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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Mr. <HI>John Flavell</HI>'s REMAINS: Being Two SERMONS, Compo&s;ed by that Reverend and Learned Divine. The former Preached at <HI>Dartmouth</HI> in <HI>Devon,</HI> on the Day of the happy Coronation of Their Maje&s;ties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY. The latter intended to be Preached at <HI>Taunton</HI> in <HI>Somer&s;et,</HI> at the Meeting of the United Mini&s;ters of &s;everal Counties to be held there, <HI>Semptember</HI> 2. 1691. With a brief Account of the Life and Death of the Revend Author.</P>
<P><FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="license">
<P>LICENS'D, <HI>Septemb.</HI> 8. 1691.</P>
</FLOATEXT></P>
<P>By JOHN FLAVELL, Late Preacher of the Go&s;pel at <HI>Dartmouth</HI> in <HI>Devon.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for <HI>Tho. Cockerill,</HI> at the <HI>Three Legs</HI> in the <HI>Poultrey.</HI> MDCXCI.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>THE EPISTLE TO THE READER. GIVING A brief Acount of this Excellent, and now Tri|umphant and Glorified Author, his Character Life, Death, and Burial.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Chri&s;tian Reader,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THOU ha&s;t here pre|&s;ented to thy view a Couple of Learned, Pious and Judicious Sermons, being &s;ome Remains of that
<PB REF="3">precious Servant of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, Mr. <HI>John Flavell,</HI> late of <HI>Dartmouth,</HI> in the County of <HI>Devon,</HI> a faithful Labourer in the Lord's Har|ve&s;t, and a Workman that need not be a&s;hamed, to whom the Church is greatly beholding for &s;everal excel|lent Treati&s;es of Divinity, put forth in his Life-time, which render him de&s;erved|ly famous among the Wri|ters of this Age. And &s;ee|ing tho&s;e intire Treati&s;es of his, have been &s;o accepta|ble and profitable to many Chri&s;tians, it may not be ami&s;s to gather up the&s;e Fragments al&s;o, that &s;o lit|tle
<PB REF="3">as may be of &s;o Worthy an Author may be lo&s;t. The&s;e Sermons, though but &s;mall in Bulk, yet thou wilt find great in Worth and Value. And tho compo&s;ed and fitted for different Occa&s;ions, yet they con&s;pire in the &s;ame common End, which all the re&s;t of his Writings cen|ter in, <HI>viz.</HI> The Glory of God, and the Good of his Church, and of the Souls of Men.</P>
<P>They need not my Re|commendation, being far above any Encomiums I can be&s;tow upon them.</P>
<P>And altho they may &s;eem to be born out of due
<PB REF="4">time; yet by their re&s;em|blance to the re&s;t, thou wilt find them not to be &s;puri|ous, but the genuine Off|&s;pring of the &s;ame Father; and that they wanted no Accompli&s;hment from any other Hand, having been perfectly fini&s;h'd by his own.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t of the&s;e Sermons was preached at <HI>Dartmouth,</HI> upon that joyful Day of the Coronation of Their Maje|&s;ties, King <HI>WILLIAM</HI> and Queen <HI>MARY,</HI> which he did exceedingly ble&s;s the Lord for, and called upon the People heartily to con|cur with him in the &s;ame
<PB REF="4">Work, and to joyn their Prai&s;es with his, to the So|vereign of the World, the great Di&s;po&s;er of Crowns and Kingdoms, for &s;o rich and publick a Mercy to the&s;e three Nations.</P>
<P>As one of the former Books put forth by this ble&s;|&s;ed Author bears this Title in the Fronti&s;piece, <HI>Husban|dry Spiritualized,</HI> &amp;c. So this Sermon may fitly be Entituled, <HI>The Coronation Spi|ritualized.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd, as appears by the Title of it, was intend|ed and prepared for a So|lemn A&s;&s;embly, and for a
<PB REF="5">more than ordinary Occa&s;i|on; and therefore no doubt but the Reverend Author &s;pent the more Pains and Study in the compo&s;ing of it. He much longed for the joy|ful time when he &s;hould meet &s;o many of his <HI>&V;nited Bre|thren</HI> of &s;everal Counties; conver&s;e with them about the Affairs of the Kingdom of God, impart his Mind (or rather the Mind of Chri&s;t) to them in this Sermon, which made him &s;et about the &s;tu|dying of it &s;o long before the time of that appointed Meet|ing came; neither had he any re&s;t in his own Spirit, till he had fini&s;hed and com|pleated
<PB REF="5">it. But he is now a Member of a greater and higher A&s;&s;embly, even of the General A&s;&s;embly, and Church of the fir&s;t-born, which are written in Heaven; to which he being &s;o &s;udden|ly taken up, hath left this Excellent Di&s;cour&s;e behind him, as once <HI>Elijah</HI>'s Mantle fell from him. But tho he were by Death prevented from Preaching it in the Pul|pit, his &s;urviving Friends were willing to publi&s;h it from the Pre&s;s, that &s;uch a Trea|&s;ure might not be lo&s;t, tho the Earthen Ve&s;&s;el that con|tain'd it, be broken.</P>
<PB REF="6">
<P>The la&s;t Words of dying Men are not &s;oon forgot|ten, much le&s;s &s;hould the Words of dying Saints, and lea&s;t of all of dying Mini&s;ters, be buried in Oblivion, tho their Bodies be in the Du&s;t. The Spirit of God &s;ets a &s;peci|al Remark upon &s;ome excel|lent Expre&s;&s;ions uttered by the Prophet <HI>David,</HI> a little be|fore his Death, and tells us, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 23.1. <HI>The&s;e are the la&s;t words of David.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Reader,</HI> I &s;hall not detain thee long at the thre&s;hold, on|ly give thee &s;ome brief Ac|count of the Author's Chara|cter and Life, and of the man|ner of his Death and Burial.</P>
<PB REF="6">
<P>As to his Character, all that knew him, or have &s;eri|ou&s;ly peru&s;ed the Books he hath put forth, mu&s;t needs &s;uffrage with me, that he was a Man of choice and excel|lent Parts, both Natural and Acquired; of a &s;ound and &s;o|lid Judgment, of warm and lively Affections, of a quick and fruitful Invention, and of a ready Expre&s;&s;ion and Elocution; all which he had mightily improved by many years Study and Labours in the Word and Doctrine.</P>
<P>He was well acquainted with the My&s;teries of the Go|&s;pel, and in &s;pecial, with that admirable My&s;tery of Man's
<PB REF="7">Redemption by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which he hath &s;o largely and &s;o profitably handled in his excellent Treati&s;e, Entituled, <HI>The Fountain of Life opened,</HI> &amp;c. And that which crowns all the re&s;t, he was a Man of a &s;erious and gracious Spirit; &s;o that both with re&s;pect to his Doctrine and Conver&s;a|tion, we may &s;ay of him, as our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour &s;aid of <HI>John</HI> the <HI>Bapti&s;t, He was a burning, and a &s;hining Light.</HI> For my part, having read his Books, I had a high e&s;teem of him, before I had any ac|quaintance with his Per&s;on, which was much increa&s;ed by my Intimacy with him
<PB REF="7">for divers years la&s;t pa&s;t; the more I knew him, the more I loved and valued him, for the Gifts and Graces of the Spirit of God which &s;hone forth in him. Among many others, I ob&s;erved the&s;e three things, which I &s;hall &s;et down, not &s;o much for his Commendation, as for my own and others Imitation.</P>
<P N="1">1. He was in Labours more abundant; he did &s;pend him|&s;elf, and was &s;pent in the Work of God; as the Ta|lents committed to him, were more and greater than many of his Brethrens, &s;o was his diligence in laying them out
<PB REF="8">in his Ma&s;ters Service: He ex|pected not to be courted to his Work by earne&s;t impor|tunity; but where&s;oever he had any pro&s;pect of doing good by his Preaching, I never knew him to make ex|cu&s;es, or to &s;pare his Pains. Be&s;ides <HI>Dartmouth,</HI> the place where his peculiar Charge lay, many other places far and near, have been parta|kers of his Labours, and re|ceived much Comfort and Benefit by them; in all which his Memory is exceeding pre|cious, and his Death as much bewailed.</P>
<P>A <HI>Second</HI> thing I ob&s;erved in this Worthy Mini&s;ter, was
<PB REF="8">a longing de&s;ire after the Conver&s;ion of Souls. He could &s;ay in &s;ome mea&s;ure, as the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> did to the <HI>Philippians,</HI> Phil. 1.8. <HI>For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> And to the <HI>Ga|latians,</HI> Chap. 4.19. <HI>My little children of whom I tra|vel in birth again, till Chri&s;t be formed in you.</HI> That he might win Souls to Chri&s;t, and build them up in their mo&s;t holy Faith, was next to the glorifying of God and our Redeemer, the Mark that he had in his Eye; it was for this that he &s;tudied, and la|boured in the Go&s;pel, and
<PB REF="9">wre&s;tled with God in Prayer; and when he perceived that the Spirit of God had been at work upon the Souls of any of his People, he did greatly rejoyce therein, and do his utmo&s;t both by his Coun&s;els, and his Prayers, that the ble&s;&s;ed Work might be carried on to Perfection. And indeed God was plea&s;ed to crown his Labours with great &s;ucce&s;s this way: Ma|ny Souls have been given in as the Seal of his Mini&s;try, who have owned him to be their Spiritual Father in Chri&s;t, by whom they have been begotten through the Go&s;pel.</P>
<PB REF="9">
<P N="3">3. He was of a peaceable and healing &s;pirit, becoming an Amba&s;&s;ador of the Prince of Peace. He did what lay in him to live peaceably with all Men, but e&s;pecial|ly to promote Peace and Love among Profe&s;&s;ors. If any difference did ari&s;e, ei|ther between Mini&s;ters or private Chri&s;tians, he would do his utmo&s;t to compo&s;e them; divers painful Jour|nies hath he taken about this Work. He had a real Love to, and kept a good Corre&s;pondence with tho&s;e in whom he beheld the Im|age of Chri&s;t, tho in &s;ome controverted things, their
<PB REF="10">Judgements and Practices differed from his; hoping at la&s;t, that he &s;hould meet them in the &s;ame Heaven, where all their Mi&s;takes &s;hould be rectified, and their Differences adju&s;ted and compo&s;ed.</P>
