected; and their too much subtlety oft betrays them, nothing being so gross and pal­pable as too curious a disguise. Truth as it is always constant to it self, the same yesterday, to day, and for ever; so are they who teach and follow it. Their lives will still be answerable to their Principles, and we shall seldom or [Page 340] never find them halting. They are no wandring Planets, but fixt Stars, that know no excentrick motions. 'Tis not so with them who have but the form of godliness; These wax worse and worse, and 2 Tim. 3. 9, 13. their folly will at last be made manifest to all men who have but any common rea­son and prudence to try them. Their gol­den heads are supported by feet of clay; If they seem to begin in the Spirit, they end in the Flesh. Sometimes you shall find them stooping low, but 'tis to mount the higher; at other times soa­ring high, but if you follow them with your eye, you shall quickly see them lighting on some carrion. Their pre­tence is Zeal, but their design Gain; God is in their mouths, and Diana▪ in their hearts. Notwithstanding all their feigned mortifications and abstinences, 'tis their Belly they serve, and not Christ. Observe then their carriage all along; This truly speaks a man, and what he does and does constantly, to be sure, That he is. For though every bad act denominates not a Sinner (as we are not to call Noah a Drunkard, because he was once overtaken with Wine) yet a bad habit does. Some withered or bla­sted [Page 341] fruit may possibly be found on a good tree; but that must needs be a bad one which constantly yields bad fruit. Here then is the tryal of a false Prophet; and therefore the Pharisees themselves did not argue amiss, Joh. 9. 16. This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath-day. The Proposition was sound, had they not mistaken themselves in the Assumption. He that keepeth not the Sabbath is not of God. We may safely reason in like manner; He that transgresseth Christ's Law, can never be a true Disciple of his, no more than he who teaches men to doe so, his true Apostle.

But because each of these fruits dis­tinctly considered may prove but a par­tial and incomplete Rule whereby to judge of men, according to that of Se­neca, De toto, non de partibus, judican­dum; Let us put both together, and we shall be sure then not to be mistaken. The doctrines and practices of men in conjunction will prove a true glass to shew them in; But take them apart, and each of them may perhaps misre­present them. For as a false Prophet does not always deliver false doctrine, [Page 342] but may sometimes speak well, though he doe ill (as the Scribes and Pharisees Mat. 23. 2, 3. when they kept to the Law of Moses were to be listned to, though not to be imitated) so neither does every true one always deliver true doctrine: The best, being fallible in their judgment, may themselves be deceived, and con­sequently deceive others who rely too much upon them. On the other side we know that, as many false Prophets may act their part so well that many times we may take them for true; so they who are really true ones, by reason of those failings which are incident to men, may possibly sometimes be mista­ken for false ones. 'Tis the constant aim then of men's doctrines and their setled habitual course of life which must give us a clear sight and judgment of them. They who break God's commandments, and teach men to doe so, and that con­stantly, can never be other than false Prophets; since Faith and a good Con­science cannot possibly be parted. 1 Tim. 1. 19.

And now, having explain'd our Sa­viour's Rule, give me leave to apply it in the first place to the Scribes and [Page 343] Pharisees, and in the next, to those who are their genuine Successors; The last and main thing I purpose to insist on, and wherein I must bespeak your far­ther patience and attention.

We find the Scribes and Pharisees yoakt all along in the New Testa­ment, and their principles and practi­ces agreed well. All the difference be­tween them was but this, That the for­mer were more Textual, and the later Luk. 11. 45. more Traditional; Those were, as I may term them, the Schoolmen; These the Casuists; Each of them in high esteem among the People. But the Pharisees were ever reputed the strictest and most exquisite Sect, not only by the genera­lity of the Jews, but by St. Paul also, who was himself both the Act. 26. 5. Phil. 3. 5. Son, and the Act. 23. 6. Disciple of a Pharisee, and seems to give it the Act. 5. advantage and preceden­cy to all other Sects among the Jews, as Tract. de vita sua. Josephus also does, as well for Lear­ning as Piety, [...] That for exactness in all points they exceeded all others whatsoever.

[Page 344]Now these men, by the opinion all had of their great skill in the Law, and their exemplary holiness, had ▪so be­witch'd the hearts of the Jews, that there was no holy man amongst them which was not termed a Pharisee, and they seem'd to have so ingross'd all pi­ety to themselves, that it became a fa­miliar proverb and unquestionable truth among the People, That if the many mansions of heaven could allow quarter but to two Tenants, The one must be a Scribe, and the other a Pharisee. And as it can­not be deny'd but that in some things they expounded the Law not amiss, (since our Saviour grants it, Matth. 23. 2, 3.) so on the other side 'tis certain, that they were very strict Observers of the Letter, and to all appearance of the Duty of it; For they prayed often, fasted twice a week at least; yea, their very meals were abstinences, and their outward mortifications might vye with those of Baal's Priests or the severest Flagellants. No men were more exact in their Tithes; if God would have a Luk. 18. 12 Sabbath kept, they over-keep it; if he commanded the wearing of Philacteries, they will enlarge them. These and ma­ny [Page 345] the like I might instance in, which they observed even to Superstition; so that, as St. Paul speaks of himself when he was one of them, touching the righ­teousness Phil. 3. 6. which is in the law they were so blameless, that they were not liable to any humane exception.

And yet all this was but the sheeps-cloa­thing, the Wolves are still behind, and you may discover them by their Prin­ciples and Practices, both soured with the leaven of Hypocrisie which leavened their whole lump, and is so rank and strong, that you may easily both taste and smell it. I shall give a sey of each, and that briefly. And,

1. Of their Principles and the drift of them. Among which their Traditi­ons shall lead the Van. God had for­bidden to add or diminish ought from his Law, Deut. 4. 2. And they did both, embase the pure metal of his Word by the alchimy of their brass and leaden Commentaries, or clip his Coin by un­justifiable Defalcations. This was their Cabala or Talmud, those [...], or fantastical suppliments of their Doctors, whereby they would needs fill up those gaps which they found in the Mosaical [Page 346] Law, and teach the Almighty a better way of worshipping Him than Himself could prescribe, as if that rule He had given them had been too scant a mea­sure for their overgrown devotion; And hence our Saviour plainly tells them, That they transgressed the commandments of God, teaching for doctrins the command­ments of men, Mat. 15. 3, 9.

2. A second Principle of these Rabbi's was, That the due observation of the Law consisted in a bare external obedi­ence thereunto (the opus operatum) and that the forbearance of an actual Com­mission was a full compliance with all the negative Precepts thereof: So that, in the Pharisees account, to be a just or an innocent man was no higher a per­fection than what Seneca condemns, Ad legem bonum esse, and that which a Hea­then would not grant sufficient to make a man honest in the sight of men, was enough, in their reason, to render him upright in the sight of God. And that this was their conceipt of the Na­ture of obedience appears by those ma­ny false Glosses our Lord confutes, ch. 5. For instance, God's Law inhibited Mur­ther, the Pharisees confin'd it to the [Page 347] hand, and Christ extends it to the heart and tongue. The act of Adultery with Mat. 5. 21, 22. them was the only Crime, whereas Christ makes the very eye and thought v. 27, 28. guilty. In a word, All obedience in their accompt was no more than what the Magistrate would be satisfied with; it laid no restraint on the heart, but on­ly on the outward members, consisting, as they shap'd it, in a bare Omission of such things as humane justice could take cognizance of, or a forc'd compliance with the Letter of the Law, whether the mind or conscience were concerned in it or no; A principle which serv'd to render men cautious, rather than truly good, and to advance formality and hy­pocrisie.

3. And as this was their conceipt of the Nature, so did they entertain ano­ther as false concerning the Merit of their obedience. For we find him in the Gospel giving in to God a swelling Catalogue of his own seeming vertues in an Eucharistical boasting, Lord, I Luk. 16. 15. 18. 9. Mat. 9. 12, 13. thank thee. Remission of sins was a thing a Pharisee stood not in need of, who could not only fulfill the Law, but exceed it. Which legal Righteousness [Page 348] of theirs St. Paul hath taken great pains to beat down, but could never beat the Pharisee off from it, who was not con­tent to stand upon equal terms, unless he might have the advantage of his Maker.

4. A fourth strange opinion of theirs was, a fancy they had of a temporal flourishing Messiah, which serv'd to pro­mote their carnal ambition by filling their heads with designs of worldly grandeur, and begetting a contempt in them of and hatred to all other Nati­ons, while they look'd upon themselves as the only true Subjects of their mis­shapen Messiah, and on all others as Rebels to Him, and consequently such as they were obliged to persecute with Fire and Sword, and by force of Arms to compel to come into his kingdom, and so to prepare the way of the Lord, (as we see our modern Chiliasts have attempted,) hating all foreign Princes as Usurpers, and deeming it no better than a sinfull Vassalage, to stoop to a Heathen Sceptre; and dispensing with their oaths and obligations upon the ac­compt of their Religion and Customs: which was the ground of their frequent [Page 349] Rebellions, especially against the Ro­man Emperors, and of the final Ruine of their State and Religion.

I might here give you in a larger Ca­talogue of other their erroneous doctrins; Concerning their over-strict observati­on of the Sabbath; Of an Astronomi­cal Destiny and Fatality held by them; Of Vows of Continency, though not Mat. 16. 14 perpetual; Of the necessity of Washing Cups and Pots, with a farrago of more ridiculous and burthensome Ceremonies, as Abstaining from certain kinds of Meats as naturally unclean, though God himself had not prohibited the use of them; and many such like Foppe­ries their Talmud is stuff'd with, which is nothing else but a Shop and Legend of such Impertinences. But by those main doctrines I have mentioned, and which are indeed of the very essence and constitution of a Pharisee, 'tis easie to discover their design and drift, how full of impiety they were, tending to the disparaging of God's Laws and the weak­ning of that Obedience which was due to them and men's too, and to the fo­menting of hypocrisie, superstition and [Page 350] rebellion; the natural conclusions of such false and dangerous premises.

2. Nor did their Actions bely their Matt. 23. Principles; If we look into their carri­age, we shall find there nothing but Hypocrisie, a mere form of godliness, Luk. 11. 27 without the power of it. Painted Sepul­chres they were, offering to the pur­blind view of men the scum and out­side of their nobility and merit in the large characters of Marble Statues, He­raldry and Epitaphs, while they enter­tained the all-piercing eye of God with the nasty prospect of a Charnel-house. For such they were, cramm'd with the bodies of those martyr'd Prophets whose bones they so hypocritically enshrin'd. Bodily worship (which is but the rinde and bark of Religion) was the main of the Pharisees sanctity, which usually concluded like the Turkish Lents after Mat. 6. 16. 2. 5. 23. 23, 24. the vizarded austerity of a few spare hours in nightly Bacchanals. They would not fast without a smeared or disfigured Face, nor give alms without a Trumpet, 19. 13. nor pray without Witnesses and vain re­petitions. Strict observers they were of the mint and cummin, and as great neg­lectors [Page 351] of the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy and truth. They could strain at a Gnat, and swallow a Camel; were so much for Sacrifice, that they neglected Charity; observed the Sab­bath, Matt. 12. but had no Love; laying heavy loads on others, which themselves would not touch with one of their fingers. God Deut. 6. had charged them to bind the Law to their hand and before their eyes, mean­ing thereby the meditation and practice of it; and they extended the dimensi­ons of their Philacteries to fill the ga­zing eyes of the People, bearing them not in their hearts and lives, but in their foreheads, hands, and heels also, as whipt and branded Malefactors have no more of Law than what is legible in red let­ters of Justice on their backs or fists. In a word, all they aimed at in their works of Charity was, to be seen, and Mat. 6. 1, 2, 3. 15. 8. get glory of men, to make clean the out­side of the platter, and draw near unto God with their lips, when their hearts were far from him.

This is the description our Saviour gives of their Hypocrisie; Nor was their Ambition less in affecting the Title of [Page 352] Rabbi's, and greeting in the markets, the Matt. 23. Luk. 16. 7. 20. 46. highest seats in the Synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts. This was their carnal; and their spiritual Pride, which is worse, was as great, while their enthron'd righteous­ness lookt down on the integrity of all the World besides as its footstool. They were not as other men; true indeed, for they were much worse, for this very reason, because they thought themselves so much better. And upon this accompt they avoided all communication with any but those of their own Tribe. They Mat. 9. 11, 12, 13. would not board with a Samaritan or a Publican, falling foul with Christ for ta­sting of their bread (a crime as bad with them as to eat Swines-flesh) herein shew­ing themselves the true Successors of those in the Prophet Esay, 65. 5. whose Motto 'twas, Stand a-part, Come not near me, for I am holier than thou. And thus we find the Pharisee praying by himself, leaving the despised Publican in the ut­most Porch of the Peoples Court, whom he brands with the odious contemptible Mat. 7. 1, 3, 4. 11. 18, 19. name of This Publican, Uncharitableness being the natural brat of Pride, and none more ready to spy a mote in another's [Page 353] eye than he who has a beam in his own.

To their Hypocrisie and Pride, I may add their excessive Covetousness and Luk. 16. 14. Extortion charg'd upon them, which was so unsatiable, that their throat was an open Sepulchre, swallowing up whole Widows houses and the Estates of Or­phans, dress'd in the poynant Sawce of their owners Tears, and eaten with their leavened Bread of deceit in a traiterous Executorship. And what was their Cor­ban, but an art to fill their Treasury, by cheating Parents of their due upon the score of Religion? Or what were all their subtle arts to gain and uphold a Party, but Interest? Wherein their blind zeal and industry did vye with their policy, compassing Sea and Land to make Mat. 23. 15 but one Proselyte; who when they had made him such, would be sure to be twofold more the child of Hell than them­selves. As Renegadoes among the Turks exceed the Natural Turks in their hatred and malice to Christians, and for that reason have priviledges above the Na­tives. And indeed 'tis hard to say which was greater, their Malice or Cruelty, to those who refused to subscribe to such [Page 354] dictates as they Magisterially delivered Matth. 10. 16, 17. 23. 2. Joh. 12. 42. v. 10. Mat. 12. 24 & v. 38. ch. 16. 1. ch. 8. 11, 12 ch. 21. 33. v. 45, 46. Joh. 12. 42, 43. out of Moses's Chair, which were to be received as infallible Oracles. Of such invincible Incredulity too, that though they continually required Signs and Mi­racles, yet none, though as clear as light, could convince them; so far were they from believing Christ, that they were most jealous lest any others should doe so. Doe any of the Pharisees believe on him? Joh. 7. 48. Nay, Were there not many that durst not confess him, lest they should be cast out of their Synagogues? Thus would they neither enter into the kingdom of Heaven themselves, nor suffer others, who were willing to doe so; Taking away that key of knowledge, which might Luk. 11. 52 unlock the gate thereof, and hood­winking the people that they might not find their way thither, being very jealous lest Christ should shew it them, or the Multitudes run after any but themselves, every Proselyte of Christ's Joh. 12. 19. being an Apostate from them: And ac­cordingly they dealt with him; thrust­ing some out of their Synagogues, scour­ging others, contriving the death of a third, and finally of Christ himself; who as He was a Rock of Offence to them, [Page 355] so by falling on them at last, ground them to powder.

To conclude this point, (for 'twere endless to follow a Pharisee through all his windings and turnings) They were as great Boutefeus in their time, as Jesuits are in ours, sowing Sedition and Rebellion where-ever they went, espe­cially against the Romans, whom they Joh. 11. 48. most suspected and feared as those who would take away their place and na­tion, which at last they did, being en­raged by the frequent insurrection of the Jews whom the Pharisaical Zealots continually stirr'd up, as you may reade at large in Josephus.

Thus have I shown you the Pharisee, the grand Original, as I may so style him, of all succeeding False Prophets, pluckt off his vizard and his sheeps­cloathing, in this brief account I have now given you of his Doctrines and their Tendencies, together with his practical Commentary on his corrupt Text. 'Twere to be wisht that that Hypocrisie, which was the very soul and form of a Pharisee, had not by an unhappy kind of Transmigration pass'd into others. This spreading Leprosie, [Page 356] like the Jews themselves, is the Catho­lick plague of all other Sects too, and particularly of those many ones among us; so that that leaven or bread of fa­ces, grown stale in Jewry, is now be­come the ordinary Entertainment at an English Table. The Wolf, which by the care of our prudent Ancestors, has been long since banished, hath of late days, to our great annoyance, cross'd the Seas, and walkt uncontroll'd in the staple dress of the Land, our sheeps-cloathing. The difference between that of the an­cient and of our modern ones being on­ly this, That theirs was of a courser, and ours is of a finer-spun thread. Were they dress'd up in all manner of gaudy appearances, we out-shine them. Their Fringes were neither so long, nor their Phylacteries so broad. Our Pharisees out-doe them in Eyes lifted up to Hea­ven, in sowred Looks, whining Tones, seraphical Expressions and starcht Beha­viour. Our Principles are of a higher strain too. If they justled out God's Law with their Traditions, we quite extinguish the Gospel with our New Lights. Did they corrupt That with their Cabalistical Glosses, we wrest This [Page 357] to our own and others Damnation by our false and carnal Interpretations, ma­king it speak to Interest and Ambition. If they plac'd Religion in the Hand, we place it in the Ear, in those many Ser­mons we hear, but never practice, gad­ding after those corrupt Teachers we heap up to our selves. While Pharisees boast of their legal Righteousness, we quite cast off that and Evangelical too, being above the Ordinances of God; some among us making perfection to consist in sinning, and not being trou­bled at it; others by a contrary, but as bad an error, being so far from owning an Inherent Righteousness, that they make it wholly Imputative, crying up Faith even to the decrying of all good works, and making Christ's Cross a Ladder to get up to Heaven by, though they never climb one Round of it. Were ancient Pharisees so over-strict in keep­ing the Sabbath, some among us are as strict, even to the exclusion of Charity and Mercy. Wherein did their Stoical fatality differ from our absolute Decree? Or their Temporal conquering Messiah, from that which our Millenaries have shap'd to themselves? I dare say in [Page 358] these and many the like instances, our Christian Pharisees doe as far surpass the Jewish ones in their corrupt Doc­trines, as in all the pernicious Conse­quences of those Doctrines, either in Hypocrisie or Ambition, Covetousness or Cruelty, Hatred and malitious Un­charitableness to all Dissenters, blind Zeal and indefatigable Industry in gain­ing Proselytes; or lastly, in all those factious, schismatical and rebellious Practices, which the most Pharisaical Zealots among the Jews were ever guil­ty of, and that upon the very same ac­count of a more peculiar relation to God.

I cannot stand to make out the Paral­lel, but must leave it to your own thoughts; being in pursuit of other Wolves wrapt up in as fair a sheeps­cloathing as any of those I have menti­on'd, and who come to us with all de­ceivableness of unrighteousness. Give me leave to uncase them too, and that I shall endeavour to doe, by displaying their Doctrines and Practices; the na­tural fruits whereby we are to know Them also.

[Page 359]As to their Doctrines, I shall instance 1. Popish Doc­trines. first in their Traditions; which they not only equal to the written Word of God in the modest language of the Council of Trent, requiring them to be received with the same affection of godliness and reverence that is due to the books of the Old and New Testa­ment, but impudently preferr them, as most of their eminent Doctors doe; for this reason, because the Scriptures, say they, have no Being, unless they be established by Traditions; whereas Tra­ditions without Scripture are firm and stable in themselves; Thereby charging the Holy Writ with obscurity and im­perfection, which the Pharisees never had the face to doe, whose corrupt Glosses and Interpretations were Ortho­dox in respect of those which these Men give us, and which doe indeed much more make void all the Command­ments of God than ever theirs did. For we do not find that the Jewish Pharisees were wrong as to the first and second Commandments, whereas the Doctrines of the Romish ones are injurious to both; 2. Not only to the first by dis­pensing with God's Laws, and coyning [Page 360] new ones▪ which they obtrude on the Consciences of Men as equally binding; but to the second much more, having quite raz'd it out of their Decalogue, and divided their Worship between the Crea­tor and his Creatures, not the highest only, as Saints and Angels, but the ve­ry lowest and most contemptible of them, even Stocks and Stones (for such are their Images) which rather than they will forego, they will part with one of God's Commandments. 3. What are their many impertinent repetitions, but so many takings of God's Holy Name in vain? Or their Maxime of not keep­ing Faith with Hereticks but a Doctrine of flat Perjury? 4. The Sabbath, which was sacred even to Superstition with a Pharisee, has far less respect with them than a Saint's Holy-day, though of their own Canonization. 5. When God com­mands us to be obedient to our civil or natural Parents, they can not only dis­pense with our Allegiance to, but give us withall remission of Sins as a reward for our Treason to the former; and by their Pharisaical Corban defeat the latter of that Obedience which is due to them from their Children; forcing them some­times [Page 361] into Monasteries as unwilling and oft-times blemisht Sacrifies, against their own and not seldom their Parents con­sent too. 6. & 7. What excellent Doc­trines they deliver concerning Murther and Adultery, let the Provincial Letters tell you. He that kills an Excommu­nicated person, with them is no Mur­therer; and let him be never so wilfull a one, he shall be sure to find protection at their Altars: And how severe exac­tors they are of that Continency they so religiously profess, their publick al­lowance of Stews and Fornication, even to the preferring it to Marriage in Ec­clesiastical persons, does abundantly wit­ness. 8. I might tell you how little conscience they make of Sacriledge too, (the worst of Thefts) as appears by their exposing all to sale, Heaven and Earth, Hell and Purgatory to boot. 9. Have not their jugling Doctrines of Equivocations and mental Reservations made all sober and just Men hiss at them as false witnesses? 10. And have they not with the Pharisee, restrained the Tenth Commandment to consent of Will, and made Lust and the first moti­ons of it no Sin at all? One Com­mandment [Page 362] indeed they have taken out, and to make up the number have cut the last into two; one while making two of one, and another while of those two they make none, and so of any o­ther Commandment when they please they can make any thing. Surely 'twas not without good reason that the Pope in the first Session of the last Council of Lateran laid the Scriptures at his feet, to let us know that it was his and his Successor's design to trample them under them.

What He and his false Prophets have done to the Law, you have heard; and what they doe to the Gospel, will ap­pear by such Anti-christian Doctrines, (whereof I am now to give you some brief account) which destroy the Truth and Purity of it. 1. The Truth of it, as their cunningly devised Fables, 1. That of Transubstantiation, a flat contradiction to Philosophy and our very Senses, a scandal to Jews and Ma­humetans, and which nothing but their Covetousness and Ambition (both which 'tis most excellently fitted to) could in­vent; there being, if well examined, no real proof in Scripture for, but many [Page 363] irrefragable ones against it. 2. That of Purgatory borrowed from Virgil, and countenanced neither by the Word of God nor remoter Antiquity. 3. That of Miracles they so much boast of, but can never show us (their Scene being always laid so far off, that they know none but their own befooled Bigots will be at the charge or pains to hunt after them,) or if they could, ought not to baffle us out of the belief of those Truths which the Scripture so plainly delivers, the pretences of such Lying Wonders be­ing those very marks which Deut. 13. 12, 3. Moses, Mat. 24. 24. & v. 21, 22. Christ, and 1 Tim. 4. 2▪ 2 Thess. 2. 9, 10, 11. St. Paul brand false Prophets with, and coyn'd by them to no other purpose but to tempt God and give credit to such untruths as doe ap­parently contradict and over-throw his Precepts. He that shall compare Po­pish Legends with the Jewish Talmud, or even the Alcoran its self, must be forc'd to confess, that the former are many of them sober Histories to these spiritual Romances. But 'tis no marvel that the generality of Popish Prophets should doat so much on such usefull Lies, when one of their Popes has been pleased to Le [...] 10. style Christianity its self a Profitable Fa­ble.

[Page 364]2. Other Doctrines of theirs doe weaken the force and destroy the pu­rity of the Gospel; some of them nur­sing up formality, and consequently stu­pidity and dulness of Devotion; others all manner of looseness and debauche­ry, spiritual and carnal Pride, Cove­tousness and Injustice, Uncharitableness, Superstition and Rebellion: I need but point at them.

1. Can any thing contribute more to Hypocrisie and flatness in Devotion than their Pharisaical Doctrines of Ex­ternal Performances, the meer Opus ope­ratum, (as bad Divinity as 'tis Latin,) and which being in St. Paul's account but bodily exercise, leaves nothing for 1 Tim. 48. the Mind to doe: which whether it be present or no, the matter is not great with them, who can allow of a Sacri­fice without Fire and without a Heart; And accordingly we find that all men's Devotion there is but feet or lip-labour, consisting in Pilgrimages and gadding after such Saints, as 'tis a question whe­ther many of them be not now in Hell; I am sure 'twas much disputed by most Universities of Europe whether Thomas Becket were saved or damned, and the [Page 365] greatest part concluded for the latter, and yet this Man is reputed the great Patron of the English and his Anniver­sary Festival kept with great Solemnity in Rome in the Colledge of English Je­suites, who in their Refectory or Di­ning-room show us also the Pictures of Garnet and such-like Tyburn Saints; Their Religion, I say, consists in run­ning after such Saints as these, and dealing out their Prayers to them by tale and measure, mumbled over like Charms, all whose force lyes in an Ex­ternal application of them, and are as much understood by the People as by those Images they are made to. Thus did the Jews rest in the Law, and thus doe Papists in all those Duties which are enjoyn'd them by their Confessors; who if they can but perform their task, or others doe it for them, think them­selves safe enough, and can satisfie their Consciences that they have done all that was commanded them, though they have done but the least part of what God has required of them.

2. Can any thing be more effectual to debauch men's Manners than their [Page 366] Doctrine of Repentance and the Power of the Keys, whereby they can turn Attrition into Contrition, when they please, and make a very Judas a true Penitent if he can but say he desires to be so. What is there here required which a Libertine will not admit? To sin and to confess, to confess and sin on; to be drunk and vomit, to vomit and again be drunk, who would dislike? But then have they not very severe strict Rules, some may say? and doe they not enjoyn harsh Pennances and Mortifications? They doe indeed make as fair a show in the Flesh as any Pha­risee whatsoever, and bind as heavy burthens on other men's shoulders which themselves touch not with one of their fingers, and can remove from others with a wet one, either by a total Remission, a complying Interpretation, or a Com­mutation, where a little Alms shall make amends for a great deal of Injustice, and an Indulgence dispense with not only past but future sins too, be they what they will, or the party what he please; sold many of them at Fairs with blanks for names and crimes too, ratable at summs proportionable to the Purchaser's [Page 367] abilities, where a Man may buy him­self out of Hell while he lives, and his Executors and Friends out of Purgatory when he is dead: From whence it is evident, That these Lions are not so fierce as they look, nor so terrible as they paint themselves; that although nothing be so dismally strict in appear­ance, yet nothing is so loose as they in effect. Trace these Worshippers of Bel by the print of their feet in the ashes, and you shall find whither they go, and what their pretended Abstinences end in. And yet should they in the auste­rity of their Will-worship go beyond us, I am sure Baal ▪s Priests went beyond them; such things make them not bet­ter than us, or make Baal's Priests far better than them; while they leave that which God commands them, to doe that for which He will never thank them.

