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Show t668. ~ Chap. IX. No CROSS, No CROWN. VoL. I. truly and plamly wbat 11t iJ, and ufing him as 1Jt O/lgbt ~o b~ trtate~ gnd thtrehy provl/c.e my Maker to Difpleafure, 11nd He, tn ts n1,er ttn J~/1<' /oujle jbould rake me foon away, or brmgfudden De arb, and an unwnely End u on ~e I dart not uft I dare not gtve flub Tirlesunto .Men. 1' § XXXII But 1f w~ had not this to alledge from the Old T</lnm<nt Wr~dn s, it fuould :1nd ought to fuffice with Chnfti::ms, that thef~ Cuftoms are fev~rely cenfured by the great Lo~d .and Mafter of their RdtglOn; who 15 fo far from putting People upon g1vmg HonoJH one ro another, that he will not indulge them in it, whatever be the Cuftoms of ~he Country they ltve m: For he charges 1t upon the Jews, as a Mark of thea Apoftacy. llow can e belreve, wb•cb 1 ece1ve Honour one of anoJ~tr, and feek not the !Jo1foYr tba!contelh from God only? Where there !nfidd1ty concermng Chnft 1smade the EffeE\: of feeking Worldly, and not Heave11ly 1l011o11r Only. And the Thmg 1s not h:ud to apprehend, if we. confider, that Self·Lo'!l~' and Dr.l(rt of Honour from Men, is in~o~fifi:ent wtth the Love and Hum•luy of Cbn!t. They !ought the Goad Op1n1on and Re{pea of the World, how then wos it poffible they !hould leave aU and foUow h1m, whof6 Kmgdom IS not of tbu Wort/; and that carne in a Way fa crofs to rhe ~met .and Humollr of it) And that this was the Meaning of our Lord Jefu,, IS plam: For he tells us, what that Honour was, theY gave and received, whi~~ he condemned { them for and of which he bad the D1fciples of h15 Humiltty and Crofs be-ware. H1s Words are thefe (and he fpeaks them not of the Rabble, but of ~~at;~3· 6~ the--Dolton, the great Men, the Men of Honour am_ong the Jews) The{ M~rk 12. 3s. Love (fays he) tbe uppermoft Roomt at _Fea/ls ~ tb~t IS) Places of grc:nel Luke u•!43·l Rank and Refpetl; and Greet mgt, that 15, Salu.tauons of Refpe8-, fuch as PuUrng off the Hat, and Bowrng the Body, are m our Age; 111 the ftfarker .. Placer [v1z In the Places of Note and Concourfe, the Pubhck Walks and Exch;nges ~f the Countty.] And laftly, Th<y lov< (fays Chnft) ro 1M caU<d of Men Babl'lt, 1\.abbt: One of the rr:oft eminent Tttl~s ::.mong the ]evu. A Word comprehending an £xce11ency equal to m::.ny Titles: .It may ftand. for Tour Grace, Tour Lor.djhip, Right Reverend Father_, &c. It 15 u~on thefe Men of Breeding and ~ualiry, that he pronounces hts Woes, makmg thefc PraE\:ifes fame of the E.Vil Mar,h, by which to know them, as ~ell as fomc of the Motives of llis Threatnings againU them. But he l~ave.s tt not.here: He purfues this very Point of H~nour, above all the reft, m his Cauuon ~o his Difciples, to whom he gave ~n Charge thus : But be nor ye c~U~d Rabbt.; for one is your Mafl_er, eve!' Chrift, and JIU )'e a~e BreJhreR. l\t~rher_ be ye caUed Miiters; hut be thatu l,Yeate/1 among}! you, jhall he your Servant . .And wbofoever foali exalt himftlf, fhaU 6e ahafed. Plai~ it is, that thefe Paffages carry a ·fe\lere Rebuke, both to Wordly Hono11r m General, and ro thofe Members and Expreffion1 of it in Particular, wh_ich, as n_ear as t~e. Lan. guage of Scripture and Cufl:orns of that Age will perrn.tr! do dtfi:m~Ly reach and allude to thofe of our own Time; for the decllnmg of whiCh,. wchavefufferedfomuch Scorn and .Abufe, both in our Perfons and EO::aes: God forgh'e the unreafonable Authors of it! XXXlJI. The Apol\le Paul has a Saying of gr~at Wei~ht and Fetven,cr, in his Epiitle to the RDmam, very agreeable to thls J?oChllle of Cbnfi; us J. - 2 t this: I befeech you therefore, Brethren, by the Mercur of God, rkat )"e pr{· · Ol}lo' ' 1' ' fenr yo11r Bodies a Living Safri.fict, holy. acceptable unto God, whtCh II yo11r r<afonnb/e Suviu: SinO lit Mt c:Gnfomten to tbiG IIIIO~Ib. bur. h< Y' Transformed by the renewing of your Mind, that ye may prove what IS tbnt Good, and .Acceptable, and PerfeO Will of God. He writ to a People in the midft of the enfnaring Pomp and Glory of the World : Rome was the Seat of Ctfar and the Empire : The Miftrefs of Invention. Her Fa(hions, a~ thofe of Fr~~nce now, were as Laws to the World, at leaft at Rome: Whence it is Proverbial ~ Cumfuerir Rom~t, RDmano vivitD more. Wb<n rbou 111!.' at Rome, "[hou 111•!1 Ja ar Rome dm. Vot. J. :1!o C J5.. 