<P>He was even tran&s;ported with Joy, when by a Letter from a Reverend Mini&s;ter in <HI>London,</HI> he received the good news of the happy Agreement of the Mini&s;ters in that City, who in &s;ome le&s;&s;er Points were of diffe|rent Apprehen&s;ions, and went under different Denomina|tions; hoping that it would have a good Influence upon
<PB REF="10">the whole Kingdom, who having &s;o fair a Copy given them, would endeavour to write after it. He did fre|quently ble&s;s the Lord for that Mercy, both in pub|lick and in private, and even melted into Tears of Joy at the mentioning of it, &s;aying, God had herein an&s;wered the Prayers that his People had been put|ting up to him, the&s;e many years.</P>
<P>When he &s;aw the <HI>Heads of Agreement,</HI> which had been a&s;&s;ented to, and &s;ub&s;cribed by the <HI>London</HI> Mini&s;ters; he told a Friend that was with him, That he could now take up
<PB REF="11">the Words of Old <HI>Simeon, Lord, now lette&s;t thou thy &s;er|vant depart in peace.</HI> He zealou&s;ly endeavoured to promote the &s;ame ble&s;&s;ed Union and Agreement a|mong the Mini&s;ters of this County; which was the la&s;t Work that God thought fit to employ him in, before he took him to him&s;elf.</P>
<P>He being at the General Meeting of the Mini&s;ters of this County at <HI>Top&s;ham,</HI> was cho&s;en Moderator of that A&s;&s;embly; which Office he the more readily accepted of, that he might have the bet|ter opportunity to carry on that ble&s;&s;ed uniting Work,
<PB REF="11">which he brought to &s;o good an i&s;&s;ue, that the Mini&s;ters there declared their full &s;a|tisfaction with the afore&s;aid <HI>Heads of Agreement,</HI> and their thankfulne&s;s to their Bre|thren in <HI>London,</HI> who had promoted this great and good De&s;ign. After which he concluded the day with Prayer and Prai&s;es to the Lord, in which his &s;pirit was carried out with wonder|ful Enlargement and Affe|ction.</P>
<P>He writ a Letter to an Eminent Mini&s;ter in <HI>London,</HI> to give him an Account of the&s;e proceedings, the &s;ame Morning that he died at
<PB REF="12">Night; tho we could not &s;end it away till the day fol|lowing. Providence &s;o or|dering it, that he &s;hould fi|ni&s;h that good Work his heart was &s;o much &s;et upon, before he fini&s;ht his Cour&s;e, and received his Crown.</P>
<P>Thus, Gentle <HI>Reader,</HI> I have given thee &s;ome brief Account of this Worthy Mi|ni&s;ter, in who&s;e Commenda|tion I might write much more, but his own Work's prai&s;e him in the Gate, and his Prai&s;e is in the Go&s;pel throughout all the Churches. And tho &s;ome Detractors that envied his Reputation, may reflect upon him; yet
<PB REF="12">tho&s;e that heartily de&s;ire the Pro&s;perity of the Church of Chri&s;t, and of the Souls of Men, do readily confe&s;s his worth, and greatly lament his lo&s;s.</P>
<P>As for the manner of his Death, it was very &s;udden and &s;urprizing; he being as well that Day, in the Even|ing of which he died, as he had been for divers years be|fore. Towards the end of Supper he complain'd of a deadne&s;s in his Hand, &s;o that he could not lift it to his Head; at which his Wife and Friends about him, were &s;truck with &s;ome a&s;toni&s;h|ment, u&s;ing what means they
<PB REF="13">could to recover it to its for|mer &s;trength; but in&s;tead thereof, to their great Ter|ror and Amazement, he was &s;eized in his Thigh, and all one &s;ide of his Body; upon which, with what &s;peed they could, they helped him to his Chamber and Bed, and &s;ent for Phy&s;icians; but his Di&s;ea&s;e prevailed &s;o fa&s;t up|on him, that in a &s;hort time it deprived him of his Speech; while they were helping him up the Stairs, he told them, <HI>That he did believe it would be the la&s;t time that he &s;hould go up the&s;e Stairs; but,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>I know that it will be well with me;</HI> which were &s;ome
<PB REF="13">of the la&s;t words he uttered before he fell a&s;leep. But as &s;udden as his Death was, having &s;o good a&s;&s;urance of his Eternal welfare, it mu&s;t needs be both comfortable and happy; and God was plea&s;ed &s;o to order it, that he that had taken &s;o much Pains in his Ma&s;ter's Work in his Life-time, &s;hould feel little or none at his Death, nor &s;o much as utter one Groan.</P>
<P>'Tis true, &s;udden Death to carele&s;s Sinners, that have trifled away their Lives, and neglected the Salvation of their Souls, cannot but be &s;ad and di&s;mal; but for
<PB REF="14">Godly Mini&s;ters or Chri&s;tians, that have carefully redeem'd and improv'd their time, and abounded in the work of the Lord, to be taken on a &s;udden from their work, to their Re&s;t and Reward, may be accounted a mer|cy, rather than an infelici|ty; &s;everal precious Saints, both Mini&s;ters and others, have been &s;o &s;uddenly taken hence.</P>
<P>This Reverend Author's Soul being taken up to the World of Spirits, even to the Spirits of ju&s;t men made perfect; all that could be done for him, was &s;olemn|ly to attend his Body to the
<PB REF="14">Grave. When that Mini&s;ter and Martyr <HI>Stephen</HI> was dead, we read, that Devout men carried him to his Bu|rial, and made great Lamen|tation over him; &s;o the &s;urviving Friends of this precious decea&s;ed Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t, manife&s;ted their high e&s;teem of him, and dear Affection to him this way. His Body being car|ried from <HI>Exon</HI> to <HI>Dartmouth,</HI> divers Mini&s;ters, and a great many other Per&s;ons of good Quality, accompanied it; and abundance from <HI>Dart|mouth, Totnes, Newton, A&s;h|burton, Bovey,</HI> and &s;everal other places rid forth to
<PB REF="15">meet it. But when his Coffin was brought to the Waters &s;ide, taken out of the Hear&s;e, and put into the Boat; I never &s;aw &s;o many weeping Eyes, nor heard &s;o much bitter Lamentation in all my life; &s;urely that place might rightly be called <HI>Bo|chim,</HI> a place of weeping; the Tears, the Sighs, the Cries, the Groans that were there &s;een and heard, were enough even to pierce an heart of Flint. His Body was interred the &s;ame Night it was brought from <HI>Exon,</HI> and an excellent Sermon on that &s;ad but &s;olemn Occa&s;i|on, was preach'd the next
<PB REF="15">day, on 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 2.12. by a Reverend Mini&s;ter of that City.</P>
<P>Thus <HI>Reader,</HI> I have fini&s;ht in the clo&s;e of this Epi&s;tle, what I promi&s;ed thee at the beginning of it; whether thou can&s;t read the&s;e things without Tears, or no, I know not; but a&s;&s;ure thee, I could not behold them &s;o, neither can I write the&s;e Lines with|out them. The Gifts, the Graces, the Labours of &s;o well an accompli&s;ht Mini&s;ter of Chri&s;t, might have been very &s;erviceable to his Church on Earth, had he thought fit to have continued him lon|ger here; and the Death of
<PB REF="16">&s;uch an one, is a lo&s;s which God only can repair; but that which is our lo&s;s, is his gain, who is triumphing in the Joy of his Lord, while we are grieving for his Re|moval; and our comfort &s;ur|ther is, That tho the &s;ervants, even the be&s;t and faithfulle&s;t of them dye, yet the Ma&s;ter ever lives, who is infinitely more tender of the concerns of his Church, and careful to provide for it, than we poor Mortals can be: Let us there|fore turn our Lamentation into Supplication, to him that is the Lord of the Har|ve&s;t; that he would &s;end forth more &s;uch Labourers
<PB REF="16">into his Harve&s;t, who being the God of all Grace, and the Giver of every good and per|fect Gift, can rai&s;e up others, and furni&s;h them with &s;uch Gifts and Graces of his Spirit, as may make them &s;hine as bright in the Firmament of his Church, as tho&s;e &s;tars have done, whom he hath taken hence, to &s;hine in a higher Orb. Which is a mercy greatly de&s;ired by all &s;incere Chri&s;tians, and in particular by him, who is</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>An unworthy Servant of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and thy real Friend, JOHN GALPINE.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><DATE><HI>Aug.</HI> 3. 1691.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="17">
<PB N="1" REF="17">
<HEAD>A Coronation-Sermon Preached at <HI>DARTMO&V;TH.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Cant. III. 11.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Go forth ye Daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the Crown wherewith his Mother Crow|ned him in the day of his E&s;pou&s;als, and in the day of the gladne&s;s of his heart.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>A Crown is the top of earth|ly glory, the culminating point of humane dignity. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 21.2, 3. <HI>Thou ha&s;t given him his hearts de&s;ire, thou ha&s;t &s;et a crown of pure gold upon his head.</HI> The ambition of <HI>the many,</HI> moves in
<PB N="2" REF="18">various <HI>Spheres</HI> below it, the ambi|tion of none a&s;pires above it; ex|cept it be that <HI>anomalous mon&s;ter</HI> the Man of Sin, who affects to &s;it in the very Throne of God, and exalts him&s;elf above all that is called God, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.4.</P>
<P>When God puts a Crown upon the head, and a Scepter into the hand of a man, he engraves upon that man in a qualified &s;en&s;e, both his Name, and the lively Characters of his Maje&s;ty and Authority, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 82.6. <HI>I have &s;aid ye are gods, and all of you the children of the mo&s;t high:</HI> But yet in all the Grants and Conveyances of Heaven, there is always a re&s;ervation and <HI>&s;alvo</HI> to the Divine Prerogative, to
<NOTE N="*" PLACE="foot">Deponit Reges, di&s;|ponit Reg|na.</NOTE> di&s;place it at plea&s;ure, and &s;et it upon what Head he &s;hall plea&s;e, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 21.26. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord God, Remove the diadem, and take off the crown, this &s;hall not be the &s;ame, exalt him that is low, and aba&s;e him that is high.</HI></P>
<P>Tho Dominion be not founded in Grace, yet Grace both embelli&s;hes
