Sermons, preached partly before His Majesty at White-Hall and partly before Anne Dutchess of York, at the chappel at St. James / by Henry Killigrew ...

The Fifth Sermon.

ZECHARY xiii.6.

And one shall say unto him, What are these Wounds in thy hands? Then shall he answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my Friends.

THere is nothing esteemed more barbarous, than to violate the Laws of Hospitality, to outrage a Stranger-Guest. The sense of Mankind in this Particular may be seen by the fatal Revenge taken for the abuse of the Levite's Concu∣bine; which occasioned the destruction well near of a whole Tribe in Israel. But then the Violation of an Ambassadour, and of such an one as comes to offer Peace and Alliance, not only to break the Laws of Hospitality, but of Nations; to Evil-Entreat a Sa∣crosanct Person, and to return Hostility for Friend∣ship

and Amity, what can be found sufficient to make an Atonement for such Inhumanity? How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad Tydings of Good things? And how deformed and detestable on the o∣ther side must the Ingratitude of those be, that are in∣jurious to such Messengers? 'Tis no wonder if such Barbarity creates irreconcileable Feuds, inter mortales inimicitias immortales. between mortal men immortal Enmities. Yet the Prophet Zechary foretells, that such should be the Reception of the Messiah, the En∣tertainment that the Prince of Peace should find in the World, when he came to offer Peace to the World. And that he may set it off the more lively, he does it by way of Dialogue, shews it in a kind of Drama, or Acted Representation, introduces a Nameless Per∣son to be astonish'd at the Strange Spectacle of an Ambassadour wounded, a publick Minister invaded like a publick Enemy; and the Person so used, gi∣ving as strange an account of his Usage, viz. that 'twas not on the Road, but in the City; not in the Camp, but in the House; again, not in the House of his Enemies, but in the House of his Allies and Friends. And one shall say unto him, What are these Wounds in thy hands? Then shall be answer, Those with which I was wounded in the House of my Friends.

I am not ignorant, that the Generality of Inter∣preters (a few only excepted) as well ancient as mo∣dern, apply these Words to the False Prophet menti∣oned ver. 5. and not to Christ: but though I affect not to follow the Few rather than the Many, yet I find it hard to resign a Picture so perfectly resembling our Lord, as my Text does, and allow it to be drawn for a False Prophet. I shall therefore shew upon what Considerations I have been induced to

understand the Words as I do, and if they are not convincing, content my self to handle them by way of Accommodation to the Business of the Day, though not by way of Interpretation.

In the first Verse of the Chapter, the Times of the Messiah are confessedly spoken of, In that Day there shall be a Fountain opened to the house of David, and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem for Sin and for Vn∣cleanness. In the five following Verses, the things transacted preparatory to the Coming of the Messiah are set down, viz. the rooting Idolatry out of the Land of Israel, and the destroying of the False Prophets, as at ver. 2. For God having for a time determined to silence all Prophecies, and to restrain all Miracles, that greater Notice might be taken of his Son when he came in the Power of both, with that lumine pro∣phetico, which Justin Martyr says, Christ first kindled again after 'twas Extinguish'd; False Prophets from hence took occasion to arise, and having nothing Divine to countenance their pretended Mission from Heaven, they apishly imitated the Outward Garb and Austerity of the true Prophets, as 'tis ver. 4. wore rough Garments, and used boldness of Speech. But God not suffering these Impostors to frustrate his Divine Counsels, sent a Discerning Spirit into his People, and stir'd them up to bring them to con∣dign Punishment, as at v. 3. The very Father and Mo∣ther of the False Prophet shall thrust him through, and force him to confess that he spoke Lies, and that he was not sent by God, but was a Herdsman that had kept Cattel from his Youth. And Christ at this Season enter∣ing on the Stage of Judaea in a Mean and Poor Condi∣tion, far Unlike that Glorious and Warlike Prince that carnal Nation had fansy'd him, the Priests and Rulers set him at nought, and out of a pretence of

Zeal to God's Glory (as the faithful Jews had a little before laid hands upon the False Prophets) did the like on the Messiah, and crucifi'd him for an Impo∣stor: as these things are imply'd partly in the Words of my Text, What are these Wounds in thy hands, &c.? and partly in the Verse immediately following, Awake, O Sword, against my Shepherd, against the Man which is my Fellow, says the Lord of Hosts, smite the Shep∣herd, and the Sheep shall be scattered. Which last Words our Lord also applies to himself, Matth. 26.31.