To this I might add, as a great Mo­tive to dissoluteness, their Catholick im­plicit Faith, while they require Men to believe at a venture as the Church does, and so save them the labour of search­ing. A Doctrine easie to flesh and bloud, and excellently fitted to the de­signs, [Page 368] as their perpetual Vow of Con­tinency does promote the Lusts of it, exposing some to an inevitable Tempta­tion by denying them those remedies which the Gospel freely allows every Man.

3. Can any thing more advance the pride of Nature than their Pharisaical Doctrines of Merit and Supererogation, which teach Men to purchase their own Glory without being beholding to God's Mercy, and by fulfilling his Law, to out-brave his Justice? Nay, that they can doe more than they need, and may, if they please, help their neighbours too? What an excellent lesson is this to make Nature run mad of self-conceit, while it is assured that it can carve out its own destiny by an exorbitant free­dom of Will, that Men can dispose them­selves to Conversion, work out their own Salvation without Christ's help, or, if not themselves, with the assistance of others, who can furnish them with a supply out of their super-abundant stock of Merits. Thus while they run away with such fond conceits, they become careless and negligent of doing any good themselves, while they are made [Page 369] to believe that others can doe it for them, as if the lashes of Saints (sup­posing them such) could heal us as Christ's stripes doe, that God's Ju­stice would suffer its self to be paid with any other coyn than that which bears his Son's image and superscription, or that his bloud could not be able to cleanse us without being mixt with the water of our own or other men's tears. What can be more effectual I say than this, to puff up Men with spiritual pride, or more derogatory or injurious to the Saviour of the World? And yet this is the Doctrine of the false Prophets of Rome, who stick not, some of them blas­phemously to affirm, That we are more beholding to the Mother's milk than to the Son's bloud.

And as their Doctrine of Merit and Supererogation promotes spiritual pride; so does that of the Pope's Infallibility and Supremacy as much foment their spiritual and carnal too, while by the former they allow no more possibility of Error in St. Peter's, than the Phari­sees did in Moses's Chair, and conse­quently exclude all hope of any Refor­mation [Page 370] of the Pope's abuses, which all Men must swallow and digest as the dictates of God's Spirit, to whom he entitles them, and from which there ly­ing no Appeal, he may Lord it as he pleases over God's heritage, let his pre­tended Predecessor say what he will to the contrary, 1 Pet. 5. 3. and over all the Princes of the Earth too by vertue of his Dabo tibi claves, in spight also of the same Apostle, 1 Pet. 2. 13, 14. Doc­trines which serve to swell him up with Pride, as that of Transubstantiation fills all his Emissaries with it too, which giving them a power to make their God, must needs make them look upon them­selves as some great ones, and the peo­ple admire and stand in awe of them who can create their Creator, and, which is worse, sell him too, as some of them doe, at a lower price than Judas did his Saviour, though others can sometimes raise the Market, when they see occa­sion. And surely there is nothing more certain than that they doe so as by ver­tue of this, so of their other fore-men­tion'd Doctrines of Purgatory (whereof the Pope keeps the Key as well as of Heaven, and has kindled a fire there on [Page 371] purpose to make his Pot seeth) of Mas­ses for the Dead, who are to be released thence by their own or friends Money, and Indulgences to the Living, that when they come thither they may also find a quick dispatch, being, in their description of it, as hot, though not so close a quarter as Hell its self; wherein Men desiring to continue as short a time as possibly they can, would be glad at any rate to provide themselves a Pass-port to an easier place.

To which Doctrines I might add their forbidding of Marriage to many degrees of Men, a subtle way too of driving on their Trade of Merchandize; For the more Prohibitions, the more Dispensa­tions; and the more Dispensations, the more Money, (No Peny, no Pater­noster with them.) Thus doe their Doc­trines empty themselves still into the Churches Treasury, and the Sins of the whole World must be taxed to increase St. Peter's Patrimony, (though himself could tell us he had neither Silver nor Gold,) and rather than the Pope's Cof­fers shall stand empty, he will set a price upon Damnation its self, and the very Stews shall become Tributary to his [Page 372] Holiness's Purse, that so that very Purse may maintain his Grandeur to the les­sening of that of all other Princes. That these are the aims of such-like Doctrines, is plainly discernible by any that have not lost their Senses; And surely Pur­gatory yields him so considerable a Rent that (as Bishop Jewell well said) the Pope would be content to lose Heaven and Hell too to save that; And nothing can render his Indulgences tolerable but this one Consideration, That they gave the first occasion to the Reformation of this, and all other his Abuses.

The time would fail me to discover the aims of other Popish principles; How some of them doe preach down­right Falshood and Injustice, such as are the Jusuitical Maximes of, No Faith to be kept with Hereticks; of Equivocati­ons and mental Reservations, whereby they can make any thing signifie any thing; of Probabilities and rectifying of Intentions, mentioned at large in the Provincial Letters, and which the Je­suites have made such excellent use of for deciding Cases of Conscience: To which I might add, Their uncharitable and non-sensical Principle of their Par­ticular [Page 373] Churches being the Universal Catholick one (as the Pharisees and Do­natists of old, and our over-strict Preci­sians of late) dooming all to Hell who are not of their cut and garb, as if none could be saved that were out of their Ark: Besides those innumerable, bur­thensome and superstitious Ordinances they load men's Consciences with; (A yoke, as they make it, heavier than that of Moses, whose whole loins are not so thick as their little finger.) But I for­bear, and shall conclude this part with a brief account of their Doctrine of O­bedience to Magistrates; which how destructive 'tis to all civil Government, will appear by the very proposing of these four Particulars.

• 1. That they so exempt all Ecclesia­stical persons from Subjection to Prin­ces, as to allow these no co-active, but only a directive Power over them.
• 2. That by the Seal of Confession they tye up their Priests from revealing any traiterous Plots of Rebels against their Soveraigns.
• 3. That the Pope by his Authority can, when he pleases, absolve Subjects from their Oaths of Fidelity to them.
• [Page 374]4. That 'tis not lawfull for Christians to obey an Heretical Prince.

By which Maximes 'tis evident how impossible it is for any Man that be­lieves them to be a good Subject. He must be no Papist if he be true to his Prince, since he can be so no longer than the Pope will suffer him. What­ever such a Man's practice may be (as, no doubt, many noble Gentlemen of that persuasion have been Loyal to their last breath,) yet his Principles are re­bellious; and if his natural generosity, or some other respect, keeps him fast to his King, his Religion I am sure does not bind him. And when there hap­pens a contest between Honour and Re­ligion, 'tis odds but the latter will carry it. For put the case the Pope should command one thing, and the King ano­ther, I would fain know, whether of the two a Papist conceives himself ob­lig'd to obey; If he says, His King, he can be no good Roman Catholick; If the Pope, (as he must say, unless he will renounce his profession,) 'tis impossible for him to be a good Subject, since the Pope, whom with Bellarmine he ac­knowledges the Head of the Church, [Page 375] one that cannot err, and that has pow­er to make Articles of Faith according to the determination of the Council of Trent, hath ex Cathedra declared these forenamed Principles of Rebellion to be such Articles of Faith, and the deny­ing them to be so, no less than He­resie.

You see the doctrines of these false Practices of Romanists. Prophets of Rome, and they have exem­plified them all by their practices. The Pharisees were great boasters of their Father Abraham, and so are these of the Fathers of the Church, as if they were their only legitimate offspring, and the sole heirs of their learning and piety. And these two they have so engross'd to themselves, that they look upon all the world besides as bankrupt. As to learning, 'tis so confin'd to the Colleges of Jesuits, that, if we may believe them, it very seldom travels beyond their walls; who being the only Rabbi's have appropriated to themselves the swelling Titles of Angelical, Seraphical, and the like; All besides them having but one eye, while these, like the Chineses, have two. As to piety and devotion, the [Page 376] Catholick-church, like the Temple of the Lord among the Jews, is ever in their mouths; They are the only god­ly Party, the Favorites and Minions of heaven; Nothing to be seen in their Churches but miracles, and nothing on their Walls but devotion; and indeed all their religion is but paint. The ve­ry habit of a Monk with them is mira­culous beyond St. Paul's handkerchief, and a Franciscan's frock wrapt about a dying man, shall as infallibly make him a Saint, as Rablais his gown a Physici­an. All the Pharisee's arts of dawbing and pargetting are but rude and gross, and his colours faint to those of a Men­dicant. View him with his shaven head, his long beard and longer beads, his ill habit and worse looks, prostrating his body to the ground before his woodden god, and what Pharisee can compare with him? And yet this is the best side of the man and of his religion, which, like an Egyptian Temple, belies and shames its fair frontispiece with some ri­diculous Ape within. There is no such hypocrisie as that which lurks under a Cowle, no pride to that of a feigned and voluntary humility, nor any such [Page 377] lewdness as that which is gilded over with devotion. Should I lay the dirt of their Cells before you, or rake up the bones of buried Infants, the prospect would be too nasty and dismal. We know what good use they make of their Confessions. They who are well ac­quainted with them find them one thing abroad and another at home; one thing at their Altars and another in their Chambers. These Pedlers of devotion carry all on their backs abroad, while their storehouses lye empty. They can appear to the eye of the world like so many Baptists with their Camels hair and leathern girdles, which they brag of, as Antisthenes of old did of the rents of his garment, that served only to let in light to sober Spectators to view the Wearer's vanity. And what is all their Tinsel devotion, but a Pharisaical will-worship? That rabble of insignificant and superstitious ceremonies, wherein they out-doe the most hypocritical Pharisees in Crosses, Relicks, Agnus's, Exorcising of devils of their own raising, and ridiculous cringings and postures, not to be found among the Pharisees, whose behaviour was sober and grave [Page 378] in comparison of that antick Mascara­ding and religious Mummery practised by these Romish Augurs who cannot chuse but laugh sufficiently at them­selves for them, and do no doubt much more at them who are so silly as to ad­mire them. The Pharisees had their su­perstitious washings 'tis true, but they had no holy water to fright away the Devil, nor did they wear their Philacte­ries as these men doe a piece of St. John's Gospel about their necks to charm him. Indeed those many Sects of religious orders among Papists derive from them, but are far more numerous and ridicu­lous, exceeding them as much in their Crimes as they doe in their Fopperies. Did they compass sea and land to gain a Mat. 23. 15 Proselyte, these will run farther than the Indies to gain Souls, that is, to extend Empire, like subtle Foxes, preying far from home, or rather, going about like 1 Pet 1. 8. roaring Lyons, seeking whom they may devour. And, when they have gained men, they make them much more the chil­dren of the Devil than themselves, be­ing sure, when once they have them, to keep them fast and tame enough, ei­ther by a gross ignorance, or the con­sciousness [Page 379] of those sins which they have pickt out from them by Confessions, and which they continually nurse up by their Indulgencies. Had the Pharisees subtle ways to entrap men, these their disciples can out-wit them, and a Phari­see is but a Dunce to a Jesuit in his art of Legerdemain, spiritual juggling and holy frauds, whose fundamental Prin­ciple 'tis, That Gain is Godliness; If the 1 Tim. 5. 6. Pharisees were covetous, these have hearts exercised with all manner of co­vetous practices. Let the Quarry be ne­ver so mean, these Hauks will stoop to it. To say the truth, The religion of these men is founded in policy and inte­rest, and the whole current of their doctrines and practices run that way; as 'tis easie for any one to see that well considers them. 'Tis this that sets the Fryars and Jesuits together by the ears, all the quarrel between them being this, Who shall bring most grist to their se­veral mills. A man can scarce die qui­etly for them here, and much less abroad. There you may behold their numerous Orders flocking to departing men like Vultures to a Carcass, and weeping over those preys like Crocodiles. They will [Page 380] watch, talk and hare men into their re­ligion, not so much by the fear of that Hell they set before them, as of those many Devils in Prophets mantles, which then visibly torment them, and which 'tis good policy to keep by them, lest others, like fresher Flies swarming in, should suck out that little bloud which the former had left in their purses to defray the charges of a burial. One poor widow's cottage fill'd the panch Mat. 23. 14 of an old Pharisee, but large Patrimo­nies and fair Revenues will not stop the throat of a Jesuite, who is always building that he may still be begging, and although he devours the Land like Pharaoh's lean kine, yet he still looks hunger-starv'd. This sets all other Or­ders desperately against him, and in­deed they have reason to be angry with him. For though they have as good a mind to money as he can have, not­withstanding their rule will not permit them to finger it, yet they fall very much short of him in their Art of Coin­age. So that as Josephus, speaking of the Pharisees, says, they had [...], bare greater sway with the peo­ple, and so made greater advantage of [Page 381] them than the Scribes; the Jesuits car­ry away the Trade from all other Ro­mish Merchants, and drive it on with greater policy and interest, having an Oar in every Boat, and a hand in every Purse; their Emissaries in all private Families, and their Spies in all publick Counsels, entring, like those Frogs the Psalmist speaks of, even into Kings Chambers, over many whereof they have got so great an Ascendant, as to be able to steer all their Affairs by their own private Compass; their Ambition being not content with the highest seats in their Synagogues, unless they may have them too in Princes Cabinets.

And truly how they serve even Prin­ces of their own religion when they sus­pect them, their Attempts on the per­sons of some late Kings of France, and Practices at Venice do clearly manifest, for which they were, with shame enough to themselves, turned out of the Fore­gates of those States, but, to the won­der even of the Loyaller Romanists, re­ceived in again at their postern ones. And now they are as busie in all pla­ces as ever, though most with us, whom of all others they hate and whose [Page 382] ruine they most study, carrying it on with the utmost policy that Satan and their own Malice can furnish them with. For what are their Seminaries a­broad, but so many Nurseries of Rebel­lion and Mischief, where the most preg­nant Wits of our debauch'd Youths are trained up in all the methods of Satan? These they send out thence, as out of a Trojan Horse arm'd at all points against their Lawfull Prince, and that Religion many of them have forsaken, which they conceive themselves the more ob­liged furiously to persecute, to give the more colourable pretences to their de­fection, and a firmer pledge of their fu­ture fidelity to their Party. These are the fittest Decoys to fetch in more game, having been themselves first de­coy'd into the Pope's Net by the allu­ring hopes of those great Preferments which were often promised, but never intended them. But having once got them fast there, he is sure to hold them. Vestigia nulla retrorsum. Or if they come back, 'tis only to trouble our waters, the better to fish in them; nay, 'tis to scatter fire where-ever they go, that they may warm their hands by those [Page 383] flames they kindle. Ever since these Comets have appeared, nothing has been seen in Christendom but War and Bloud-shed. And who is able to describe those black Arts they use to disturb us, who, like Cameleons, can take all colours upon them but white; Be all things to all men, but in another sense than St. Paul was; Take all shapes upon them, and all disguises, of Agitators, Ranters, Level­lers and Quakers? Come into all Com­panies with false faces and falser hearts: A man may sooner find them in our Churches than in their own Colleges a­broad by their own names, but here they have so many that 'tis much they should remember them. And indeed, what is a Jesuit, but one great Equivo­cation? what does his extemporary preaching on a stall in the corners of streets at Rome, and that Trade which every Novice with him is obliged to take upon him, spell, but an illuminated Cobler or a Butcher here, who crying up the Spirit, and decrying Universities, and running furiously at Anti-christ, but meaning our Church, shall pass for a sanctified brother, when in effect he is a most unsanctified hypocrite, one that [Page 384] makes a false thrust at the Pope, but really wounds his Prince, and does but more cunningly and safely spread his er­ror, while he seems to declaim against and smother it. That learning which has been found under a russet Cloak, did not proceed from Inspiration, the very art of decrying discovered it self, and sometimes the Author. Such instances we have had of their detection in our late times of trouble, but now they walk not in vizards, nor, like the Pesti­lence, in the dark, but in the face of the Sun it self, and are in every corner of the Land, there being scarce a house which is not haunted by these spirits. 'Tis as possible to fathom Satan's depths as theirs, and so various are the changes of these Protei, that they cannot sit down to be drawn, and they are so in every place, that 'tis hard to find them long in any. But that these Wolves are thick among us, we may find by the daily lessening of our flocks; And we know who it is that sends them out, He who like Romulus has suckt one, whose inte­rest those lesser ones serve, and are but as so many Jack-calls to fetch him in store of prey. Alas! they do but hunt [Page 385] for him, nor is he content with small game. He will have Sceptres bow to his Mitre, and Kings to kiss his Feet, that in requital of their submission, he may tread upon their Necks. This has been his practice for many past Ages, but indeed this later one has taught him better manners, since Kings by long experiences of his insolency have learnt so much dear bought wit as to keep their Consciences and their Kingdoms too. There is nothing more certain than that Popes for above a thousand years have both taught and practised rebelli­on, though not with equal success; and this 'twere easie to prove out of the Popish Histories themselves and those Historians who have written their Lives, but I need not to those who are so well vers'd in them. I shall only desire you to look a little back to the French Holy League, and see who 'twas that headed it, even He that exalteth himself above all that is called God, and loves to raise Tempests in States and Kingdoms, that he may enrich himself by their wrecks. And to this purpose, like another Aeo­lus, he lets fly his boisterous Winds, his Seminary Priests and Jesuits. Alas! He [Page 386] is the principal Author of our distur­bances, These but the Instruments, who like so many Puppets, dance by the mo­tion of his hand. 'Tis no marvel if these his sworn Vassals, his Janizaries in conti­nual pay, should advance the Interest and fight for the Cause of their great Lord and General, wherein themselves are so much concern'd: Nor do they bog­gle at any thing that may promote it, be it never so impious, while the good of the Catholick Cause, as the Pharisaical Gold did their Altar, shall sanctifie all their lewdest practices: 'Tis no marvel, I say, that such men should doe any thing who are members of such a Church, whose tender mercies are cru­elty; whose piety, butchery; religion, faction; devotion, sedition; zeal, fire; and martyrs, traytors. Surely such Can­nibals as daily devour their God, will make no bones to swallow up whole States, or, which is worse, to blow them up.

This was their attempt this day, and this is still their design no doubt. 'Tis no Fable this, but a History. Habemus confitentes reos. What need we any far­ther Witnesses than the Parties them­selves. [Page 387] All Garnet's tricks and equivo­cations at last fail'd him, when, being put to it, he could not deny but that he had a head and hand in it; confes­sing withall that his principal motive to this villany was, an Excommunicati­on thundred out against Queen Elizabeth by Pius Q. and Sixtus V. which stick­ing still on King James as not repealed, but rather confirmed by their Successors, obliged him in Conscience to attempt the Murther of his Sovereign, in obedi­ence to the Pope, his greater Lord. This Bill was produc'd in the indictment of the said Garnet, and gave occasion to the Oath of Supremacy. So that the matter of fact being as clear as the con­fessions of the Contrivers and Instru­ments themselves could make it, all the subtlety of Papists can never disprove or disguise it. Here is no shift, no start­ing-hole left them. The Mine was con­trived at Rome, though 'twas to be sprung here, at Westminster. The Pope himself laid the Train, which his Mini­sters by his order were to give fire to. And how near were they to doe it, and we to be undone! There wanted but a little light Match to have sent up a [Page 388] Church and State into the air. Nor did our Enemies make any doubt but that they should have seen us flying there; and, which was their charity, that our Fall thence should have been as low as Hell. However, lest the Plot should possibly fail (as through God's infinite mercy it did) of its intended effect, they had a Declaration ready to indict the Protestants of that Treason. For the Brat would have been too foul for the Pope to father, though himself very well knew it was his own natural issue, and all the world besides. And indeed the very shape and complexion of this Monster shews it not to be of an English Extraction. Nothing but the Pope and the Devil could lay such a Cockatrice's Egg, nor any but a Jesuite hatch it. Let them take it between them, and let it re­main an eternal blot upon them and their religion, guilty of a design than which nothing yet ever lookt more like Hell, the darkness and the flames of it being all in it.

I need not display the horror of it, the very prospect thereof being ghast­ly beyond all expression; Let your thoughts supply the defect of my rhe­torick [Page 389] and tell you whether such fruits as these be the fruits of the Spirit of God, or of his true Prophets. Surely their Vine is the Vine of Sodom, their Grapes are Grapes of Gall, and their clusters bitter. And yet how many are there that can relish no other but what an Italian soil produceth, though they be as mortal as those of the forbidden­tree. Without doubt our English palats have been strangely corrupted of late days, that we should be so bewitch'd and intoxicated with the cup of Rome's abominations, as to suck out the very lees and dreggs thereof with such de­light and pleasure. I know the troubles of our late Wars have given the Ro­mish Emissaries opportunity of begui­ling many, who, discontented with their sufferings at home and pincht with necessity, or offended with the many Sects which the licentiousness of the War had begot, or couzened with the pretences of antiquity, vanity, glory and splendor of the Romish Church, and perhaps allured by those pleasing doc­trines and opinions whereby their Casu­ists gratifie Sinners, have revolted from us, and do still revolt. Much talk there [Page 390] is of the increase of Popery, and if true, 'tis not much to be wonder'd at, (for a Plague is infectious and a Gangreen spreading, and evil as well as good communicative.) But surely Papists need not bragg much of their gain when they consider how and whom they get. They are such as we can spare them, men that had no religion till they found them one, and whose no­religion was better than what they have gotten; who living like Atheists, that they may seem at least to be of some re­ligion, pretend to be Papists, and being cast out by us, were fit for them to receive. These be their prey; These, their spoils. I envy them not such Proselytes who add nothing to the repute of any side but number, nor do we lose any thing but what would shame us; our Church be­ing but the purer for having such dreggs purg'd out. Ancient Rome had at first wanted men to inhabit it, if Romulus had not opened an Asylum; and modern Rome would not be so much replenished, if there were not a Sanctuary there for such Converts. Let me bespeak such as St. Paul did his Galatians, O ye foolish Gal. 3. 1. 4. 19. 10. People, who hath bewitched you, that ye [Page 391] should not obey the truth? That having known God as ye have done, ye should turn again to weak and beggarly Ele­ments, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage; Lick up your vomit, and forsake the truth of God, to follow lies and Jewish fables. For, what is Po­pery, but one great one? what are its new doctrines, but old heresies patch'd and trick'd up, and only so old as to be rotten? Look into its practices too, whether that which Tacitus says of Ann. lib. 15 Rome heathenish be not as true of Rome apostate, That all shameless and heinous enormities ran into it as into a common sewer. Christian- Rome now (if I may give it that name) is no more like what once it was than Jesuits are like Apostles. And yet these be the men ye doat on, and if you can get any one of their Tribe into your houses, you can say to your selves as Micah did, Judg. 17. 13. Now I know the Lord will doe me good, because I have a Priest. Such a Priest indeed as his was, who like a Serpent cherisht in your bosome, will sting you to death. Let me apply the old Proverb, 'Tis ill going in Procession where the Devil says Mass; Sure I am, that if once these [Page 392] evil spirits get possession of you, you will find it a harder task than you are ware of to turn them out.

But in vain do I speak to such men as are fast in the Snare; Let us take heed how we fall into it. To this end let us compare the doctrines of Prote­stants, contained in their several pub­lick Confessions, with those of Papists set forth by their Council of Trent; and such a comparison will shew who are the true or false Prophets, whose doctrines suit best with the Gospel and the Analogy of Faith, and whose practi­ces with those of Christ and his Apo­stles. I dare say, should a sober rational Heathen, who had seriously read over the New Testament, judge impartially between us, his very natural reason would tell him, that all that Popish trash, which is obtruded on men as Gos­pel, does not so much as look like it. I put this case, becaûse we had the like See Mr. Bre­val's Ser­mon. instances in a late converted Jew, who upon a serious consideration of each Par­ty's tenets chose rather to be baptized with us, (though much to his own tem­poral disadvantage) than with them, merely upon such an account.

[Page 393]But to come nearer home to our pre­sent purpose, and to speak to the point of Obedience, I confess indeed that some Protestants in the World have been Re­bels. But there is no Protestant Church that ever taught and constantly maintain­ed Rebellion, or allow'd the practice of it, as that of Rome does. I appeal to their several Confessions extant in print. The difference between Protestants and Pa­pists in this case is indeed this, That disobedience with them is a crime, and with these a law; That they punish Re­bels, and the Pope rewards them, pro­mising them no less than Remission of sins and Eternal life; That they abhor the Murtherers of Kings, but the Pope sets them on by his Excommunicati­ons, and after the murther is commit­ted, makes Panegyricks on them.

But whatever the doctrines and prac­tices of other Churches may be, no­thing can be more clear of Rebellion than the Church of England is. Let any man judge of their doctrine as to that point by the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, which Priests and Jesuits will no more own than they will doe us for a Church, and can no more swal­low [Page 394] such a morsel than a Pharisee could Swines-flesh. Some Priests indeed, as Blackwell for one, took the Oath of Su­premacy, and Withrington wrote a book in defence of Obedience to the Civil Magistrate; but were so far from ha­ving any Thanks from, that they were severely checkt by their Masters. But as to the generality of these False Pro­phets, they are still the same, and bear the same bad fruit. These Wolves in Sheeps-cloathing will sooner change their Hair than their Opinions. Try them by this Shiboleth, and they will Judg. 12. quickly appear to be Ephraemites. 'Tis true indeed some who would be thought Protestants, have been guilty of the same Jesuitical Doctrines and Practices, but they were no more Protestants than Je­suites are Protestants; They went out [...] Joh. 2. 19. from us, but were not of us. They ne­ver suckt such Principles from the Breasts of that Church they were born in, but from those Emissaries of Rome who debaucht them. Before the Trou­bles began we were most of us Ortho­dox. 'Twas Anarchy brought in Schism into our Church, and Rebellion into [Page 395] our State. While Penal Laws were in full force, we could scarce ever see a Priest, but in a Prison, or on a Gal­lows. Let not Rome then charge our Church with their own Principles, nor tell us we have been Rebels, since they made us such. No true Member of our Church ever was, nor indeed could be one; He could no more be a bad Subject, than a Christian (as Athena­goras said) could be a bad Man. Many of us have died for our Prince, but none of us have taught to kill him ei­ther by Precept or Example, as some Popish Priests have done, or else they are very much bely'd. Our Ministers were never found preaching Rebellion in Conventicles as Jesuites have been found to doe, some faces having been seen there which never appeared to any before but in Rome or Madrid. In a word, we have confuted the Church of Rome as much by our Lives as by our Writings in this point, and under­gone as many tryals for the defence of this Truth, as Primitive Christians have done for that of their Religion. Pati­ence and Meekness are the fruits we [Page 396] own, others are of a forreign growth. By these our Church desires to be known; and when the Church of Rome can shew the like, she shall be ours too; but she must then cease to be what now she is. But if she will not come to us, as 'tis to be feared, her pride will not suffer her to bow, though it be to the Sceptre of Christ; let us not go to her, but keep where we are, nor forsake our own Church till we can be sure to find a better. And sure­ly no better argument of her being a good one than this, That the Church of Rome persecutes her, as Nero did her, when once Apostolical. And should the time ever come that she should use her strongest and best argu­ments, Inquisition and the Faggot, I hope, by God's help, we should be as ready to confute them by our Pati­ence, as we have done others by our Pen. But God who in his Mercy has so miraculously▪ preserved us from their fury this day, will, no doubt, still doe so, while we continue true Sons to him and his Church: Nor is it possi­ble that his Vicegerent should ever [Page 397] have a good opinion of those False Prophets who would have blown up his Grandfather, and in Him himself; and would, no doubt, were there the like occasion, endeavour to blow up his Royal Person, their principles and their malice being still the same.