<PB N="3" REF="18">and &s;ecures the Dominion of men; the Princes of the Earth owe Fealty and Homage to <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> and had &s;ome of them been more &s;ub|ject to his Laws,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 2.10, 11, 12.</NOTE> their Kingdoms had flouri&s;hed, and their Govern|ments been more au&s;picious.</P>
<P>The Coronation-day of a King is in a &s;en&s;e, the Marriage-day betwixt him and his people, and is accor|dingly &s;olemnized with all the &s;igns and demon&s;trations of joy and glad|ne&s;s; <HI>For the &s;hout of a King is among them.</HI> Thus when the Crown of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was &s;et upon the head of <HI>Solo|mon,</HI> the Scripture repre&s;ents their exuberant joy in an elegant and lof|ty <HI>hyperbole,</HI> 1 King. 1.40. <HI>And all the people came up after him, and the people pip'd with pipes, and rejoyced with great joy, &s;o that the earth rent with the &s;ound of them.</HI></P>
<P>Carnal men rejoyce carnally, and &s;piritual men &s;hould rejoyce &s;piritu|ally. The mo&s;t glorious part of the Solemnity of &s;uch a Day con&s;i&s;ts in</P>
<PB N="4" REF="19">
<P N="1">1. Prai&s;es and Prayers for him that wears the Crown.</P>
<P N="2">2. In a &s;piritual improvement of the action to our &s;elves.</P>
<P N="1">1. In Prai&s;es and Prayers for the King whom God hath &s;et over us: Your Prayers and Prai&s;es reflect more Glory upon the Crown, than all the Jewels and &s;parkling &s;tones with which it &s;hines; and &s;o I am per&s;waded our King will account it, according to <HI>Zech.</HI> 12.5. <HI>The go|vernours of Judah &s;hall &s;ay in their hearts, The inhabitants of Jeru&s;alem &s;hall be my &s;trength in the Lord of Ho&s;ts their God.</HI></P>
<P>Prai&s;e thy God, O <HI>England!</HI> for &s;etting thy Crown this day upon the head of a Prote&s;tant Prince, who accounted not his trea&s;ures or blood dear unto him, to redeem the Inte|re&s;t of Chri&s;t out of the dangers that were ready to &s;wallow it up.</P>
<P>Pray fervently for your King this Day; the concernments of the peo|ple of God are &s;o great in him, as that they exact from all the Saints
<PB N="5" REF="19">the uttermo&s;t importunity in Pray'r:</P>
<P N="1">(1) That God would clean&s;e and wa&s;h the Crown of <HI>England</HI> from all that Guilt and Pollution it hath contracted under former Govern|ments, that the &s;ins of the Crown may not de&s;cend with it.</P>
<P N="2">(2) That the Royal Head on which it &s;hall be &s;et this day, may be filled with the Wi&s;dom of God, and matcht with an holy heart inflamed with love to God, and zeal for his glory.</P>
<P N="3">(3) That as &s;oon as men have &s;et the Crown upon his Head, he may chearfully take it off again, and ca&s;t it at the feet of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as the twenty four Elders did, <HI>Rev.</HI> 4.10. <HI>And the twenty four Elders fell down before him that &s;at on the Throne, and wor&s;hipped him that liveth for ever and ever; and ca&s;t their Crowns be|fore the Throne,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="4">(4) That God would make the Crown &s;it ea&s;ie and long upon his Royal Head. <HI>Ea&s;ie,</HI> becau&s;e Crowns are u&s;ually lined with thorny cares;
<PB N="6" REF="20">and <HI>Long,</HI> for the Churches Peace and Tranquility.</P>
<P>(2ly) The next thing belonging to the due Solemnity of this Day, will be the Spiritual improvement of the whole &s;cene of actions, to your own in&s;truction, and &s;piritual advantage; and this will be much more glorious than all the Trium|phant Arches, Royal Robes, Thun|dering Guns, and loud Acclamations of the people. To this purpo&s;e, I have cho&s;en this Text for the dire|ction, and &s;piritualizing of the du|ties of the Day. <HI>Go forth ye daugh|ters of Zion, and behold king Solo|mon with the crown wherewith his mo|ther crowned him, in the day of his e&s;pou&s;als, and in the day of the glad|ne&s;s of his heart.</HI></P>
<P>This Book of the <HI>Canticles</HI> is a Spiritual <HI>Epithalamium</HI> &s;ung in parts betwixt the Heavenly <HI>Bridegroom,</HI> and the <HI>Bride.</HI> The matter of it is mo&s;t &s;piritual and weighty, the &s;tile of it rapturous and lofty; the inti|mate Union and Communion of
<PB N="7" REF="20">Chri&s;t and the Church, is elegant|ly illu&s;trated in an <HI>Allegory</HI> of Mar|riage, but nothing is &s;ound here light or ob&s;cene:</P>
<Q>&mdash; <HI>Procul hinc, procul e&s;te profani. Nil hic ni&s;i ca&s;tum.</HI></Q>
<P>'Tis a Chry&s;tal &s;tream of pure &s;pi|ritual love, &s;liding &s;weetly betwixt two plea&s;ant banks, Chri&s;t and the Church.</P>
<P>In the ninth and tenth ver&s;e you have the de&s;cription of a <HI>Trium|phant Chariot,</HI> prepared by King <HI>Solomon</HI> for the Daughters of <HI>Jeru|&s;alem: The pillars thereof of &s;ilver, the bottom of gold, the covering of purple, and the mid&s;t thereof paved with love.</HI> A Chariot is an In&s;tru|ment framed for ea&s;ie, &s;afe, and ho|nourable conveyance. This Chariot is the Covenant of Grace fitted by Chri&s;t for the &s;afe and honourable tran&s;porting of his Bride the Church, through this world, to her Stately Pavilion, or Glorious Man|&s;ion in the highe&s;t Heavens</P>
<PB N="8" REF="21">
<P>But how &s;tately and magnificent &s;oever this Royal Chariot be, he that contrived and fram'd it, is much more glorious to behold; and there|fore in the next words, which are my Text, Believers are &s;ummoned and invited to behold and contemplate Chri&s;t that fram'd it: <HI>Go forth ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with his crown,</HI> &amp;c. In which words we have,</P>
<P N="1">1. The Spectators &s;ummoned or invited:</P>
<P N="2">2. The Spectacle they are invi|ted to &s;ee.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Spectators invited, <HI>The Daughters of Zion.</HI> By <HI>Zion</HI> under|&s;tand the Church; and by the Daughters of <HI>Zion,</HI> the Members of the Church, or every particular Believer. The&s;e are here invited or &s;ummoned to go forth, <HI>i. e.</HI> of their entangling, diverting Tempta|tions; and to behold, <HI>viz.</HI> by the Eye of Faith, this mo&s;t glorious and heart-ravi&s;hing Object.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="21">
<P N="2">2. The Spectacle they are in|vited to behold and contemplate, <HI>King Solomon with his Crown,</HI> &amp;c. The mo&s;t illu&s;trious, glorions, and ravi&s;hing Sight that ever the Eyes of Men did, or &s;hall behold. By King <HI>Solomon,</HI> under&s;tand Chri&s;t, of whom <HI>Solomon</HI> in this Book is the Figure or Shadow, yet one to whom <HI>Solomon</HI> in all his Glory, was but as a depainted Sun on a Sign-po&s;t, to the Sun in the Mid|heavens &s;hining in all his Glory.</P>
<P>And by his <HI>Crown,</HI> under&s;tand not any material <HI>Crown,</HI> as that of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s was; but the Glory and Honour that is put upon Chri&s;t the King of <HI>Zion;</HI> of which Glory, a Crown is the <HI>Emblem.</HI></P>
<P>What Crown is here meant, <HI>In|terpreters</HI> are not all agreed about it. Some would have it to be un|der&s;tood of our <HI>Humane Nature,</HI> which he was crowned withal by his Mother <HI>Mary,</HI> of whom he took it; but tho his A&s;&s;umption of our Nature put &s;uch a Crown of Glory
<PB N="10" REF="22">upon it as it never had before, yet it was rather an ob&s;curing of Chri&s;t's Glory, than any addition of Glory to him.</P>
<P>Others interpret it of the <HI>Crown of Thorns,</HI> with which his Mother, the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Church, or Synagogue, crowned him in the day of his Pa&s;|&s;ion at <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> but this &s;eems to be as hard and foreign a Sen&s;e as the former.</P>
<P>The mo&s;t Judicious <HI>Expo&s;itors</HI> are agreed in a third Sen&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> That by the Crown on Chri&s;t's head, we are to under&s;tand that Glory and Honour which Believers give unto, or put upon Chri&s;t, when in the day of their E&s;pou&s;als to him by Faith, renouncing Satan, Sin, and all that had exerci&s;ed Dominion over them before, with all tru&s;t and de|pendance on any Righteou&s;ne&s;s of their own, they give their delibe|rate, full, and hearty Con&s;ent, That Chri&s;t alone &s;hall Reign over them for ever and ever, &s;aying, <HI>The Lord is our King, the Lord is our Judge,
<PB N="11" REF="22">the Lord is our Lawgiver.</HI> Chri&s;t is <HI>the Lord our Righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> and in all things we will obey him. This Chri&s;t e&s;teems as a Crown of Glory put upon his Head in the day of his E&s;pou&s;als, and in the day of the Gladne&s;s of his heart. There is no &s;uch Honour, no &s;uch Plea&s;ure a poor Sinner can give to Chri&s;t, as to believe in him; this is as the put|ting of a Crown of Glory upon his Head. 'Tis true, it adds no Glory to him, but it is the greate&s;t mani|fe&s;tation of his Glory, we are capa|ble to make.</P>
<P>Object. <HI>But then it will be object|ed, in what &s;en&s;e Believers can be tol|lerably &s;tiled his Mother? For the Text tells us it was the Crown his</HI> Mo|ther <HI>put upon him.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> They may be &s;o &s;tiled in a double re&s;pect.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Becau&s;e Chri&s;t is formed in every Believer, he is in a &s;piritual Sen&s;e conceived and formed in their Souls, as the Child is formed in its
<PB N="12" REF="23">Mothers Womb; &s;o the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks, Gal. 4.19. <HI>My little chil|dren, of whom I travel again in birth, till Chri&s;t be formed in you.</HI></P>
<P N="2">(2.) In re&s;pect of the dear Affe|ction Chri&s;t bears to every Soul that believeth in him: no Man loves his Brother, Si&s;ter, or Mother, as Chri&s;t e&s;teems and loves Believers, <HI>Mark</HI> 3.34. When he was told his Mother, and Brethren were with|out, &s;eeking him, he &s;aid, <HI>Behold my mother, and my brethren; for who&s;oever &s;hall do the will of God, the &s;ame is my brother, and &s;i&s;ter, and mother.</HI> The day of a Sinners con|&s;ent to come under Chri&s;t's Govern|ment, is the day of E&s;pou&s;als, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.2. And the day of a Sin|ners e&s;pou&s;als to Chri&s;t, is the day of the gladne&s;s of his heart, <HI>Luke</HI> 15.32. Thus you have the Parts and Sen&s;e of the Text. The Point from it is this.</P>
