frustrate, as much as in us lies, our good Lord, from that principal end which he designed in leaving for a while the celestial abode of his glory and immortality: for he is come into the world to destroy the works of the devil. Now the chief work of the devil, the great enemy of our salvation, in which he takes most delight and glory, is sin, with which he ensnares mankind : for by sin, death and all kind of calamities are ushered into the world, John iii. Rom. v. 22. It is to trample upon the only Son of God, to affront the Spirit of grace, and esteem the blood of the covenant a profane thing. It is to render ineffectual the death and passion of our good Redeemer, and pull down his cross: for he hath carried our sins in his body upon the cross, that dying unto sin, we might live unto righteousness. He hath given himself for his church, to sanctify it, and render it a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, nor any such thing. If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkled, did sanctify the uncleanness of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, "who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God?" Heb. ix. 23. Our Lord and Saviour was not only dead, but also buried, to teach us to bury also with him our sins, and shut up, in his sacred tomb, all our carnal lusts. Do not you know, all ye that have been baptized into Jesus Christ, that you have been baptized into his death? We are then buried with him in his death by baptism. 24. This glorious Saviour is risen from the dead, and hath left the sepulchre with his funeral attire, to teach us to rise to newness of life, and to leave in our grave the sin that encom passeth us, and the ties of our corruption, that bind us so fast. To speak in St. Paul's language, "As Jesus Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also ought to to walk in newness of life; for if we are made one plant with him by a conformity to his death, we shall also be one by a conformity to his resurrection. And as Christ, who is risen from the dead, dies no more, Death hath no more dominion over him; likewise we ought not to apply our members as instruments of iniquity unto sin; but we ought to apply them unto God, as being made alive from the dead," Rom. vi. "He is dead and risen again, that he might have dominion over the dead and the living. If any be in Jesus Christ, let him be a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new," Rom. xiv. 2 Cor. v. 25. Jesus Christ, after his glorious resurrection, ascended up into heaven, to lift up thither our hearts, and to draw thi ther our affections, and to teach us to reform our manners, to live an holy, angelical, and celestial life. If you are risen with Christ, seek those things that are above, where Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God; think upon things above, and not upon things on the earth, Coloss. iii. 26. There is nothing in the world so lovely as virtue: it is the delight and pleasure of heaven, the daughter of the living God, and the true and lively image of the great Creator. O blessed dress of a Christian soul! Q rich and precious ornament of God's children! O heavenly grace! what rare and strong charms hast thou, to win the hearts and affections of all such as behold thy perfect and divine beauty! 27.On the contrary, there is nothing so ugly and ill-favoured as sin: it is a woeful monster of hell, and a frightful image of Satan. I confess it disguises itself, and takes a beautiful appearance; but if you lift this borrowed mask, you shall perceive the devil's fearful looks, and the depths of hell. 25. Faithful souls, weigh in the balance of his sanctuary that dreadful evil that sin has brought into the world. It has blotted Blotted out God's image, and defaced the beauty of the creation. It hath separated heaven and earth, and kindled 1⁄2 grievous war between God and man. It is an heavy burden, under which nature itself groans; for, because of sin, all creatures sigh, and are in labour until now. 29. It continues yet its woeful effects: for it is sin that grieves the Holy Spirit, afflicts the angels, offends the weak, hardens the ignorant, and that gives an occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme his holy name, and to 'curse his gospel, Rom. viii. It is sin that gratifies the devil, rejoiceth hell, upholds the tottering walls of Babylon, strengthens the kingdom of the prince of darkness, and that causeth him to work with efficacy in the hearts of the children of disobe dience, Eph. ii. 30. Lift up your eyes to the cross of Jesus Christ, and you shall perceive how abominable sin is: for neither in heaven nor on earth could be found an offering able to make expiation for it. God hath chosen rather to punish it in the person of his only begotten Son, than to leave it unpunished. O how grievous and deep is the stain of sin, seeing that nothing but the blood of God can wash and cleanse it! 31. When you meditate upon the Lord's death and passion, exclaim not against Judas's treason, the Pharisees' envy, the people's mutiny; don't lay the blame upon the impiety of Caiaphas, the injustice of Pilate, of Herod's scoffs and jests, nor upon the cruelty of the Roman soldiers; but be angry against your own sins, and let an holy displeasure rise in you against your iniquities and crimes. Say to yourselves, Our sins, our sins alone, have betrayed Christ's innocent body, bound and fastened the Lord of glory to the ignominious cross, and delivered him into the executioner's hands. Our sins have crowned him with thorns, nailed him to the wood, delivered delivered to him gall and vinegar to drink. In short, our sins have pierced his hands and feet, and opened his side. You would abhor the sight and acquaintance of the hangman that would have fastened your father to the gallows, and you would scorn to kiss his bloody hands. How much more abominable shall we be to God, and his holy angels, if we cherish and delight to entertain sin? whereas we should be stirred up against it with an holy zeal and earnest desire of revenge. Instead of nailing to the cross this unmerciful parricide, and crushing to pieces this hellish monster, if we feed and nourish it in our bowels, we shall then be guilty of crucifying afresh the Son of God, and putting him to an open shame; guilty of trampling him under feet, and of esteeming the blood of the covenant, wherewith we are sanctified, an unholy thing. 32. Consider seriously the fearful effects that sin produces in you. Have you never been sensible of the horrid and cruel torments of a poor soul disturbed with the sight of his crimes? How sharp and piercing are the remorses of a conscience awakened from a profane sleep! It is a pain and an anguish that cannot be expressed; it causes our head to dissolve into water, our eyes to become a fountain of tears; it causes our blood to be congealed, our skin to become black, our bones to be cracked and broken. It is a common saying, That punishment follows the sin close at the heels; but imagine that it keeps always its company, and is a rack and torture that never leaves the guilty: for, "There is no peace for the wicked, saith my God," Isa. xlviii. 33. Whereas there is no satisfaction like to that of a good Christian, who loves his God sincerely, and worships him in 'spirit and in truth; there is no kind of delight to be compared to that of a regenerate soul, that applies itself without hypocrisy to the works of piety and holiness, Job viii. For the quiet of the soul, and the peace of conscience, are of more worth than great treasures, than sceptres and crowns. Therefore the wise Solomon tells us, that the righteous man's heart is a continual feast, Prov. xv. To persuade us that there is nothing like to that hidden manna, to this spiritual food, that the world knows not, and to these angelical and divine pleasures, the holy apostle informs us, that it is unspeakable and glorious joy, and a peace of God that passeth all understanding, Phil. iv. 84. If any delight or pleasure accompanies vice, it is but in appearance, superficial; as a dream, it vanisheth away; for the triumph of the wicked is of a short continuance, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment. There is always some thorn, some grief hidden and secret; in their laughter their heart is afflicted, and their joy is cut off by sorrow, Prov. xiv. 35. But the holy joys and celestial delights of one that fears God, and that worships him in purity and innocency of life are solid and lasting; they cast a deep root in the very bottom of our hearts, and enter into the joints and marrow, and disperse themselves all over the inward parts. The gibbets, the wheels, and the most grievous torments of this life, cannot pluck these joys from us; but they comfort the soul in the midst of the greatest distresses, and heal up the broken bones. 36. The worldlings become weary, tired with the accomplishment of their lusts; are afflicted at their greatest success. They loathe at last all their carnal sports, and their greatest sweetness turns into bitterness; we grow out of taste with the pleasures of sin, so that we begin at last to abhor them. It 5. Ꮓ is It was the French custom to break notable offenders upon a cart wheel, |