The Prophet Zechary recounting so close toge∣ther the semblable Treating of these two most Unre∣sembling Persons, the Messiah and the False Prophets, and shifting his Narration from the one to the other without any transition, has made it hard to distin∣guish which he speaks of: But in Prophetick Wri∣tings this Abruptness is common, as the Rabbins say, lumen propheticum est lumen abruptum: and S^t Hierom, Non curae fuit Spiritui prophetali Historiae ordinem se∣qui, the Spirit of Prophecy is not sollicitous to ob∣serve Method, but despising all Historical and Logi∣cal Contextures, makes the Exits and Intrats of Per∣sons in an unaccountable Manner. And such a Free∣dom it uses in this Chapter, that 'tis impossible right∣ly to apply the Particulars related to the Persons they belong, but by considering what was truly and in∣deed done to each of them. And by this Rule, Piercing the Hands plainly alludes to Crucifying, and must belong to the Messiah, this being a Punish∣ment never practised among the Jews, till they fell under the Roman Yoke, Stoning being the Penalty of a False Prophet by the Law: and then, if we consi∣der, Wounding the Hands, is not only a punishment differing from that prescribed, but also an Odd one

that no way comports with the Crime, it being more sutable to the Offence, to have bored the Tongue of the False Prophet, than his Hands. But the truth is, the Prophet had exprest the Punishment of the False Prophet before, at the third Verse, namely, by Thrusting him through: which might be done jure Zelotarum, by the Right of Zealots, God exciting his own Relations against him. Or else the Punish∣ment may refer to Exod. 19.12. where God com∣mands, That if Man or Beast came within the for∣bidden Precincts of the holy Mount, they should be Thrust through with a Dart: Our Prophet threat∣ning here the same Death to those that, Uncall'd, in∣vaded the Prophetick Office, which was threatned there to such as presumptuously intruded to pry into God's Mysterious and Dreadful Appearance. Which things being premis'd, I shall proceed to handle the Words as they are applicable to our Saviour: and so they contain in them two Great Mysteries of our Faith, which I shall explain, by enquiring

I. For what Reason the Divine Goodness so or∣der'd it, That Christ our Saviour should be a Wound∣ed Saviour, in satisfaction to this Question, What are these Wounds in thy Hands?

II. For what Reason the Divine Goodness so or∣der'd it, That he should be wounded by those he deserved Best from, in exposition of these Words, Those with which I was wounded in the House of my Friends.

I begin with the First of these, Why Christ was to be

A Wounded Saviour.

What are these Wounds in thy Hands?] The Wounds in Christ's Hands do more particularly relate

to the Wounds made by the Nails of the Cross, but by the Figure of a Part for the Whole, they may stand for the Wounds he received all his Body over; and not only so, but for all his Sufferings, whether in Body or in Spirit, from his Cradle to his Grave; from the Manger at Bethlehem, to his Crucifixion at Mount Calvary; and the Summ Total of this Questi∣on, (What are these Wounds in thy Hands?) imports no less, Than what is the meaning of thy Strange and astonishing Miseries, thy low Condition and sad Wants, thy perpetual Dangers and Persecutions? What is the meaning of thine Agony and bloudy Sweat, thy Crown of Thorns platted and crusht into thy Head, thy being Mockt and Spit on? What is the meaning of thy Submitting not only to the Disho∣nours of a Humane Birth, but to those also of a Vi∣olent and Ignominious Death? Being the Son of God, why didst thou suffer any Evil? Why didst thou not convert the Stable in which thou wert Born into a Palace, and the Cross to which thou were Nail'd in∣to a Throne? Why didst thou undergo such Miseries and Indignities as made the World doubt of thy Di∣vine Nature, and not exert thy Deity, and destroy thy Murderers, and burn up their City, as thou spak'st in one of thy Parables? Thy People expected thee a mighty Prince, but thou shew'd'st thy self a Destitute, Forlorn Person; they lookt for a Deli∣verer, but behold one Obnoxious to Bonds and Death; for a Redeemer, but, Alas! none needed Redemption more himself.