<P>Doct. <HI>That the day of a Believers E&s;pou&s;als to Chri&s;t by Faith, is to Chri&s;t
<PB N="13" REF="23">as the day of a King's Coronation is to him, even the day of the gladne&s;s of his heart.</HI></P>
<P>'Tis very remarkable, what we find in <HI>Luke</HI> 10.21. where the Spi|rit hath carefully recorded one hour of joy in the Life of Chri&s;t, for he had not many, being a Man of Sor|rows, and acquainted with Grief. <HI>In that hour, Je&s;us rejoyced in &s;pirit,</HI> &s;aith the Text; and, what hour was that? Why, it was the &s;ame hour in which the &s;eventy returned with the&s;e joyful Tidings to him, <HI>Lord, even the devils are &s;ubject to us through thy name,</HI> ver. 17. The hour when Chri&s;t &s;aw <HI>Satan falling as lightning from heaven,</HI> ver. 18. his Kingdom tottering, his Forces routed by the Go&s;pel, his Subjects running away to Chri&s;t from under his cruel Bon|dage, and made willing to come under his Government; <HI>in that hour Je&s;us rejoyced in Spirit.</HI> This was joyful news to Chri&s;t, it was the day of the gladne&s;s of his heart. He had now got a new Throne in the
<PB N="14" REF="24">Souls of poor Sinners, over whom the Devil and Sin had reigned; this was as a Crown of Glory to Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>In opening this point, I &s;hall di&s;|cour&s;e the&s;e three things.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>(1.) In what re&s;pect a Sinners e&s;pou&s;als to Chri&s;t re&s;embles the day of a King's Coronati|on, over his Subjects?</ITEM>
<ITEM>(2.) Wherein the&s;e two days dif|fer each from other?</ITEM>
<ITEM>(3.) On what accounts it is the day of the gladne&s;s of Chri&s;t's heart, as the Text calls it? And then apply it.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Let me &s;hew the Re&s;emblances and Agreements which are betwixt the day of a King's Coronation, and the day of a Sinner's E&s;pou&s;als to Chri&s;t by Faith: And this will ap|pear in &s;ix Re&s;pects.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) A King that is duly crown|ed over his Subjects, hath a lawful Right to govern them, either by
<PB N="15" REF="24"><HI>Lineal De&s;cent, Conque&s;t,</HI> or <HI>Compact. Solomon</HI> had his Right and Title to the Kingdom by de&s;cent from his Royal Father <HI>David,</HI> who by his la&s;t Will and Te&s;tament, con&s;titu|ted and appointed him to be his immediate Succe&s;&s;or upon the Throne of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 1.35. The <HI>Roman Cae&s;ar</HI>'s Title to that Kingdom, was by <HI>Conque&s;t,</HI> and this Title was legitimated not only by the <HI>Jews</HI> acknowledgment of it, but al&s;o by Chri&s;t's expre&s;s owning it, and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to it. The People &s;aid, <HI>We have no King but Cae&s;ar,</HI> John 19.15. and Chri&s;t owned it, <HI>Luke</HI> 20.25. when he payed Tri|bute, &s;aying, <HI>Give unto Cae&s;ar the things that are Cae&s;ar</HI>'s. But <HI>David</HI> had his Title by <HI>Compact</HI> with, and voluntary Election of the People; <HI>Abner</HI> confers with the <HI>Elders of I&s;rael</HI> about it, and they meet <HI>Da|vid</HI> at <HI>Hebron,</HI> and there chu&s;e him King in the room of <HI>Saul,</HI> 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 5.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. and that in con&s;idera|tion of the eminent Service he had
<PB N="16" REF="25">performed for that Kingdom, in delivering them from their mortal Enemies the <HI>Phili&s;tines,</HI> Enemies to their Religion, and Civil Liber|ties; and certainly the Crown of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was not a reward above the Merit of &s;uch a performance. <HI>Then came all the tribes of I&s;rael to David unto Hebron, and &s;aid, Behold, we are thy bone, and thy fle&s;h. Al&s;o in time pa&s;t when Saul was king over us, thou wa&s;t he that ledde&s;t out, and broughte&s;t in I&s;rael: and the Lord &s;aid to thee, Thou &s;halt feed my people I&s;rael, and thou &s;halt be a captain over I&s;rael. So all the elders of I&s;rael came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David king over I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>But Chri&s;t hath Right to Reign over our Souls by all the&s;e Titles and Claims; the Throne of our Souls is his by his Father's Con&s;ti|tution and Decree, P&s;alm 2.6. <HI>Yet have I &s;et my king upon my holy hill of Zion;</HI> by <HI>Conque&s;t,</HI> for he wins it
<PB N="17" REF="25">by the Sword of his Spirit, before he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth it. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.4, 5. he ca&s;ts down by Spiritual Weapons all that oppo&s;eth, and brings every thought into Obedience to him. And he hath right al&s;o by <HI>Con&s;ent</HI> and <HI>Compact,</HI> P&s;alm 110.3. <HI>The people &s;hall be willing in the day of thy power.</HI> Of which more anon.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) On the Coronation-day, Kings appear in all their Royal Robes, glittering Jewels, and all the Lu&s;tre that can be put upon them; they &s;hine in the Eyes of the People more gloriou&s;ly than all that are about them. <HI>Velut luna, inter minora &s;idera:</HI> There's none like him in the Beauty of his Orna|ments. Much more doth Chri&s;t excel all others in Beauty and Glo|ry, to the Eyes of tho&s;e that chu&s;e him for their Lord and King, 1 Pet. 2.7. <HI>To you that believe, he is precious,</HI> <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, Honour it &s;elf. Col. 1.17. <HI>He is before all things,</HI> not only in Time, or in Order, but in real Dignity, and &s;olid Glory, and
<PB N="18" REF="26">Excellency. So his Spou&s;e pronounceth him, P&s;alm 45.2. <HI>Thou art fairer than the children of men, grace is poured into thy lips.</HI> And Cant. 5.10. <HI>My beloved is white and ruddy; the chiefe&s;t among ten thou&s;and.</HI> Ex|amine and mark all the Creatures in both Worlds, Angels and Men; and they bear no more proportion to Chri&s;t in Glory, than a Glow|worm to the Sun.</P>
<P N="3">(3.) On the Coronation-day, the Con&s;ent of the People is demanded and given. Con&s;ent was demanded by <HI>Abner</HI> in the behalf of <HI>David,</HI> 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 3.17, 18. and freely given by them in order to <HI>David</HI>'s Coro|nation, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 5.1, 2, 3, 4. Thus at the Coronation of our Kings, the Con&s;ent of the Nobles and Com|monalty is demanded on the publick <HI>Theatre</HI> in the&s;e words,</P>
<Q><P>I here pre&s;ent you &s;uch an one, (naming the King) the right|ful Inheritor of the Crown of this Realm; are you willing to do
<PB N="19" REF="26">your Homage, Service, and do bounden Duty to him?</P>
<P>And they &s;ay, We are willing; or &s;ignify they are &s;o, by their loud and joyful Acclamations.</P></Q>
<P>So it is when Chri&s;t is crowned King over the Soul. His right is a&s;|&s;erted, and their Con&s;ent demanded by his Amba&s;&s;adors; the Believer manife&s;ts his hearty Con&s;ent. P&s;al. 110.3. <HI>Thy people &s;hall be willing in the day of thy power.</HI> And over all that are made truly willing to receive him, he reigns, and inve&s;ts them all with the Priviledges of his King|dom, <HI>Joh.</HI> 1.12. The Unbeliever is not willing to come under Chri&s;t's Government, <HI>John</HI> 5.4. <HI>You will not come to me,</HI> &amp;c. and the i&s;&s;ue of their unwillingne&s;s, is their eternal ruin, Luke 19.27. <HI>But tho&s;e mine enemies that would not that I &s;hould reign over them, bring them hither, and &s;lay them before me.</HI> Now, to make a Soul truly willing to accept
<PB N="20" REF="27">Chri&s;t's Government, and give his Con&s;ent to him, four things mu&s;t be done upon, and by &s;uch a Soul. (1) He mu&s;t be convinced of his Sin and Mi&s;ery; No Man will be willing to change his Lord, whil&s;t he finds no matter of complaint. (2.) He mu&s;t know, and deliberate upon the terms of Chri&s;t; for an ig|norant Per&s;on cannot be &s;aid to con+&s;ent. <HI>Non con&s;entit qui non &s;entit.</HI> Chri&s;t will have all the World to know his terms, and will not hide the wor&s;t and harde&s;t things from them, whether they like them or not. No Man &s;hall &s;ay afterwards, I was &s;urpri&s;ed, or impo&s;ed upon; had I known this, I had never con|&s;ented to be a Chri&s;tian. Therefore the harde&s;t terms of Chri&s;tianity are plainly propounded, <HI>Luke</HI> 14.26. and that to cut off all after pleas and pretences for re&s;iling from Chri&s;t, John 16.1. <HI>The&s;e things have I &s;poken to you, that ye &s;hould not be offended in me.</HI> (3.) Up|on Deliberation; there mu&s;t ap|pear
<PB N="21" REF="27">to the Soul that chu&s;eth Chri&s;t, and con&s;ents to his Govern|ment, a preponderating Good; that Chri&s;t with all his Reproaches and Sufferings, is better than Sin with all it Honours and Plea&s;ures. No Man will change for no advantage, much le&s;s to his lo&s;s. Thus <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aw more Glory and Excellency in the very Reproaches of Chri&s;t, than in all the Trea&s;ures of <HI>Egypt,</HI> or Plea&s;ures of Sin, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.25, 26. O! &s;aith the Soul, tho there be hard and bitter Sufferings in the way of Godline&s;s, yet 'tis infinitely better for me to endure them for Chri&s;t, than to be damned. And upon ballance|ing the Gains and Lo&s;&s;es, the Con|veniences, and the Inconveniences of Chri&s;tianity, the odds appears &s;o great, that the Soul pronounceth, they are not worthy to be compa|red, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.18. (4.) When all is done, there mu&s;t be a Divine Al|mighty Influence upon the Will, without which Men will never heartily con&s;ent to Chri&s;t's terms.
