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Show r668. c..-v-v OJap. IV. Heb.11.2. Gen. n. No CROSS, No CROWN. t.hem is to provoke him that gave them, to take them away again : ~.,., nd'/olloto bim r!J~tt givetb Life l!tern11l to rbe Soul .. 0 §. X. Wo tQ them that have the~~ Hearts i_n thetr Earrhly; Poffeffions I For when they aie gone, their Heaven IS gone With t.he~. It IS roo much t~e Sin of the heft P>rt o£ the World, that they_ ftJCk m the. Comforts of IJ: And 'tis lamentable ro behold how rhe1r Aff~lon~ a_re bennred~ and emang· led with their Conveniencies and Accomod.:ltlons m It •. The true Self-dell~ ;11 Man is a PJ/tri;.; but the Stljijh Man is an Inbttlntanr of the Wo~ld: T~e one ufes it, 35 Men do Ships, ro tranfport themfelves, or tackle m :t Jour.ne that is, to get Home; the other looks no f~uth~r. whatever hC y,han to- be fix'd in Fulnefs and Eafe here, and hkes u fo welt, that fr~~~oruld, he would not exchange. However, he will n?t trou ble hi~felf to think of the other World, till he is fure he mufi live no longer ID this: But then, alas ! ·~will prove too late; not to Abraham, but to lAvu, he muft go; the Story ts as rrut as fad. . . §. XI. But on the other Hand, it is not ~or ~ought, th:J.t the Dlfc1ples of Jefus deny themfel ves ; and indeed, Chnft h1mfelf had the Eternal Joy in his Eye: For the Joy that wMftt. hefare hmf (fays the Author to the He· bretos) be ettdured tbl Cro[s; that 1s, he dcmed. h1mfelf, and bore t~e Re-ro:! ches and Death of the Wicked: .lind dej}ife~ the Shame! to Wit, .the l)iihonour and Derifion of the World. It ~ade htm not afratd or ~nnk:, he contemned it: J111J i1 jer down 011 t~e nght ljand of the Tbront of G_od. At~d ro their Encouragement, and great Confolatton, whe~ Peu,· aiked htm, What the-y fhould have that bad forfa~en aU to follow him? He anfwered rhem, Verily If•y """ yo•, tbnt ye wb~tb bnve foUoroed me fn t~e !l.egenetat1on, r.ohen the Son of M~n Jh_t~U fir on tbe Thr~Jtc of h1s Glory, yt alf• jbaUjit upor.Tf»tlve 1hront.s, JU~gin& t1Je Twelve Trrbu ?f_Ifrael; _.that wete then in an Apoftacy from the Ltf~ and ~ower of Go~ltncfs. !'hts ~as t~¢ Lor of his Difcjples; rhe more tmmedtate Comtxtmons of hts Tnbu~u~ ons, and firft Meffengers of his Kingdom. But the next that foH'?ws ts to alL .And every one tb"t bath forfa~en Houfet, or Brethren, or~ Sifi,er.r, ot farber, or .Mother, or Wife, or Cht!d~en, ~r Lands, (ot ~y_ A~~me.r Stt~, jhall receive an H;mdred fold, ond foaiJ r7tbtrtt Evtrlaftmt Life, Twas t~ Jtecompence of Reward, ttiis Eterm1 Crown of R1ghteoufoefs, that m · every Age b:1s raifed, in the Souls of the Juft, an holy Negl~fl, yea~ Con-teropt of the \:Vorld. To this is owing the Conlbncy of the Manyrs, as to their Blood the Triumph of the TRUTH. • §. XII. Nor is this a new DoO:rine l 'tis as old as .A~rab~m. In _fevctr_al m?A: remarkable Inftances, his Life was made up of ~elf·denra/ . . Fuft, t~ QllU .. ing his own La.nd, whete we IIY.IY well fuppofe !urn fettled tn ~he rntdft of Plemy, at leaft Sufficiency: And why? J;kcaufe God .called lum. Indeed this (hould be Reafon enough; but fuch ts the Worlds D.;gener:lf:y! that in Faa it is not : And the iilme Att, upon the fame Indncemenr, many now though prais'd in Abraham would be derided. So apt are People no~ to u~derfiand whac they comm~nd; nay, to ddpife thofe A8:ions, when they meet them in the People of their own Times, which they pretend to admir! in their AnceO:ors. . §. Xlll. But he Obey<d.' The Confequence _was, That God gave hHD a Mrt.bty l111;d. This was the fidt Reward of hts Obedtence. T~e nett was, A Son in his old JJge; and. whil:h grearen'd the Bleffing .• after 1t hgd been, in Nature, pafr the Time of his Wife's Bea11ing of Cbi~dren. Yet God called for his Dnrling, their only Child, .the Joy of thct.r Age, the Son of a Miracle, and he upon whom tiJe fulfilhng of rhe P~omtfe ~lde to Jif,r,~am. did depend. Fo.r this Son, I fly, God called: A mtghty Tnal? th'l~ wbt~b", one would have thought, might \•ery well have overturned ~ts Fat~h, ~nd ftumbled his Integrity; at l.eaft have put him upon this Dtfpute)ll, hirtlfelf: ThU Cotnmand iJ Unrea[ttnablt mtd C.ruel;, 'tis tbe Ttnnpter't, ir can__nDf be Gotf't. For, ir it to be tbo~tgbr tbnr God gave "!e fl S01t r~ ma.ke a .Sacrifitl of him? Th1tl rbt Fa1ber jhould be Blltebtr of btr onlJ Clitld? Aga1~, Thar bt jho.llld require me