Great, undoubtedly, and wonderful was the Myste∣ry of the Incarnation of the Son of God; and that he should not only be born in a Mortal, but in a Miserable Condition. The Apostle might well give it the prece∣dence to all other Mysteries of Godliness, Great is the

Mystery of Godliness, says he, God was manifested in the Flesh, justify'd in the Spirit, seen of Angels, &c. But that Christ should suffer the things he did in our Nature, was no less Necessary, than Wonderful: And to o∣mit all other Reasons for it, I shall insist only on that One Great One, Because Sin could not otherwise have been abolisht, the End, for which Christ came into the World, attain'd; which was To destroy the Works of the Devil. Christ could have destroy'd the Devil with more Facility, if he had come in Majesty and Glory, as the Apostle says, 2 Thess. 2. He shall consume Anti-Christ with the Spirit (or breath only) of his Mouth, and the Brightness of his Coming. But our Lord's Business at this time was not to destroy the Person, but the Power of the Devil: Sin was both the Stratagem by which he conquer'd, and the Chain by which he held Mankind in Captivity; and Christ undertaking to rescue them from this Thral∣dom, to bind the Strong Man, and to take from him the Armour in which he trusted, he was not to do this by an Omnipotent Power, as he brought the World out of Nothing, Light out of Darkness, &c. but by an Heroick Vertue, such as he shew'd when he trampled upon the Temptations of the Devil in the Wilderness. He therefore enter'd the Lists against Satan as a Champion or Combatant, according to the fair Law of Armes, as they say, i. e. with a sutable Strength and Appointment to his Adversaries. Man was lost by Sin, and could only be restored by Righ∣teousness; he had forfeited God's Favour and his Fe∣licity by his Transgressions, and could recover them again no other way but by Obedience. On this Ac∣count Christ laid by his Majesty and Glory, and took our Nature, that in the Infirmity of our Flesh he might foil our Strong Enemy; the Second Adam re∣deem

the Glories lost by the First Adam; the Seed of the Woman bruise the Serpents head; made himself subject to the Law, that he might fulfil the Law; ob∣noxious to Death, that he might subdue Death and the Author of it by suffering Death: as S^t Paul says, Heb. 2.14. That through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death, that is, the Devil. So that we see here was no place for Thunder and Light∣ning, for an O'er-bearing Irresistible Power, but on∣ly for Divine Graces or Vertues; and the Weapons Christ used in this Conflict, were only Courage, Ho∣liness, Obedience, Patience, Self-denial, Meekness, and the like, such as were in the Power of Men also to make use of; he so conquer'd, as they might con∣quer after him. For the Great Business was not Christ's Personal Victory, that was secure, but the Victory of his Followers; he indeed was to break the Power of the Kingdom of Darkness, but they were to compleat the Conquest, every one in his own Particular to subdue Sin and Satan.

And thus while Christ destroy'd the Power of the Devil, disarm'd him, and made those that had been his Slaves, Lords over him; by consequence, and in a Political Sense, he destroy'd the Devil himself: as a Prince is said to be destroy'd, that is stript of his Forts and Castles, his Territories and Armies, his Am∣munition and Harness of War, though his Person still survives. However then that Zipporah upbraided Moses upon the Circumcising of her Child, saying, factus es mihi Sponsus sanguinum, thou art to me a Bloudy Husband: we have no reason to quarrel that Christ was to us Salvator Sanguinum, a Bloudy Savi∣our, i. e. a Saviour drencht in his own Bloud: for without the Bloud of Christ there had been no Re∣demption.