<PB N="22" REF="28"><HI>No man</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t) <HI>can come un|to me, except my father, which hath &s;ent me, draw him,</HI> John 6.44. This Influence of God upon the Will, is in a way &s;uitable to its Na|ture, <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 11.4. and produdeth a Con&s;ent without Co-action. If the Lord &s;hew any Man the infinite Advantages that come, and accrue to his Soul by Chri&s;t, this very di&s;covery doth, as it were, compel that Man to come into Chri&s;t, as that Expre&s;&s;ion is u&s;ed, <HI>Luke</HI> 14.23. a Scripture vilely abu&s;ed in our times. Chri&s;t compels none into his Kingdom, as the <HI>Spaniards</HI> did the poor <HI>Indians</HI> to Bapti&s;m; or as o|thers have been compelled to the Lord's Table. He will reign over a willing People, or not reign at all.</P>
<P N="4">(4.) On the Coronation-day, a <HI>Champion</HI> appears on the King's be|half, to challenge any that &s;hall de|ny his Right, or by allurements or threatnings attempt to draw his Subjects from their Duty and Alle|giance;
<PB N="23" REF="28">he throws down the Gant|let, and defies the proude&s;t enemy the King hath.</P>
<P>So when Chri&s;t is Crowned King over the &s;ouls of his people, there is a publick defiance bid, a formal Challenge given to all the Enemies of Chri&s;t and his People, as you may read at large, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.33, 34, 35. <HI>Who &s;hall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? who is he that condemneth? who &s;hall &s;eparate us from the love of Chri&s;t?</HI> Devils and men are defied to do their wor&s;t. Chri&s;t mu&s;t reign till all his ene|mies be put under his feet. Sin &s;hall not have dominion over his people; for they are not under the Law, but under Grace. Come <HI>Gebal, Amon,</HI> and <HI>Amaleck,</HI> come Satan and all his Infernal Powers; they are all defi|ed in the Name of Chri&s;t; Believers are his own Subjects, and none &s;hall pluck them out of his hand.</P>
<P N="5">(5) At or about the Coronation|day an <HI>Act of Indempnity,</HI> Pardon, and Oblivion is pa&s;t, and publi&s;hed,
<PB N="24" REF="29">pardoning the offences the &s;ubjects had committed unto that day</P>
<P>Thus it is at the day of Chri&s;t's Coronation over the Believers &s;oul, and its E&s;pou&s;als to him by faith; all his &s;ins are pardoned, new and old, great and &s;mall; and of this, Pro|clamation is openly made in the Go|&s;pel, <HI>Act.</HI> 10.43. <HI>To him give all the Prophets witne&s;s, That through his name, who&s;oever believeth in him, &s;hall receive remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins.</HI> O Glo|rious Pardon! free without pur|cha&s;e, full without exception and fi|nal without revocation. Now there's a Goal-delivery, the Pri&s;on-doors are open, liberty proclaimed to the captives, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61.1, 2. The King of <HI>Sion</HI> is a merciful King, and his Sub|jects &s;hall find him &s;o; they have gladded his heart by accepting his Government, and he will glad theirs by his Pardons; the Son hath made them free, and they are free in|deed.</P>
<P N="6">(6) In a word, a Coronation-day is a day of Gladne&s;s, a day of Joy
<PB N="25" REF="29">and Triumph: Joy di&s;plays it &s;elf in the faces of all Loyal Subjects; tho&s;e only that had rather be under another Government, hang the head, and bite the lip.</P>
<P>So 'tis here, all that are Loyal Sub|jects to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, rejoyce excee|dingly in his Government; and it mu&s;t needs be &s;o, becau&s;e his King|dom con&s;i&s;ts in joy in the Holy Gho&s;t, <HI>Rom.</HI> 14.17. when <HI>Zacheus</HI> came under this King, he came down joyfully, <HI>Luk.</HI> 19.6, 9. When the <HI>Eunuch</HI> received him for his Lord and King, he went home rejoycing, <HI>Act.</HI> 8.39. When <HI>Samaria</HI> &s;ubmit|ted to his Scepter, there was great joy in that City, <HI>Act.</HI> 8.5, 6. and let the Joy be what it will, the cau|&s;es of Joy are greater than the Joy it &s;elf. But tho&s;e that belong to Sa|tans Kingdom, that love to be un|der the dominion of &s;in, and hate the &s;trictne&s;s and &s;evenities of Reli|gion, the&s;e are the only <HI>Male-con|tents,</HI> the&s;e fret to &s;ee Chri&s;t's King|dom enlarged, and &s;ecretly plot to
<PB N="26" REF="30">de&s;troy it. Thus we &s;ee the Agree|ment betwixt the day of a King's Coronation over his Subjects, and Chri&s;t's Coronation over Believers.</P>
<P>But tho they harmonize in the&s;e Particulars, and divers others that may be named; yet,</P>
<P>2ly, There are as many remark|able differences and di&s;agreements betwixt them, but none to the Be|lievers lo&s;s, or di&s;advantage, for they all fall on his &s;ide; as, <HI>ex gr.</HI></P>
<P N="1">(1) 'Tis not the privilege of eve|ry &s;ubject, no, nor of one among many thou&s;ands, to &s;ee the King who is Crowned over them, to hear his voice, or give their explicite con&s;ent in his pre&s;ence. But every &s;ubject in Chri&s;t's Kingdom doth &s;ee Chri&s;t by the eye of Faith. <HI>Joh.</HI> 6.40. <HI>He that &s;eeth the Son, and belie|veth on him.</HI> Seeing, and believing, are terms convertible; they do all hear his voice, and give their expli|cite con&s;ent to take him for their King. Union with Chri&s;t is not a work to be done by a <HI>proxie</HI> or <HI>repre|&s;entative,</HI>
<PB N="27" REF="30">but it is the re&s;ult of a &s;olemn debate betwixt Chri&s;t and the &s;oul.</P>
<P N="2">(2) Kings are Crowned over many that love them not, but are fill'd with prejudice again&s;t their Per&s;ons and Government.</P>
<P>But it cannot be &s;o in the King|dom of Chri&s;t; <HI>to them that believe, he is precious,</HI> 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.7. all Chri&s;t's &s;ubjects love him above Father or Mother, Wife or Children; yea, above their own lives, otherwi&s;e they cannot be his &s;ubjects, <HI>Luk.</HI> 14.26. they al&s;o delight in his Govern|ment, and nothing would be more plea&s;ant to their &s;ouls than to find every thought of their heart brought into &s;ubjection to him, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10 4, 5. They dare not con&s;ederate with his enemies, and will chu&s;e rather to die than for&s;ake him; they will e|&s;teem it a glorious thing, though their right arm &s;hould be &s;evered from their &s;houlder-blade, for their regular endeavours to defend and &s;upport the Crown upon the Head of their Royal Ma&s;ter.</P>
<PB N="28" REF="31">
<P N="3">(3) The relation betwixt a King and his Subjects may and mu&s;t be di&s;&s;olved by death. <HI>Death</HI> fears not to arre&s;t the mo&s;t potent Monarch upon his Throne, and tran&s;late his Crown to another Head.</P>
<P>But our King, Chri&s;t, lives for ever, death hath no dominion over him; his Kingdom is an everla&s;ting Kingdom, and his Dominion that which &s;hall have no end, <HI>Dan.</HI> 7.13, 14. Death is &s;o far from &s;epa|rating Chri&s;t and his Subjects, that it brings them nearer together than ever they were before; it brings them into his immediate Pre&s;ence, to his Facial vi&s;ion, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.12. and fixes them there for ever, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.17.</P>
<P N="4">(4) Kings may degenerate into Tyrants, and Subjects into Rebels; they may undermine the Laws, Li|berties and Religion of their Peo|ple. They that rule over the people, may make them to howl, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 52.5. the world is too full of &s;uch in&s;tan|ces and examples. But Chri&s;t can
<PB N="29" REF="31">never oppre&s;s his Subjects, the <HI>Scep|ter of his Kingdom is a right Scepter,</HI> P&s;al. 45.6. <HI>His yoke is ea&s;ie, and his burden is light,</HI> Mat. 11.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">9. and his true Subjects can never &s;hake off their Allegiance to him, they will rather die than do it.</P>
<P N="5">(5) Kings will not permit their greate&s;t Favourites to &s;it in their Thrones; 'tis their peculiar ho|nour, and not communicable to any, <HI>Gen.</HI> 41.40. <HI>Only in the Throne I will be greater than thou,</HI> &s;aid <HI>Pharoah</HI> to his <HI>Jo&s;eph.</HI></P>
<P>But Chri&s;t permits and appoints all his Subjects to &s;it with him up|on his Throne, <HI>Rev.</HI> 3.21. the glory which God gave him, he hath given to them, <HI>Joh.</HI> 17.22. What King is like Chri&s;t?</P>
<P N="6">(6) To conclude; The joy and triumph at a King's Coronation, is only among men, in this lower world; but the joy and triumph at Chri&s;t's Coronation, is among An|gels in Heaven, <HI>Luk.</HI> 15.7. The City of God holds a &s;olemn triumph
<PB N="30" REF="32">at the conver&s;ion of a particular &s;in|ner. What are the &s;houts of men, to the Jubilations of Angels?</P>
<P>Thus you have &s;ix Particulars wherein they agree, and as many in which they differ.</P>
<P>We come in the next place to en|quire into</P>
<P>3ly, The Rea&s;ons why Chri&s;t's Coronation over Believers is the day of the gladne&s;s of his heart: And it mu&s;t be &s;o,</P>
<P N="1">(1) Becau&s;e it is Chri&s;t's Marri|age-day, at lea&s;t the day of his E&s;|pou&s;als; and the day of Marriage or E&s;pou&s;als is a day of joy and glad|ne&s;s. Chri&s;t hath now a new Spou&s;e, a &s;oul in which he never dwelt be|fore; and <HI>as a Bridegroom rejoiceth ever the Bride, &s;o doth Chri&s;t over be|lievers,</HI> I&s;a. 62.5. here is a new rela|lation entred, and that with the King of kings, the Angels of God re|joyce exceedingly in it, but much more Chri&s;t the ble&s;&s;ed Bridegroom.</P>
<P N="2">(2) 'Tis Chri&s;t's day of Conque&s;t and Victory over Satan; the day in
<PB N="31" REF="32">which he hath depo&s;ed him from his Throne, <HI>Mat.</HI> 12.29. delivered a &s;oul of invaluable worth in his eyes, out of the power of darkne&s;s, and tran&s;lated it into his own Kingdom, <HI>Col.</HI> 1.13. And the day of Con|que&s;t is a day of extraordinary joy and triumph, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 9.3.</P>
<P N="3">(3) 'Tis the day in which he re|ceives the fruit and reward of his bloody travels and bitter agonies; there is now a Son or Daughter born to God, an heir born to the Heavenly Inheritance. Now 'tis mo&s;t plea&s;ant and joyful to Je&s;us Chri&s;t to &s;ee of the travel of his &s;oul, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 53.11. no &s;atisfaction in this world comparable to it. When a young heir is born to the Kingdom and Crown of Heaven, it de&s;erves a Triumph.</P>
<P N="4">(4) 'Tis the day in which Chri&s;t finds a foul that was lo&s;t, <HI>Luk.</HI> 15.5, 6. What joy was it to the Father of the Prodigal, when he had found his lo&s;t Son? <HI>Luk.</HI> 15.20. there was mirth and mu&s;ick, fea&s;ting and re|joycing;
<PB N="32" REF="33"><HI>This my Son was lo&s;t, and is found; was dead, and is alive.</HI></P>
<P>Poor Sinners are lo&s;t Creatures by nature, they have lo&s;t their God, and therein them&s;elves too. God hath lo&s;t, and the Devil found eve|ry unregenerate &s;inner; all &s;trayers from God fall to his &s;hare; but this lo&s;s is not irrecoverable; the errand and end for which Chri&s;t came into the world, was to &s;eek and to &s;ave that which was lo&s;t, <HI>Mat.</HI> 18.11. and when the &s;inner that was lo&s;t, comes home to him by repentance and faith, he obtains the end of his In|carnation, Life and Death, upon that &s;oul, which cannot but be the day of the gladne&s;s of his heart.</P>