to offer up the Son of bis ortm Pro'mife, by tdJOt» J-.,-sc;:;; \rot. r. Ji8"'9 n.u/1 is to be performed: -r:his is btcredible. I fay. ~Thus Ahralum might n:i- J668. turally enough have argued, ro withfiand the VOice of God, and indulge ~ Jri.s gre~t Affefiions to his. bclo,,ed lfaac. , But good old .Abr.rhttm, that knew C~ap. IV! the V01ce that had prom1fed hfrn a Son, had nor forgot to l<now it, when 'it required him back again: He difp)lres nor, tho' it look'd Urange, and perhaps with fame Surprize and· Horror, as J l«an. Ht had lea.rn'd to be-lieve, that God that gne him a Child by a Miracle', could work anotbtr to preferve or refiore him. His AffeEt:ions could not balJance his Duty, muCh letS overcome his Faith\ for he received him in a Way that would let hiril. doubt of nothing rhar God bad promis'd of )tim. - ' To rhe Voice of this Almightinefs he .bo\~, builds aft Alca·r, bin~s hi); only Son upon it, kindles the Fire, and firetcties fonh his Hand to rake the Knife: Bur the Angel ftop'd the Stroke, Hold Abraham, thj Inugrity ;s proved. Wh,ar follow'd) A Ram ferved, aqd 1fl111c was his again. ·Thi~ fhows how lude ferves, where .AU is refigned, and how mean a Sacrifice contents the Almighty, where the Heart is approved. Sa that 'ds not the Sacrifice that recotnrnends the Heart, hut the Heart that gives the Sacrifice .Acceptance. God often touches our heft Comforts, <rnd cails for that which *e moft love, and are leaft willing to parr with. Not that he always t:Jkes it utter· 1y away, burro prove the Soul's Integrity, to cn11tion us from ExceJII!s, and that we may remember God, the Author of thofe Rleffings we poffers, and live loofe to them. I fpeak my Experience: The Way to keep our Enjoy~ menrs, is to rejign them, and tho' rhar he hard, 'ris fweet ro fee them returned, as lfaac was to his Father Abrabatn, with more Love and Bleffin$: than before. 0 ftupid World I b Worldly Chrillians I Not only Strangers, ~:~ ;e"v~~k~~~.thts Excellent Fanh! And whtlft fo)· the~ Rewards of 1i yod §. XIV. But Job pre!fos hard upon Abrnbam .- His S./f-dmial alfo waj very fignal. For when rh.e MefiCnge~ of hiS AffiiUions c:1me thick upon him, one doleful Story after another, till he was left :1s naked as wben he was born; the firft Thing he did, he fell to the Ground, and wor(hip'd that Power, and kifs'd that Hand that itr1p'd him: So fJt from murmuring, that he concludes his Lofi"es of Eftare and ('hildren with thefe Words: "NttRe(/, Job,\ 1 ; 2~ . came I out of my Mother't TVomb, and nttkedjh:tlll rtturn: The Lordittve, and the Lord hath taken away; hle.fJeJ be the 1\"(rmt of the Lord. 0 the deep_ laith, Patience, and Contentment of this Excellent M:m! One would fi:ave thought, this repeated News of Ruin had been tnough 'to have over· ~er his eonfiden~e in God: B~t,it did not; that ftay'd him. But indeed he tells ~s 'why: H1s Redeemer ltv d; I know (fays he) tbttt my Redeemer live.r. Job t9.2s. 2q And It appeared he did 1 for he had Redeemed him from the World: His Heart was not in h\s Worldly Cprnforts; his Hope lived above the Joys of Time, .iiJd Troubles of Monality; not tempted with' the one, nor !hak· en by the otlrer; but firmly believed, Thnt wben after bis Skin worm.rjhou/d have ton{um'ed his~ Body, ytt whb bit Eyts he jhou/J fee G~d. Thus was tlie Heart of Joh both fu6mirted co, and comforted in the Will of God. §. XV. Mofes is the next gre:u Example in SJcred Story for remarkable Seif-drnial, befoie the· Times of Chrift•s Appearance in the Flefli. He had been favcd when an Infant, by an CJ.traor<U,nary Providence, and it feems, by what followed, for an extraordinary Sen•Jce: Pbaraob'sDaughter (whofe Compa!Tion was the Means of hiS PrefeJ\':.ttion when the King decreed thd Slaughter of the He6rrw Males) took him for her Son, and gave.him the E:r:od.2·i··JJ;i Education qf her Father's Court: His own Graceful Prefence and Exrraor· dinary Abilities, joytJed with h:er L6ve for him and Intereft in her FatheD to Pr,omote him, muft have rendred him, if not capable of Suc:ce!Tion, .a't le~H: of being chief Minifter of Affair!. under that weaftfty and powerful Pnnce. For Egypt was then what A/hens and Rome were Jfrer,' thC inoff famous for Learning, Arts and Glofy. . §. XVI. But Mojes, ordained for ot~er Work, and &ui~ed by a berrer StaF, an higher Princi~lc, no fOoner came to Years of D1fCretibn, than the * p p· Impiety |