To summ up all, Let us bless God that we can meet here to bless him. Without the wonderfull Mercy of this Day some of us had never been, and perhaps this Church had not too. No place then so fit to praise God in, since 'tis its self so great and signal a Monument of his Goodness in its own and our preservation. And while we praise him with joyfull Lips, let us at the same time beg of him still to preserve our Church and the Nur­sing Father of it, our Soveraign, from all attempts and practices against his Crown or Person, either by Heretical or Schismatical Men, Forraign or Domestick Traytors, praying God that under him we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty, and that obeying God, and his Laws, God may own us for his, by those fruits of righteousness we [Page 398] bring forth, that so having our fruit unto holiness, we may obtain everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour; To whom, &c. Amen.

Soli Deo gloria.

THAT Religion is the great In­strument of that happiness they expect hereafter, is what all good men doe believe; And that it is withall a special means of procuring Temporal happiness, is what the most unbelieving doe allow, by making it, or at least the pretence thereof, so ne­cessary to the ▪well-being and support of humane Societies, that without this foundation they cannot, in their opi­nion, [Page 400] possibly subsist; And therefore Politick men finding this Engine so for­cible to turn and manage the World, have always successfully employ'd it to that purpose, and governed others, though Themselves were least governed by it.

And certainly if the bare appearance of Religion hath been thought, even by the worst of men, so effectually condu­cing to the peace and benefit of Man­kind; It is a plain confession, that the Reality thereof must needs be much more, and that not only by a Divine, but also by a Moral Causality. For be­sides that Religion, by over-awing men's Consciences, keeps them firm and stea­dy in their Obedience to Magistrates; It does in its own Nature and Consti­tution carry such a mollifying uniting Vertue in it, as is apt to soften the most obdurate, and pacifie the most turbulent Minds, having such a powerfull Influ­ence as well on the Persons as Actions of Men, that it turns Wolves into Lambs; and where it once lays hold on Consci­ence, is the strictest band of humane Laws, the best security for Princes, and the greatest Endearment of Obedience, which can never be firm and lasting [Page 401] without it; It being impossible that He should ever be true to Man, that is not so to God. But if this be the natural Effect of Religion, how comes it then to pass that it is not constant? If it disposeth Men to Peace and Order, why does it so often break them? How comes that, which is the Cement of humane Societies and the bond of peace, to be such a Make-bate in the World, as we see it is by those bitter Feuds and Animosities, those mortal and implaca­ble Hatreds, it raises and foments every­where to the ruine and destruction not only of private Families, but even of States and Kingdoms? This, I confess, is a fatal Consequent and an accidental Event, not any proper and natural Ef­fect of Religion, but rather of men's Lusts, Passions, or their Mistakes about it; Of the Hypocrisie of some, who make it a stalking-horse to temporal In­terest, carrying on their worldly designs under its Mask and Vizard; As the Pha­risees Mat. 23. 14▪ made long prayers to devour Wi­dows houses; or, Of the misapprehensi­ons of better-meaning people, who fight against God under his own Banner, break his Laws in pure Obedience to [Page 402] them, and while they turn his Servants out of their Synagogues and kill them in­to the bargain, think thereby to doe their Master service; with these in the Text.

One would think it should have been impossible for any Men to be so persua­ded, but that our Lord hath here plain­ly foretold it, and the Experience of all Times, and of ours especially, hath a­bundantly verified his Prediction. For we see Men, though most opposite in their Judgments, yet perfectly agreeing in this Point, That whosoever is not with, is against Them; and whosoever is a­gainst Them, is against God, and so to be run down as an Enemy to him. So that when once people make their own God's quarrel, no quarter then is to be expected from them; and to be remisly cruel, shall pass with them for a doing of the work of the Lord negligently. And this shall justifie, yea and sanctifie all inhumane bloudy acts, propitiate for all other faults, and turn Murther it self in­to a Sacrifice; and by slaying all that stand in their way, Men shall consecrate themselves to the Lord, as they are said to doe who slew the Idolaters, Exod. [Page 403] 32. 29. or, as 'tis in the Text, [...], which the Chaldee Para­phrase renders, Offer an oblation unto God. Now it seems very strange how any Man should be able so far to subdue his Reason, as to persuade himself that to persecute, excommunicate, nay and to kill another meerly for differing from him in opinion, can be an acceptable service unto God. But what Natural Reason boggles at, Religion we see, or rather a false conceit thereof, not only swallows but digests as a pleasing Mor­sel, making some doe that out of choice, which others doe out of rage and frenzy, and corrupting their Judgments to that pass, as to persuade themselves they doe best where they doe worst. Such were the Persons our Lord speaks of, fore­warning his Disciples that they might not be offended, v. 1. when they should be counted as sheep appointed to be slain; Psal 44. 2 [...] when they should see themselves set a­part for the Altar, killed all the day long for his sake and the Gospel; Appointed unto death in the design and intention of their cruel and implacable Enemies, who should not only safely, but merito­riously kill them as so many proscribed [Page 404] Persons, on whose heads rewards are set, and who thereby should not only deserve well of Men, but of God.

• 1. Now who they were that should
  Divis.
  doe so, and what were the Reasons or Motives prevailing with them to make them think they should doe God service by such violent ways as the putting Christ's Disciples out of their Synagogues and killing them, I shall in the first place inquire into. And then in the next,
• 2. I shall shew you our Saviour's judgment of, or rather, the heavy doom He passeth here upon all such Men and their Practices, as proceeding from per­fect ignorance, from their not knowing the Father nor Him; And wherein this their Ignorance did consist, shall be my second Inquiry. Which two Heads of discourse, when I shall have gone thorough, I shall
• 3. In the third place conclude with some Application.

The first thing to be inquired into, is, Part. I. who They were our Saviour here points to. And to this Query my Answer in [Page 405] short is, That they were three sorts of very different people, Jews, Heathens, and Christians.

1. Jews, Against whom these words are here directly levelled. For who could those be that should put Men out of their Synagogues but the Jews, especi­ally the leading Men amongst them, The Scribes and Pharisees, The Elders or Sanedrim, who were the Highest Ec­clesiastical Court in that Nation? Had they not agreed among Themselves, That if any man did confess that Jesus was Christ, he should be put out of the Synagogue? Joh. 9. 22. And in pursu­ance of that Order and Agreement doe we not find that they did cast out the blind Man for owning Christ to be the true Messiah, ver. 34? Nor did their rage stop here, but as in process of time they proceeded to the Murther even of the Son of God Himself, so to the Persecution of all his Followers, They both killed the Lord Jesus, and have per­secuted us, says St. Paul, 1 Thess. 2. 15. Adding this farther character of them there, That they pleased not God, and were contrary to all Men; That is, to all that were not of their way, but to [Page 406] Christians above all others. Which is that our Lord had expresly foretold they should doe, Mat. 23. 34. and St. Stephen upbraids them for having done, Act. 7. 52. And we see what havock St. Paul himself made of the Church before his Conversion, breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Act. 8. 3. 9. 1. Lord; And himself tells us why he did so, namely out of a full persuasion that he was in conscience obliged to perse­cute Christians, who were, as he then thought, the main Enemies of the Jew­ish Religion; I verily thought with my self (says he) that I ought to doe many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, Act. 26. 9. And he tells us, Phil. 3. 6. That out of zeal he persecuted the Church; Affirming the same of the Gal. 1. 14. other Jews, being all zealous of the law, Act. 21. 20. So that all his and their rage against Christ and his Disciples proceeded from their great Zeal to the Mosaical Law. For the Mosaical Law ha­ving been of divine Institution, they lookt upon all those that opposed it as professed Enemies to God, as guilty of the highest presumption and sacriledge, who should endeavour to repeal and [Page 407] make void what God Himself had once enacted. And then what more accep­table service, think we, what better sa­crifice could they offer up to Him than the bloud of such Miscreants, who should presume to set up a way of Worship in opposition to what Himself had prescribed? We find this charg'd upon St. Stephen as his great crime, That he should affirm, That Jesus of Nazareth should destroy the holy Place, and change the customs which Moses had delivered them; Act. 6. 13, 14. And so strongly were the Jews possessed with a conceit of their being the peculiar People of God, that they could not en­dure the least mention of any others sharing with them in this Priviledge, in­somuch that they could hear St. Paul with patience enough till once he spake of his being sent to the Gentiles; They gave him audience till then, says the Text; And then cryed out, Away with such a Fellow from the Earth, for it is not fit that he should live; Act. 22. 21, 22. Contradicting and blaspheming the truth Paul preacht unto them; Act. 13. 45. And stirring up the devout and honoura­ble v. 15 Women, that is, such as had em­brac'd [Page 408] the Law of Moses and the Jewish Religion, being led with blind Zeal a­gainst the Gospel which they knew not, and so were the fittest Agents to their Party and for their turn, to promote Persecution against the Church, as ha­ving a great Interest in men's Affecti­ons. All this plainly shews, that what the most part of the Jews did in oppo­sition to the Gospel, was out of pure Zeal to the Law, and out of a consci­entious, but blind, Persuasion; That▪ it was their Duty to persecute and destroy All that were Enemies thereunto, where­in many of them did bono animo errare, err with a good Mind and holy Inten­tion, Thinking thereby to doe God ser­vice.

But although the Generality of the Jews did Think so, yet some, and They the leading Party among them, did think to doe themselves some service as well as God, driving on their Politick designs under the fair and colourable pretence of Religion. Of this sort were the chief Governors, who dreaded the ruine of their Synagogue; That their Law and Government would sink together; and that Christianity, if not timely crusht, [Page 409] would sweep away both. This appears clear from that saying of theirs, Joh. 11. 48. If we let this Man (that is, Christ) alone, All men will believe on Him; And then what will become of our Power and Authority? The Romans shall come and take away both our Place and Nation. This was their great Fear; They saw that the World was already gone after Joh. 12. 19. Christ; And if things should go on at that rate, they should then be left alone, and the People should fall off from them from whom they suckt no small advantage. It was this Apprehension that vexed them at the heart; This made them straitly threaten the Apostles not to preach any more in Christ's name, left a doctrine, so dangerous to them, should spread any farther; Act. 4. 17, 18. The Law was their great Pretence, but Interest their chiefest Motive to persecute Christians, who were such dangerous Enemies to their Religion, and, which was more considerable to them, to Themselves, to their Sway and Authority; And both these meeting together, would not fail to give their rage the keenest Edge. But this consideration was not perhaps that which moved the generality of [Page 410] the People, who had no such deep reach, and had more sincere Hearts and honest Intentions, being but so many Tools in the hands of more cunning Designers. These men being possessed and acted by a Religious frenzy, bore all down be­fore them, not valuing their own Lives to be masters of other men's. Such were those devout Assassins who had bound themselves under a great Curse, (an Oath of Execration,) That they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul▪ Act. 23. 12. Like those among the Mahumetans, who strongly deluded and besotted with their Superstition, count it meritorious to murther any Enemy thereof, though Themselves perish in the Attempt. And thus you see who were the principal Persons our Lord here aims at, to wit, the Jews; And what were the main Grounds and Mo­tives that transported them with such rage and fury against Christ's servants, a blind zeal for their Law, and a strong persuasion that they were bound in du­ty and conscience to use all manner of violence against them, who were, in their account, utter Enemies to their Law, and consequently to Themselves [Page 411] as well as to God, the Author of it.

2. But these were▪ not the only Peo­ple here pointed at. The time cometh, faith our Lord, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service. That Time was not yet come, but it was coming, and near at hand too, when every one, as much bigotted as the Jews could be, should think they should per­form the same service Deo opiniativo, as St. Augustine phraseth it, to what they took for God, to those false Gods they worshipped as the Jews did to the true, by mingling theirs as Pilate once did the Galileans bloud with their Sacrifices. Luk. 13. This points to Heathens. So Tertullian, speaking of Maximilian, tells us, That he thought the bloud of Christians a most pleasing Sacrifice to his Gods; Christianorum sanguinem Diis gratissimam esse victimam. Budoeus is of opinion, In Pandec. that St. Paul, speaking of Christians, be­ing accounted as the filth of the World and the off-scowring of all things, [...] and [...] 1 Cor. 4. 13. Alludes to those Expiations, in use a­mong Heathens, where certain condem­ned Persons were brought forth with Garlands on their heads in manner of [Page 412] Sacrifices, and offered up to Neptune, be­ing termed [...] And Suidas Suidas, in [...] tells us, that for the removal of the Pe­stilence they sacrificed certain Men to their Gods, whom they styled [...] Filth, loading them with revilings and curses. Such were all Christians ac­counted among Heathens, who lookt upon them as the vilest sort of men up­on Earth, fit to be offered in Sacrifice to their Gods. For,

1. They thought them guilty of the highest immoralities and debaucheries, adultery, incestuous copulations, mur­thering and eating their own Children in their nocturnal private Assemblies; and then no marvel if they thought their utmost severity towards them to be an act of Justice and of Religion too, as being in their apprehension the Cau­ses of all those publick Calamities that befell the World.

2. They look'd upon them as pro­fane, atheistical men, and so worthy to die, because they did not worship the heathen Deities, nor had any Altars or Temples. For so the Charge runs a­gainst them in Tertullian, Deos non coli­tis; and in Minutius Felix, Nullas aras [Page 413] habent Christiani, nulla templa. Nay, They look'd upon Christians as Affron­ters of the Gods and of Religion, That laugh'd at their Sacrifices, despised their Temples, and threw down their Altars and Images. And hence they passed for [...] Atheists, as Socrates did, who was thought to believe that there was no God, because he had a very mean opi­on of those the World then worshipped. The very same crime objected to Chri­stians, of being of no Religion, because they would not embrace the heathenish Superstition. So the Pagans in Arnobi­us, Christus ex orbe religiones expulit, Their Master Christ had driven all Reli­gions out of the World. He had indeed destroyed all those false worships the besotted World ran after, together with their ridiculous, abominable Deities, ha­ving silenced their Oracles, and forc'd those Gods they worshipped to confess themselves to be no other than Devils; As his Disciples and primitive Christi­ans could and did frequently drive them out of those bodies they possessed; which was such an affront to their Gods as Heathens were not able to endure, and thought themselves concern'd to vindi­cate [Page 414] by the utmost severity that either wit or malice, helpt on by the Devil himself, could find out. And then,

3ly. What Cruelties think we were left unexercised upon Men, who, besides the ruine of their Religion, had, in their apprehension, designs, against the State too, and where-ever they were, were thought still to endeavour the undermi­ning of their Empire? Which though it was a pure groundless calumny, yet the Apostles finding this apprehension so deeply rooted in their minds, thought it necessary earnestly to press subjection to heathenish Princes and Governours, to take off this foul aspersion; And the ra­ther, because the malicious Jews did still labour strongly to possess all in Autho­rity with such an opinion of them, as if they were Enemies as well to their State as to their Religion. Thus Christ himself was accused of perverting the Nation, of forbidding to give Tribute to Cesar, and of saying, that He Himself was a King, Luk. 23. 2. St. Paul, of being a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition a­mong all the Jews throughout the world, Act. 24. 5. And the Charge was general against all the Apostles, That they had [Page 415] turned the world upside down, Chap. 17. v. 6. Calumnies invented and fostered by the Jews; It being expresly said, Chap. 14. vers. 2. That the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the bre­thren, envenoming them with hatred and prejudice against them, as People hating their Government as well as their Worship, though in effect none did it more than the very Jews themselves. There is no doubt but that Interest as well as Religion set Heathens so much against Christians, and the latter not the least. For besides that they had been in a long and uninterrupted Posses­sion of their idolatrous way of worship, and so thought themselves to have the advantage of time over Christians, who were in their account but Upstarts; They could not digest such an absurd Religion as did teach, that a crucified Man could be a God; And so morose and strict a one, as not to allow them their old luxury, hatred, pride, envy, and all those abominations whereof their very Religion was made up, nor suffer them to be as wicked as they desired and the Devil would have them to be; [Page 416] And therefore by the insinuations of his chief Instruments, the Priests, who were undone if this new way should prevail, did he labour to root them out from off the face of the Earth, as a most pestilent sort of people: A work, in their opini­on, Joh. 4. 18, 19. & 7. 7. very meritorious, as no doubt it was, to their Gods. And therefore Suetonius in the Life of Nero, amongst other good things done by him reckons, Persecutio­nes Balz. Soc. Christian. cap. 4. contra Christianos factas; And that bloudy Tyrant and Persecutor Dioclesi­an, in an Inscription engraven on a Mo­nument he had set up, makes his brags, that he had purged the Earth of the Christian Nation, abolished the Christi­an Name in all parts of his Empire, and propagated the worship of the Gods; Superstitione Christianorum ubique deletâ, & cultu Deorum propagato. Wherein he reckoned without his host, having, to his great grief and sorrow, liv'd to see the ruine of Heathenism, and the esta­blishment of Christianity by Constantine; which did so enrage Julian the Apostate, that, finding all his Arts to destroy the Faith ineffectual, he vowed, that if he sped in his Expedition against the Persi­ans, he would at his return offer up the [Page 417] bloud of all Christians to his Gods. And thus you see our Saviour's prediction verified in respect of Jews and Heathens, and what were the grounds and motives of their hatred and rage against Christi­ans; blind zeal, blended with worldly Interest, which made them think that by persecuting them to death they did God service.

3. But we are not to confine our Lord's prediction wholly to the Jews and Gentiles, but to extend it even to Christians themselves, who have verified it in its most rigorous and worst sense. And truly 'tis a sad thing to consider, how no sooner Jews and Heathens had laid down the quarrel, but that Christi­ans took it up, carrying it on against themselves with as much heat and fury as ever the former had done. The mu­tual Contests between them, even in the earlier times of the Gospel, were so bitter and intemperate, so fierce and bloudy too, that they have been objec­ted to them by Pagans, and derided in their open Theatres. Clemens Alexan­drinus bringeth in Heathens upbraiding them with their quarrels; And Ammia­nus Lib. 22. Marcellinus, a heathen Author, hath [Page 418] observ'd long since, That no Beasts were so cruel to one another as Christians in his time were. And there was but too much ground for his observation, when he could see them not only revi­ling and libelling, as in the Council of Nice, but killing and treading down each other in that of Ephesus. What would he have said, had he lived to behold those fatal▪ Tragedies which have been acted since on the Theatre of the World upon the score of Men's different per­suasions? How have they put one an­other out of their Synaguoges, cast them out of their Churches by Excommuni­cations, and, by worrying them to death, turned them out of the World too, and so, as much as in them lay, destroyed peoples Souls as well as their Bodies? I dare say that Jews and Heathens put together have not spilt so much Christi­an bloud as Christians themselves have done. For proof whereof I might ap­peal to Massacres foreign and domestick, Croysades, Persecutions raised and car­ried on against Men with the utmost rage and violence, merely for not being able to bring their Judgments to the same pitch and level with that of their Perse­cutors; [Page 419] not to mention the bloudy de­sign of this Day, which, had it taken effect, would at once have blown up a Church and a State; And all this with the same pretences of holy zeal and pious intentions that Jews and Heathens had, and with as equal ignorance too. For however they thought hereby to doe God service; yet God Himself we see does not think so, nor Christ neither, who chargeth all such Zealots with ut­ter ignorance, both of the Nature of God the Father, and of Himself also; These things will they doe unto you, says He, because they have not known the Fa­ther nor Me. Which leads me to the se­cond Head of my Discourse, to wit, Our Lord's Judgment of, or rather, Sen­tence of Condemnation past here upon all such persons and their practices.

I know not what good opinion some Part. II. may have of Ignorance in matter of Devotion, so as to make it the Mother thereof; I am sure the Scripture all a­long makes it the source of all impiety; of atheism, oppression, cruelty and of all that confusion that is in the World; [Page 420] Have they no knowledge, that they are all such workers of mischief, eating up my people as it were bread? Psal. 14. 8. It was this Ignorance that crucified Christ; Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory, says St. Paul, 1 Cor. 2. 8. And he thanks his ignorance for his persecuting and blaspheming, 1 Tim. 1. 13. They are the dark places of Act. 3. 17. the earth that are full of the habitations of cruelty, Psal. 74. 20. And when men walk on still in darkness, all the foundati­ons of the earth are out of course, Ps. 82. 5. That is, There is nothing then but con­fusion in the world. They proceed from evil to evil, because they know not me, saith the Lord, Jerem. 9. 3. And here we see that Christ Himself chargeth all the cruelty, that should be exercised on his Servants, upon men's not knowing the Father nor Himself.

But wherein did this their Ignorance consist? It consisted, I say, in these two Things.

1. In that they thought that such vi­olent courses as they took to bring men in to them, as their putting them out of their Synagogues, and their killing them, could be an acceptable Service to God.

[Page 421]2. That their pious Intentions, Their thinking thereby to doe God service, could be able to bear them out, and ju­stifie this their way of proceeding.

1. I say first, That they were grosly mistaken in thinking that those violent courses they took could possibly please God. This was their [...] their First grand mistake. For there was nothing in the Divine Law to shew God's approbation of any such thing. Nor do we find that the ancient Jews, who alone worshipping the true God, and being his peculiar People, might in that regard have had some colourable pretence to persecute all, that were out of God's Covenant, as enemies to Him, did notwithstanding use any rigorous, much less barbarous and cruel ways, to compell men to come into their Church. The Law indeed required the life of an Apostate to Idolatry, whether 'twere a single Person or a City, Deut. 13. And therefore to prevent the Jews running into Idolatry, to which they were so prone; Death, which was the only pro­per restraint in that case, was put into the Law by God, who was Himself then the Supreme Magistrate in that Theo­cracy, [Page 422] against whom it was exact Re­bellion and Treason to take another God, and therefore was by Him punish­ed with Death. But this Law concern­ed those only who were within the Pale of the Jewish Church; nor do we find that any who were without, were for­cibly compelled to come into it. This was wholly left to their own choice, and they were suffered to go on in their own way, without being obliged to re­ceive the Mosaical Law. It was never God's method this, to drag men to his Service, nor otherwise to work on their understandings than by rational convic­tions. He might have made use of his great Power to confound, but he hath always pleaded with men by way of Argument, a Way most suitable to the nature of reasonable Creatures and to his own, abhorring all manner of cruel­ty, and by his forbearance, long-suffering Rom. 2. 4. Exod. 34. 6 and goodness seeking to lead men to repen­tance; And therefore they who have a­ny other apprehensions of a Divine Be­ing, measure Him by their own fierce and inhumane Temper, thinking wicked­ly that he is such a one as themselves; and, be they who they will, They know not the Father.

[Page 423] Nor do they know the Son neither; I say, Whosoever employ any violent ways or means to force men's conscien­ces in matter of Religion, do not know Christ. Let me not here be mistaken, as if I were against all manner of legal compulsion. I deny not Magistrates the power of constraining them to outward acts of Justice, Honesty and Religion too, who are destitute of the inward Vertues, such acts falling within their Jurisdiction, serving to preserve Civil Societies, of whom Magistrates are pro­perly Lords, and who do obtain their ends, if the outward acts be done. There are two Swords among Christians, the Lord Ba­con, Essay 3. spiritual and the temporal; and both these have their due office and place in the maintenance of Religion: But we may not take up Mahomet's Sword, or, like unto it, that is, We must not propa­gate Religion by sanguinary Persecuti­ons, nor force consciences so long as men's opinions destroy not faith or mo­rality, that they keep them to them­selves, and do not spread them, to the ruine of the established Religion and Government. For when they doe so (as some Peoples very Religion is trea­sonable) [Page 424] the Treason, not the Religion, is then punished by the Magistrate. But setting a-side this case, I say, That as all outward compulsion to oblige men to quit their present Persuasion without a­ny rational conviction, is directly con­trary to the Will of God the Father, (as I have already shown you) so to that of his Son Jesus Christ, as will appear up­on these three following accounts.

• 1. Because it crosseth the very end and design of his Coming into the world, and is expresly contrary to his Doctrine and Example.
• 2. Because it is a very improper way to advance Religion by. And,
• 3. Such as does not serve their pur­pose who make use of it, which is, To gain Proselytes to their Cause.