But to be more particular and distinct: There are two Ways by which Christ destroy'd the Power of the Devil, and delivered Mankind from his Bondage, and those are Pretio & Exemplo, by the Price or Sa∣tisfaction he paid for Sin, And by the Example of his Holy Life. By the first he destroy'd the Guilt of Sin, And by the second the Dominion or reigning Power of Sin.

1. Therefore we may say, There was a Necessity of Christ's Death and Sufferings, and that he should be a Wounded Saviour, that he might pay a Price, make Satisfaction to God the Father for the Sins of the World. For whether it be, that the Vindicative Ju∣stice of God for Sin be so natural and intimate to his Essence that he cannot, without renouncing his very Nature and Being, pardon Sin without a Competent Satisfaction, as some would have it: Or whether it be only his Declared Will not to pardon Sin without a Competent Satisfaction, as others, more sutably to the Divine Goodness and Glory, affirm, I shall not need here to dispute; seeing both Sides agree in one and the same Conclusion, That it was necessary for Christ to Dye for the Sins of the World. The Wages of Sin is Death, says the Apostle: and in another place, Almost all things by the Law were purged by Bloud, and without shedding of Bloud there was no Remission. Now though the Bloud there mention∣ed, was but the Bloud of Beasts that were sacrificed: yet those Beasts were the Proxies and Representatives of Men, and also Types of the Great Sacrifice which Christ was once to offer on the Cross, and derived from it all their Vertue and Merit: and God revealed this Way of atoning by Sacrifice early to the World, and afterwards prescribed it to his People the Jews by written Laws, from whom it was deriv'd to all

Nations: though the Mystery, that Sacrifices were founded in the Death of Christ, was not clearly un∣derstood till the Days of the Gospel. As a Remedy for Sin was promised from the Beginning, so 'twas al∣so taught, however obscurely, from the very Begin∣ning, That Sin was not to be abolisht without Satis∣faction made for it; and that no Competent Satisfacti∣on could be made for it, but by the Bloud of the Son of God, or the Eternal Destruction of the Sinner.

And if we will make the best Use of this Doctrine, we must observe, That as the Parts of the Body are framed in so excellent a manner, that they serve for more Uses than one: as the Nose not only to breathe, but to smell; the Hand not only to lay-hold with, but to strike, &c. So likewise that the In∣stitution of Sacrifices for expiation of Guilt had two Excellent Designs in it: First, to shew God's Mercy to Sinners, and secondly, his Irreconcileable Hatred to Sin. And if we look no further in this Matter, than on God's Goodness only in accepting so favour∣able an Exchange, as the Bloud of the Sacrifice, for the Bloud of the Sinner, we defeat one half of his Design, which was to shew the Malignant and Mor∣tiferous Nature of Sin, in that it could not be pur∣ged away by any less Means than Death; than either by the Destruction of the Sinner, or of some Other in his behalf. And therefore though God deal with us after that Royal Manner as the Children of Prin∣ces are dealt with, who have another Punishment for their Faults; or as he dealt with David after his Numbering the People, past by in a great measure his Offence, and took Occasion from it only to send a Plague on Israel for former Transgressions; thus chusing rather to punish David's Ingenuity, than his Person; to afflict him with beholding the Afflictions

of others, than by sending any immediately on him∣self: yet if we shew not the like Ingenuity which David did, suffer not Our Selves, for what we see another suffer, when we were the Delinquents; I say, if as he cry'd out upon the Destruction of the People, Lo, I have sinned, I have done Wickedly; but these Sheep, what have they done? So if we cry not out, in Contemplation of what our Proxy suffered on our behalf, We have sinned, we have done Wicked∣ly, but the Lamb of God, what has he done to be sacri∣ficed for us? We shall forfeit both the Indulgence and Indemnity which God intended us, and while we shew our selves Insensible of so high a Benefit, we shall be deprived of it; and in the next place, we must Dye our Selves, and Dye to all Eternity.

