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Hearts, the impenetrable Obftinacy of Man, that this cannot melt or pierce. How damnable and miferable a Cafe are they into, who can neither be perfwaded with the Eternity of this Subject, to adore it, nor moved with the late Appearance of the Love of God to the

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World, in fending of his Son?
neither Christ's Majesty, nor his Humili-
ty, can draw. Certainly this makes Sin-
ners under the Gospel, in a more deplor.`
able Condition than Sodom; because if
be bad not come, they bad not bad fuck
Sin, but now it is without Excuse, &c.

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1 John i. 1, 2, 3. That which we have heard and feen of the Word of Life, declare we unto you, &c.

HINGS that are excellent in them- fuch like; yet they are more desired. TH felves, will be loved for them-But there is this lamentable Difprofelves; but they become the more fuit- portion betwixt our Apprehenfions, and able Object of Affection, if they have the Things themfelves, which is the withal fome Suitablenefs and Conveniency Ground of much Difappointment; and to us: Yet neither the Excellency, nor fo of Vexation. The Things of this Conveniency of the Object, is fufficient to World having nothing of that folid Exengage the Heart, if there be not fome- cellency, or true Worth, and Convenithing in the Mind too, fuitable to the Obency to our Souls, nothing suitable to ject; that is, the Apprehenfion of that our immortal Spirits; but being empty Reality and Good that is in it: for, as vain Shadows, and windy Husks, inftead there is a Certainty in the Object, that of fubftantial true Food; yet there are makes it a real, not imaginary Thing; high Apprehensions, and big Conceits of fo there must be a Certainty in the Subject, them, which is a kind of monftruous Prowhereby the Thing is apprehended to be duction, or empty fwelling of the Mind; true, good, and excellent; and then the which because it hath no Bottom of SoliObject of Affection is compleated. Some dity, it will fall and evanish. Again, Things there are in Nature, excellent in take a View of fpiritual Things, holden themfelves, but they rather beget Admi-out in the Gospel, and there is as inconration than Affection, because they are not fuitable to our Neceffities: Other Things of a more ordinary Purchase have fome Conveniency to fupply our Wants; and though they be lefs worth in their ⚫wn Nature than precious Stones, and

gruous and unproportioned Carriage of our Hearts towards them; they have a Certainty and Reality and Subfiftance in themselves, they alone are excellent, and fuitable to our Spirits; notwithftanding, the Mind of Man is hugely mif

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fhapen towards them by Unbelief, and hath nothing in his Apprehenfion fuitable to the Things themselves: They are represented as far below their true Worth, as Things temporal above their juft Value; and therefore Men are not enamoured with them, Souls are not ravished after that Beauty that is in them.

then they could hardly be pull'd asunder. We fpoke fomething of the Excellency of that Word of Life in himself, and it is but little that is faid, when all is faid, in Refpect of that which he truly is; but I fear we speak, and ye hear more of these Things, than either of us lively and affectionately apprehend, or lay up in our Hearts. I fear, that as we say less than is, fo more than we think; I mean, ferioufly think upon. But we fhall proceed; fuch an everlafting glorious Perfon, though he have Life in himself, tho he be never fo excellent, as the Son of God, yet what is that to us? It feems he is never a whit nearer us, or not more fuitable to reftore us, than the very Ma jefty that we offended. How far is he without our Sight, and without our Comprehenfion? He is high as Heaven, who hall afcend to bring down that eternal Life to us? But ftay and confider, that he is not only fo glorious in himself, but fo gracious to us; he is not only invisible, as God, but manifefted to our Senses, as Man: Not only hath Life in himfelf, but is an everlafting Spring of Life to us; not only hath his Throne in Heaven with his Father, but hath come down to the World, to bring that eternal Life near us, even in our Mouth and Hearts; to preach it, to purchase it, to feal it, and to beftow it, and the Life was manifefted: The Life, and that eternal Life, Words of Force, that have fome Em phafis in them: the Life is much, that eternal Life is more; and yet these had been little to us, if not manifefted to us: Lite might have remained hid in God, eternal Life might have refided in Chrift the Fountain for all Eternity, and nothing diminished of their Happiness, if these had never fprung out and vented themfelves; if that Life that was with the Fa.