1. I say, It crosseth the very end, &c. For as God the Father was not in the 1 King. 19. 11, 12. whirlwind, but in the still voice; so his Son's coming into the world is said to be like rain coming down into a fleece of Psal. 72. 6. wooll, scarce to be heard; He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets, says the Prophet Esay, speaking of Christ, ch. 42. v. 1. His behaviour was, to be mild and gen­tle, [Page 425] not boisterous and clamorous; such a way becoming Him who was the Prince of Peace, whose business it was to reconcile men to God and to themselves, and who came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. He tells us indeed in Luk. 9. 56. one place, that, He came not to send peace on earth, but a sword, Matt. 10. 34. or as it is in St. Luke, ch. 12. v. 51. di­visions; yea, and such divisions as should set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, v. 35. that is, He foresaw what would be the event of his coming, That the nearest Relations would hate and persecute one another to death upon the score of Reli­gion; That different pretences thereun­to would separate those whom nature and bloud had most closely link'd to­gether; That none here would pardon less, than they who were by nature ob­liged to love most; And we see how sharp-edged this Sword has always pro­ved, even to the cutting asunder all na­tural and civil tyes and obligations, so that a man's greatest foes are many times those of his own houshold. Now this was no natural, but an accidental effect of Christ's coming, and of that Doctrine [Page 426] He brought with Him, whose proper character it is to be pure, and then peace­able, Jam. 3. 17. mild and gentle, not, like the Law, a killing letter, much less like Draco's Laws writ in bloud, but ad­mirably fitted for the perfecting men's Natures and the sweetning of their Tem­pers and Spirits, and calculated for the peace and order of the World; which how inconsistent it is with those violent ways of Excommunications and Murthers some Men practice against such as differ from them never so little in opinion in matters of Religion, I cannot see. Nor indeed can I find any thing in the Gos­pel, in the Doctrine or Practice either of Christ Himself, or of his Apostles, to authorize or countenance any such vio­lent proceedings, but enough to con­demn them. When an enemy had sown Tares in the field, and some over-hasty people were presently for plucking them up, our Lord we see forbids them, and will have them both grow up together till the harvest, when God should make the separation; Matth. 13. 28, 29, 30. So when the Disciples would call down fire from Heaven to consume the Samari­tans, who were both Schismaticks and [Page 427] Hereticks, He checks them for it, tel­ling them, That they knew not what Spi­rit they were of; Luk. 9. 54, 55. That however the doing so might suit with the firey temper of Elias, it did not at all with that of his Disciples. It is not for Christianity to assume a power to inflict itself; nor is it commissionated to plant it self with violence, or to de­stroy all that refuse or oppose it. If it be to be writ in bloud, 'tis in that of its own Confessors only, as it was in that of its Author, whose practice was as mild and gentle herein as his doc­trine. For when some of his Disciples being scandalized at the eating of his flesh, went back and walked no longer with Him, (which was direct Apostasie,) does He use any menaces or force to reduce them? No; He leaves them to them­selves, and only cautions his Disciples to beware of their pernicious Example by gently expostulating with them, Will ye also go away? Joh. 6. 67. And when He afterward sent out those his Disciples to convert the World, He sent them forth as Lambs among Wolves, Luk. 10. 3. which does not found like a Com­mission to tear and worry them that [Page 428] would not come into the flock, but ra­ther to be torn and worried by them. Their Commission was to preach the Cross, not to inflict it. And when any City would not receive their Doctrine, all they were to doe in such a case was only to shake off the dust of their feet a­gainst it; That is, to suffer nothing of theirs to cleave unto them, to have no­thing more to doe with them, but to leave them to their own ways and to God's judgment. How well our Mo­dern Apostles have copied out this Doc­trine and these Examples, I leave it to all the World to judge. Surely those qualifications, which St. Paul requires in the servants of the Lord, not to strive, but to be gentle unto all men, and in meek­ness to instruct those that oppose them­selves, 2 Tim. 2. 24, 25. are not to be found in them who now call themselves Converters, who carry the Gospel in one hand, and a Sword in the other; That if Men will not receive That in­to their Heads, They shall be sure to have This sheath'd in their Bowels.

2. But this, as it is a most unchri­stian, so is it a very improper way to advance Religion by; it being impossi­ble [Page 429] to settle That by violence, which cannot be forc'd; and where 'tis forc'd, 'tis not Religion. The Understandings and Wills of Men are not to be bound with the same fetters their Bodies are. The Apostle indeed says, There is a way of bringing every thought into Cap­tivity to the obedience of Christ; but he tells us withall, that the weapons, by which that victory is obtained, are not carnal, 2 Cor. 10. 4. One may as well invade and think to get a conquest over thoughts, and chain up a mind, as force a Man to will against his own will. Not whole Armies can besiege ones Reason, nor Cannons batter his Will. Religion is seated in those Faculties, to which outward force can have no ac­cess. The Sword hath no Propriety that way; Silence it may, but it can never convince, and rather breed an a­version and abhorrence of that Religion whose first address is in bloud and ra­pine. For,

3ly, It is certain that all compulsion here gains nothing to any Cause, but the infamy of those rigours that are used to promote it. Outward force may make a Man more a Hypocrite [Page 430] than he was before, but never more a Convert; It may tye up his Tongue or his Hand, not change his Heart; make him perhaps dissemble his Opinion, but never constrain him to alter it. And what is the advantage that is got by such Proselytes, who shall still bear an Enemies heart towards those who force them outwardly to profess what inward­ly they abhor, and to be of their Church when they cannot make them of their Religion? I doe not think that those Christianos nuevos, those new Christians, as they call them in Spain; That is, such as the Inquisition has made Christians of Mahumetans, doe much love the Re­ligion they turn to, and much less those who turn them to it by employing Fire and Faggor. These indeed are un­deniable Evidences of cruelty in them that use them, but slender Motives of credibility to beget belief in them that suffer by them. And this way will not fail to multiply enemies, instead of pro­curing friends to any Cause, though ne­ver so good. For as Persecution to the true Church is but as the Pruning to the Vine, which gains in its bulk and [Page 431] fruit what it loseth in a few luxuriant branches lopt off; so even Heresies themselves thrive by being prun'd too; the cropping of these Weeds does but serve to thicken them; the bloud of the Devil's Martyrs proves as much the Seed of his Synagogue, as that of Gods Saints does of his Church; and the de­stroying of the Persons of Hereticks, supposing them such, does but add life to their Cause. And indeed what en­couragement have Men to receive a Re­ligion from their Oppressors? or how can they think that they, who torture and kill their Bodies, are really con­cern'd to save their Souls? And while the felicities of another World are re­commended to them only by such as doe deprive them of all in this, we can­not wonder at their little appetite to embrace them, or to find the oppress'd Indians protest against that Heaven where the Spaniards are to be their Co­habitants. Add we to all this, That such Motives as these can never demon­strate Truth. For how successfull soe­ver their force proves, yet it cannot prove the Doctrines true. For by that argument it proves the Religion, it [Page 432] goes about to settle, true; It proves that that which it destroys was true be­fore, while it prevailed and had the power. And then such a testimony is given to the truth of Christianity which Heathenism had before, and Turcism hath since. And thus you see how all vio­lent ways to propagate the Faith, can­not be acceptable to God the Father, as being directly contrary to his Nature and Will; nor yet to his Son, since they cross the very end and design of his coming into the World, his Doctrine and Practice; Fly in the very face of Religion it self, and can never serve their turn who make use of it: From all which it follows, That they who pursue such ways, neither know God the Father, nor his Son Jesus Christ.

I know what is commonly said by some who practice this way of compul­sion, in excuse and defence of it; That many who serve God at first by com­pulsion, may come after to serve him freely; That these sorts of Conversions doe not augment the number of Saints, but they diminish that of Hereticks; That although some among them may prove bad Converts themselves, yet they [Page 433] have Families to be saved, that their Children may make good Christians; and though the stock be naught, yet the branches may be sanctified. But the answer hereunto is easie; That neither good Intents nor casual Events, can ju­stifie unreasonable Violence; which in­stead of rendering Men orthodox Chri­stians, makes them rather Atheists, Hy­pocrites and Formalists: For being con­strained to practice against Conscience, they soon come at last to lose all Con­science: Nor are Men to owe the Sal­vation of Souls to any unwarrantable proceedings, because they must not doe any present evil in prospect of any fu­ture good: This was another gross er­ror of these persons in the Text, as I am now to show you in the next place.

2. The Jews here thought their Zeal to the Temple, and their Ritual Obser­vances so invincibly meritorious, that no crime could defeat it. And we see how apt many Christians are to ascribe so much to the force of a good mean­ing, as if it were able to bear the stress and load of any sins that can be laid up­on it. A good purpose shall hallow all [Page 434] they doe, and make them boldly rush into the most unchristian practices, in prosecution of what some call, The good old Cause; others, The Catholick Faith. For how doe Men swallow down the deadliest Poyson, Perjury, Sacriledge, Murther, Regicide, and the like, in con­fidence of this their preservative, and say grace over the foulest sins! How many have made themselves Saints up­on that account that would never have been such upon any other! And how much Religion groans under the Re­proach of all those Evils which zeal and good meanings have consecrated, is no­torious to all the World. Men call the over-flowing of their gall Religion, and value their Opinions so high, and their eagerness in abetting them, that they think the propagating of them so im­portant a service to God, as will justifie, all they doe in order to this end. Now not to speak of their Error in the choice of their Opinions, That of many oppo­site, one only can be the Right; my present business shall be to shew you, 1. The Impiety, and 2. The Danger of this strong delusion, in respect of that [Page 435] Malignant influence it has on Prac­tice.

For the clearing of which two things, we are to observe, That to the making an Action good and warrantable, these three things are requisite: 1. A good Intention in the Doer. 2. That the Matter of the Action be in it self good; and 3. That it be rightly circumstantia­ted. For a failure in either of these three things quite vitiates the whole Action.

1. The first thing necessary to a good Action, is a good Intention in the Doer. This we learn from Matth. 6. 22. If thine Eye (that is, thy Intention, for so In­terpreters generally understand it) be single, thy whole Body shall be full of light. Be the matter of an Action never so good, yet if a Man's aim and intention in the doing of it be not so, all is stark naught. For, Actus moralis specificatur ex fine; And, Finis dat speciem in moralibus. And as the End is the first thing that sets an Agent a working, so is it the last that perfects its work. Nay, so va­luable in the sight of God is a good In­tention, where-ever it be found, That as He sometimes prevents an evil Act in [Page 436] him in whom He discovers a good In­tention, as in Abimilech; so does He sometimes reward a good Purpose, tho' it proceeds not to act, as in David. Tis true, that a good End alone does not justifie any action; but it is as true that there can be nothing good or to­lerable without it; And although a good meaning doth not wholly excuse, yet an evil one wholly condemns it.

But then, 2dly. Besides a good Inten­tion, two things more are requisite to the making an Action good. 1. That the Matter of it be such. 2. That it be rightly circumstantiated.

1. That the Matter thereof be good. For our Intention, as our zeal, must be always in a good thing. And a thing is Gal. 4. 18. then good, when it is conformable to that Rule which is the measure of its goodness, namely God's Will revealed un­to us in his Word, which if it condemn an Action, no Intention, how good so­ever, can warrant it.

2. That it be duly Circumstantiated; That is, that all necessary circumstances be found in it. For, bonum ex integra causa, malum ex quolibet defectu; A thing may be evil upon one circumstance, but [Page 437] it cannot be good but upon All; and every partial defect in the Object, End, Manner, or other such-like circumstan­ces, is sufficient to render the whole ac­tion bad; but to make it good, there must be an universal concurrence of all requisite conditions in every of these respects.

These principles being taken for granted, (as I think no good Christian will question the truth of them,) the Conclusion is clear and evident, That no Intention, how good soever in it self, can make any Action good, where either the Matter thereof is bad, that is, Repugnant to the revealed Will of God, or it fails of those necessary circumstan­ces that must concur to its goodness. And the main Reason hereof is, Because no good purpose can alter the nature of Good and Evil; It can neither alter the nature nor change the degree of Sin, so as to make it less in one Man than in another, because the nature of Good and Evil depends not on Man, but on the Will of God; And the differences between Good and Evil, and the several degrees of both, doe spring from such Conditions as are intrinsecal to the [Page 438] things themselves, which no outward Respects, much less men's Opinions, can vary, nor sanctifie the use of them. What is evil in some circumstances, may be good in other; but if the thing be wholly bad in it self, it can never be made good till there come a cause as great to change the Nature as to make it. Nor is sin de numero eligibilium; It can neither be chosen for its own sake, nor in reference to any farther end. E malis minimum, may hold true in Evils of pain; but in Evils of fault or sin, E malis nullum, is the Rule. For as there is neither form nor beauty in sin that we should desire it, so neither any good use we can put it to. For that, Actio pec­cati non est Ordinabilis ad bonum finem, is the common Resolution of the Schools. 'Tis true indeed that God can, and ma­ny times doth, order the very sins of Men to a good end; but that is beyond our skill; nor must we commit any, though accidentally and in the event it may possibly turn to his glory. We are not to tell a lye, although through it the truth of God may more abound to his glory; as St. Paul speaks, Rom. 3. 7. And the reason is, because God Himself, whose [Page 439] Will ought to be our Rule, hath expresly forbid us so to doe. Will ye speak wick­edly for God? or talk deceitfully for Him? says Job, ch. 13. 7. Will He borrow Pa­tronage to his Cause from falsehood? Or will he be glorified by those Sins which he forbids and abhorrs? I find in­deed a sort of people in Esay 66. 5. who when they hated their Brethren and cast them out for God's name sake, (either out of their company, as not fit to be con­vers'd with by their lesser Excommuni­cation; or out of their Synagogue, as de­serving V. Ham­mond on Joh. 9. 22. to be cut off from the Congre­gation of the Faithfull, by their greater one,) could wipe off all their crime by saying, The Lord be glorified. But what says God Himself of them? They have desired their own ways, and their Soul delighteth in their Abominations; They did evil before mine eye, and chose that in which I delighted not; ver. 3, 4. That is, they did their own Will, not mine; and pretended to advance my Glory in such a way as themselves fan­cied, but I never allow'd of. God will as soon part with his Glory as have it thus promoted. With Him it is much the same thing, to be made the End as [Page 440] the Author of Sin; and whether we doe good to a bad end, as the Pharisees did, or evil to a good one, with these in the Text, we are equally guilty in the sight of God, who will be sure to punish us even for our good but unwarrantable Intentions; As He did King Saul for re­serving the best of the flocks of Ame­leck, which he had devoted to utter de­struction, though it were for a Sacrifice; And King Uzzah for putting forth his hand to support the tottering Ark, (out of a very good intention, as he thought,) because that was no part of his, but of the Levites office. Does St. Paul justi­fie himself for having persecuted the Church of God, though with a very good intention? So far was he from that, that he calls himself the chiefest of sin­ners 1 Tim. 1. 5. for the Commissions of that time, wherein he says, he served God with a Act. 23. 1. pure conscience, and did what he thought in his heart he was obliged to doe; His good conscience could not then, in his account, sanctifie his actings, nor make his bloudy hands undefiled; 'Twas blas­phemy and persecution for all 'twas Con­science; I was before, says he▪ a blasphe­mer and a persecuter, and injurious; v. 13. [Page 441] So that a conscientious, or, which is here the same thing, a well-meaning Man, may for all that be the chiefest of sinners; nor will it avail any one to shroud his soul actions under handsome intentions. What more abominable than Idolatry? or what more acceptable ser­vice to God than to destroy it? And yet those Christians who in a preposterous Zeal, and, as they thought, a good In­tention, brake down Heathen Images, and deservedly suffered for it, were ne­ver thought fit to be received by the Church into its Martyrology. The per­sons here had as good a pretence as could be; it was to doe God service. What better Intention? And yet they excom­municated and killed Christ's Disciples; What Action could be worse? Are they thankt for their pains? Nay, are they not therefore charged by our Lord with gross Ignorance, with not knowing the Father nor Himself?

This may suffice to shew the Impiety of this opinion, That a present Evil may be done in prospect of a future Good: Give me leave now, in a word, to shew you also the Mischief of it, the bad Influence it has on practice. It is [Page 442] impossible for me to tell you what de­struction Psal. 46. 8. it hath brought, and daily brings, upon the Earth; How many Churches it hath devoured, how many Countries depopulated, how it hath filled the World with bloud and rapine, and must of necessity still confound it, by beget­ting and for ever perpetuating religious feuds and quarrels among Christians. For while each Party thinks he has God on his side, and that he has as good a right to his Opinion as he that opposeth it hath to his, which is a strong persua­sion that he is in the right till he be con­vinc'd that he is in the wrong; There can be no end of quarrels and divisions. For this gives all men an equal right to persecute as many as differ from them in Religion. For by the same reason that I have a good opinion of my per­suasion, and call it true, because I think it so; Another, who is as strongly con­vinc'd of the truth of his, may justly and upon equal pretence doe the like. It matters not where the truth or error lyes, the mischief is still the same; For so long as men continue in such a per­suasion, be it right or wrong, they will be sure to act vigorously according to [Page 443] it; And it is certain that they who use bad means to compass a good end a­gainst others, doe arme them with the same power, resolution and justice to employ the like, when ever occasion serves, against themselves.

And thus you see both the Impiety and the Mischief of pious but misguided Intentions; which though not allowable in ordinary practice, yet in cases extra­ordinary some think may be justify'd by that common Maxime, That All great Actions have aliquid Iniqui, some­thing bad in them, which publick ad­vantage afterwards makes amends for. How far this may go in State-policy, I know not; but I am sure it will not pass for good Divinity, if our Saviour's word here may be taken, or St. Paul's Rule be good, Rom. 3. 8. That we must not doe evil that good may come of it; Not any the least Moral Evil for the greatest either Temporal or Spiritual Good whatsoever. Which Rule some finding too strict and severe for them, and those designs they carry on, as ut­terly inconsistent therewith, usually plead the Examples of some holy Men in Scripture, who having served God [Page 444] by strange violences of fact, have for his glory laid hold on Instruments not fit to be used by a Christian: As for example; Jacob's telling a down-right lye to get his Father's blessing; Da­vid's making use of Hushai as a spy; Elias and Jehu's causing a sacrifice to be proclaimed to Baal with in­tent to destroy that Idol and its Wor­shippers, and the like Instances of hu­mane frailty, which God was pleased to over-look and pardon in those that did them, but never intended them as Pat­terns for us to imitate. Many things have been done by good men in their heat, which had God's approbation after they were done, but not his Law to countenance the doing them, and there­fore can be no certain Rule for us to go by.

From what has hitherto been said, we may now perceive what ill Com­mentators they are of those words of our Saviour ( Compell them to come in) who put this sense upon them, by threats and torments force them into the Church. Than which Doctrine nothing certainly can be more unreasonable but the way of excusing it by a good meaning, a [Page 445] fair pretence of advancing God's glory by any, though never so bad means; as if God would be served by taking in the Devil into his service. Surely as the wrath of Man worketh not the righteousness of God; so neither can any good end of Jam. 1. 20. his, if carried on by bad instruments, advance his glory. He may make great allowances to the miscarriages of sin­cere, but he will never doe it to the er­rors of such wicked Intentions, as are besides his Commission, yea and against his express Will and Command.

Now as this was the Jews and Hea­thens way, so I could heartily wish that many Christians did not follow it. The former, to wit, the Jews, had still re­course to their Excommunications, and both Jews and Gentiles fell to killing Christs servants out of equal Zeal and pious Intention no doubt; The one, for their Law; and the other, for their blind Superstition. But neither of these two ways suit with true Christianity. As for Excommunication, which some Men are so apt immediately to fly to upon every trivial occasion, they doe not well siconder what a dreadfull thing it is.

[Page 446]A forestalling of the great-day of Judgment; It is the delivering up of a 1 Cor. 5. 5. 1 Tim. 1. 20. Mat. 18. 17 man to Satan, a declaring him to be as a Heathen-man and a Publican, one that has nothing to doe with the people of God, but is to be cast out of their Church and Company. Now as this is the last Remedy to reclaim Sinners by; so is it but rarely to be made use of, and but in cases extraordinary. We do not find that our Lord Himself ever practi­sed it, nor any of his Apostles, except St. Paul, and he but in one Instance. He bids us indeed, Reject an Heretick af­ter the first and second admonition, Tit. 3. 10. Not presently anathematize, much less kill him. I would they were even cut off that trouble you, says he, Gal. 5. 12. It was but an I would, I could wish it done. And when himself did it, it was but to one single person, and that for an enor­mous crime, Incest; nor was it done at last, but with much solemnity too, by calling on the name of Christ, 1 Cor. 5. 4. so seldom, even scarce at all, were these spiritual arms employed even by those who were Boanerges's, Sons of thunder, and surely knew best how to manage them. And when they did it for the de­struction [Page 447] of the flesh, that is, for the mor­tifying and destroying the old man (for that only is meant there by flesh) they did it for the saving of men's souls, That their spirits might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, v. 5. Excommu­nications are such edge-tools as will cut their hands who have not skill to manage them, but seldom or never hurt or hit those at whom they are lanc'd at randome. Is it not then strange that some men should think to approve their Christianity by ruining that of their Brethren, or to secure themselves of Heaven by keeping others out of it? Though with these men in the Text they should think it a service to God to kill men's bodies, methinks they should not think it one to destroy their Souls. How the Council of Trent can be excu­sed in this particular, I understand not. For who-ever looks into the Canons of that Council will find, That as there is scarce any one there without its Anathe­ma; so that most of them are either for such matters as cannot deserve so heavy a Censure, or for such plain Scripture­truths as deserve none; being some of them of Christ's own Institution. Nor [Page 448] are these Church-weapons for the most part Bruta Fulmina; They carry a fa­tal Train after them; Deposition, Ab­solving Subjects from their Oaths of Al­legiance to their natural and lawful So­vereigns, who are thereupon abandoned to whosoever shall think it fit to kill them, follow close upon them. These Thun­der-claps are not without their Thun­der-bolts, which will be sure to doe Ex­ecution one way or other, either on men's Souls or on their Bodies, if not on both. So that when once People are devoted to Hell, all the mischiefs of the Earth immediately pursue them. The Instance of this Day's intended work is an evident demonstration of this Truth. For he who was a main Instrument in the design and management thereof, did at his Examination confess, That Garnet. his principal motive to this villanous attempt was an Excommunication thun­dred out at first by Pius Quintus against Queen Elizabeth, and kept still on foot by Sixtus Quintus, which sticking on King James, oblig'd him in conscience to attempt the murthering of his Sove­reign in obedience to that Bull. And how did he excuse that Fact? Was it [Page 449] not by his pious intention to promote God's glory and the good of the Catho­lick Church? A fit cover for such a foul fact, but commonly made use of by such as himself was, in justification of the like wicked practices. St. Paul we see hath expresly doom'd all those that doe so to no less than eternal Dam­nation. Rom. 3. But those men and he are not agreed in this point. For should his doc­trine be good, what would then become of all their Piae Fraudes, Feigned Legends and Miracles, Indices Expurgatorii, E­quivocations and mental Reservations, Allowance of common Stews for the preventing unnatural Lusts, that is, of one Sin to hinder another: For which, and the like, the Catholick defence is the Catholick cause, and men's pious In­tentions; which in case they should prove never so faulty, yet a little recti­fying of them will rectifie all that is a­miss in them. A piece of spiritual Chy­mistry this, of late Invention, which can extract the finest gold out of the basest metal, to guild over all the Villa­nies which the heart of man can devise, or his hand execute. I know not whe­ther [Page 450] any can really think that by such vile artifices they can doe God any ser­vice; But I am apt to believe that they rather think to doe themselves one, and that 'tis the same humane policy, not to give it a worse name, and not Religion, that acts such men, which did these per­sons in the Text. But if any men do in good earnest think they doe God any ser­vice thereby, It is such a one as our Lord Himself here flatly tells them nei­ther his Father nor He will ever thank them for.

But since it will be in vain for me to tell them so who will not take Christ's own word for it; I shall turn my dis­course to you who now hear me, and for the preventing any such dangerous errour in you, leave some few Rules of caution and direction with you, and so conclude.

1. And the first shall be concerning your Zeal, That you be as carefull and industrious to employ it in a good as some do theirs in a bad cause, but with this proviso, That your Zeal be a right and well-temper'd one. A right one it will be, if it be alway in a good thing; Gal. 4. 18. [Page 451] And well-temper'd, if it be according to knowledge, Rom. 10. 2. St. Paul's rules both. If your Zeal be not in a good thing, it will doe the same mischief that fire does out of its proper place, the hearth; And if it have not light to see its way by, it will prove very dangerous company in the dark, and lead you into bogs and precipices. There is nothing so pernici­ous to man as a blind frantick zeal, which instead of eating them up who are possess'd with it, eates up God's people, as if they were bread; Nor is there any thing so injurious to God, it being com­mon for people in their indiscreet and furious zeal for God, to run farthest from Him, and either to break the two Ta­bles of his Law with Moses, or at least, to dash them one against the other. And can we think they should ever doe God service, who know not what they doe them­selves? May not he say to such Zealots what King Achish did of David, 1 Sam. 21. 15. Have I need of mad men? And does not too much ignorant zeal much more than too much learning make men so? Surely there is no madness to the re­ligious one, which, like the Devil in the [Page 452] possessed man in the Gospel, casts them sometimes into the fire, and sometimes in­to the water, that is, into contrary exces­ses and extravagances, scattering mis­chief where-ever it goes, turning the World into a Chaos, and the Church into an Acheldama; while Melancholy is made the seat of Religion by some, and Frenzy by others, what can follow thence but confusion? And therefore we ought to have a special care that our Zeal be guided by knowledge and dis­cretion, lest we over-shoot our selves with these men here, and when we put Christ's servants out of our Synagogues, and kill them too into the bargain, we become so foolish as with them also to think we shall thereby doe God service.

2. Our next caution must be, that we be well assured of the soundness of the Principles we act by. What a dangerous thing it is to be herein mistaken our Saviour tells us, Matt. 6. 23. If the light that is in thee be dark­ness, how great is that darkness? that is, If thy mind and conscience be defiled, Tit. 1. 15. if thy Judgment be corrupt, how great and dangerous will those mistakes prove [Page 453] that mislead thee! For the farther thou shalt go on in thy wrong way, the more shalt thou be out of the right one; And when thou art once out, it will be impossi­ble for thee to get into it again, so long as those false Guides, which are as so many Satans standing at thy right-hand, still prompting and tempting thee to evil, shall remain in thee. He that commits a sin by principles hath nothing to retrieve him from his errour while he retains such principles, and as long as he is un­der the power and guidance of ill ones, they will not only dangerously expose, but highly encourage him to evil, by turning the greatest crimes into merit, and making him hope to gain Heaven by such practices as directly lead him to Hell. The Physicians maxime, That an error in the first concoction is never to be mended, holds as true in Religion as in Nature. And therefore it highly concerns us, that our first choice here be right, lest we set out amiss, and of­fend God most, even there where we think most to please Him.