And thus we see, as the Death of Christ, paid to God as a Ransom for Sins, ought to be the highest Object of our Joy: So the Consideration again on the other side, that Nothing but the Death of Christ could pay that Ransom, ought to create in us no less than a horrour and Detestation of Sin. But yet, I know not how, we see men precipitately and re∣morslesly run into all Impiety, as if there were no danger in Sin; as if Christ had suffered nothing for it; as if it were as easily remitted, as 'tis committed; the Price of Iniquity no more than what it cost the Wicked Person to purchase it: For certainly, if Men did consider at how dear a Rate God's Justice and Wrath were satisfied, they would not think the gratifying of every Lust more valuable, than the Compensation made for it; they would not set more by the Savage Delight of Revenge, or the Swinish of Drunkenness, than by the Bloud of Christ; prefer the Favours of a Light Woman, before their Peace with God; a cheap Sin, before the dearest-bought

Redemption. A Fool can work a Mischief, which may pose a Wiseman to remedy; and every Weak Person, when he is tempted, can commit Sin, but none but the Eternal Son of God can remove the Guilt of it when 'tis done. And 'tis the light Rec∣koning that men make of Sin, which brings God's heavy Displeasure upon them for it; their thinking so cheaply of the Greatest Offences, because the Pardon of them costs them little, that provokes him to make them feel what the Weight of Guilt is: For 'tis but just, that those who refuse to understand the pernicious Nature of Sin by the Punishment laid on an Other, should understand it by undergoing the Punishment of it themselves; who will not learn how Odious it is to God by the Death of his Son, should be taught it by their own Confusion. Who is there so Ungrateful and Insensible even among the Worst of Men, that if a Friend hazard his Life for his Preservation, will not acknowledge so great a Benefit? and yet the Son of God did not only ha∣zard, but lay down his Life to redeem us from E∣ternal Damnation, and few there are that consider it, that have so much Compassion, as but to ask the Question in my Text, What are these Wounds in thy hands? resentingly to say, Was it possible so Divine a Person should be so Abus'd for me? that the Son of God, should be buffetted, spit on, derided, torn with Scourges, mangled with Tortures, and at last nail'd to the Cross, for my Disobedience? There are those, I confess, in the Church of Rome who spend a great Part of their Lives in gazing on a Crucifix, and weeping over the Pictures of our Lord's Passion, in bemoaning his Sufferings, and kissing the Represen∣tations of his Wounds: but, alas, these do but haerere in cortice, stick at the Bark and Husk of the Mystery,

out of a simple or affected Fondness express their Gratitude to Christ a Wrong Way, lament his Suf∣ferings now they are past, and he in Glory at the Right Hand of his Father; they do not penetrate into the true Purpose and Meaning of his Sufferings, as they declare the Malignant Nature of Sin, that could not be expiated at a less Rate than the Death of so Divine a Person: For this is the true Return that Men should make Christ for his Passion, not so much to consider What his Wounds were, as For what they were, and from thence fly that which was the Cause of his Sufferings.

The second Reason of the Necessity of Christ's Sufferings, I said, was, To give Men an Example of Obedience. The Apostle, Heb. 2.17. gives another Reason for Christ's suffering in our Nature, viz. that he might be a Merciful High Priest, become Compassio∣nate of our Infirmities by the Experimental Knowledge of them in his Own Person. But the Reason or Pur∣pose I now speak of, is such as is in Reference to Men, and not to himself; that he might give an Ex∣ample to the World, that God commanded nothing but what was possible to be performed by Flesh and Bloud. The last Effort or Endeavour of Heaven to bring Men to Salvation was now essaying, and the shortest and most Efficacious Motive was thought to be, to give them an Instance of the Fulfilling the Law: Precepts are but cold Inducements; but an Example fires the Soul with Emulation to do, what it sees done before it; and Men think it a Dispa∣ragement to give out in that, which another has en∣terpriz'd with Success. The Life of a Christian is full of Difficulties and Troubles, many Lusts are to be mortifi'd, many Affections to be rectifi'd, many Vices to be rooted out, and many Vertuous Habits to be