Now the End of thefe Words read, is to reform this irregular, diforderly Pof ture of our Minds, to hold out to you Things truly excellent, and exceedingly convenient, Things good and profitable, in the moft fuperlative Degree, in the highest Rank that your Imagination can fuppofe; and then to perfwade you, that you are not deceived with vain Words, or fair Promises, but that there is a certain Truth, and an infallible Reality in them, that you being afcertained in your Souls, according the Certainty of the Thing prefented, you may then freely, without any Referve, give your Hearts to love, imbrace, and follow them. O that there might be fuch a Meeting between your Hearts and this eternal Life, that as he hath come near to us, to be fuitable to us, your Apprehensions might draw near to be fuitable to him; and by this Means, your Souls might meet im mediately with that Word of Life, and have that conftant Fellowship with him, that is fpoken of, Verse 3. So your Joy hould be full. For Joy is but the full Peace of the Defires; fill up all the Wants of the Heart, and then it is full of Joy. And so, when such a fatisfying Object is pitched on, as doth exactly correfpond, and answer the inward Apprehenfions of the Mind; then there is no more Room in the Heart for any other Thing: As if two Superfices were exactly plain and fmooth, they could join fo clofly together, that no Air could come between them, and

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than his Father without him. And whence is it come to pafs, but from his Manifeftation for this very End and Purpose? How should fuch ftrange Logick hold? Whence fuch a becaufe? If this had not been all his Errand into the World, for which his Father difpenfed to want him, as it were, and he did likewife condefcend to leave his Father for a Seafon. And now this being the Business he came about, it is ftrange he appeared in fo unfuitable and unlikely a Form, in Weakness, Poverty, Mifery, Igrominy, and all the Infimities of our Flesh; which feemed rather contrary to his Defign, and to indifpofe him for giving Life to others, whofe Life was a continued Death in the Eyes of Men; and the laft Act of the Scene seems to blow up the whole Defign of quickning dead Sinners; when he who was defigned Captain of Salvation, is killed himself: For if he fave not himself, how fhould he fave others? And yet behold the infinite Wisdom, Power, and Grace of God, working under Ground, giving Life to the dead, by the Death of Life it felf; faving those that are loft, by one that loft himself: Overcoming the World by Weakness; conquering Satan by fuffering, triumphing over Death by dying. Like that renowned King of the Lacedemonians, who (when he heard of an Oracle, that if the General were faved alive, the Army could not be victorious) changed his Habit, and went among the Camp of his Enemies, and fought valiantly till he was killed; whom when the Armies of the Enemies understood to be the King and General, they prefently loft their Hearts, and retired and fled: So our Saviour, and Captain of our Salvation, hath offered himself once for all;and by being kill

ther from the Beginning, had never come down from the Father, we would have miffed it, not they; we alone had been miferable by it: Well then, there is a Manifeftation of Life in Chrift's low Defcent to Death; there is a Manifestation of the Riches of Love and Grace in the Poverty and Emptiness of our Saviour, and thus he is fuited to us and our Neceffities every Way fitly correfpondent: And now it is not only, as the Father bath "Life in bimfelf, fo the Son bath Life in bimfelf; but there is a Derivation of that Life to Man; that Donation of Life to the Son, Job. v. 26. was not fo much for any need he had of it, as by him to bestow it on us, that it might be, As the living Father bath fent me, and I live by the Father: So he that eats me, even be fball live by me, Joh. vi. 57. As Parents that retain Affection to their Children, albeit they have committed great Injuries, for which they are driven out of their Houfes, yet they will, as it were, underhand bestow upon them, and exercife that fame Love in a covered Way, by a third Perfon, by giving to them, to impart to their Children. Notwithstanding this halts too much, for our Father difiembles not his Love, but proclaims it in fending his Son: Nor doth Chrift hide it, but declares, that he is inftru&ted with fufficient Furniture for eternal Life, that himself is the Bread of Life fent from Heaven, that whofoever receiveth it with Delight, and ponders, and meditates on it in the Heart, and fo digefts it in their Souls, they shall find a quickning, quieting, comforting, and ftrengthning Vertue in him. Nay, there is a firait Connexion between his Life and ours, Because I live, ye fball live alfo; as if he could no more want us, than his Fa-ed,hath purchased Life to all that believe in ber can want him, Job. xiv. 19. And as his Death, and that eternal Life: There if he could be no more happy without us,

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fore, he is not only the Word of Life in, himself, and that eternal Life in an effential manner, but he alone bath the Words of eternal Life, and is the alone Fountain of Life to us.

imputed it to ridiculous and blafphemous Caufes: And befides, the Apostle used to provoke to the very Testimony of 500, who bad feen Jefus rife from Death, which is not the Cuftom of Liars, neither is it poffible for fo many, as it were, of Purpofe, to confpire to fuch an Untruth, as had fo many Miferies and Calamities following on the Profeffion of it, 1 Cor. xv. 6.