0 ss, No· C R.O W N. llut the Apoftle is of.another Mind: He warns the Chtifiians of that City, r66~. Tbattbry he not Conformed; that .IS, that they ·do not foll9w the vai" Fajhi- ~ ons and Cuj/omr of this World, but Ieav.e them : The Emphafis lies u~on Chap. IX. This as wen as upon Conformed .. And J[ Imports, that Tbu World, Which theY were not to conform to, was the Corrupt and Degenerate Con.lilion of ]tlani<ind in that Age. Wherefore the Apo~Ue p;oce~ds to ethort thofe Re-lievers, a1nd that by the ftlerciu of God, (the moft powerful and winning of ;11l Arguments) Thar they would be tralfr[ormtd; that is, changed from the Way of Life, cufl:oma.ry among t.he Roman_s; (md prove wbat ir rha_t aaep-tahle WiU of God. As 1f he had fatd, Examme what Jou do and praOife; f"ee jf it Ce t·ighr, and t)Jal ir pleoJe God: CaU every Tho11.ght, TVord, and .A1/ion John 3· 21,12 to 111~gmcn1; try whether they arc mrought in God or nor; tbat fo you may prove or ,lnow, what is that Good, and .A.cuprahle, and per/ell Wi/1 oj Go1. "§. JF~XlV. The next Scripture·Auth~tiry .we apP..e~l to, in.our Vind1ca~ tion, JS a Pa!fage of the Apofile Peur, tn hJs fi.rft Eplitle, wnr to the Be· )ieving S1ran~~en thro!Jshour the Countries of Pontus, Ga1aria, CappaJocia, .11./ia, and Bitbynia ~ wh1cb we;re the Churc"J!es of Chrifi Jefus in thofe P:ur~ of the Wotld, gathered by his Power an~ Spirit: 'Xis t·his; Gird 11.p rbe 1 Pet. 1. 11 , -,..oins r{ your .Minjls, be Jobcr, and hope to the Etul, for rhe Grace that h IF to be hrougbr unto you at the Revel(// ion of Je[11s Chrifl; as Obedient Children, .(lOt ,Fafhioningyour Jelverauording rot be former Lt~flr n/ your Ignorance, That is, ' Be not found in the vain fa(hions and Cuitoms of the World, ' unto which you conformed in yqur former Ignorance:. Bur as vou h.ave be- ' lieved in a more plain and excellent w·~v, fa be faber and :iervent, :Jnd c hope to the End: Don"r give out ; let thC:m mock on; bear ye the Con· c tradialon of Sinners conflantly, as obe~lent_ Children, that you may re· ., ceiv~ the Kindnefs of God, at the Re,•elation of JeJ11s Chrijl. ADd therefore does the Apofile call them Srrangerr, (a Figu.nnive Speech) feople cjlr.mged from the Cilfloms of the World, of new Failb and .J',1anncrs; an~fo :mknownof the Wor!J: And if fuch Srrangers, rhen not to be Fafhioned or Conformed to their pleafi11g Refpetl:s and Honours, whom they were eftranged from: Becaufe rhe Srrangenefrlay in leaving that which um Cuf-tomary and familiar to tbem before. The following Words (ver. 1].) prove he ufed the Word Strangtn in a Spiritual Senfe~ Pafi the Time oj your So• journing here in Fe(/r; that is, Pc{r the Time Dj your being a1 Srrangert on Earth in Fear: Not after rhe Fafhions of the World. A Word in the next Chapter (urther explains his Senfe, where he tells the Believers, Thar they arc a Peculiar People; to wit, a Diflin£1, a Singular and Separate People from the rejl_ of the World; not any longer to fa(hion themfeh•es according .to their Cuftoms: But I don't know how that could be, if they were ro live in Communion with the World, in its Refpe£ts and Honours; for that is not to be a. Peel.Jliar or Separate People from themJ hut to be like them, becaufe conformable ro them. §. XXXV. I !hall conclude my Scripture-l'eftimor.ies againft the fofegoing RefpeEls, with that memorable and clofe Pa!fage of the Apoftlc: ]limes, againft Refpe8: to Perfons in general, after the World's Fafhion: .Aly Joirneu , 2 Eretbren, have nor tbe Fa11h of our Lord Jrfus Cbrijl, the Lord of Glory. 3, 4, • ' ' Wl/h Rej}efl of Per font· For if tbere come umo your .A.ffembly, a JUa1t r.ruh a Gold Rtng, 111 goodly .Apparel; and there come 111 alfo a Poor M11n, rn vde Ra1ment, and ye have Rej}eO to lmn that wcarerb tiM Gay Ciotb111g, and fay U't/b lmn, Sit thou here in a goodly Place (or wen and fecmly, as the Word is) and fay to the Pqor, Stand thou there, or fit here under my Foot~oo~; are )"I not then Partial in your felvu, ond are become ]udgu of Evtl Thoughts [that is, they knew they did Amils?] If ye fuljil rbc Ropl Lore, V.r. 1, (tCCording ro tbt Scripture, Thou jba!t love rby Neighbour as tby jeif, Y.e do uell; but if )'e have RefpeO to Per fans, ye commit Sin, and nr:_e convJnced pf the Law or Tranfgrelfors. This is iO fu11, there feems nothmg lefc for me to ~dd, or ochers to obje!l:. We are nor to Re/}efl ferfons, th.-,.t's the firft Tbjng; : And the nj!xt is, if we do, we commit SiR, and break ~he ~aw: At ~ur own PerU be it. _And yet perhfs tfo;e \vill fsy, ' That by ~h~~.~~: |