3. The last Use I shall draw from my Text is an Use of Direction or [Page 454] Tryal, how to judge of the Truth and Goodness of a Religion, and that is, by the Mildness and Harmlesness thereof. This is the proper Chraracter of true Christian Religion; It has all of the Dove, and nothing of the Vulture in it. That which breathes nothing but Cur­ses and Slaughters, to be sure is not of God the Father, nor of His Son. I think there is no true Member of our Church that understands his Religion well and the nature of it, but would be willing to submit it to this Test; But I can scarce believe that they who talk so much of the Cruelty of ours would be content to put the Truth of their Religion upon this issue. We need but compare Q. Mary and Queen Elizabeth's Reigns to see which of the two Religi­ons they were of was the mildest. No fire and faggot to be seen in the latter's time; Even that bloudy Butcher Bon­ner, who shew'd no mercy to any Pro­testant, found his share in hers; He was only put under a little restraint, but such a mild one as differed very little from liberty, and ended his days in peace. I am sure that the design of this [Page 455] day was no good argument of the good nature of that Religion which the De­signers profest, no more than a stan­ding Inquisition is. Many who are per­secuted abroad for their Religion run to us for shelter and protection; But we send out none hence to complain of our like usage toward them. Some in­deed are so confident as to deny there is any such thing, though many of us see it done abroad, and whole shoals of suffering people daily flocking hither do themselves tell us so, and should they not, their very wants and mise­ries would lowdly proclaim it. But that which seems strangest to us is, to hear some of our brethren, or at least such as pretend to be of the same Religion with us, talk so much of that Egyptian slave­ry they have been rescued from. I think there are no footsteps of any Bricks or Lime kills yet remaining amongst us; Nor do I believe that we were ever such severe. Task-masters to any of them as they were to us All when it was our chance to be under them. Their little finger then was heavier upon us than all our loins ever were to them. Those very [Page 456] people who now cry out so much on former Persecution, may remember, if they please, That there was a time when themselves were the Persecutors, and we the Sufferers. The only difference be­tween them and us is this, That what they did was against Law, and what we did was by it. In a word, Our an­swer to both these sorts of men is this, That as we never had any hand in the business of this Day, so neither in that of the 30th of January. Now if the in­nocent Doctrine of our Church and our constant practice suitable thereunto will not sufficiently plead for us, we have then no other Apology left us but that of St. Paul in the like case, With us it is 1 Cor. 4. 3, 4. a very small thing that we should be judg­ed of you or of man's judgment: He that judgeth us, and you too, is the Lord, who will, one day, make manifest the counsels of the heart, and then shall every man have praise of God. In the mean time let us keep to our Rule, Doe all in­deed to the glory of God, but doe it in such a way as Himself will have it done by. We are to look to our way, God will take care of his own concerns. [Page 457] 'Tis high presumption in us to goe a­bout to teach Him how He should be obey'd. If we will serve Him accepta­bly, Let us doe it according to His own will and prescription. Then shall we doe Him service indeed, and when our great Master shall come and find us so doing, He will then, to our unspeakable comfort, say unto us, Well done ye good and faithfull servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord, Which he bring us un­to, &c. Amen.

Soli Deo gloria in aeternum.

THAT all men have an appre­hension of another Life (which Tully calls, Saeculorum quoddam Tusc. Qu. lib. 1. augurium futurorum, A kind of presage of a future world) is hereby evident, That they so infinitely desire and la­bour to extend their memory beyond the limits of this, to make their fame outlast their persons, to survive them­selves in their Issue, or in an Inscription, and that sometimes engraven on the very houses of corruption, their Sepul­chres, fancying a remainder of Life even [Page 459] in the abodes of death; or, which is yet stranger, to perpetuate their fame by their very infamy: So dreadfull a thing to Man is the very thought of Annihilation. And by how much stron­ger men's apprehensions have been of another Life; by so much has their contempt of this been the greater. This Reditur [...] parcere vi­tae. Lucan. of the Dru­ids. made some Heathens so prodigal of a Life which in their opinion should re­turn; And as it made them valiant, so has it in all Ages made Christians more. It brought them cheerfully out into the Field, and these more cheerfully to the Stake. And indeed as the meditation of death is a good remedy against the fear of it to those who look beyond it; so if it bound up men's thoughts, and shut up their prospect within the grave, if it be considered as ultima rerum linea, that, beyond which there remains no­thing, not as a passage to another Life, but an utter close of this, it cannot but fill their Souls with the greatest hor­ror and amazement. Now nothing can well remove this but the Doctrine of Christianity, and 'tis the great scope and design of it to doe so. It represents death to us not as an annihilation, but a [Page 460] change; not as a ruine, but a dissolution; not as a bare privation of this life, but a door to another: So that when we dye now, we leave nothing behind us but our mortality; part with nothing but our corruption; nor are we so much buried in our graves, as laid up, they being but so many beds from whence we are to be rouzed; when Christ, who raised himself, shall raise us up, he who is the Head draw us after Him, who are the members; without which blessed hope we should still remain in the cham­bers of death, the pit should not only swallow us up, but shut her mouth upon us; our graves should devour our hopes with our selves, and we should not so much dye, as in St. John's expression, Rev. 2. 23. be slain with death. But now since Christ hath abolished death, and 2 Tim. 1. 10. brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel; now that he has not only discovered but imparted it to us, the face of things is quite changed; That which we dreaded before, we now expect; what was once a threat, is now become a promise; our greatest hope is in that which was our greatest fear; If death affright us as natural men, it [Page 461] comforts us as Christians; If we be its Prisoners, we are the Prophet Zacha­ry's Zach. 9. 12 prisoners of hope; It does but the of­fice of a gentle Gaoler, only unlock our Prison door, to let us out thence into everlasting Mansions.

Of all Articles then of the Creed, there is none more comfortable than that of the Resurrection to good Chri­stians, nor any so important even to their tranquility in this life, whose mi­series are so great and whose satisfacti­ons so thin and empty, that without hope of some release from them, they should be more condemn'd to live than to dye; Their life it self would even kill them; They should sink under the perpetual apprehension of a future no­thing, hate life and still fear death, that is, not enjoy themselves here, and be a­fraid of losing themselves for ever here­after. Upon which score 'tis that our Apostle here is so earnest and so concer­ned in asserting the necessity of a Resur­rection, which Heathens and Sadduces Act. 23. 8. utterly denyed, and many weak and se­duced Christians scarce believed (some affirming it already past, others turning 2 Tim. 2. 18. it into a mere Allegory.) The former [Page 462] he labours to convince by reasons fetch'd from nature; The latter here in the Text by an argument ad hominem drawn from the particular interest of Chri­stians, who of all others should most suffer, if their hopes should determine with this life: A sad and uncomforta­ble Consequence would then follow to All, but a most absurd one also to these; Others should then be miserable, but these of all others most miserable; For,

If in this life, &c. we Christians, we Apostles especially and Ministers of Christ, should be of all men most misera­ble.

In which words you may observe,

• 1. A false hope, a hope in Christ in this life only, with its effect, misery, and greater misery to Christians than to thers, who, upon such a supposition, are pronounc'd of all men most miserable.
• 2. A true hope, a hope in Christ not in this life only, with its effect also, Happiness. For if the other make its owners miserable and most miserable; Then this, by the Law of contraries, happy and most happy; Happy in this world as well as in the other; Though [Page 463] there most, because there is most happi­ness; yet here too, because here is some.

The first hope and its effects are more plainly exprest; the second and its effects as necessarily imply'd, and both of them together make up the full contents of the Text.

I shall not consider the Parts so mi­nutely as I have proposed them, but draw out the substance of them into these three following Propositions which naturally result from the Text.

• 1. That they who have no other hope but what this life affords them, are miserable.
• 2. That upon supposition of no bet­ter hope, all good Christians, but the Ministers of Christ especially, should be not only miserable, but of all other men most miserable.
• 3. That there is another Life to come, the expectation whereof makes them who have it most happy both here and hereafter.

Of these in their order. And first,

That they who have no other hope Part. I. but—

And indeed how can they be other­wise, [Page 464] since this life is so? Our early tears prognosticate our future unhappi­ness, and we come into this world with as much sadness as we go out of it with horror. Some have curst the day Job 3. of their birth, with Job; others have not thought fit to allow that Title, but to those days wherein Martyrs have suffered. Some Philosophers have affir­med, Cic. Tusc. Qu. lib. 1. that man's chiefest happiness had been not to have been born at all; his next, to have dyed as soon as born. Nay the Scripture it self represents our Blessed Saviour groaning when he rai­sed up Lazarus from the dead, for this reason say some, because he saw himself as it were oblig'd by his Sisters tears to fetch him back from the happiness of the other to the miseries of this wret­ched life. Nor can I much wonder at their fancy who have conceited that our Souls were thrust into these our Bodies as into so many prisons, since those which are most conveniently, are but ill lodg'd there, our Bodies at best, be­ing but so many hospitals, if our Souls be any better; for as diseases plague the one, so passions and lusts as much torment the other. And here should I [Page 465] declame on the miseries of humane life, the common beaten theam even of those who know no other, 'twere easie to be Eloquent. But not to speak of those accidents which befall it, we need not charge our Miseries on our Fortune, we owe them to our very Nature. Every man is a several Enoch, miserable by his very frame and make, and 'twere need­less to borrow arguments from any thing but himself to prove him such, or go about to demonstrate what he feels. His own Experience shows him wretched in what he suffers, and Rea­son will so even in what he enjoys. The Evil he endures sadly afflicts him, and the Good he possesses does not much affect him; His Sorrows are many and great, and his Joys but few and small; Those come unmixt, These at best but alloyed; so that Man is wholly misera­ble, and but half happy. I shall not trouble my self to prove that he is mi­serable in what he suffers, for he finds himself so; but, which I conceive more proper to my present purpose, endea­vour to demonstrate, that the things of this life, were they as high as fancied, could never create any true satisfaction, [Page 466] and consequently must leave a Man to misery, even in that condition wherein he takes himself to be most happy. And this will appear upon a threefold ac­count. 1. Because they are unsatis­factory. 2. Because not lasting. 3. Be­cause, upon supposition of no other life, the continual fear of death would render the enjoyments of them most imper­fect.

1. Because they are unsatisfactory, as not 1. bearing any proportion or fit­ness to the Soul. They are material, and This spiritual. The Soul of Man being a substance of unbounded Desires, can never be pleas'd but with what is infinite. 2. And this dissatisfaction we receive from things here below, appears then most when we come to a trial: Our Enjoyment best confutes our Opi­nion of them; then 'tis we find that they are bigger in our eye than in them­selves; in our desire, than in our review of them; and that our expectations are far larger than our fruitions. These Ap­ples of Sodom shew fair and beautifull, but the least touch turns them into dust, and presently discovers all their painted beauty to be but Appearance [Page 467] and Illusion. 3. Add we to this, that there can be no surer mark of the dissa­tisfaction we find in the things of this life, than that they presently cloy us. Our continued enjoyment of the best of them tires us out, as Happiness is said to have done Polycrates, and For­tune Galba; We must be beholding to their variety for their comfort, nay to some evil to make us relish any good in them. This is that which Heathens themselves have express'd in those Me­tamorphoses of their Gods; thereby in­timating, that great Persons, tired out with their own Happiness, have been forc'd to descend to the Actions of their Inferiors; to disguise themselves some­times, to ease themselves of the very burthen of their Honours, and lay aside that Grandeur which importun'd them: so that the perpetual presence of the same objects is scarce to be endured, though they tire us no otherwise than as they are always the same. And now let Philosophy tell us there is no vacui­ty in Nature; Divinity and our own experience will assure us, that there is nothing else in the things of it.

[Page 468]2. But then secondly, Were the things of this life never so full in themselves and satisfactory, yet, being not lasting, all the satisfaction we find in them can be but as they are, short and fading too. What was said of Drunkenness, That 'tis but a short and merry Madness, is as true of all those brittle Comforts which carnal Men have in outward things; they are no better than one day's vanities; born this light, and not seen the next; things of so swift and dispatching a nature, that they just last long enough to have it pronounc'd of them that they have been; having two characters stampt upon them by St. Au­gustine, that they make wretched and forsake, these two glassy properties, that they are glittering and breaking; like some pieces of dry wood that imi­tate light, to whom belong these poor accomplishments, to shine and to be rotten. And as these things are short, so are men too; They forsake men, and men must leave them; As the fashion of this world still passeth away, so those that 2 Cor. 7. 31. are in it; These earthly Tabernacles vanish like enchanted Castles; and they that dwell in them; The Inhabitants [Page 469] decay as well as their Houses, and both, if no other life, must for ever lye buried in their own rubbish.

3. Which sad apprehension of a fu­ture Annihilation, is the third thing which, of all other, makes a Man mise­rable, and represents Death most terri­ble. Annihilation is a thing of so dis­mal an aspect, that some prefer a bad being to none, and think it better to be for ever miserable, than for ever not at all to be. Now he that looks upon death not as a change, but as an irre­parable ruine, can never tast the joys of life; the constant apprehension of this future nothing, makes every thing to him as nothing; That bitter pill shall still soure his delights more than the want of one surly Jews knee did Haman's felicity. What pleasure can that Malefactor take in any thing of this world, who every minute expects his Execution? Or what relish can that man find in the choicest delicacies of Nature, who, with Damocles, sits at the Table with a Sword hanging by a little thread, ready to fall with its point upon his head? Every morsel to such a per­son is gall. 'Tis so with him that sees [Page 470] his pompous Scene of Greatness waited on by a fatal Catastrophe. And there­fore Tully speaking as a right natural Man, is plain when he tells us, Mortis timor tollit omnem vitoe jucunditatem. This was a sad Tolling-bell to the tri­umphing Emperor, Hominem te esse me­mento; as it is to him that lives like a God in a kind of All-sufficiency of out­ward enjoyments, that he must dye like a Man, nay like the Beast that perisheth. Such a persuasion would make a Socra­tes look pale at the sight of the Hem­lock, in spight of all those Cordials his Philosophy could furnish him with; and indeed it were easie to prove, that all those remedies it affords to abate the terror of death, are very ineffectual, and the Philosophers themselves but mise­rable Comforters, and that, upon sup­position of no other life to come, that so famous saying of Solon, That no man was happy till dead, would rather give him a place among the greatest fools than wise men of his time; and that part of Roman Valour so much magni­fied, for men to offer violence to them­selves, would, no doubt, appear as full of Madness to a natural Man, if well [Page 471] considered, as it does of Impiety to a Christian, if by depriving himself of his being, he must for ever put himself out of a capacity of any future enjoy­ment.

By these considerations you may now perceive how miserable that person needs must be who confines his hope to the things of this life, so unsatisfacto­ry, so brittle, so perishing in their use as he that uses them too, especially when a man is persuaded he must short­ly so perish as for ever not to be. Such a man is most unhappy in his misery, because no prospect of a better condi­tion can lessen or alleviate it; and as miserable too in his fancied happiness, because at best 'tis very low and but half possessed; miserable in what he suffers now, but much more in what he expects hereafter: In a word, such a one is most miserable in his misery, and cannot at all be happy in his hap­piness, because he imagines a time com­ing, when he shall be neither miserable nor happy, but eternally nothing.

II. If this then be the condition of Part. II. a meer natural Man; then certainly [Page 472] that of a Christian is yet more misera­ble, if his hope also be in this life only; Which is the second Observation. If we consider what God's Saints have in all ages endured, and must continually ex­pect, we shall find that out of Hell none have suffered more. For proof hereof, I need send you but to 1 Cor. 4. or ra­ther to the 11th to the Hebrews, where the bare recital St. Paul makes of their sufferings would fright us, nor can our ears well bear what they endured. If any misfortune befell the Roman State, then presently, Christiani ad Leones. If 1 King. 18. 17. Israel be afflicted, then Elias must be the troubler of it. Man is born to trou­bles Job 5. 7. as the sparks fly upward, says Job; but the good Christian is engag'd to more than the Man is born to. 'Tis that he must expect; if he be to receive a hundredfold in this time, 'tis with perfe­cutions: He that will live godly must Mar. 10. 30 suffer them, says St. Paul, 2 Tim. 3. 12. And, In this world ye shall have trouble, says Christ, Joh. 16. 33. Such a man's profession is scandalous, and his example odious. For not being of the World, to be sure the World will hate him. Which as it is true of all good Christians, so [Page 473] of Christ's Ministers especially. As they have a double portion of God's Spirit, so of afflictions. If others be chastned with Whips, then these with Scorpions. For besides their common profession, the nature of their office will expose them to troubles. They that convince the world of sin, shall stir up its malice; and while they defie the powers of darkness, inevitably procure their ha­tred.

And here, for the better making good my assertion, that Christians of all other men are most miserable, I shall premise these two things. 1. That the stronger men's apprehensions are of evil, the quicker the sense of them. 2. That the higher their hopes, the greater their misery in the disappointment of those hopes. For,

First, The apprehension, if strong and active, ever gives an edge and sting to misery. The soundest body is most sen­sible of pain; and the quickest reason of misfortune. Expectation and appre­hension heighten Evils; the first anti­cipates, and the second exasperates them. Now these two are highest in Christi­ans. For whereas wicked Men, who [Page 474] are so immers'd in the things of this life, that they scarce give themselves leisure to think of those of another, doe far less apprehend them: Christians who suffer their thoughts to dwell upon such unpleasing objects, are most sensible of them, and that wrath of God which may justly seize upon all offenders; and consequently they suffer these terrors with much more troubled minds. And without question the keenness of Christ's apprehension of what sin deserved was a high aggravation of what he suffered. In which respect Christians also are more unhappy than the most bruitish men, yea than the beasts that perish. For whereas these feel their misery when it comes, but doe not anticipate it; those shall doe what the Devils depre­cated, continually torment themselves before the time, and but with imagi­nary Evils, if there be no such thing as a Hell; Mortality and corruption would then make unreasonableness its self a priviledge, and the Atheist would in this life be far happier than the best Christian, and still happier than he is, if he could bring himself to have as lit­tle [Page 475] reason, as he has religion. There is no doubt, but that (supposing no other life) his enjoyments here would be so much the greater, as his fears were less. Thus the Hog makes good cheer in a tempest, while Men make vows and prayers; he is secure, while the Philo­sopher looks pale and affrighted, and owes that tranquillity to his stupidity which the others Philosophy and Rea­son shall but disturb. 'Tis certain that still as a man's apprehensions of another life have been less, his enjoyment of this has ever been more free and full. The Epicure who denied a God, or at least his Providence, did little trouble himself with his Anger; while he fan­cied such a Deity as would not disturb men's pleasures, so he might peaceably enjoy his own; himself became as vo­luptuous as that God he made, and so 'twas his whole business to create him­self an imaginary Paradise, while he thought there was no real one. This made such persons give themselves over to all licentiousness; for their Prin­ciples being loose, their Lives could not be strict; while their opinions were so low of the Soul, their care could not be [Page 476] but great for their Bodies; The Immor­tality of the Soul once denied, the con­cerns for it could not be much, it be­ing not probable that such men should please themselves with a pretence of vertue, who deny'd the future rewards of it. And from such premises that conclusion here mentioned by St. Paul Ver. 32. could not but follow; Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we dye. It is but reasonable to imagine that they who thought they should dye like beasts, should live like them; husband that life the best they could, which should never return when once gone, and make it as pleasant as they saw 'twas short. Which, if there were no other life to come, was, no doubt, a rational course and the high­est wisedom. And this supposed, The Children of this World must needs be wiser than the Children of Light; Martha's choice much better than Maries; That Cardinal who said he would not change his part in Paris for that in Paradise, appear as wise as we can imagine him Atheistical; and those men's profession, Malachi 3. That 'tis a vain thing to serve the Lord, and little profit to be found in keeping of his Ordinances, were to be lookt [Page 477] upon as the highest reason; The true Christian should be of all other the most unprofitable servant; To be ver­tuous and to be vitious would be all one, or rather, to be vertuous would be but a trouble and a check to us, nothing else but a subtle invention to debar our selves of the benefit of the good things of this world, when no better were to be expected.

2. The second thing I laid down in order to the proving the Christian more miserable than all other men, upon sup­position of no future state, is this; That the higher men's hopes are, the greater their misery in their disappointment. If hope, but deferr'd, vexes the Soul; then hope, utterly frustrated, must needs confound it. Which is so true, that the higher we rise in our expectations, the greater must our fall be when we find them defeated. Now no profession bids higher than Christianity. It bids the poorest beggar look upon himself as a King, one born to a Throne, and by fil­ling him with expectations of a Sceptre, which he shall never have, turns that Heaven he strongly fansies into a fool's Paradise. His fall from that place he [Page 478] so eagerly aspires to, is like that of Lu­cifer from that he was once possess'd of. He hopes to shine as a star in the firmament, when his glory must suf­fer an eternal Eclipse. Thus does he please himself with an empty title, when he shall never enjoy the Inheri­tance; and so in pursuance of a dream shall he lose the more solid comforts of this life, and let go a substance to catch at shadows of good things to come, if those good things be only in his Ima­gination; if that death, which puts an end to his misery, shall add a greater one, by for ever depriving him of his fancy'd enjoyments.

I shall add this one Consideration more, that Christians, as they are more miserable than other men by their Pro­fession; so do they make themselves yet more miserable by their severe Princi­ples of Mortification and Self-denial, debarring themselves of those Comforts and Satisfactions which others freely enjoy. Thus shall the very Religion they profess persecute them more than another's rage and envy; and while the World shall deprive them of things con­venient for this life, they shall do more, [Page 479] of things necessary; That shall deny them things lawfull; They themselves things expedient too. If Providence has given them a plentifull fortune, their Religion shall forbid them the full and free use of it. They must be poor in spirit in the height of honours; low in their desires, though never so high in wealth and plenty; Thus in the midst of enjoyment do they scarce en­joy; their Appetite must be curb'd in the opportunities of its utmost indulgence; and while good things are presented to their view, they must not reach out their hand to them, neither touch, taste nor handle, nor use the World, but as if they used it not. In which respect as they suffer more than others, so shall they enjoy less too, while they lose the good things here, and fail of those here­after.

But here some may object; That al­though there were no God nor life to come, yet there is so much satisfaction in living according to the rules of right reason and vertue, that even that con­sideration should oblige men to doe so, and so make them most happy.

[Page 480]I confess that to live according to the rules of right reason is most agreeable to humane nature and conducing to hap­piness in this life, and that they who keep closest to such rules, should have a considerable temporal advantage over those that break them. For sobriety, temperance, meekness, chastity and the like, do no doubt add as well to the pleasure as length of men's days, and therefore Christians, who best observe and practise those Vertues, must needs upon this account enjoy themselves most in this World, although they should fare no better than others in the next. But to this it may be reply'd; That besides that the use of Vertue should be very mean, if it should no otherwise make us happy than beasts are, who contenting themselves with what merely sufficeth nature, are more vigorous, and some of them longer liv'd than men; It may be questionable, whether a dry Platonical Idea of a Vertue perishing with our selves or a bare moral complacency in it, might in the balance of reason weigh down those other more sensual delights which gratifie our lower faculties, or a severe and morose Ver­tue [Page 481] have charms in it equal to all those various pleasures which sooth and flat­ter our appetites; much more whether a calamitous one, such as that of a Chri­stian usually is, a vertue still under a cloud, and ever as it were on the rack, persecuted, hated and afflicted here, and never to be considered hereafter. Far be it from me to decry moral Vertue, which even Heathens have granted to be a reward to it self, but surely in the supposed case of annihilation, very short of a full and complete one, and to cry it up, as some doe, to the weakning of our belief and hope of the Immortality of the Soul, however at first blush it may seem plausible, is in effect no better than a subtle invention to ruine Vertue by it self, since it cannot possi­bly subsist but by the belief and support of another life. For setting this aside, what would Vertue be but a bare Noti­on? what but a gaudy rattle to still and please Children? but of little force to persuade men to quit a present sensi­ble delight for a bare Philosophical, though never so taking Speculation. Vertue may carry a big Title, she may appear the fairest thing of the world [Page 482] and be the least usefull, while men ex­pect no other advantage of their good actions but the content of having done them. 'Tis what she brings charms us more than her self, her beauty would have no attractive had she no dowry; she would soon be laid aside as the most unprofitable thing of the Earth, did she not give us assurance of some better re­ward hereafter than what she now be­stows. The joys vertuous actions af­ford do so far affect us as they are an earnest of greater, and those satisfacti­ons which spring from good deeds are so far to be prized as they promise and entitle us to higher ones. If we are plea­sed in doing good here 'tis that we may hereafter find it, and if we sow in grace, 'tis because we hope one day to reap in glory. Vertue without Immor­tality can never content us, and our longings after that are strong arguments of it; when we wish we prove it, and that we may attain it 'tis evident, be­cause we so passionately desire it. O Sen. quàm vilis & contempta res est homo, nisi supra humana se erexerit, says the Mora­list. That man is not so much as a man, that is not a great deal more than so, [Page 483] that raises not himself above himself, that looks not beyond his threescore and ten years, nor above the ground he treads on. The vilest worm were hap­pier than he, if his hopes were laid up where his body shall be. He has a Hea­ven in prospect, and the expected joys of that quite swallow up his miseries on Earth. Now indeed is the time of his sowing, but not of his harvest; His work is here, but not his wages. His good Master that employs shall one day fully pay him, who gives him some of that pay in hand, but bids him look for more; and that blessed hope bears him up against all the discouragements of this life, sweetens his afflictions here, and makes him happy in his very unhappi­ness, while he comfortably expects to be more happy than he can now fansie himself ever to be, because he is fully persuaded that there is another far bet­ter and more glorious life in reversion, which brings in the third and last Ob­servation.

III. That there is another Life remai­ning, Part. III. the Expectation whereof makes a [Page 484] Christian of all other men most happy both here and hereafter.

