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Show 1668. ~ Chap. II. No CROSS, No CROWN. VoL I. Heart, in tbt Spirit, and not in the Letter, ubofe Praift is Ret of Alan, bur of§ G. oVd.I I. Indeed the Glor1of tbeCROSS fhm. e d ,~o com~p t.c uou flY h h t roug the Self-Dental of their L1ves, who dailY: bore tt, that t~ it ruck the_Hearhe wtth Afi:onifhment and in a fm:tll Ttme fo (hook thetr Altars, dtfcre, du:d their Oracles, fh~ck the Multitude, invaded the Court, an~ ove~· came their Armies, that it led I:r1t/1t, Magiflra~u, <and Generals, '" Tnumph after it, as the Troph1u oftts "Power_a~d VtEl:~ry. H b And while this Integrity dwelt with Chn[hans, mtghty was the Prefence: to ~h~ ~~:2' and invinctble that Power that attended the~. It quenched F1re, Jaunud lfa.4l• 2:. L ons, turned the Edge of the Sword, out-fncd In{hllmt!tls of Cruelty, ConPan 1.12, to :10 d ]JJJges and Converted ExecJJtloners. In flne, the Ways theu EnctheEnd. ~i~ took co dellroy, increas"d them; and by the ?eep Wi~domof God, they were made Great Promoun of the Truth,_ who m all tbelf Defigns endeaChap. 6. t6, voured to extin&uifh if. Now not a Vmn Tbought, nor ah Idle Ward, nor to the End, an Unjeemly Jifhan was permitted; No, not an lmmodefl Look, no Courtly Drefs, Gay .Apparel, Complemental RefpeOs, or ~trfonal Ho~ours; m~ch lefs thofe Lewd Immoralities, and St11ntlalo11s. Vues, no\V m Vogue wu_h Chriftians, could find either Exampl_e or C:onmv~nce among them. The.1r Eph."~. 1~.16• Care was not how to Sport away thetr Precto/JS t:1me, but how to. Redeemy, that they might have enough to Work ~ut the1r Grea.t Salvauon (whiCh they carefully did) with Fear and Trembhng ;. Not With BaUs and .Afas.ts, with Play-Houfu, Da11cing, Fctt{linf,, and Gammg: No, no; To make Sure of their Heavcnlp CoOing and Eleflt~n, w:~.s much Dc:lr~r to _them, th:!n the Poor and Trifling Joy~ of Morraltty. !or t~ey h~vmg w1th .lr1ofes, fun Him that if Jnvifible, and found th:~r H1s Lovmg·Kmd.nefs was better than Life the Peace of Hi.r Spirit than the Favour of Pnnces; as they feared not 'c~far's Wrath, fo they chore rather to fultain the Affiiaions of Cbrifl's True Pilgrim.r, than enjoy the Pleafures ofSm, that ~c~e but for a Seafon; efleeming his Reproaches of more Value than the penOnng Treafures of th~ Earth. And if the Tribulations ofChriftianity were more eligible, th:~n the Comforts of rhe World · and the Reproaches of one, than all the Honour of the other; there was then furely no Temptation in it, that could fhake the Integrity of Cbriflenclom. . , , .... §. Vlll. By this fhort Draught of what Cbr;jlcndom was, thou may Jl fee 0 Chriflenclom, what thou art nor, and confequcntly what thou ought'ft to be. But how comes it, th:lt from a Chriflendom that was thus illee..t, _"D1rr• ci{ul, Self.Denying, Suffering, Temperate, Holy, Jufl and Good, fo l~keto CH R l S T whofe Name fhe bore, we find a Cbriflendom now, that Js Su· perflitious, 'IdolatroTn, PerfecutiJtg, Proud! Pa}fionatr;, l!."'nvio11s, Malicio11s, Se/fifo, Drun!len, Lafcivif'tn, Vndean, Lymg,,Su;~armg, Cmfi'!g, Cavetotd, Oppre.ffing, Defrauding, with a1l other Abomm:~twns known tn the Earth, and that to an Excefs juftly Sc:~ndalous to the worft of Henthe11·.J1ges, fur~ paffing. them more in Evil than in Time; I fay, How comes this lamentable DeteOton? lay this down, as the undoubted Rcafon of this Degeneracy, to wit, the Inward Dijregard of thy .Mind, to the Light of Chrijl foining in thee, thatfirjl jhewed thee thy Sins, and reproved them, and that t:~ught and en-abled thee to deny and rtfifl them. For as thy Fear tow:lrds God, and holy Abfiinence from Unrighteoufnefs was, at firft, not taught by the Pre· ceps of Men, but by that Li~ht and Grace, which revealed the molt fecret Tbo11gbts and P11rpoje1 of thine Heart, :J.nd fearcht the moft inward Part'S of thy Belly, (feuing thy Sins in Order before thee, and reprcving 1hce for them, not fu:ffering one unfruitful Thought, Word or Work of DarNnefr, to go unjudged) So when thou didft begin to difregard that Light and Grace, to be C:lrelefs of that holy Watth, that was once fet up in thine Heart, and didft nor keep Centinelthere, (as formerly) for God's Glory, and thy own Peace; dle refilcfs Enemy of Man's Good, quickly took Advantage of this Slacknefs, and often furprized thee with Temptations, ~~~l~~itablenefs to thy