But what fay they? That which we bave heard of, not only from the Prophets, who have witneffed of him from the Beginning, and do all confpire together to give a Teftimony that he is the Saviour of the World: But from John, who was his Meffenger,immediately fent before his Face, and whom all Men, even Chrift's Enemies, acknowledged to be a Prophet; and therefore, his vifible pointing out the Lamb of God, his declaring how near he was, and preferring of him infinitely before himself, who had fo much Authority himself, (and fo is likely to have spoken the Truth; being milled with no Ambition or Affectation of Honour,) his inftituting a new Ordinance, plainly pointing out the Meffiah at the Doors, and publish

Now for the Certainty of this Manifeftation of the Word of Life in our Flefh, both that he was Man, and that he was more than a Man, even God: This, I fay, we have the greateft Evidence of, that the World can afford, next to our own feeing and handling. To begin with the Teftimony fet down here, of thefe who were Ear and Eye-witnesses of all; which if they be Men of Credit, cannot but make a great Impreffion of Faith upon others. Confider who the Apofties were, Men of great Simplicity, whofe Education was fo mean, and Expectations in the World fo low, that they could not be fuppofed to confpire together to a Falfhood; and especially when there was no worldly Inducement leading them thereto, but rather all Things perfwading to the contrary Their very Adverfaries could never object any Thing against them, but Want of Learning, and Simplicity, which are furthest from the Sufpicion of Deceitfulnefs. Now how were it poffible, thinking conftantly that Voice, The Kingdom you, that fo many thousands every where, Thould have received this new Doctrine, fo unfuitable to humane Reafon, from their Mouths, if they had not perfwaded them that themselves were Eye-witneffes of all thefe Miracles that he did, to confirm his Doctrine, and that this Teftimony had been above all imaginable Exception? Yea, fo evident was it in matter of Fact, that both Enemies themselves confeffed, the Jews and Gentiles, that perfecuted that Way, were conftrained, through the Evidence of the Truth, to acknowledge, that fuch mighty Works fhewed forth themelves in him, though they out of Malice

of Heaven is at Hand: These we and all the People have heard, and heard, not with Indignation, but with Reverence and Refpect. But above all, we heard himfelf, the true Prophet, and sweet Preacher of Ifrael; fince the firft Day he began to open his Mouth in the Miniftry of the Gofpel, we have with attentive Ears, and earnest Hearts, received all from his Mouth, and laid up thefe golden Sayings inour Hearts. He did not constrain them to abide with him, but there was a secret Power that went from him, that chained them to him inevitably, Lord, whither ball we go from thee, for thou baft the

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Words of eternal Life? O that was an attractive Vertue, a powerful confer ving Vertue, that went out of his Mouth. We heard him, fay they, and we never heard any speak like him, not fo much for the Pomp and Majefty of his Stile, for he came low, fitting on an Afs, and was as condefcending in his Manner of Speech as in his other Behaviour: But be caule be taught with Authority; there was a divine Vertue in his Preaching; fome Sparkles of a divine Spirit and Power in his Difcourfes broke out from under the Plainnefs and Simplicity of it; and made our Souls truly to apprehend of him what was facrilegiously attributed in Alattery to a Man, the Voice of God, and not of Man. We heard him fo many Years fpeak familiarly to us, and with us, by which we were certainly perfwaded he was a true Man; and then we heard him in his Speeches open the hidden Myfteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, revealing the Will of the Father, which no Man could know, but he that was with the

Father, and came down from him: We heard him unfolding all thefe Shadows and Coverings of the Old Teftament, expounding Mofes and the Prophets, taking off the Vail, and uncovering the Ark and Oracles: And how did our Hearts burn within us, while he talked with us, and opened to us the Scriptures? We heard him daily in the Synagogues expound the Scriptures, whereof himself was the living Commentary, when he read them; we faw the true Expofition before our Eyes.

Now, my Beloved, you may be admitted, to hear him too, for the Sum of the living Words that came from the Word of Life are written; his Sermons are abridged in the Evangelifts, that you may read them, and when you read them, think within your felf, that you hear his holy Mouth fpeak them. Set your felves, as amongft his Difciples, that fo ye may believe, and believing may have eternal Life; for this End are they written, Job. xx. 30, 31.

SERMON

IV.

1 John i. 1, 2.

which we have heard and feen, &c.

THERE is a Gradation of Certainty | fpondent to fenfible Things, and of it felf

here; hearing himself fpeak, is more than hearing by Report; but an Eye-witness is better than ten Ear-witneffes, and handling adds a thirdAssurance; for the Senfe of, touching gives the last and greatest Evidence of Truth. It is true, that the Senle is properly corre

can only give Teftimony to his Humanity; yet I conceive these are here alledged for both, even alfo to witness his glorious and Divine Nature; which though it did not fall under Sight and Handling, yet it discovered it felf to be latent, under that vifible Covering of B b b 2

Flesh,

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