This I am not now to prove to Chri­stians, because it is a truth to be suppo­sed by them, as it is in this Text by St. Paul. Christ has sufficiently demon­strated it by his rising from the dead, and the force of our Apostle's argument here would be quite lost, if we should in the least doubt of it. And to speak clearly, This grand Article of the Chri­stian Faith, The Resurrection, is a Truth to be taken for granted by all good Christians. Infidels may deny it, Athe­ists may wish it were not, but all good Christians must confess and hope it. They have little reason to question that, which 'tis their highest interest should be. All their designs are laid in it and their hopes built upon it. If they be 2 Tim. 2. 12. content to suffer here, 'tis in hope to reign hereafter. If with Christ they be willing to endure the cross and the Heb. 12. 2. shame of this life, 'tis for the joy that is set before them in the next. A joy which throughly apprehended cheers them up in their greatest dumps, enlightens their very dungeons, turns their prisons [Page 485] into Palaces, their Hell into a Heaven, their torments into delights, and their beds of hot burning coals into those of down. It makes their afflictions infi­nitely more pleasant than the Epicures most exquisite pleasures can be. A joy before which sorrow can no more stand than a mist before the Sun, that present­ly chases away that evil Spirit of Me­lancholy, which seizes the happy World­ling in the midst of all his jollities, damps his spirits, makes his chaplets of Roses wither on his head, and is that stinking fly which spoils his most fra­grant ointment, as oft as he shall seri­ously consider, that he must one day become a part of his own lands, lye down for ever in the dust and his ho­nour with him; which yet is the best he can expect. For such a one can no otherwise look upon Death than as a Serjeant to arrest him, whereas to the good Christian 'tis but a Messenger of joyfull tydings to tell him that his cor­ruption must put on incorruption. This is his hope, and 'tis founded in Christ's Resurrection, who ever since he tasted Heb. 2. 9. death for us, hath sweetned that bitter Cup; so bitter before that time, that [Page 486] St. Paul assures us, That through fear of Heb. 2. 15. death men were all their life-time subject to bondage. For it made their pleasures less delightfull, their vertues more harsh and tedious, and all their afflictions most insupportable. Whereas now they are so far from being insupportable, that they are most easie to us, who know, that being light, and but for a moment, 2 Cor. 4. 17. they work for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory. How sad and deplorable then must their condition be who are without this hope, and without God in the world, as the Apostle describes Heathens to be; and yet how many Christians content themselves with no better, whose thoughts are bounded with the same objects their sight is, that of all the parcels of time regard but the present, and of all things but the face and appearance, men that only mind earthly things; of so low and base a spirit, that their Souls are but as salt to them, and of so brutish a temper, that such a Transmigration as Pythago­ras fansied a punishment to bad men, would with them pass for a happiness, and, with the Devils, they would make it their desire that they might be suffe­red [Page 487] hereafter to enter into Hogs. Such men dare not openly deny an Immorta­lity, and yet they will not believe it; or, if they do, 'tis so faintly, that their lives wholly confute their judgments. 'Tis strange to see how many there are that having nothing but frost in their veins and earth in their face, do yet so much doat on that life which they have now scarce any part in; whose faith reaches no farther than their senses, and yet scarce retain they those senses; whose frame should lift them up above the Earth, and their affections carry them wholly to it; They are unwilling to leave the World, though they see they cannot keep it; in their weak and en­feebled bodies they carry strong desires to it, being dead to every thing but to the pleasures thereof, which yet they cannot now enjoy, because they cannot taste, and do then covet most when they are just leaving them: Than which as there cannot be a greater folly, so let us take heed how we imitate it, learn to look off from these temporal things 2 Cor. 4. 18. which are seen, to those eternal which are not seen; get such a perspective of faith as may draw Heaven nearer to us, [Page 488] shew us those glories which Christ has prepared for us and already taken pos­session of in his own flesh, that so ours may rest in hope and one day inherit His kingdom. And now since Christ has given us an assurance of Immorta­lity, let us endeavour to lay the founda­tion of a happy one in this life, to work it out even in this world, this common shop of change, work it out of that in which it is not, out of riches by not trusting in and well using them, out of the pleasures of this world by loathing and forsaking them, out of the flesh by crucifying it with the lusts and affections thereof, and out of the world it self by overcoming it. Lastly, and above all, let us labour to secure this blessed Im­mortality which lies before us by such good works as may follow us through the huge and unconceivable tract of Eternity. Else we may be so eternal as to wish we were mortal; wish against our interest, that in this life only we had hope; make our selves, who now fear death to dread immortality too, hope that there were no eternal joys, and tremble at the thoughts even of that everlasting bliss which our ill lives [Page 489] should give us no just ground to hope for. But if while we enjoy this life we make lasting provisions for the next, by good works, then do we truly hope in Christ, and then the seeds of Vertue and Piety well cultivated here, shall hereafter yield us the happy fruits of a glorious Immortality; which he grant us who hath brought life and immortality 2 Tim. 1. 10. Col. 1. 27. to light through his Gospel, Jesus Christ in us, the hope of Glory; To whom with the Father, &c. Amen.

Soli Deo gloria in aeternum.

SAint Paul being from a Jew con­verted to a Christian, hath ta­ken great pains not only to prove the reasonableness of his doing so, but that Judaism it self was to be Christ­ned, the legal Washings to be at last baptized; That whole Oeconomy to be done away, that it might be made complete, and to be destroyed, that it might be perfected. And it was well [Page 491] that it was to be so; For the Law could not justifie, because its perfor­mances were but low, its Promises but near, and its strength weak. The Law then could not justifie had it been ob­served, but being broken it could con­demn; so that our Saviour, to upbraid the Jews, refers them not only to him­self, but to Moses in whom they did trust. And indeed 'tis as visible that the Jews did break their Law, as that they did boast of it; They were equally zealous in observing, and industrious in trans­gressing it; Instead of Religion they had brought themselves to be a Sect humorsome and peevish, arrogant and censorious; All the world was to be of their way, and yet themselves not of it; so that they were as I may so say, Ido­laters of the true God, whose Circum­cision was uncircumcised; As if that fact of Moses when he brought the Law had been the Type of the future obser­vance of it, when at the time of brin­ging the Tables, he brake them.

But not to upbraid the Jews with their failings, let us see what use there is to be made of them; while they per­form the letter, let us obey the meaning; [Page 492] while their Sabbaths are lazy, let ours be holy. They wrote the Law on their Garments, let us write them on our Hearts; They boasted of it, let us doe it; While they sacrifice their Beasts, let us offer up to God the more precious bloud of his own Lamb, and with that bloud our selves. For we Christians as well as the Jews have an Altar, says Heb. 10. 13. 1 Pet. 2. 9. Apoc. 1. 6. St. Paul; and are Priests too, a royal Priesthood, says St. Peter; Aaron and his Successors offered up Bulls and Rams, unreasonable Creatures, that were first slain, and then offered; But we our Bo­dies, and those such living Sacrifices as make up a reasonable Service. No Calves Hos. 14. [...]. here to be presented, but those of our lips. For a Lamb and a Dove, meek­ness and innocence, and for a Goat, our Iusts must be sacrificed. No death here, but of inbred corruptions; no slaughter, but of the old man, whose death enlivens our Sacrifice, and so fits it for an Ever­living God; and makes it Holy, and so becoming a Holy God. And if we crown our Sacrifices with such flowers, they must needs send forth a sweet and accep­table odour to God, and pass with Him not only for a Sacrifice, but, which is [Page 493] more, be heightned to a reasonable Ser­vice.

And this our Gratitude calls for and our Interest. We owe it to God, as to our Creator, who made our Bodies, and as to our Redeemer, who hath purchased them. We owe it to our selves too, if we will be happy in the enjoyment of God, who as He is not a God of the dead, but of the living, will have a living Bo­dy for a Sacrifice, and not a Carkass. And this in all respects is so reasonable, that it may well be matter of wonder, why our Apostle should spend so much passionate Rhetorick to persuade us to give up that unto God, which 'tis our highest advantage He should vouchsafe to accept. But then sure it will be a much greater wonder, if we shall refuse to hearken to his so pathetical and ear­nest Entreaty, conjuring us by the mer­cies of God, with such humble conde­scention and submissive insinuation, cal­ling us His Brethren, whom he might have commanded as our spiritual Pa­stour and Father in Christ; And all this but to make us more our selves by being God's.

[Page 494]The Text then consists of two Parts, a Preface, and a Duty.

I. The Preface in the former part of the Verse, I beseech you, where we may observe,

1. The Apostle's method of procee­ding here, not by way of Command, but Entreaty, I beseech you, and that too back'd with a double Argument, The former couch't in his affectionate Compellation, Brethren; The latter drawn from the Bounty and Goodness of God, appearing in his Mercies, which the Illative Particle Therefore points to, implying a former experience and taste of.

II. The Duty, comprehended in the latter part of the Text, That ye pre­sent, &c. Where we have,

1. What we are to present, Our Bodies.

2. How we are to present them, by way of Sacrifice.

3. The Properties of that Sacrifice, which must be, 1. A living, 2. A holy one; And, which is rather an effect or consequence, than a property, as such, it will be acceptable.

[Page 495]4. And lastly, Here is the Conclusi­on of all, by way of an Exegesis, or far­ther Explanation, what such a Sacrifice imports, viz. A reasonable Service.

Of these in their order; And, first, of the Preface, and that very briefly, for I must not detain you long in the Porch.

I beseech you. The Apostle might have said, I command you; But such a smooth way best became a Preacher of the Gospel. The Prophets indeed take another Course suitable to the Preach­ing of the Law, which is usually deli­vered as it was first promulged, in thun­der and lightning, every sentence in the Law carrying death in it, and every let­ter thereof being a killing one. But Christ's Embassadors are to use a diffe­rent dialect; We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled unto God, is our Apostle's language, 2 Cor. 5. 20. And such Court-ship as this commonly pre­vails more on men than severe and sul­len arguments, and gentle insinuations do better persuade them than the per­emptoriness of strict reason commands; It being an easier matter to surprize than [Page 496] force, to lead than to drag them to duty.

But then, secondly, I beseech you, Bre­thren; A word of humble condescensi­on in so great an Apostle, especially to inferior Christians; A more charming word than Cesar's, Commilitones, where­by St. Paul, like a skilfull Orator, la­bours to beget a good opinion of his Person, the better to make way for his Advice, which is seldom ineffectual where the Party to be persuaded has a good opinion of its Author; The af­fection of a Brother disposing him to a more ready entertainment of his Coun­sel.

And yet, thirdly, As if the Apostle suspected the weakness and insufficiency of this motive, He adds a stronger, The Mercies of God; That if they would not hearken to him for his own, they would doe it for God's sake; A God whose mercies were more infinite than their sins or their necessities could be. Now mercy as it is an endearing, so is it withall an engaging word; It doth cover sin and present it; It makes diso­bedience to be unkindness, and ill man­ners to be ill nature. If an enemy had [Page 497] done me this dishonour, I would have born it, says the Psalmist, Psal. 55. 12. When Caesar shall receive death from the hand of Brutus, the hand is more grievous than the death it brings, to behold that was more insupportable than endure it. Our blessed Lord, who had greater Ago­nies of love than sorrow is now capable of, finds no greater sorrow than to see his love neglected. Our Intemperance fills his Cup with a more bitter Gall; our Ambition wreathes him a sharper Crown; our ranking Religion, among other stratagems, places him again a­mong worser Thieves; and that we own Him in words for our Lord, is but the civility, or rather mockery of Pi­late, who when he nail'd Him to the Cross, cry'd out, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. If he be a King, and his Subjects not obey Him; if a Father, and his Sons abuse him; if a Lord, controll'd by his Servants; or a Savi­our, and condemn'd by those he saves: The Sufferings are enhansed by the Au­thors of them; Nay, what he suffers from us, receives weight from what He deserves of us; so that He bears the bur­then of his own Merits; is afflicted with [Page 498] his Love, and grieved with his own Com­passion; That very kindness which doth endure, makes it not to be endured; His tenderness becomes to Him a bur­then so insupportable, that nothing but love could bear it from us, and yet that very love doth make it more in­supportable. I beseech you therefore by the Mercies of God, &c.

Of all those things which have a black character, Ingratitude is the most confessed so; The Vice this not of a Man, but of a Fiend. Kindness is Ob­ligation, and the cords of a Man stronger than those of Iron. The consideration of the Mercies of God should not only make us doe our Duty, but love it; not only submit to God's Commands, but be glad of them; It should make us rejoyce when we have an occasion to deny our selves for his sake; for then indeed we can only discover whe­ther we are gratefull in earnest. Who, the most profligate wretch, would not serve God if it were to be done only by gratifying of his own pleasure; if God were to be pleased only by doing what his own lust would prompt him to? But this consideration chiefly should [Page 499] make us enamoured with our hardest duties, that they are opportunities of discovering our thankfulness for past blessings. And is any so stupid as to reflect on the Mercies of God, and not be refresht with the very thought of them? Doubtless they are as it were once more received by being consi­dered, nor can we thank God for them without enjoying them over again; we recall past Favours by remembring them, and double our present Mercies by taking notice of them. But for the most part so unworthy are we as not to value Enjoyment till Want teacheth us to doe so; God is to be angry with us to make us love Him, to remove his Mercies to make us tast them; and he has little reason to continue these Mer­cies to us, which are only valued when He takes them from us.

And yet methinks St. Paul is as high in Rhetorick as he is in Devotion, when he beseeches us by the Mercies of God. If his Love cannot prevail, his Empire surely should not. His Commands, one would think, should be of less force than his Promises; for They indeed lay hold upon us, but These within us. [Page 500] St. Paul then hath here used his stron­gest argument; when he beseecheth, he doth most effectually command; and the most sweet, but withall the most powerfull Motive is the Mercies of God. The word here implies Tender compas­sions, even beyond those of Mother; Bowels of Mercies, not one Mercy, but a Esay 49. 15. cluster of them; nor those common ones, promiscuously scattered on good and bad, but such as concern our Souls and better life, which the Illative Par­ticle Therefore implies; sending us back to the former part of this Epistle, where­in the Apostle had at large discoursed of God's infinite Mercies from all Eternity prepared for us, of our Predestination, Election, Justification in Christ, and the like. These are those Bowels of Mercies, by which the Romans and we are con­jured, The Mercies of God indeed; for who but He could bestow them? And who so hard a Flint, whom such soft Feathers cannot break? Who such an Adamant, whom the Bloud of God shed for him cannot soften? Who as he gave Himself for us, may well expect we should offer up our selves unto Him; Which leads me to the main Duty of [Page 501] the Text, in these words▪ That ye pre­sent your Bodies, &c.

And here the first thing to be consi­dered, Part II. The Duty is, What we are to present unto God, to wit, Our Bodies, and those, first, in the most strict and literal sense, as being the most visible part of our Chri­stian Sacrifice, the Organs of our Souls whereby they both work and discover their Operations. There is indeed a hidden man of the heart, as St. Peter calls it, 1 Pet. 3. 4. whose inward Oblations are as invisible as that God to whom they are made, and only discernable by that Eye, to whom all things are naked; But there must be something visible that must take and affect ours. The smoak of our Incense must yield a plea­sing odour to Men as well as to God, and the fire of our Sacrifice blaze out on the Altar. There are who would exempt their Bodies from the Service of God. God, say they, is a Spirit, and Joh. 4. 24. must be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and Evangelical worship is Spiritual worship. These Men are so Angelical, that they forget themselves to be Men; and yet St. Paul will tell them that the [Page 502] very Angels themselves have their knees; Phil. 2. 10. and we find that Holy Men have ever employ'd them in the Wor­ship of God, and yet never thought their Worship the less spiritual for all that. The Prophet David calls for fall­ing down and worshipping, and kneeling before the Lord: Nay our Lord Himself in his prayers lay prostrate on his body, and bowed his head on the Cross with a­doration as much as languor; thereby teaching us, that our addresses to God are not the less spiritual for being man­nerly. 'Tis true indeed that an humble Body and a stiff unpliant Soul doe ill suit together. The service of That, like the Mint and Cummin, is not to be left out, while the inward devotion of the Soul, like the weightier matters of the Law, claims the precedency, and is the main part of our Sacrifice; without this the bowels thereof will not be sound and entire, but like Caesar's portentous Sacrifice, want a heart, or resembling that hypocritical one of him in Lucian, who presented his Deity with an Oxes bones covered with the Hide, when the Flesh and Entrails were gone. But St. Paul has made up the Christian Sa­crifice [Page 503] full and compleat, 1 Cor. 6. 20. Glorifie God in your body and in your spi­rit; and he has given us a very good reason why each of them should be employ'd, because both are God's; both bought with a price; and therefore 'tis no less than such a kind of Sacriledge, as was that of Ananias and Saphyra, to keep back any part of this price, to make any reserve where all is God's. Our Bo­dies and Souls cannot be parted here, and 'tis the Devil that would fain di­vide them. And therefore well know­ing that God would be glorified in both, he required but one part of Christ for his share, only the homage of his out­ward Man; being assured, that if God had not both, he would have neither.

But not to trouble you with the proof of so clear a truth, let it be our endeavour so to present each part to God that it may be acceptable. And first, Our Bodies. The Psalmist prophe­tically bringing in Christ into the World, shapes him a Body; A Body hast thou prepared me; Psal. 40. 5. For what end and purpose? It follows, ver. 7. To doe thy will, O God. And we must Heb. 10. 5. [Page 504] endeavour so to fit and prepare ours, that by them God's will may be done too; And that we shall doe, by making them, as much as in us lyes, Spiritual and An­gelical, active and nimble in the Ser­vice of God, by laying aside every weight that clogs and renders them unapt for that service; by keeping them under, and making them servants to those Souls which have a natural right over them; by preserving these garments of the Soul unspotted from the world and by Jam. 1. 27. Jud. 23. the flesh, so far should we be from pre­senting God with Bodies worn out in the drudgery of Sin and Satan, and which have as it were pass'd through the fire to Moloch, to whom our Souls, like Mezen­tius guests in the Poet are ty'd as to so many loathsome Carkasses; Bodies not of God's making, but of our own; ours indeed, appropriated to us, but not such as the Apostle here beseecheth us to of­fer up unto God. But then,

2. As our Souls doe as far exceed our Bodies, as Jewels doe their Caskets; so should our main care be for them, so to adorn and enrich them with all spi­ritual graces, that they may be fit pre­sents for God. For if our Souls, which [Page 505] are but like Salt to keep our Bodies from Corruption, shall themselves be rotten and unsavoury, wherewith shall they be seasoned? Now as these have their fleshly part too, which must be mortified and consumed; so have they their spiritual part, which must be refi­ned. St. Paul calls it the spirit of our mind, Eph. 4. 23. wherein we are chiefly to be renewed, viz. the superior faculties of Reason and Understanding, which we are to offer up unto God as the purest part of our Sacrifice, and which is pro­perly our Reasonable service. For God who is a God of Understanding, is to be worshipped purâ mente, in those fa­culties which carry in them a more ex­press character of his Image, and where­by we doe in a more especial manner partake of the divine Nature, as we doe by our Reason, which in a Heathen's expression is nothing else but Deus in Sen. Ep. 31▪ & 41. humano corpore hospitans. And this we give up to Him when we wholly resign it up to his Wisedom; when we sacri­fice this our Isaac at the foot of his Altar. We give Him our Wit by maintaining his Truths, and our Memory by trea­suring them up; We give Him our [Page 506] Thoughts, by meditating on his Word and Works; Our Wills, by thoroughly conforming them to his Will; and our Affections, by setting them on things above.

3. And this is properly that Sacrifice which the Text enjoyns us, alluding to that manner of Worship, which was ever in the World, and is as ancient as Reli­gion it self. 'Twas so before and under the Law; Abel, Noah, Job sacrificed then. And under the Law the Jews were expresly commanded so to doe, Exod. 8. 20. & 10. 26. And as Nature did of old, so does it still prompt Heathens to this way of worship, thereby doing ho­mage to the great Creator, and acknow­ledging him Lord of all things, and themselves absolutely depending on Him. For Almighty God, from whom we had all our subsistence, hath in all Ages required one thing of us back a­gain, that we should repay something as an acknowledgment that he deserv'd all; and hence probably came the Original of Sacrifices. But the Jews were in­structed in another super-added mean­ing of that custome besides, viz. That God was not only to be adored as a Lord, but to be appeased as a Judge; [Page 507] his Empire, by being so owned, was to be dreaded too. When we slew our Beasts, we were to remember that our selves deserv'd that death we inflicted, and punished only what we were to have endured; That innocent Beasts were to be offered up for guilty Men; Heb. 10. 3. and what was due to the Sacrificer, was to be laid on the head of the Sacrifice.

‘Et viles animas pro meliore damus.’ Ovid. Fast.

Poor man! whose sin hath brought him to so great a distance from his Maker, that the very Beasts must set him nearer. Sin hath strangely transform'd us, that we are not to approach Heaven, unless a Brute make way. Man is plac'd in a strange order of being, when 'tis a dis­putable case whether Beasts are below or above him. On the one hand we command them; on the other they at­tone for us; Here, we give Laws to them; There, we beg pardon by them; We feast upon, and we sacrifice by them; They are our luxury, and they expiate it; by them we sin and we pray, who make up so much of our crime and our devotion too; make up a great part of our guilt, and then remove it. Here God hath certainly represented unto us [Page 508] the meanness of sin by the vileness of the price that is paid for it; and Man is fallen into an order below that, out of which he takes his Intercessor. But however the Jews or other Nations might think that Sacrifices could re­move the guilt; certainly they did but upbraid it, and rather signifie our death than remove it. It is not possible that the Heb. 10. 4. Psal. 50. 13 bloud of Bulls and of Goats should take a­way sin. There is need of better bloud to satisfie the God that is offended; and there must be other Purgations for the Conscience that is defiled. The Law was in its Ways and Institutions too weak for so high a purpose; It could little more than adumbrate what the Gospel did perform. St. Paul, who un­derstood the Nature of Judaism, handles that argument in all his Epistles, espe­cially in this and that to the Hebrews, and there useth those terms which ex­press not how the Law of Christ doth oppose that of Moses, but how it doth exceed it; how it does accomplish what that did barely signifie, and by their fi­gures expresses our duties. He does not take away Sacrifice (for without Sacri­fice no Religion) but only change it. [Page 509] For the Law being changed, it is ne­cessary that the Sacrifice should be so too; That what was before Carnal, should now be wholly Spiritual; That now Men should be sacrificed instead of Beasts; That Innocence and Meekness should be the Dove or the Lamb, and Lust the Goat; The Heart the only Al­tar, Mortification the Knife, and Chari­ty the true Fire. In a word, Devotion now is the proper Sacrifice of a Christi­an, and Himself the Temple, the Priest and Sacrifice too.

Whereby we may clearly see how much more favourably God deals with us Christians than he did with the Jews, among whom certain persons had right to sacrifice, and at certain places and times, whereas now those distinctions are quite taken away, every Christian being a Priest of a nobler order than that of Aaron, and not confin'd either to time or place. 2ly. In that God re­quires not now of us such an expensive Devotion as formerly he did of the Jews; no herds of Bulls and Rams, nor Rivers of oil, no such costly Sacrifice as Solomon offered up at the Dedication of the Temple, and such as would per­haps [Page 510] undo us. We need not go to the herds to fetch an Offering: were we now to sacrifice as did the Jews, the loss of a Beast would perhaps restrain us more than the sense of God's anger or our own deme­rit. But here he that cannot give a Lamb for his Transgression, may give some of himself, offer hunger for shew-bread, and thirst for a drink-offering, consecrate a meal instead of a beast, and shed a sowr fasting sigh for incense. And such an easie way no doubt we will well like of, who as we can object that legal Sacri­fices were an insufficient expiation, can at the same time quarrel with them too for being an expensive one. When we rejoice that we are to be atton'd by a nobler Sacrifice, we are better pleased Deum fru­gi colere. perhaps that it is also a cheaper one. But are our Beasts spared from the Al­tar think we only to glut our Tables? Hath the great God remitted them on­ly for the sake of our other God, our Bellies? Is our devotion chang'd only to gratifie our lusts? or, shall we be con­tent to offer up to God what costs us no­thing? God did indeed once say, That He did not eat the flesh of Bulls, or drink the bloud of Goats; But there is a sense [Page 511] in which he does doe both, viz. when a poor Man feeds upon them; Then do we attone for Gluttony, when we feed the Hungry; Restitution expiates for Injustice, and Charity for Rapine. And thus St. Paul calls Alms, An odour of a sweet smell, A sacrifice acceptable, well­pleasing to God, Phil. 4. 18. Heb. 13. 16. And not only our Charity, but our Ps. 141. 2. Rev. 5. 8. Prayers, Phil. 2. 17. our Faith, Psal. 50. 14, 23. & 116. 15. Heb. 13. 15. our Praises, our Obedience, our Repentance and Morti­fication are in Scripture language Sacri­fices too, and such, as without them, all others are but abominations to the Lord, Prov. 15. 8. Dead Carkasses, not living Sacrifices, which is the first property here required to render them accep­table.

I beseech you, Brethren, that you pre­sent your bodies a living Sacrifice; And that 'twill be, 1. If it be a dying one. The Beasts heretofore we know dyed, when they were sacrificed. Mortificati­on is the life of a Christian: If ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body, ye shall live, says our Apo­stle, Rom. 8. 13. 2. A living; That is, A quick and active Sacrifice? The Soul of a Christian as well as of a Man, is [Page 512] [...] a kind of perpetual motion. And therefore those Blessed spirits, whose Psal. 104. 4 activity in God's service Christ propo­seth to our imitation, are by the Psal­mist styled, a flaming fire, active and restless for God's glory. That Maxim in Tully, De natura deorum, Qui nihil a­git, esse omnino non videtur, is most true in matter of Piety; Here 'tis the same thing not to be, as not to be doing; Nor was it without reason that the Stoick observing one given over to a Lethargy of Ease and Idleness, pronoun­ceth him morally dead, and makes his Epitaph, Vacia hic situs est, so does Saint Paul, her that lives in pleasure, That she is dead while she liveth, 1 Tim. 5. 6. And surely we may well conclude him sick in Religion whose Pulse beats slow, and dead, when it ceases, and to have a name only that he lives, Rev. 3. 1. 3ly. Those things we count living that move of themselves, not like an Engine, or Automatum, Alienis mobile nervis. Com­pelled service to God is but a lame offe­ring, and as unacceptable in the Gospel as it was in the Law. Heathens coun­ted it an ill presage when their sacrifi­ces did not as it were court their own [Page 513] deaths; nor will ours pass for any bet­ter in the sight of God, if they come with reluctancy and dragg'd as it were to his Altar. The word [...] here implies a voluntary Act, an offering­up of our selves, not a being offered up. God who gives us all things freely, does Himself also love a chearfull giver. Last­ly, Our Sacrifice will then be a living one, when 'tis offered up in Faith and Love. For as Faith is the true life of a Saint, ( The Just shall live by faith, says the Prophet, Habac. 2. 4.) so without that 'tis impossible to please God, says our Apo­stle, Heb. 11. 6. Our gifts will be as un­acceptable without our persons as Cain's Gen. 4. 5. 1 Cor. 13. 3. Mat. 5. 23, 24, 25. was. And where there is no Love, our hand only presents them, not our heart, the only true Altar that sanctifies our gifts. But then, 2ly. As our Sacrifice must be a living, so a holy, one; For without holiness it can never please a holy God. And we find that for want of this necessary qualification, he often Esay 1. 11. 66. 3. Hos. 5. 6. 6. 6. Psal. 50. 8. ad 14. 1 Sam. 15. 22. dis­claims, nay seems to abhorr, what Him­self had commanded in the time of the Law.

[Page 514]Now to make our Sacrifices holy two things (shadowed to us by legal Sacri­fices) are requisite.