<P>If then the day of King's E&s;pou|&s;als or Marriage be a day of joy and gladne&s;s to his &s;oul: If a day of conque&s;t and dividing the &s;poils, be a day of joy to the Conqueror after a &s;harp and bloody fight. If it be a joy to a Mother after long and &s;ore travel to embrace in her arms, and ki&s;s the child for whom &s;he endured
<PB N="33" REF="33">&s;o many bitter throws; if it be a joy to a father to find and recover a child that was lo&s;t, and as dead to him: In a word, If it be high delight and &s;atisfaction to &s;ee a great de&s;ign on which the heart is intently &s;et, brought at la&s;t by orderly conduct, to the de&s;ired happy i&s;&s;ue; then let us allow the day of a &s;inners coming into Chri&s;t by conver&s;ion, to be as a Coronation-day to a King, the day of his E&s;pou&s;als, and of the gladne&s;s of his heart.</P>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="application">
<HEAD><HI>&V;SE</HI> I.</HEAD>
<P>This Point, like a fruitful root, &s;ends forth many Branches, and all loaden with diver&s;ity of fruits. The fir&s;t is for information, in &s;eve|ral Inferences from it.</P>
<P>Infer. 1. <HI>Be informed from hence, what is the true cau&s;e and rea&s;on of Satan's rage and &s;pight again&s;t the Go|&s;pel, and the mo&s;t painful, able, and &s;ucce&s;sful Preachers of it in the world.</HI> The great de&s;ign of the Go&s;pel,
<PB N="34" REF="34">and of all that &s;incerely preach it, is to win and per&s;wade Satan's &s;ub|jects to for&s;ake his cruel, unju&s;t, and tyrannical Government, and &s;ub|mit to the Kingdom and Scepter of the Lord Je&s;us. What is the Preach|ing of the Go&s;pel, but the &s;ounding of a Trumpet in the Devil's King|dom, to win his &s;ubjects from their Allegiance to him; to proclaim an|other King in his Territories? Eve|ry faithful Mini&s;ter's bu&s;ine&s;s is to gather the&s;e wretched Va&s;&s;als of Sa|tan together, and &s;et before them the mi&s;erable captivity and bondage they are in under that Tyrant that rules over them, who&s;e Laws like <HI>Draco's,</HI> are written in the blood of their &s;ouls, to exaggerate their &s;in and mi&s;ery, and to let them know how willing Chri&s;t is to receive and &s;ave them, if they will renounce and abandon Satan's Government. To &s;et before them the ble&s;&s;ed freedom and glorious priviledges of the Sub|jects of Chri&s;t. To be&s;eech and per|&s;wade them to break away from
<PB N="35" REF="34">their old cruel Ma&s;ter, and come over to Chri&s;t, to an&s;wer all their Pleas and Objections again&s;t it, and to denounce the wrath of God a|gain&s;t all the refu&s;ers of Chri&s;t's gracious Proclamation. Now Satan is not ignorant of all this; he e&s;teems the lo&s;s of one, much more the re|volt of many, a greater mi&s;chief than a King reckons the lo&s;s of a Kingdom, and to &s;ee them break a|way &s;o fa&s;t from him, and be li&s;ted to fight again&s;t him: Oh how it grates that envious &s;pirit, and &s;har|pens his malice again&s;t the In&s;tru|ments and Agents in this work!</P>
<Q>This, as a late Worthy &s;peaks,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gurnal</HI>'s 1 Part, pag. 59.</NOTE> tor|ments the foul &s;pirit, to &s;ee him|&s;elf for&s;aken of his old friends and &s;ervants, and this new Lord to come and take away his &s;ubjects from him. Hence come Per&s;ecu|tions, Slanders, &amp;c. in &s;howers upon Chri&s;t's faithful Mini&s;ters.</Q>
<P>He knows his Kingdom of darkne&s;s mu&s;t vani&s;h as the light of the Go|&s;pel ri&s;es and &s;preads it &s;elf. You
<PB N="36" REF="35">read, <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.6, 7. <HI>of an Angel fleeing in the mid&s;t of heaven, having the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel to preach to them that dwell on the earth.</HI> And in <HI>ver.</HI> 8. you have another Angel following him, &s;aying, <HI>Babylon is fallen, is fal|len, that great City.</HI> No &s;ooner is the two-edged &s;word of the Go&s;pel drawn, but the next voice is, Victo|ry, victory. He knows every home-charge made by the Go&s;pel will i&s;&s;ue in a rout of his Infernal Legi|ons. Now Mini&s;ters coming forth again&s;t him as <HI>Heraulds</HI> to proclaim Chri&s;t's right, and as <HI>Captains</HI> of the Army of Chri&s;t their General; he owes them a particular grudge, and &s;eeks every way to &s;top their mouths, and de&s;troy their per&s;ons. And &s;urely he hath pu&s;hed hard at them, and made de&s;perate attempts again&s;t them in our days; no doubt but it was reckon'd a great &s;ervice done him, to &s;hut up the mouths of &s;o many at once; but the time draws nigh, that <HI>Babylon</HI> mu&s;t fall; and tho&s;e that could not lately &s;hew their faces
<PB N="37" REF="35">on Earth, mu&s;t fly in the mid&s;t of Heaven with the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel. The dead Witne&s;&s;es of Chri&s;t, &s;hall hear &s;hortly a great voice from Hea|ven, &s;aying. <HI>Come up hither;</HI> and they &s;hall a&s;cend in a Cloud, their enemies beholding, but not able any more to hinder them.</P>
<P>Infer. 2. <HI>How cau&s;ele&s;s and alto|ther groundle&s;s are the di&s;couragements and fears of humbled and convinced &s;inners, That Je&s;us Chri&s;t will reject them, and &s;hut the door of mercy a|gain&s;t them, if they &s;hould go to him, and ca&s;t their poor &s;inful &s;ouls upon him by faith?</HI></P>
<P>Certainly &s;uch per&s;ons fear, where no fear is. That which is the command of Chri&s;t, the earne&s;t de|&s;ire of his &s;oul, that act which makes his heart glad, as the Text &s;peaks, can never meet with &s;uch a repul&s;e as you fear. Was ever any. King unwilling to have the Crown &s;et upon his Head? Do they u&s;e to frown upon their Subjects that are
<PB N="38" REF="36">upon the knee, tender their Homage and Allegiance to them? No, no, 'tis the day of the gladne&s;s of their hearts. Renounce thy old Ma&s;ter Satan, give a bill of divorce to tho&s;e lu&s;ts which have reigned over thy &s;oul; ponder well Chri&s;t's terms, and heartily con&s;ent to them, and try whether he will not quickly confute the&s;e vain fears of thine, and fully make good his gracious, &s;weet, and mo&s;t encouraging word, <HI>Joh.</HI> 6.37. <HI>Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wi&s;e ca&s;t out</HI> A &s;weet encouragement to a coming-&s;oul; and becau&s;e &s;en&s;e of guilt and un|worthine&s;s u&s;ually doubles their fears, Chri&s;t hath cau&s;ed a double negative to be put into that Text, on purpo&s;e to obviate their fears and di&s;couragements, <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, I will not, no, I will not; or as we render, I will in no wi&s;e ca&s;t him out. Acts of delight flow free|ly, and ea&s;ily, and &s;o doth this.</P>
<P>Infer. 3. <HI>What an high and honour|able
<PB N="39" REF="36">relation doth faith bring the &s;oul of a &s;inner into! the day of Conver&s;i|on, is the day of that &s;ouls E&s;pou&s;als to Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>A King from Heaven makes &s;uit for a poor &s;inners heart, wooes for union with &s;inful creatures; rejoy|ces exceedingly when he wins their con&s;ent; and e&s;pou&s;es them for ever to him&s;elf, when he obtains it; for <HI>contr&acirc;ctus</HI> is nothing el&s;e, but <HI>con|&s;en&s;us explicatus;</HI> a contract is con|&s;ent explained, in affirmative plain words <HI>de pre&s;enti.</HI> I do di&s;claim and for ever renounce all others, and wil|lingly yield up my heart and life to Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Now <HI>ex contractu ori|tur vinculum;</HI> an obligation re&s;ults from this contract with Chri&s;t; and a mo&s;t honourable My&s;tical Union with him. <HI>He that is joyned to the Lord, is one &s;pirit,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.17 The greate&s;t honour that was ever put upon the humane nature, was by its a&s;&s;umption into union with the Son of God <HI>Hypo&s;tatically;</HI> and the greate&s;t honour that can be done to
<PB N="40" REF="37">our per&s;ons, is by our union with Chri&s;t <HI>my&s;tically;</HI> hereby we be|come <HI>members of his body, of his fle&s;h, and of his bones,</HI> Ephe&s;. 5.30. the Spou&s;e of Chri&s;t: Oh what a pre|ferment is this! What &s;oul feels not it &s;elf lifted up far above all earthly honours, in &s;uch a relation to Chri&s;t as this? The <HI>Nobles</HI> and <HI>Barons</HI> of the Kingdom think it a preferment to &s;erve the <HI>Queen;</HI> and the <HI>Angels</HI> of Heaven do not think them&s;elves degraded by performing &s;ervice to the <HI>Bride,</HI> the <HI>Lambs Wife.</HI> Well might Great <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> prefer the honour of being a member of the Church, to that of being head of an <HI>Empire.</HI></P>
<P>Let all the Saints under&s;tand their dignity and priviledges by this their honourable union with Chri&s;t, and with it let them ballance all the re|proaches, &s;corns and contempts this vile world loads them with for his &s;ake.</P>
<P>Infer. 4. <HI>Be informed hence of the dreadful and damning nature of the &s;in
<PB N="41" REF="37">of unbelief; a &s;in that que&s;tions, yea de|nies Chri&s;t's right to rule over the &s;oul; blinds the mind, hardens the heart, &s;tiffens the will, and makes the &s;oul ob&s;tinate and inflexible to all the graci|ous tenders of Chri&s;t in the Go&s;pel.</HI></P>
<P>Unbelief is the poy&s;onous breath of Satan, whi&s;pering jealou&s;ies, &s;ur|mizes and dangerous prejudices a|gain&s;t Chri&s;t into the ear of the &s;oul, and all tending to this mi&s;chievous de&s;ign and purpo&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> To hinder or break the treaty of the Spiritual marriage betwixt Chri&s;t and the Soul. Now 'twill be digging at the very root and foundation of the a&s;&s;enting act; and thus it whi&s;pers, How can&s;t thou be &s;ure of the reali|ty of the things reported in the Go|&s;pel? Is it not po&s;&s;ible they may be devi&s;ed Fables? the cunning artifi|ces of men to keep the world in a we? thou never &s;awe&s;t Chri&s;t, for who&s;e &s;ake thou art &s;o earne&s;tly &s;ollicited to renounce all thy real &s;weet and pre&s;ent comforts and enjoyments. Then it dilates rhetorically upon the
<PB N="42" REF="38">&s;evere terms of the Go&s;pel, advi&s;es the &s;oul to think &s;adly, how hard, grievous, and unrea&s;onable the de|mands of Chri&s;t be, <HI>Luk.</HI> 14.26. <HI>If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, wife and children, brethren and &s;i&s;ters; yea, and his own life al&s;o, he cannot be my di&s;ciple.</HI> How like&s;t thou this, &s;oul? here be all thy principal comforts, thy mo&s;t dear and de&s;irable things in the world, both per&s;onal and relative, to be for|&s;aken, yea, hated for Chri&s;t's &s;ake; the terms are &s;et &s;o high, that a man mu&s;t lo&s;e his brains and bowels too, &s;aith unbelief, before he can be wrought up to them. Can&s;t thou endure to &s;ee all the labours of thy life to become a prey to thine ene|mies? that which hath co&s;t thee &s;o much &s;tudy and toyl, &s;cattered and de&s;troyed in a day, when it is yet in the power of thine hand to &s;ave all; thy habitation to ca&s;t thee out, thy plea&s;ant fields po&s;&s;e&s;t by &s;trangers: <HI>Impius has &s;egetes;</HI> Ha&s;t thou hardi|ne&s;s enough to encounter beggery?