Inclinations, ma4e his ConqueR o\'er thee "J~ VoL. I. · .No .CROSS, No CROWN. ln Chon, thou didfi,omit to take up Chrifl's holy Yoak, to bear thy daily Jl.i68 Crofs; thou ~aft carelef~ of rhy ~ffetrions, _and kepL'fi n.o ]o11rnal or Check ~ tlpon thy A81ons; but dtdft dechoe to audtt Ji.ccounrs, m thy own Confci- Chap. h. ence, with Chr.ill thy L;gbt, the great Bifhop of thy Soul, and Jpdge of · thy Works, whereby the holy Fe(/r decayed, and Love waxed cold. Va-f! ity abo11nded, and Duty lx:co:~me bllrdmfo'!l· !hen up came Form~lity, 1nitead of the Power of Godbnifs; Superjhllon, m Place of Chrift's lnftitu-tion; And whereas Chrift's Bufinefs was, to draw off rhe Minds of his Dif· ciples from ~n. outward T~mple, and car.nal Rites and Services, ro rbe in- • ward and fpuuual WorOup of God, (fumzble ro the Nature of Diviniry) a '?orldly Humane, Pompous Worfhip is ~roughr in agJin, and a \V"orld ly Pndlhood; T!!mple and Alt:~r are re·eftabhfhed. N ow.ir was thJt the Son.r o(God one~ morefaw tbd-Dm1ghter.r of Men were [ 11ir: That is, thep11re F..ye gr~w d1m, wh1ch R~penrance h:~d opened, th:lt faw no Comelinefsout Gen. 6• 2 ' ofChnll; and the Eye of Lull became undo fed again, by the God of the World ; and thofe worldly Pleafurcs, th:lt make tUch :JS love,hem for~ get God, _(though once defpifed for the Sake of Chrift) beg.:1n now 'to re~ cover then old Beauty, and Intereft in thy Af!C:Clions; and from liking them, to be the Study, Care, and Pleafure of thy Life. True, there ftill remained the exterior Formr of Worjhip, and a Nominal and Oral Reverence ro God and Chrift; but that was all ; For the Offence of the holy Crofs ce:~fed, the Power of Godlinefs was denied, Self-Denial · loft; and though fruitful in the Invention of Ceremonio;n Ornaments yet barren in the bleffed Fruits of the Spirit. And a Thoufand SbeUs ca'nnot make'one Kernel, or m:~ny dead Corps one living Man. §. JX. Thus Religion fell from Experience to Tr.1dition and Worlhip from Power to FtJrm, from Life to Uuer; that inftead of p1utting up live· ly and powerful Requefts, :lnimated by the deep Senfe of \Vant. and the Affift~nce o~ the holy Spirit, by which the Ancients prayed, wr~ftled and pre~ailed with God ; behold, a hy·rote ftlumrfimfls, a dull and infipid For· m_abty, made up of C~rporal Bowings, and Cringmgs, Garments and F11rnrture. r, Pe~fume.r, Vorces and .Mujick.; ~tter for the Reception oi fame Earthly Pr.mce, than the heavenly Worfh1p of the only true and immortal God, who IS an Eternal, Invifible Spirit. . Bu_t thy Heart _growing Carnal, thy Religion did fo too. and not liking It as 1t ~as, thoujajh_ioned'fl it to thy Liking; forgetting wh~t rhe holy Pro-phet fatd, Tb~ Sacrifice of the Wicked is an Abomination to the Lord, and what.Jam~s faith, Te tJjk, an_d ;·e rec~ive ntJt, (~hy ~) becauje )"~ lljk amifs; Prov. 1~. 8, that IS_. With an ~eart thar IS not nght, hut tn.fincere, unmorrijied, nor in James 4- 3• the F:~tth that puneyes the Soul, :~nd therefore can never receive wh:lt is afkt.:. So th:lt a Man may f:~y with Trurh? thy Condition, is w0rfe by thy ~~~~~~."' becaufe thou art tempted to thmk thy felf the better for it, and ~·.X. Well! by this Profpet\, that is given thee, of thy foul ·Fall from PrlllllllVe Chrifl.un~ty, and the rrue Caufe ofit, ro wit, n N~gle{! of tb~ daily Crofr ofCbrijl, tt maybe eafy for thee, to inform thy !elf ofrhc Woy of thy Recovery. . For look at what Door thou wemeft out, at rbat Door thou muft come In : And as letting fall, and for be:~ ring the daily Crofs lo{l rhe::. fo raking up, a~d enduri~g the daily Crofs, muft recover thee. It is the fame fl',y, by whtch the S!nners.and Apofiates become the Difciples of Jefus. unzgofo- ' ttlet (fays Chnft) ~til ~omt: after me, and be my Dijdp!e, /er bim deny bim~ ~::ic ~~·3:~.; ftlf,, and ltlk.e up hu da~ly_ Crofs, _and folio~ m~. ~o~hing (horr of chis will Luke '4· 27. do; mark that, for as It ts fuffictent, fo It ts mdtfpenfible: No f:tOIJm, ~ut hJ-: the IJttO!tS: N~ Life Eternal, bur through De(/th ; And it lS but ]Uft, that thofe Evtl and Br1rbarous .AffeOions, that crucified Chrifi afreflt, fhould, by his holy Crofs, be crucified. 1)/ood requires £/ood; His Hof. 13, 14- Crofs is the Death of Sin, that caufed his Death· and he the Dea1h of 1 Cor. ·~· Death, according to that Paffage, 0 Death! 1 t1Ji0 be thy Death! 1 ~· Oo2 CHAP |