1. That they be entire, and that in all their parts: For as God would not then endure a maimed Sacrifice, Levit. 22. 22. Mal. 1. 8. so neither will he now a­way with it. The whole Spirit, Soul and Body, all, and every part must be God's. Lust must not have the Eye, nor Folly the Ear; Oppression must not have the Hand, nor Covetousness the Heart. There is no serving God by halves; no serving Him and Mammon too. The true Mother would not suffer the Child to be divided, nor will our heavenly Fa­ther his. 'Twas Ananias and Saphira's sacriledge to keep back part of what they had once voluntarily offered up; and 'twill be no less in us too.

2. The Sacrifices of the Law were to be pure and separate from common Act. 10. 14. use, Levit. 3. 1. and 12. 5. such our A­postle makes Christ, our Sacrifice, unde­filed and separate from sinners, Heb. 7. 26. and without spot, says St. Peter, 1 Pet. Lev. 22. 20 1. 19. such must ours be too, spotless, pure, and separate from the world, the least touch of that will pollute it. And as [Page 515] we are to keep our selves unspotted from the world, Jam. 1. 27. so are we like­wise to hate even the garment spotted by the flesh, Jude, v. 23. In a word, We must cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit ere we presume to pre­sent 2 Cor. 7. 1. our selves unto God.

Now as Holiness in the Gospel-sense commonly signifies the whole complex­um of Duties and Graces; so has it sometimes there a distinct peculiar sig­nification both as to the Body and to the Soul. And here, according to the observation of a late excellent Annota­tor, the Purity of the Body is particu­larly designed in opposition to the Un­cleannesses practised by the Gentiles and applauded by the Gnosticks; A sort of Christians, if they might deserve that name, whose practices made the name of Christ to be abhorred by the soberer Jews. And indeed whosoever shall look into the first Chapter of this Epistle and there observe what manner of lives the Heathen Romans led, will allow this In­terpretation as most pertinent to the scope of our Apostle. For when they did no longer like to retain God in their knowledge, they quickly left off to be [Page 516] men, and when they ceased to hearken to their natural reason, they soon fell into a reprobate sense. For they not on­ly changed God into Stocks and Stones, but their Worship into most abominable Wickedness; not only made the vilest Creatures, Deities; but the foulest Ac­tions, Religion; they turned a Passion and a Disease into a God, and Sin into Devotion; They thought it a most sa­cred thing to prostitute their Bodies, and their very Altar-fires did kindle those foul heats; whence Uncleanness is so often called Idolatry in Scripture. Practices taken up and even out-done by viler Christians, and that in the first and purest times of the Gospel, and fre­quently objected to them by the Jews, who could boast, and that with some colour of truth, that their Doctrine was opposed not so much by sharp Intellec­tuals, as by debauch'd Morals. And not only the Jews, but Heathen Philo­sophers also, as Hierocles for one, could make the same objection, and upon the same score, detest the Religion of Chri­stians, or rather, as he mistook it, the Wickednesses of the Gnosticks, which made the name of Christ to be evil spo­ken [Page 517] of throughout the whole World, and are indeed directly opposite to the Spirit of Christ which is a Spirit of Purity, and to the Rule of the Gospel, which every where forbids us to walk in the lust of concupiscence as did the Gen­tiles who knew not God; and which com­mands every Christian to possess his ves­sel 1 Thess. 4. 1, & 3, 4. [...] in sanctification and honour; there be­ing no Vice so dishonourable to a Man as that of fleshly impurity, which turns him into a Beast, making him have as foul a Name as a Body, as loathsome a Character as a Carkass, rendring him despised by all Men, and not the least by himself; when David fell into this sin, at his repentance he prays for his free spirit once again; he found that Ps. 51. 12. thereby he had lost not only the Spirit of God, but of a Man, being asham'd of himself and afraid of his servants. The strange woman's house, says Solomon, leads to death; and sure a death 'tis where the poor wretch is not less cor­rupt than if he were buried; and that ditch he mentions is no less noisome than the Grave. He goeth on and tells us, That her house leads to hell, and doubtless 'tis a part of it, where there [Page 518] is not only the stench but the heat of it, all its Attendants, whether sin or punish­ment, the blackness, and the flames withall being found in it. 'Tis not for this place to describe what such per­sons deserve and endure; The very re­proof of this sin must consist of such foul things as a modest man will scorn to name. Surely such persons as these are not like to be a sweeter sacrifice to God than they are to themselves, being scarce a proper Holocaust for the Devil. Behold then what a severe Ma­ster our Lord is, who forbids his Fol­lowers shame and filth, will not suf­fer us to be the loathing of all the world and of our selves, enjoyning us such a purity of body as will not only save our Souls, but our Reputations too, requiring of us a pure conscience, a clear body, and a fair fame, and giving us such Laws, as will secure unto us both health and honour, and, which is more, render us acceptable to God as well as to all good men.

These Laws if we observe, we shall then be fit Sacrifices for God, and accep­table ones too, especially if they have these Conditions in them.

[Page 519]1. Purity; I will wash my hands in Innocency, O Lord, and so will I goe to thine Altar, Psal. 26. 6.

2. Humility, implied in the very na­ture of the Sacrifice under the Law, which was to be destroyed by the Fire or the Knife. Humility does as it were waste and consume to nothing, makes us as an Holocaust, a whole Burnt-offering, nothing in our selves, nothing in respect of God; and this exaninition exalts all God's graces in us. He needs none of our Presents, we en­rich him not with them ( our goods and our persons are nothing unto him) but we benefit our selves by a just appre­hension of our own emptiness and un­worthiness.

3. Sincerity, which sets a high value on our meannest gifts. The Heathen Poet could put the question, In Templo quid facit Aurum? and he calls for Com­positum jus fasque animi—a true sincere heart and mind, and with these, says he, farre litabo. If we bring our Sheep to God's Altar, and them alone, we had as good leave them behind us as an un­profitable Carriage. Wherewithall shall I Micah 6. 6, 7, 8. come before the Lord? with Burnt-offer­ings [Page 520] and Calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with Thousands of Rams, or Ten Thousand Rivers of Oil? No, learn another Oblation. He hath shewed thee, O man what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? God looks into the inward Frame of the Heart, and values not the offerer by the gift, but the gift by the offerer.

4. Lastly wilt thou offer up an odour Eph. 5. 2. of a sweet smell well-pleasing unto thy God; Let thy Saviour's Merits perfume thy Sacrifices; For if they be not sprinkled Heb. 9. 22. with the Bloud of this Lamb of God, they will smell as rank as a Carkass.

There remains one thing more in the Text, and that is, that the Apostle here calls the Christian Sacrifice, a Reasona­ble Service, which seems to imply that lagal ones were in the Letter, and as the Jews understood and practised them, a Service scarce Reasonable. Not that in its time it was altogether unreason­able, (For it had been commanded by God, whose Will is Man's highest Reason, as a service very fit for a carnal People; who being as it were Children under the Pupillage of the Law, were [Page 521] most taken with an External gaudy Pomp of Religion; Besides that Sacri­fices were Ps. 50. 5. Seals of the Jew's Covenant with God; Ge. 8. 20▪ A solemn profession of gratitude for Mercies received, and ve­ry proper Instruments to keep them from that Idolatry, to which they were so naturally prone) but only, I say, com­paratively, in opposition to the Christi­an way of worship which is so far a­bove it. For the Jewish service consi­sted in such things as had no suitable­ness to the Nature of God, (For what are Bloud and Smoak to the God of Spi­rits?) and were but shadows of better things, but such shadows as did darken them, and were mistaken for those very things of which they were but Types, and so did hinder that very good they were intended to promote. They did so quite defeat the End for which they were commanded, that God often pro­fesseth with Truth and anger too, that he did not command them at all; As in Esay 1. 13. Incense is an Abomination unto me; If ever it dare to approach Heaven, it shall only serve as a Cloud to darken it; New Moons, Sabbaths, and the Calling of Assemblies I cannot away [Page 522] with, it is Iniquity, even the solemn Meet­ing. The Sabbath was grown to be that Day of whose Rest God was most weary. It was a question which was most abominable, to see their Altars swim with Bloud, or their hands to be so full of it; Their Devotions might vye Iniquity with their sins, nor did they least provoke God when they thought they did most appease him. And 'tis observable that the greatest Sacrificers under the Law were mostly the great­est Sinners, being so taken up with the Ceremony, that they wholly neg­lected the Substance. And therefore at best these things being but Relativi Ju­ris and not for themselves, when they came alone, or with no better a retinue than those Sins aud Irregularities they did countenance, no wonder if God re­moved them as he did the High Places, if he cut them down as he did the Groves and stamp them to Powder like the abused Brazen Serpent, especially when he saw that the Jews rested in them, and made them the only considerable thing in their Worship, as if God were to value a Man not by the greatness of his Soul but the largeness of his Ox, that his [Page 523] only Excellencies were his Cattle, and his Vertues those alone which grazed in his Pasture.

It was high time then for God to put an end to these Typical Services, which were every where so grosly mistaken, as if because they were expensive to Man, they were to be accounted bene­ficial to God. They thought (as Him­self complains, Ps. 50. v. 13.) That He did eat the flesh of Bulls and drink the bloud of Goats) (a ridiculous fancy Hea­thens had too, as appears by Lucian, who makes himself merry with it, and 'tis not improbable but that the gros­ser Jews had the like) and accordingly they were made use of not only as an Attonement but as a Bribe, to pacifie the Almighty by such a vile Trick. Heaven in their Conceipt was to be re­conciled by the Vices of the Earth, by gifts to be corrupted, that so by pardo­ning Men's sins, he might share in them too. Had not the Antecedent been a­bominable, the Consequent had not been amiss. If God would be luxurious with their Luxuries, He was not to revenge them, not to punish the sin He shar'd in, nor to be angry with that guilt He [Page 524] did partake of, and if He would be con­tent to receive one part of the Rapine, surely He could not in reason punish the other. This in short may serve to shew how little reason there was in the legal Sacrifices in themselves barely conside­red; And therefore we find that for a long time they were not commanded, but freely offered by men out of their Zeal, which alone recommended them unto God, and not any Excellency they had in their own Nature, being not good but only in respect of what was worse, (It being better to sacrifice to God than to Devils) nor otherwise than as Types of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World, and did therefore vanish as soon as He was once offered upon the Cross: Whereas true Religion remains still a Juge Sacrificium, and is more last­ing than the Heavens themselves; which as it was long in the World before any Command came forth for Sacrifice; So is it now most glorious when Jewish Altars are down. 'Tis not confin'd to time or place, nor ever to be dispenc'd with as we find legal Sacrifices oft-times were; And as 'tis in the sight of God the best of all Sacrifices (who requires [Page 525] Mercy and not bruitish Oblations) so is Hos. 6. 6. Jer. 7. 22, 23. it a most Reasonable Service, being not founded in mera voluntate imponentis, but in the Reason of the thing it self; the Sacrifice not of a Brute Beast, but of a man endued with Reason, and withal most suitable to the Nature of God, who as He is a Spirit, will be worship­ped in Spirit and in Truth: and as He is a most wise God, will not away with the Sacrifice of Fools, Eccles. 5. 1. But Lev. 2. 13. Mar. 9. 49. will have the Evangelical as well as the Legal Sacrifices salted with salt, our Col. 4. 6. words and actions seasoned with discreti­on. For we are fed with the [...] as 1 Pet. 2. 2. well as with the [...] as well with the Rational as with the sincere milk of the Gospel; so far is Christian Reli­gion from divesting men of their reason, that it strictly requires them to be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them; 1 Pet. 3. 15. Being in it it self, as 'tis easie to demonstrate, of all other the most Reasonale service; and to present God with any other worship, were but to offer strange Fire before him.

[Page 526]And now let me bespeak you in like manner, as Naaman's Servants did their Master, 2 Kings 5. 13. If the Lord had bid us do some great thing, should we not do it? Might he not require of us as of the Jews whole Herds of Cattle, and Woods of Spices and Incense? Nay, which is more, the Sacrifice of our Bo­dies in the most strict and severe Sense? He might surely as being Lord of all, but here we see He does not. No o­ther Bloud now to be shed, but what St. Bernard calls sanguinem animi vulnerati, that of a wounded troubled Spirit, of a broken and contrite heart. Slay thy lust Ps. 51. 16. and thou shalt offer him a Beast; give him thy Reason, or, which is perhaps dearer to thee, Thy Will, and thou shalt sacrifice a Man to him; He will accept thy Tears for drink-offerings, and prefer thy very Fasts to meat-offerings. Thou needest not appear before thy God empty, while thou presentest thy self to him; every part of thy Body and every fa­culty of thy Soul, nay, every thing thou possessest, and which many times thou accountest more pretious than that very Soul of thine, may be a Sacrifice and a far more acceptable one too, than all the [Page 527] Beasts of the Forrest. Give the Lord thy Heart, and that will be the Fat of thy Sacrifice; As thy Charity the true fire of it, without which the Incense of thy Prayers and of thy Devotions will not smoak nor ever ascend up to Heaven; nay, without which Martyrdom it self will prove a vain and insignificant obla­tion, and though thou shouldst give thy 1 Cor. 13. 3. Body to be burnt, yet thou shouldst be nothing. In a word, give thy God thy self, and in such a manner as He re­quires thee to do it, and thou canst give him no more, and yet when all this is done, no more than what he first gave thee. Thus shalt thou make him Thine, and be infinitely more thy self by being His. 'Tis like laying up Trea­sure in the Temple, which thereby be­comes more sacred and more assured too.

But then in the last place, let us re­member that what we have once so­lemnly dedicated to God, cannot with­out Sacriledge be alienated. Our Bodies being once his, they are no more then our own. For to whom we yield our selves Servants to obey, his Servants we are to whom we obey, Rom. 6. 16. Our gifts [Page 528] here like God's must be without Repen­tance; nor can we recall, much less em­ploy them to any other use, either of the World or Satan, as we cannot serve God and Mammon; so neither ought we to give him the Lean, and this the Fat of our Sacrifice. If our God will not part stakes; surely he will not content himself with the worser share.

Let us then give him all, and that all will be our Heart and our Affections, that when we appear before him, our Souls may ascend up to him as the An­gel Judges 13. 20. did in the flame of the Altar, and that Flame may still be kept alive upon it, be a continual Sacrifice, such as may ne­ver cease, and we may do that constant­ly on Earth, which shall be our Eternal Employment in Heaven, still praise and adore our Creator. Then shall he change these our Sacrifices into everlasting Tem­ples for himself to dwell in; what we now present him natural Bodies turn into spiritual, and make these our vile ones like unto his glorious one. Which God of his Infinite Mercy grant, &c. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria in aeternum.

THE great Creator has never been wanting to Man in pre­scribing him such Laws as might be sufficient if obeyed, to make him happy, whether we consider him in the State of Primitive Integrity, or out of it. In the former God so left him in the hands of his own Councel, as to make himself his own Rule. Na­ture was to him instead of Revelation; he had then the Tree of Knowledge of [Page 530] Good and Evil planted in him; Consci­ence was his Oracle, and Reason his Guide, and to know his Duty was but to consult himself. God did not only wind him up as a Watch to a regular Motion, but did withal place in him a Sun-dial▪ to set himself by, if he should go false; so that his very Essence and Rule was then so much the same, that to transgress was not so much to break a Law, as a Man.

Nor did he by his Fall wholly forfeit all his natural Advantages, either to himself or his Posterity. For though our first Parent brake the natural Ta­bles, as Moses afterwards did those of Stone, yet from the scattered pieces thereof set together, we may all of us, though imperfectly, spell out our Duty. The worst of men are born with a cer­tain Decalogue; Their Souls are not mere Rasae, Tabulae, there is a Book of Conscience wherein the different Cha­racters of Good and Evil are plainly legible, and by the help of those practi­cal Notions, which make up the Law of Nature, each Pagan may confute an Infidel, and each Sinner himself. That there is a God to be worshipped, is found­ed [Page 531] in that natural Dependence Rational Creatures have on their Creator; and that Good and Evil are different things, is the Voice and Dictate of Natural Rea­son too, which he that contradicts, un­mans himself, and is to be lookt on as a Monster in Nature.

Such there have been in all times, and which is strange, even in those of Divine Revelation; for we find the Jews themselves upbraided here with this Im­piety; which was so much the grosser in them, because besides the unwritten, they had withall a written Law to in­struct them better; Both in effect the same, the same Precepts in stone and in the heart; The Mosaical Law being no­thing else but a Digest of that of Na­ture, where the only difference is in the Clearness of the Character. For Moses did but display and enlarge the Phy­lacteries of Nature; This was still the Text and all his Precepts, but so many Commentaries on it. He did but trim up that Candle of the Lord, natural Reason, which before burnt dim; set off Vertue with a better Lustre, and expose Vice in its proper shape and hue, giving That all its natural Advantage, to charm [Page 532] the Eye, and painting out This in such lively Colours as might represent it in its utmost Deformity. Yet such was the per­verse blindness of some, that they could see no difference here at all, no distin­ction between an Angel of Light and a Fiend; Good and Evil were to them both alike, or rather not alike, for they preferred Evil to Good; did not only confound the Names and Nature of these things, but in a cross manner mis­place them, putting Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness, like those An­tipodes to mankind, who by their strange way of living turn Day into Night and Night into Day; This is that abomina­tion the Text takes notice of, which drew this severe Imprecation from the Almighty, uttered by the mouth of his Prophet.

Which words seem to point to the Jews, but are indeed directly levelled at all those who remove the natural Land­marks and Boundaries of Moral Good and Evil, and they present us with these three Observations.

• [Page 533]1. That there is a Real and Natural difference between Vertue and Vice, cal­led here Good and Evil.
• 2. That there always have been (and still are) such as labour to take away this Difference, Men that call Good Evil and Evil Good.
• 3. That to do so, To endeavour to alter the Nature and Property of Moral Good and Evil, is such a heinous provo­cation as will inevitably bring a Curse upon it.

Of these in their Order. And,

1. That there is a real and natural Difference between Vertue and Vice, called here Good and Evil.

It seems the Academician and E­picurean Sects were rife in the Prophet Esay's Days, who being a loose sort of men, and impatient of all natural and moral Restraints, would fain perswade themselves and all others, That nothing was in it self good or bad, that there was no such distinction in Nature, but only in the opinion of men, who were pleased to make an inclosure, where God and Nature had laid all in common. Nec natura potest justo secernere iniquum, [Page 534] was their fundamental Principle. A Principle which because I find taken up and improved by some of the like de­praved Judgment, and it is the very Source and Fountain of much of that Corruption that is in the World, de­serves to be considered, and the direct way to disprove it will be to make out a real and natural Difference between moral Good and Evil; which I shall en­deavour to do. 1. From the Nature of a Divine Being. 2. From our own Make and Constitution. 3. From the natural Beauty of Good and Deformity of Evil, whereof every Man's Reason is the proper Measure and Judge. 4. From such contrary Effects as must of necessi­ty argue a Contrariety in their Causes.

1. The first proof of this Truth I shall fetch from God Himself, in whose very Nature and Being the difference between Good and Evil is conspicuous. For 'tis evident, that there is something simply Good and something simply Evil even to Divine Being; something which God is by the Necessity of his Nature, and something which by the same Ne­cessity He cannot be. For should I ask [Page 535] Epicurean Christians, whether God can be other than what He now is, or the Scripture represents Him: They must needs resolve the question in the Nega­tive, unless they will deny Him to be God; or, which is the same thing, grant him mutable: Immutability being so essential to him, that what he now is he ever was, and what he ever was he ever shall be, and cannot chuse but be so. Now God from all Eternity was just, mercifull, good and true; 'Tis the De­scription he gives of Himself, Exodus 34. 6. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth. And were not these his essential and unalterable Pro­perties, the Reverse of that Description might as well befit him, which were the highest Blasphemy imaginable, and the Manichees needed not to have in­vented two distinct Principles of Good and Evil, when by the Epicurean Do­ctrine, these so contrary things might well enough be reconciled to one and the same Divine Being; whereas the Scripture tells us; that some things are impossible for God to do, As to lye Heb. 6. 18. Gen. 18. 25 and to be unjust. And surely what [Page 536] He cannot, Man ought not; What is good or bad to Him, must be so to us too; and what is contrary to the divine, can never be a part of hu­mane Perfection. If God cannot be o­ther than good, mercifull and just; Man, who was created after his Image, must of necessity resemble his Creator, and the Copy to be complete in all points, answer its Original.

2. As indeed it does. For upon this account of a natural resemblance 'tis that we are said to be Partakers of the 2 Pet. 1. 4. divine Nature, and God has so wrought and woven his Image into the very frame of our being that (like Phidias his Picture in Minerva's Shield) it can never be totally defaced without the ruine of that frame. And herein also the differences of Good and Evil are apparent. For our Passions, Fear and Shame especially, do manifestly be­tray them. Omne malum aut timore aut Apologet. c. 1. pudore persudit▪ natura. Nature, saith Tertullian, hath dasht every Vice with Fear or Shame. As for the first of these, Fear; The continual Frights, the pale Countenances, and broken Sleeps of wicked Men do plainly argue the in­ward [Page 537] dissatisfactions of natural Consci­ence when they doe amiss; the guilt of the heart usually spreading it self over the face: As on the other side, Innocence is ever quiet and bold, and they who act by the rules of right rea­son, always calm and serene. Of which so apparent contrary effects no better account can be given than this, that there is something in its self so bad, that natural Conscience startles at it, and Reason abhorrs; And something so good, that at first blush it gains our approbation and commends it self to our choice. Nor is it enough to say, That such Fears proceed from a false prepossession, fomented by ignorace and custom, of God's being angry with Men for their faults, which makes them ti­morous; As Children are apt to fear every thing in the dark. For were this an effect only of such an erroneous per­suasion, it could never be so universal as we find it is. All panick fears and groundless misapprehensions dye as soon as born; whereas those which are foun­ded in nature are perpetual and lasting. Time, says Tully, confutes those Errors which owe their rise to Opinion, but [Page 538] confirms and strengthens the Sentiments of Nature; And therefore whatsoever does constantly maintain it self must needs be more deeply rooted than in uncertain apprehensions. The Epicure­ans we know have still made it their business to deliver Men of those na­tural Terrors by openly preaching Im­piety (As the Prophet David too com­plains Psal. 14. 1. of some such Fools as denied a God, or at least his Providence) But all in vain. For 'twas not in the power of all their Sophistry, assisted by Men's strong Inclinations to Profaneness and Licentiousness, to suppress and stifle those implanted Notions; Nature and the Fear of God's wrath still prevailed against all those petty Arts. They could doe no good upon the Authors them­selves, much less upon their Disciples; And common experience shews, That the more wicked Men strive to subdue, the fiercer their Consciences are, and that when Impiety hath invented all the ways it can think of to satisfie its self, it usually takes Sanctuary in Su­perstition; The stoutest Offenders to find ease must at last betake themselves to their Devotions; Their Fears still [Page 539] drag and hale them like unwilling Sa­crifices to the Altar: Or, if Religion cannot lay that evil Genius that haunts them, they will seek to charm it by drowning their Reason in Sensuality, which recovering it self a-fresh, grows more importunate and troublesome than ever; It faring with such Men as it does with drunken Malefactors, who, when those fumes of wine wherewith they strive to smother their discontents and abate the edge of their melancholy, are evaporated, and their sober thoughts have leisure to reflect on their Crimes, tremble at the apprehension of those Racks and Gibbets that are preparing for them. Which is so true, and so com­mon to all Men, that they who have no cause to fear others, do notwithstanding fear themselves, and never more than at the approaches of Death, which as it is most dreadfull and ghastly to the bad, so is it most welcome and lovely to the inno­cent and vertuous, who by clearing their accompts here, secure themselves from the danger and apprehension of an after­reckoning.

And as the Passion of Fear discovers a natural difference between good and [Page 540] bad, so does that of Shame no less; which, as soon as our reputation is wounded, veils the face with a ruddi­ness, as if it proceeded from that wound. And so apprehensive is Nature of every little thing which seems to reproach it, that a bare suspition thereof shall many times create a bashfulness; and innocence it self will sometimes be dipt in a blush as well as guilt; not for any conscious ground in its own bosome, but out of a timorous apprehension of sinister thoughts in others. We see that 'tis not in the power of the worst Men wholly to master this Passion; and he that is most deep in the guilt of a sin, will la­bour all he can to avoid the imputation of it. Whence is it that the most im­pudent, whose faces continual sinning hath hardnes against the tenderness of a blush, seek corners to hide their fou­lest actions? Why do they not act them without doors and in the face of the Sun with the Cynicks? or, why do they var­nish them over with false colours? Does not Hypocrisie it self wear the mask of Piety and the mantle of Religion? Does it not still appear abroad in its garb and dress, and though it want the [Page 541] substance, court the shadow of it? And when this Satan transforms it self into an Angel of light, will it not doe all it can to hide its cloven foot? Did not Vice take upon it some fair disguise, surely no Man would entertain so vile a guest. Covetousness must be called good-husbandry, and prodigality, gene­rosity; And the lewdest Persons many times do most affect the reputation of being chast. Est aliqua' prostitutis mode­stia, & ipsum lupanar honestum est. What sad shifts do Men betake themselves to when they are obnoxious to any thing that looks base in the world, and to a­void a just blame, what unjust excuses will they not take up? or, If they can­not wholly excuse, at least they will extenuate their error by necessity, hu­mane frailty, ignorance, false informati­on or guile; and with Pilate, wash their hands of it, if they cannot cleanse their consciences. Which evidently shows, that the hardest hearts have sometimes tender foreheads. Charge a Malefactor never so home, he will hardly confess his crime to the rack, and perhaps better endure that; or, which is a harsh­er punishment, his own guilt, than he [Page 542] will dare to publish it, a secret smart being not so quick as a publick shame. Which is a sufficient indication of the deformity of Vice, of whose least ap­proaches Nature is so tender. And so sensible are Men of what it owns as its disgrace, that they are ready to fly in the face of those that upbraid them with it. Such a vile Master is Vice, that the greatest Slaves to it dare not wear its livery; Its best Friends scorn to be Retainers to it; They may love the Treason, but naturally hate this Tray­tor; and so loth are they to father such a brat, that although they doe all they can to procure themselves a bad name, yet even then are they most stu­diously concerned for the reputation of a good one.