<PB N="43" REF="38">to fight with hunger, thir&s;t, and nakedne&s;s? to lye in a na&s;ty Goal, to endure a parting pull with neare&s;t <HI>Relatives,</HI> which are as thine own &s;oul? but yet there are harder trials than the&s;e; can&s;t thou endure a tor|menting death by cruel barbarous enemies? Can&s;t thou &s;tand quietly at a &s;take, and endure the exqui&s;ite torments of the fire, and that in the fulne&s;s of thy time, whil&s;t thou art in the flower of thine age; fulne&s;s of thy &s;en&s;es, and ha&s;t &s;o fair a pro&s;pect of many plea&s;ant years before thee; and all this for an un&s;een glory in another world? The&s;e are the feel|ing Arguments urged by infidelity again&s;t embracing Chri&s;t's over|tures in the Go&s;pel, or coming un|der the Scepter of this new Lord; and with how many do they prevail! Thus Satan fixes his &s;ubjects, and makes them &s;ecure to him&s;elf.</P>
<P>But &s;inner, if God have any inten|tion of &s;aving-mercy to thy &s;oul, thou &s;halt feel the more potent prin|ciples of Divine faith and love over|powering
<PB N="44" REF="39">and &s;ubacting the&s;e car|nal rea&s;onings within thy &s;oul. 'Tis admirable to behold the Almighty influences of Grace upon Nature. How the drawings of the Spirit, his Omnipotent pull at the heart, makes the &s;tronge&s;t tyes this world hath upon it, to give way, and ea&s;ily to lo&s;e, <HI>Mark</HI> 10.28. <HI>Lord, we have left all, and followed thee.</HI> If not, but thou be fixedly re&s;olved not to change Satan's Government for Chri&s;t's; if thou &s;ay in thy heart, and &s;tand to that &s;aying, I will ne|ver con&s;ent to &s;uch hard conditions; then hear thy &s;entence, read thy <HI>Mittimus,</HI> Luk. 19.27. <HI>But tho&s;e mine enemies, that would not that I &s;hould reign over them, bring hither, and &s;lay them before me.</HI> The &s;en|tence is dreadful, the execution &s;ure; thy unbelief will as &s;urely damn thee, as a mil&s;tone about thy neck in the mid&s;t of the Sea will drown thee, <HI>Mark</HI> 16.16. <HI>He that believeth not, &s;hall be damned;</HI> thou ha&s;t ca&s;t the vile&s;t di&s;honour upon Chri&s;t,
<PB N="45" REF="39">thou ha&s;t rejected the only way of Salvation; and what can the i&s;&s;ue of thy final unbelief be, but ruin and de&s;truction?</P>
<P><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> II. My next work will be per|&s;wa&s;ive work, to gain the con&s;ent of the &s;ouls to come under the Scepter and Government of Chri&s;t; to make his heart glad, and your &s;elves happy for ever by your E&s;pou&s;als to him. And Oh that I could this day &s;o repre&s;ent this King in his glory, &s;o di&s;cover the mi&s;erable thraldom you are in under Satan, and your lu&s;ts; &s;o clear up the rea&s;onablene&s;s and ea&s;ine&s;s of Chri&s;t's terms and demands, that there might be as chearful and hearty (tho not &s;o loud and audible) an applau&s;e and accla|mation returned to my demand of your con&s;ent to Chri&s;t, as this day is, or ever was at the Coronation of any King.</P>
<P N="1">1. And to this end, fir&s;t con&s;ider the glory and dignity of the per&s;on
<PB N="46" REF="40">of Chri&s;t; he is the Son of God by nature, the brightne&s;s of his glory, and the expre&s;s image of his per&s;on, <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.3. <HI>He is the Prince of the kings of the Earth,</HI> Rev. 1.5. The mo&s;t glorious <HI>Monarch</HI> that ever &s;way'd a Scepter over men, is but as a worm of the earth, or a de&s;pica|ble in&s;ect in the air, compar'd with <HI>Solomon</HI> in his Glory; the mo&s;t per|fect beauty in the Creatures beneath or above, is blackne&s;s and deformi|ty in compari&s;on with Chri&s;t; the beauty of Ro&s;es, Lillies, Sun, Stars Angels, is not worthy to be menti|oned in compari&s;on with Chri&s;t; <HI>Thou art fairer</HI> (&s;aith his Spou&s;e) <HI>than the children of men:</HI> None ever &s;aw him &s;avingly by the eye of faith, but were charmed into his bo&s;om by love. The Facial Vi&s;ion of Chri&s;t, is the fea&s;t of ble&s;&s;ed &s;ouls above.</P>
<P>This King of Glory makes &s;uit for your hearts this day; he wooes for your con&s;ent; he pa&s;&s;ed by <HI>Apo|&s;tate Angels,</HI> not once making them
<PB N="47" REF="40">a tender of reconciliation or union; but comes to you in his red gar|ments, glorious in his apparel: He &s;hed his invaluable blood to redeem you to God: He loved you, and gave him&s;elf for you; if there be a drop of love in your hearts, methinks the excellency of Chri&s;t &s;hould extract and engage it; write that man a bea&s;t, a &s;en&s;ele&s;s &s;tock, that hath no love for Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2. Con&s;ider &s;econdly, what a ble&s;&s;ed &s;tate abounding with glori|ous and invaluable priviledges your con&s;ent to be Chri&s;t's, is introductive to; it opens into all priviledges, mercies, and ble&s;&s;ings, de&s;irable in the eyes of men; it opens into freedom and liberty from the va&s;&s;alage of Satan, the &s;ervitude of &s;in, the cur&s;e of the Law, the danger of wrath to come, <HI>Joh.</HI> 8.36. <HI>If the Son there|fore make you free, then are ye free in|deed.</HI> It opens the door into re&s;t and peace, peace with God, peace in your own Con&s;ciences, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.1, 2, 3. The deliciou&s;ne&s;s of peace you ne|ver
<PB N="48" REF="41">yet ta&s;ted, who are &s;trangers to Chri&s;t, nor ever &s;hall till you con&s;ent to be his, <HI>Rev.</HI> 2.17. this &s;hall be your Support amid&s;t all the Confu&s;ions and Di&s;tractions, Hurries and Tumults of this re&s;t|le&s;s and unquiet World, <HI>Mic.</HI> 5.5. <HI>This man &s;hall be the peace, when the A&s;&s;yrian cometh into our land, and when he &s;hall tread in our Palaces.</HI> Chri&s;t hath pitcht his Standard in the Go&s;pel, repair unto it, come under his Banner, and li&s;t your &s;elves among his faithful Sub|jects, and the glory of the World to come is yours, if you over|come and be faithful unto death, <HI>Revelat.</HI> 3.21. The Subjects of Chri&s;t in this Kingdom of Grace, are &s;hortly to be all tran&s;lated in|to the Kingdom of Glory, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.30.</P>
<P N="3">3. Con&s;ider the mi&s;erable bon|dage you are now in, over whom Satan rules, and how your conditi|on &s;till grows wor&s;e and wor&s;e, till
<PB N="49" REF="41">it &s;hall not be capable of any fur|ther addition of mi&s;ery, to make it more ab&s;olutely and compleatly mi|&s;erable.</P>
<P>You are now without God, without a Promi&s;e, without peace, without the pardon of one &s;in, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.12. You have no Com|munion with God, nor title to Heaven, &s;laves to your &s;ordid Lu&s;ts, <HI>Titus</HI> 3.3. You are under the cur&s;e, <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.10. Condem|ned already, <HI>John</HI> 3.18. And when ever you die out of Chri&s;t, you &s;hall die in your &s;ins, <HI>John</HI> 8.24. He that was your Ruler in this World, is to be both your Companion and Tormenter in the world to come, <HI>Matthew</HI> 25.41.</P>
<P>Is this a condition to be &s;atisfied in? Can you &s;leep quietly in your Chains? O methinks the poor Pri&s;oners of Satan &s;hould &s;igh
<PB N="50" REF="42">and cry through the Grates of the Pri&s;on, e&s;pecially when they are informed of deliverance at the door!</P>
<P>You have no rea&s;on to &s;care at the Terms and Conditions pro|pounded to you by Chri&s;t; they are equal, nece&s;&s;ary and ea&s;ie, <HI>Matth.</HI> 11.29. <HI>Come unto me; my yoke is ea&s;ie, and my burthen light. His commands are not grievous,</HI> 1 John 5.3. <HI>All his ways are plea|&s;antne&s;s, and all his paths are peace,</HI> Proverbs 3.17. <HI>The joy of the Lord &s;hall be your &s;trength,</HI> Nehem. 8.10. If there be repenting-work, be|lieving-work, &s;in-mortifying-work, or &s;uffering work for you; there is al&s;o a &s;uitable provi&s;ion of Di|vine a&s;&s;i&s;tance to enable and car|ry you through it all, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.9. <HI>My grace is &s;ufficient for thee:</HI> If men ca&s;t you out, God will re|ceive you, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.17, 18. If any &s;harp trial befall you, there's
<PB N="51" REF="42">a door of e&s;cape prepared for your out-let, 1 <HI>Corinth.</HI> 10.13. If you meet with trouble in the World, you &s;hall not fail of peace in Chri&s;t, <HI>John</HI> 16.33. If you lo&s;e any outward Enjoyment for Chri&s;t's &s;ake, it &s;hall be recom|penced an hundred-fold in this World, be&s;ides the reward of Heaven hereafter, <HI>Matth.</HI> 19 29. If you be ca&s;t in Pri&s;on for Chri&s;t, the Comforter &s;hall come from Heaven and re&s;t upon you there, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 4.13, 14. If you &s;uffer with him, <HI>you &s;hall reign with him,</HI> 2 Tim. 2.12.</P>
<P>What think ye Brethren of Chri&s;t's terms now? What is there here for Men to &s;care and fright at? Can you mend your &s;elves el&s;ewhere? O! when &s;hall the Match be made? When will you come to Chri&s;t, and &s;ay, Lord, I heartily con&s;ent to take thee for my King; I am plea&s;ed with the