But here some may say; Are not ma­ny things reputed vile and dishonoura­ble which in themselves are not so? True indeed; But then this false appre­hension can never alter the nature of the things themselves. Satan will still be a Devil, though we cloath him with a garment of light, nor is he one jot less ugly because some put a glory about his head; no more than a good Angel [Page 543] is black, because Ethiopians, to flatter their own hue, paint him so. There are I confess who blush at Vertue, and think Modesty the only thing to be a­sham'd of; A Vertue which in the com­mon esteem of some not only beggars all other vertues, but reproaches them. But how few are such monsters in com­parison of the rest of mankind? And what incompetent Judges of what is vile or honourable? From these we must appeal to the general sense of so­ber mankind as to the true value of things. Did ever any rational sober Man commend another for his rudeness and debauchery? Was any man's lust and intemperance ever reckoned among his Titles of honour; who ever yet rai­sed Trophies to his Vices, or thought to perpetuate his Memory by the glory of them? Where was it ever known that Sobriety and Temperance, Justice or Charity, were thought the marks of reproach and infamy? Nay, so far from this thought are the most profli­gated Wretches, that they have a secret honour and value for those that are good, and while they seem to marvel at and even hate all those who refuse in [Page 544] a vitious compliance to run on with themselves into the same excesses of ri­ot, they do at the same time inwardly admire and applaud them. Shew me a Man so bad that would have another like himself whom he has a real kind­ness for? What Father, though never so vitious, would be content his Son should imitate him; that would rather have him a drunkard than a sober man, or be gladder to meet him in a Stews than in a Church? Some possibly to shew the goodness of their wit in being able to maintain a Paradox, may extol Vice as others have done Gouts and Fevers, but who, without violence to his rea­son, can seriously prefer it to Vertue? There cannot then be a plainer Evi­dence nor a more convincing Argument of the natural difference between Ver­tue and Vice than this, that the general sense of sober mankind, which in the judgment of Tully is the very Law of Nature, ( In genere consensio omnium genti­um Tusc. qu. 1. lex naturoe putanda est) immediate­ly approves the one as honourable, and condemns the other as base and ignomi­nious. And thus from these two Passi­ons of Fear and Shame, the real diffe­rence [Page 545] between moral Good and Evil is demonstrable, which being found in us, not as Christians, but as Men, the op­position clearly appears natural.

But not to rely solely upon the judg­ment of Passions, let Reason here give in its Evidence. This Christ calls the eye of the understanding, and the light that is in us, Matt. 6. 23. Nazianzen, [...], a domestick impartial Judge of Good and Evil; A natural Monitor, which, like Socrates's good Genius in Apuleius, is every one's Overseer and Guide, to advise and di­rect him. The measures then of Good and Evil are to be taken from that pro­portion or disproportion they bear to this prime Canon, which like a direct Line does at the same time shew what is streight and what is crooked by its application thereunto; discovers as na­tural a comeliness in Vertue and defor­mity in Vice as the Eye does in any of those sensible objects that lye before it. And as it is impossible for sense to be mistaken about its proper object, suppo­sing all necessary conditions to the right use and exercise of it: so is it as impos­sible too for natural reason to be decei­ved [Page 546] in matters which are within its pro­per verge and cognizance. One man's judgment may perhaps vary from an­other's in determining what kind of ex­ternal beauty were best, but 'tis hard for any Man to persuade himself that de­formity is beauty, or that Thersites was a more gracefull person than Achilles, as Homer describes them. Herein while the Eye judges according to the exact­ness of colour and proportion which are the Elements of beauty, it cannot be impos'd on. And therefore the Phi­losopher said, 'twas the question of a blind man to ask what was beauty? be­cause 'tis such a thing as every man must needs see and know that has his eyes about him. The same may be said of Vertue and Vice, whose beauty or deformity consists in that proportion or disproportion each of them bear to a man's natural Reason. Which made I­socrates affirm, That if it were possible for Vertue to take a humane shape; 'twould infallibly charm the beholder; and we may as truly say on the other side, that if a Man could behold Vice in its native ugliness, it would as certain­ly affright him. And therefore, to make [Page 547] their Children abhorr Drunkenness, some have thought it enough to represent it to them in their Slaves; and Seneca, to cure an angry Man, only bids him look into his Glass. And surely could not Reason as well tell a Man what were good and bad to him, as Sense does Beasts what is so to them, he should be worse provided than the meanest sensi­tive Creatures; And 'twere no less than a contradiction to say, that God should give him such discerning and electing faculties as Reason and Will where there should be no difference at all between those things it were to judge of or chuse. From whence we may rational­ly Deu. 30. 19 conclude, that he has distinguished good from evil by those several marks he has put upon them, and sets Reason as a competent Judge to decide all mo­ral Controversies, which by her first seeds of light manifestly discovers an honourable beauty in goodness, and an inseparable blot in wickedness. Nor is it a Paradox to affirm, that there is as wide an opposition between some moral as between the most distant natural things; For example, between Truth and a Lye, as between Light and Dark­ness, [Page 548] or Being and not Being. For truth results from the being of things which it represents, and every lye is as it were the Image of not being. And therefore the perfection of Man's understanding con­sisting in the knowledge of things which exist conformable to the nature of their being, and consequently in truth and ve­racity, there follows anatural rapport or relation between the truth of things them­selves and our understandings which are perfected by it and cannot chuse but hate a Lye as soon as they discover it, as a cheat put upon them, and an abuse to Nature which has given Men language for no o­ther use and purpose but to express the re­ality of their conceptions suitable to the things themselves, at least as they are ap­prehended; and they who abuse the cre­dit of others do as much as in them lies destroy all commerce among men, by weakning that fidelity which entertains and supports it: which is the reason why Lyars are so hated and scorned by all man­kind, and that even they who know them­selves to be so, are so angry with all that call them by that name, that many times they will not be satisfied without wash­ing off that reproach with the bloud of [Page 549] the Reproachers. I might here instance in other Vices; as disobedience to natu­ral and civil Parents, injustice, cruelty, ingratitude, and shew in what a direct opposition they stand to and are con­demned by nature too; but I proceed to the last argument or reason of the na­tural difference between moral good and evil, which I shall fetch from the prime design of Nature, viz.

4. Self-preservation. It cannot be de­ny'd but that whatsoever opposes and contradicts that must needs be an ene­my, and whatsoever maintains it, a friend to Nature. Now 'tis evident that whatsoever is morally is also naturally good; and that as Vice tends to the ru­ine of humane nature, so Vertue to its conservation, and that not only by a divine benediction, but by a natural effi­ciency. Let us then cast up our several mischiefs, and see how many of them are owing to our vertues; whether Temperance did ever drown our parts, or Chastity make us roar under the Chi­rurgeon's hand; whether the sleeps of sober men be not sweet, and their ap­petites constant; whether the symme­try of Passions in the meek, their free­dome [Page 550] from the rage of them, with that admirable harmony and sweetness of content, do not by making them chear­full, render them healthy too. Where­as the contrary of these do manifestly impair our bodies, waste our estates and ruine our reputations. For what are the fruits of Intemperance but Collicks, Surfeits, Aches, and the like? Who hath Pro. 23. 29. woe and sorrow, redness of eyes, contenti­on and wounds▪ but the Drunkard? What vast expence doth the Glutton put him­self to, not to allay his hunger, but to provoke it? How dearly doth he buy new wants? when a small cost would relieve nature, how much is he at to oppress it? And how does he many times pay more than one Farm for a Fe­ver? And yet when all this is done, the best that can be expected is, that the feast must be fasted of. Whereas it often proves worse than so, that a horrid potion must purge off the too full gob­let, and it shall cost as much to remove the Surfeit as to procure it, and yet af­ter all this charge and trouble the Man can scarce hope to be so well as he was before it; such enemies are Vi­ces to our health, and they are no less [Page 551] to our reason. For whereas Vertues im­prove our understandings by subduing our lusts and moderating our passions; These fully and darken our minds, and by clogging our spirits, render them un­apt for higher and nobler acts of reason. Even the most refined ones, such as en­vy, hatred, pride and malice, tincture the mind with false colours, and so fill it with prejudice and undue apprehensi­ons of things. Let experience here give in its verdict; and if it be so that Ver­tue preserves Nature, and Vice destroys it, they cannot possibly be the same things; such different effects arguing a manifest contrariety in their causes.

And were it not so, were not the op­position here very natural, I know not how natural Men, without any help of divine Revelation should by the mere Light of their reason be able so clearly to discern and so exactly to make it out as some of them have done. A task well performed by Tully in his Offices, Et de finibus bonorum & malorum, wherein the several bounds of moral good and evil are so precisely set out (as they have been by some ancient Philo­sophers, especially Aristotle) that Rea­son [Page 552] and Scripture do herein little differ; Non aliud natura, aliud sapientia dicit: Nature and Revelation speak the same things, and we may well say with Ter­tullian, Tam facilè pronuncias quàm Christi­ano necesse est; Reason here utters bap­tized truth, and each man's Soul is Chri­stian. And therefore the same Father, in his Book De Testimonio Animae, draws such a plain Confession of these Truths from a Heathen Soul, that he wonders how a thing not Christian should have so much Christianity as to rejoyce at good actions, and to grow sullen after bad; to promise itself a reward for Vertue, and fear a judgment to come for Vice; Rather than be an Atheist to com­mit Idolatry, and rather than God should not be worshipped, to offer Sacrifices to the Devil, and then concludes, That 'tis all one here to go by Reason or Revela­tion; Nec multum referre an à Deo for­mata sit Animae conscientia an à literis Dei, that the difference is little between the Book of the Law and the Conscience of a Man. Some Principles of Law brea­thed into us with our Soul being so ma­nifest, that they are seen by their own light, and stand upon their own bot­tom. [Page 553] Nature approves them, and condemns the contrary; and this we learn from St. Paul himself. For as Rom. 1. 26. he brands some vile Pra­ctices of the Gentile Romans, as so ma­ny Violences and Contumelies to Na­ture; and Ephes. 5. 12. mentions other things done by them in secret, which 'twas a shame to name, that is, such as were in the very Nature and Constituti­on of them shamefull: So Phil. 4. 8. He speaks of other things that were true and honest, just, praise-worthy and of good report; and to shew the difference of such things to be natural, he appeals in a certain case to the Judgment of Nature, 1 Cor. 11. 14. Doth not even nature it self teach you? (not general cus­tome as Grotius there, the word [...] re­fuseth De Com [...]. that interpretation, and the lear­ned Salmasius clearly confutes it.) And our Lord himself doth the same too, Luke 12. 57. Why even of your selves judge ye not what is right? As if he should have said, you need go no fur­ther than your selves to learn your Duty, your own Reason is able to tell you what is right and what not.

[Page 554]But there are, whom nothing can sa­tisfie, Part. 2. and though God and Nature, the general Sense and Reason of Mankind, and Scripture to boot, do make a plain difference between Good and Evil, yet either will own none in the Nature of the things themselves, or else are so partial as to give Evil the precedency to Good, if we may measure their Judg­ments by their Lives and Conversati­ons; Those I may term speculative, and these practical Epicureans.

1. Of the first sort are they who re­solve all Morality into the Wills and Pleasures of Legislators, that will allow nothing to be good or bad, but what civil Magistrates in order to politick Ends shall declare to be so; making all under them with the first matter equal­ly susceptible, of whatsoever Forms they shall please to introduce: As if Ver­tue and Vice, like Coin, were to have a publick stamp upon them to make them currant, or that Morality like change­able Taffety, were to vary according to the different Reflection of that Light men cast upon it. An opinion, which if it should prevail, would leave no mo­ral [Page 555] Honesty, much less Religion in the World. For should Governors be as bad as they who broach this Doctrine are and would have them to be, what a strange Rule should Mankind have to go by? And if publick Interest were to be the Measure and Standard of Good and Evil, when that should alter (as nothing is more variable) what is now a Vertue, might perhaps in a short time become a Vice, and so Rewards and Punishments, have their Vicissitudes al­so, and at last interfere. 'Tis certain that some Laws have been enacted that were so many direct Violations of the Law of Nature, and contrary to the ge­neral Sense of Mankind, and that such might still be made, 'tis not impossible, while there remain in men the same unreasonable Lusts and Passions; where­of such Laws were the results; and yet these, if they have the publick Seal up­on them, shall be as good and binding as the best that ever were established in the opinion of these Promoters of a mo­ral Indifferency; whereas in the Judg­ment of all Learned men, humane Laws are then void and null, when they do in the least swerve from that of Nature. [Page 556] And 'tis a great Error to think that men's Laws do make things morally good or bad, whereas they do but de­clare them to be so; supposing them to be such in their own Natures, and de­riving all their Vertue from that very supposition. They take it for granted that there are such things as Vertue and Vice, and add Rewards and Punishments to invite or deterr us from what natu­rally we are prone or averse to, but would not so readily embrace or de­cline without these External motives or restraints. All they do here is to graft on Natures stocks, to cherish and nurse up those Seeds of Vertue which are al­ready in our very Being and Constitu­tion. For before there were any posi­tive Laws of men there were Natural, certain moral Principles of Good and Evil, which Reason obliged all men to; As, To do as we would be done to, to wor­ship God, obey and honour Parents; The latter so congenial to us, that Moses and other Legislators have thought it superfluous to order any Punishment for parricide, imagining none could be so unnatural as to commit it. Such natu­ral Obligations are antecedent to any [Page 557] humane Constitutions, and in the Judg­ment of Aristotle as fixt, and determined as any physical Beings: So that as there will be Colours though there were no Eye to view them; there will be such a thing as Virtue and Vice, though there were no Law either for or against it.

Nor can any pretence of publick In­terest alter their Property. Utilitas prope justi mater & aequi, though in some sense very commendable, (for all Laws should aim at the publick good, with­out which they should be no better than Snares and Traps) yet in that wherein some take it, 'tis in no wise tolerable; Their meaning by it being in short this, that there is no Interest but what is merely secular, that Vertue and Vice are in themselves insignificant things, to be taken up or laid down as they are subservient to politick Ends; As if God and Nature were to stoop to Mammon, or that the distance between Honestum and Utile were so irreconcilea­ble, that 'twere impossible for them to meet together. An Error as old as Tul­ly's Days, which he complains of and confutes, which excellently serves the turns of loose men, who cannot better [Page 558] defame and exterminate Morality than by persuading the World 'tis an useless thing, as indeed it is to them that de­sire not to be bound up by it, and therefore decry it in all others, especi­ally them who are to make Laws and see them executed, who if they should be vertuous must of necessity shame and punish all those who resolve to be viti­ous. But could these men once persuade Legislators, that just and unjust were things indifferent and alterable at their pleasure, they would no doubt at last as easily persuade themselves too that obe­dience, and disobedience to them were as arbitrary and indifferent. What disorder and confusion this one Principle would introduce into the World, that Vertue and Vice were founded only in humane Constitutions and politick Interest, and not in the Nature of the things them­selves, is easie to judge by putting this one Supposition. Suppose the reverse of all we now call Vertue were solemn­ly enacted, and the Practice of Fraud, Perjury and Falseness to a man's word, and all manner of Vice and Wickedness were established by a Law. I ask now if the cafe between Vertue and Vice [Page 559] were thus altered, would that we call Vice in process of time gain the repu­tation of Vertue, and that which we call Vertue grow odious and contemp­tible to humane Nature? If it would not, then there is something in the Na­ture of Good and Evil, of Vertue and Vice, which does not depend upon the pleasure of Authority, nor is subject to any Arbitrary Constitution. But that it would not be thus is most certain, because no Government could subsist upon such Terms. For the very en­joyning of Fraud and Rapine, Perjury and breach of Trust doth apparently destroy the greatest End of Govern­ment, which is to preserve men in their Rights against the Encroachments of Fraud and Violence. And this End be­ing destroyed, humane Societies would immediately fly in pieces, and men would necessarily fall into a state of War. Which plainly shows that Ver­tue and Vice are not Arbitrary things, but that there is a natural immutable and eternal Reason for that we call mo­ral Good, and against that we call mo­ral Evil. God has established these things upon as firm and solid a Basis, as [Page 560] he has done the Earth which none can remove. And therefore what Tertulli­an Apolog. c. 5. Ironically said of the Roman Senate, that would not allow Christ a Room a­mong their Gods at the Instance and re­commendation of Tiberius; Nisi homini Deus placuerit, Deus non erit; is appli­cable to all those who make the Wills of Legislators, the Measure of Good and Evil; Vertue, must not be Vertue, nor Vice, Vice, without men's Consent and Approbation.

2. But besides these there is another sort of men, who not content to make Good and Evil indifferent, are so wick­edly partial as to prefer Evil to Good. These are all practical Epicureans, who set up Anti-tables in opposition to those of God and Nature, live as if they aimed at being scandalous as well as vi­tious, and loved the Guilt as well as the Pleasures of Sin, that give all the repu­tation they can to Vice, which is the natural Reward of Vertue, decry all Goodness in themselves and others, and stamp God's Image on Satan's Dross. Such are all they who as St. Paul says, glory Phil. 3. 19. Tacitus. in their shame, Quorum novissima voluptus infamia est (the Character which the [Page 561] Roman Historian gives of a prodigious Impiety) that boast of their Infamy; one of his Atheism, another of the Tro­phies of his Drunkenness, and a third of the Variety of his Uncleanness. Pride compasseth them about like a Chain, Psal. 73. 6. They deck themselves with it as with a Robe of Honour, wear it as their Ornament, and bring it forth into open view like Agrippa and Bernice in the Acts, [...], with Act. 25. 23. much Pomp and State, glorying as much in the Scars they receive in Satan's ser­vice as ever St. Paul did in the Marks of the Lord Jesus, and have not so much as the Religion of Hypocrisie. Sin is Ephes. 5. 11. called the Work of Darkness, because they who commit it usually hate the Light; and therefore They that are drunk, are drunk in the Night, says the 1 Thes. 5. 7. Apostle. This was wont to be the Cu­stom: Vice durst not show its ugly Face by day. But how many turn the Works of Darkness into Works of Light, and produce them on the Theater of the World; not content with the Conscience of them, unless as the Pharisees dealt their Alms and said their Prayers, they may do them so as to be seen of men. Matt. 6. 5. [Page 562] And hence it is that many belye them­selves in Sin, usurp Vice, and steal the glorious Reputation of exceeding Sin­fulness, as if the Impiety were merito­rious, and the shame of doing ill the only thing to be ashamed of. St. Au­gustine in his Confessions complains of himself, that in his younger Days he did so; that in compliance with some of this shameless humour, he did often boast of imaginary Vices, and attributed Sins to himself he never had commit­ted, being more afraid of displeasing his vile Companions than his God. And doubtless many, to avoid the Imputati­on of Temperance, and the Scandal of a singular and affected Sobriety, labour all they can to be thought more wick­ed than sometimes they are. Nor is it enough for such to wear out all the Im­pressions of the Law written in their own Hearts, and wholly to subdue their own Consciences, unless they may shame and baffle all Goodness out of those of other men, by setting off Vice with all Lustre and Advantage that possibly may recommend it to their esteem; while on the other side they labour as much to put Vertue out of countenance and [Page 563] render it unfashionable and ridiculous, by the antick Dress they give it, cloath­ing it, as the Jews did our Lord, in a Fool's Coat, to move Laughter and Con­tempt; the Business of every drolling Buffoon, who thinks he cannot better disparage Vertue, than by representing it as a melancholy and pedantick thing, an Enemy to good Manners and civil Conversation; a Contradiction to Na­ture, and a restraint on that Liberty and those Appetites it gives us. Now if this be not to cast off all discrimina­ting Notions of Good and Evil; if this be not to expose Nature Travesty, and by a perverse kind of Heraldry to set Evil before Good, 'tis hard to say what it is: Doubtless of all other men, these best deserve the Prophet's Chara­cter here, and fall directly within the Compass of his Curse. The last thing to be considered.

The Law of Nature, of which Mo­rality Part III is the most considerable part, is so unchangeable, that some, how war­rantably I know not, do affirm 'tis not in the Power of God himself to alter it. 'Tis hard to say that he that has [Page 564] Power to make a Law, cannot alter it, since in some Instances we find he has done so; but they are indeed more rare than his miraculous Dispensings with the ordinary Course of Nature. And as God is pleas'd sometimes to vary that to show himself Lord of Nature, so has he sometimes changed this, to let us know He is that one Lawgiver St. James Jam. 4. 12. speaks of, who can prescribe to the Conscience. To endeavour then to al­ter the property of moral Good and E­vil is to entrench upon the Almighty's Prerogative, and to call Evil Good; to stamp our Impression on his Bullion, is the worst sort of Coinage, and no less than flat Rebellion against the Su­preme Majesty of Heaven. Job expres­ly Job. 24. 13. Heb. 6. 4. calls it a rebelling against the light, the Light of Nature, ch. 24. ver. 13. A Sin in some measure against the Holy Ghost too, (all natural as well as re­vealed Light being from Him) espe­cially when it is done out of that re­probate or injudicious mind Heathens were given up to, who held the truth in unrighteousness; i. e. did by their wicked Rom. 1. 18. lives and conversations, so imprison those common notices of God and Morality, [Page 565] which naturally shined in▪ their Under­standings, that they could no more appear or come forth than men that are shut up close Prisoners in a dark Dungeon. This was the great Crime of the Heathen World, and for this Cause God gave them up to vile Affecti­ons to be directed by such a crooked Rule as they had framed to them­selves, and be led by the Wisp of their false Imaginations, over Boggs and Precipices into ruine. 'Tis usual with God as to make one Sin the punishment of another; so to suit Punishments to Crimes. Thus when Heathens abu­sed natural Light, he suffered them so far to be besotted, as not only to worship Stocks and Stones, but Vices and Sins. Thus while some Jews abu­sed revealed Light, he threatens them Zeph. 11. 17. See Micah 3. 6. with putting out their Light in obscure Darkness; as he does Christians who go against the Light of the Gospel, to re­move their Candlestick, and send them strong Delusions to believe a Lye, take Darkness for Light and Light for Dark­ness. And if the Light that is in Man Mat. 6. 23. be Darkness, how great must that Dark­ness be? Surely by so much the greater, [Page 566] by how much their Light was so. And therefore Christians, who besides the Na­tural and Mosaical, have the glorious Light of the Gospel to direct them as to the Measure of Good and Evil, must needs be much more inexcusable, if Jude 10. they shall err in their choice, and in what they know naturally as brute Beasts, in those very things corrupt themselves, and so have nothing left to distinguish them from Heathens, but a better Name and worse Practices. For how many Heathens were there, who if they should now appear on the Stage of the World, would shame most Christians of it? What Justice, Temperance, Frugality, Conscience of Oaths and Promises, Se­verity and Strictness of Life among them? and what Injustice, Intemperance, Prodigality, Falseness and Universal De­pravation of Manners among these? Certainly if our Righteousness exceed not theirs, We shall in no wise enter in­to the Kingdom of Heaven; But if our Unrighteousness shall exceed theirs, what Hell will be deep or dark enough for us? Shall not Uncircumcision, which is by Nature, if it fulfill the Law, judge thee who by the Letter and Circumci­sion [Page 567] dost transgress the Law, said St. Paul to the Jews? Let every Christi­an make particular Application to him­self, and see whether with the Advan­tage of a far clearer Revelation he does not come short of Jews, nay whether he makes any Conscience of doing those things which the bare Light of natural Reason taught Heathens to abhor; and yet while he damns them for their moral Vertues, he can absolve him­self, though guilty of their foulest ones. It were to be wisht that ma­ny Christians were but as good as some Heathens were, that they would at least follow Nature (the Dictates of natural Reason) their Errours would be fewer, and their Accompt less; and were they faithful in this smaller Ta­lent, God would then entrust them with a greater. The common Notices of Good and Evil are the natural Man's Book, as Papists say Images are Lay­mens; and he that well studies this Book and is learned in it, may not despair of taking a higher Degree of perfection in the School of Christ, Christianity be­ing nothing else but Nature refined and exalted, and all the Laws of Christ con­cerning [Page 568] moral Actions, the very Law of Nature but in a clearer Character, and more correct Impression. Indeed the Light of Nature is but dim and its Assi­stance weak, and they who followed that did but grope in the Dark, and were apt ever and anon to stumble. And no Marvel: For some Evil does so well imitate Good, that 'tis hard for a natural Eye to make out the just Bounds and Limits of each of them. The [...] or Rule that marks out Vertue from its neighbouring Vice being not so plain in every place as to chalk out exactly, to this point thou may'st come and no farther; and therefore we find the best Philosophers, Ethicks, so imperfect, that some Heathen Vertues are little better than Christian men's Vices. Besides the Universal ill practice of mankind, by putting a false gloss on Evil did so dis­guise it, that the mistake of that for Good was very easie. But Christ having in his Gospel given us such exact Rules whereby to judge of them, One would think it were impossible now for men to be deceived. And yet we find no­thing so common, and the moralists Observation most true,— Pauci dig­noscere [Page 569] possunt vera bona atque illis mul­tum diversa—For while some look up­on these things through such false Glas­ses as do alter their shape and proporti­on, or their Organ is vitiated by some such bad humour as discolours eve­ry Object presented to it; while the strength of passion blinds some men's reason or the pleasures of sin corrupts it, and wicked men do so cunningly suit their Principles to others bad Tem­pers, that they are presently swallowed See 2 Pet. 2. 18. without chewing; 'Tis hard to know things that are excellent, [...] as the Apostle's word is, Phil. 1. 10. things that differ, especially men being willing to believe all lawfull that grati­fies their vitious humour and inclinati­on. And this was it which rendred the Heathen Divinity so plausible to the World, and the vile Doctrines of Gnosticks to loose Christians, that it brought in such Shoals of Proselytes to them. Up­on all which Accounts David's Prayer will be very seasonable for every one of us, Psal. 119. 66. Teach me, O Lord, good Judgment and Knowledge. In the Original 'tis, good tast, to try and relish what is good; or in the Language of the Apo­stle, [Page 570] give me Senses Exercis'd to discern Good and Evil. And while we thus beg Heb. 5. 14. God's Light and Direction, let us as Christ bids us, make our Eye good and Mat. 6. 22. single, by clearing it from all carnal pre­judice, and that Dust and Filth which Satan and the World cast into it, still rubbing and polishing natural Truths, that they may shine out brighter and continually blowing up these Sparks in­to a flame. Thus if we be not wanting to our selves God will improve our na­tural into a divine Light: He will show us what is good by lifting up the Light of his Countenance upon us, and ena­ble us not only to call every thing by it proper Name, Good, good, and Evil, evil; but withal to chuse the one and refuse the other; That so the Curse of the Text may be turned into a Blessing, and the Seeds of moral Vertue well cul­tivated here, may yield us the Fruit of a blessed Immortality hereafter; Which God of his infinite Mercy grant, &c.Amen.

Soli Dei Gloria in aeternum.