<PB N="52" REF="43">harde&s;t Condition required in thy word!</P>
<P N="5">(5.) La&s;tly, Be convinced of the unrea&s;onablene&s;s of all that you can pretend again&s;t this great Du|ty. If you &s;ay, the pains of Mor|tification are hard; you mu&s;t in rea&s;on yeild that the pains of Damnation are harder; and that it's better for you to enter into Life halt and maimed, than having two Eyes or Hands to be ca&s;t into Hell, where the worm dies not, and where the fire is not quenched, <HI>Matth.</HI> 5.29. If you &s;ay, you have no power to come to Chri&s;t; your Con&s;cien|ces will pre&s;ently tell you, that you never yet put forth the ut|termo&s;t power that you have, in &s;triving for your own Salvation. It will al&s;o tell you, that you &s;uppo&s;e you have &s;uch a Power, el&s;e, why have you &s;o long de|layed Repentance and Conver|&s;ion
<PB N="35" REF="43">upon this pretence, That you will &s;eriou&s;ly perform them hereafter? Be&s;ides, tho your en|deavours do not oblige God to do that for you, you cannot do of your &s;elves; yet 'tis more probable he will do &s;o, when you &s;trive to your utmo&s;t, than when you carele&s;ly neglect tho&s;e Du|ties, and give your &s;elves up to the contrary Cour&s;es. If you &s;ay, You would &s;trive if you were a&s;|&s;ured of &s;ucce&s;s, and that you &s;hould be received and accepted by Chri&s;t, if you came unto him, and did ca&s;t your poor Souls upon him; you can an&s;wer your &s;elves, if you will, That you dai|ly &s;pend your Time, Pains, and Studies, upon le&s;&s;er things, ha|ving no a&s;&s;urance at all of &s;uc|ce&s;s. The <HI>Husbandman</HI> toils all day at Plough, yet is not a&s;&s;ured of a good Harve&s;t; his Corn may dye in the Seed, or be bla&s;t|ed in the Ear. The <HI>Mariner</HI> ven|tures
<PB N="54" REF="44">his E&s;tate upon the Sea, yet hath no a&s;&s;urance of a good Return; the Ship may mi&s;car|ry. The <HI>Miner</HI> will dig into the Bowels of the Earth, and try here and there, yet hath no a&s;|&s;urance he &s;hall find that rich Vein of Ore, that &s;hall recom|pence his co&s;t and pains. Now, if Men will labour &s;o hard, and adventure &s;o much upon uncer|tainties for a little of the World, doth not your own rea&s;on con|clude you ought to do more, and adventure further than any of them to obtain Chri&s;t, and eter|nal Salvation? O &s;trive, &s;trive to make your e&s;cape out of Sa|tan's Kingdom, to Chri&s;t; &s;it not with folded hands on the &s;eats of Sloth, &s;aying 'tis to no pur|po&s;e!</P>
<P>Suppo&s;e your &s;elves now upon your Death-bed, all earthly Com|forts in&s;ipid things to you; Con|&s;cience
<PB N="55" REF="44">pre&s;aging the Wrath to come; Time and Hope ending together; would you not then wi&s;h, O, that we had been ruled and governed by Chri&s;t's Laws and Spirit, and not by Satan, and our own Lu&s;ts! Had we been the Servants of Chri&s;t, we had now been going to Chri&s;t; had he governed, he would have &s;aved us; but his Servants we are to whom we obey; we have &s;erved our Lu&s;ts, and the wages of Sin is Death.</P>
<P>Or &s;uppo&s;e you &s;aw the Glory of Heaven, or the Horrors of Hell; that you heard the <HI>Allelu|jahs</HI> of the Palm-bearing multi|tude, or the Shrieks of damned ca&s;t-aways; would it be &s;o indif|ferent a thing to you, whether you obey Chri&s;t's call or no? Be|lieve it, the&s;e are no devi&s;ed Fa|bles, but do really exi&s;t, whether you mind them or not. And
<PB N="56" REF="45">why &s;hould you not &s;uppo&s;e, and forethink things &s;o &s;ure, and &s;o nigh? A &s;weet Voice comes from Heaven this day, &s;aying, Let all that expect to enjoy the Glory that is here, &s;ee that they &s;ubmit heartily to Chri&s;t's Scepter, for he &s;aves no more than he Rules; and the whole number of the glo|rified in Heaven, is made up of &s;uch as heartily clo&s;ed with Chri&s;t's terms on Earth. A dreadful voice comes up from Hell, crying as it were in your Ears, As ever you expect to e&s;cape the Mi&s;eries and Torments that are here, do not re|ject Chri&s;t's Yoak and Govern|ment as we did; our yielding up of our &s;elves to the &s;way and go|vernment of our Lu&s;ts, was our ruin.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="application">
<HEAD><HI>&V;SE</HI> III.</HEAD>
<P>To conclude, Let all Men try their own E&s;tates, and examine
<PB N="57" REF="45">to what King they do indeed be|long; and who&s;e Subjects, in truth, they are, Chri&s;t's or Sa|tan's; for the&s;e two Kingdoms divide the whole World. God hath furni&s;hed us with &s;elf-refle|cting powers; we are able to re|tire out of the con&s;u&s;ed Noi&s;es of the World, and &s;it retired in the innermo&s;t Clo&s;et of our own &s;ouls, where none but God and our Con&s;ciences &s;hall be privy to our debates; and there &s;o|lemnly demand of our Con&s;ci|ence, and charge it to make plain and faithful An&s;wers to &s;uch Que&s;tions and Enquiries as the&s;e:</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> 1. To whom do I yield the mo&s;t prompt, chearful, and con&s;tant obedience? To the Com|mands of Chri&s;t, or to the Soli|citations of Satan, and my own Lu&s;ts? He that hath my Obedi|ence, the &s;ame is my Lord and
<PB N="58" REF="46">King, Rom. 6.16. <HI>To whom ye yield your &s;elves &s;ervants to obey, his &s;ervants ye are to whom ye obey.</HI> When God and Con&s;cience calls me to pray, and the World calls me off to attend its en&s;naring plea&s;ures, and unnece&s;&s;ary employments; Which of the&s;e Calls do I pay obe|dience to?</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> 2. Who Governs the &s;e|cret and un&s;een part of my Life? That every Man is in the account of God, which he is in &s;ecret, <HI>Romans</HI> 2.28, 29. Now, who is King in the Clo&s;et? And what Rules do my thoughts move by? If Chri&s;t bring my thoughts into obedience, &s;o that I dare not in|dulge to my &s;elf a &s;inful liberty to enjoy the &s;peculative plea&s;ure of the Sins I have acted, or would act had I opportunity for it: And if I am in the fear of God when alone, and make Con&s;cience of my &s;ecret, as well as publick
<PB N="59" REF="46">Duties, then I am under Chri&s;t's Government, and he is King of my Soul, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.5. <HI>Matth.</HI> 6.6. But if I make an external &s;hew of obedience to Chri&s;t, and &s;ecretly obey my Lu&s;ts, I am re|ally the &s;ervant of Sin, and belong to another King. O my Con&s;ci|ence, what &s;ai&s;t thou to the&s;e things?</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> 3. Whom do I follow, or heartily re&s;olve to follow, when it comes to a parting-point be|twixt Chri&s;t and the World? When I mu&s;t cleave to the one, and for&s;ake the other, <HI>Matth.</HI> 6.24. Do I with full purpo&s;e of heart cleave to the Lord? <HI>Acts</HI> 11.23 Is it my &s;incere re&s;olution to follow the Lamb whither&s;oever he goeth? <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.4. or have I &s;ecret re&s;erves to quit Chri&s;t's Ser|vice, and give Religion the &s;lip, when it comes to a real di&s;tre&s;s and difficulty? The&s;e are &s;ound|ing
<PB N="60" REF="47">Que&s;tions, and will di&s;cover who&s;e Government we are un|der.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="conclusion">
<HEAD>The CONCL&V;SION.</HEAD>
<P>Thus I have endeavoured to &s;pi|ritualize and improve the great and &s;olemn Actions of this good day; a Day, for which I hope the Children yet unborn &s;hall prai&s;e the Lord: How happy will our King and Queen be, if They Reign over a People that Chri&s;t Reigneth over, and will con&s;ci|entiou&s;ly pay them Obedience in and for the Lord! I believe it will be a greater Joy to their Souls, to &s;ee you &s;et the Crown upon Chri&s;t's Head, in your &s;ubjection to his Laws, than to &s;ee the Imperial Crown of <HI>England</HI> &s;et upon their own Heads: Religion breeds the be&s;t Subjects.</P>
<PB N="61" REF="47">
<P>Let <HI>England</HI> prai&s;e the Lord for &s;uch a Day as this! How many &s;ad years are run out &s;ince it &s;aw the Crown upon the Heads of a Prote&s;tant King and Queen at once! Let faithful Magi&s;trates re|joyce, they &s;hall never more be put upon the odious and dange|rous drudgery of per&s;ecuting good Men, under &s;uch a Government as this.</P>
<P>Let Mini&s;ters rejoyce, yea, let them rejoyce with double joy to o|thers; they &s;hall no more be driven into Corners, nor put to Silence; a &s;ilence as bitter as death, whil&s;t the Royal Scepter is &s;wayed by &s;uch hands as God hath now put it into.</P>
<P>Let all the People rejoyce; for the&s;e their Rulers &s;hall be to them as the light of the Morning, and as the clear &s;hining after
<PB N="62" REF="48">Rain, 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 23.3, 4. And let us all &s;ay, <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 25.9. <HI>Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will &s;ave us; this is the Lord, we have waited for him, we will rejoyce and be glad in his &s;al|vation.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