acquir'd, which things are not Easie even to the best of Men; again, Persecutions and Evils, loss of Goods, of Liberty, and Life it self, are the Lot often of the most Righteous, and for their Righteousness: So that there was need of a Great Encouragement and a Generous Precedent to excite Men to under∣take the Heroick Duties of Christianity. God there∣fore afforded them his Own Son clothed in our Nature to go before them; his Own Son, I say, to add the Greater Authority to his Example; and cloathed in our Flesh, to remove all Objections which Sloth might otherwise make against the Possibility of fol∣lowing his Steps. I am not Equal, says one, to the Burdens and Dangers required in a Christian Life, able to undergo Imprisonment, Beggary, Martyrdom, &c. Behold my Hands and my Feet, says Christ, these Wounds I suffered for thy Salvation, and canst not thou, who art framed of the same Flesh and Bloud, endure as much for thy Self, as another could endure for thee? Says another, I cannot digest Injuries and Affronts, my Temper, my Profession of Life, are inconsistent with these things. Learn of me, says Christ, I am lowly and meek, and when I was enthron'd in the high∣est Heavens, I disdained not to descend into this World in the form of a Servant, and to bear Indignities and Outrages, when the Wisdom of God so order'd it, and well then mayst thou submit to the like, whose Original is but from the Earth. These things are too plain to be long insisted on: let thus much suffice to be said in Satisfaction to this Question, What are these Wounds in thy Hands? viz. they signifie first Malum culpae, the Evil Demerit of Sin, which Christ suffered, that we might be excused. Secondly Malum poenae, the Toleration of Evil, which Christ underwent to leave us an Example to follow him. I proceed to shew,

For what Reason the Divine Wisdom so order'd it, that Christ should be wounded by those be deserved Best from, in Explanation of these Words,

Those with which I was wounded in the House of my Friends.

Of whom do the Kings of the Earth take Tribute? says Christ, Of their Children, or of Strangers? Not of their Children, but of Strangers. So again, Who are those Men usually Wound and Kill, their Friends, or their Enemies? certainly, not their Friends, but their Enemies: Yet so it was, that the Messiah was wounded and murthered by his Own Nation and Kindred. The Gentiles bore him no Malice, Herod laid nothing to his Charge, Pilate would have set him free, Am I a Jew? says he, thine own Nation, and the Chief Priests have delivered thee unto me: all Strangers honoured him: but as S^t John says, He came unto his Own, and his Own received him not. Received him not] is a Meiosis, or mitigated Expressi∣on for the Worst of Usages, they Persecuted him with the highest Malice and Hatred, the more to dis∣grace him, they hung him between two Thieves, and put him to Death in their Capital City. But though the Nation of the Jews were not his Friends de facto, yet they are so called, because they ought to have been his Friends de jure; for they were his Compatriots and Kindred, he chose to be born of their Stock before any other, he preacht the Gospel to them first, made Palestine the Scene of his Holy Life and Miracles, de∣sign'd their whole Nation the Honour of being his Apostles at large, to be the Preachers of Salvation to the rest of the World; and by how much the more they ought to have been his Friends for these Ob∣ligations,

the more unpardonable was their Barbarity, not only to make him so Strange a Spectacle, as Saint Paul says himself was made, Legatus in vinculis, an Ambassadour in Bonds, but also Legatus cum vulneri∣bus, an Ambassadour wounded and crucified. What Malice, besides the Jews, was ever so Great, as to destroy so much Vertue and Goodness? What Envy so black and rancorous to persecute so much Meek∣ness and Humility? What Wickedness ever so un∣fortunate and unhappy, as to cut off the Saviour of their Nation and of the World, to the Salvation of others, and to their own only Destruction? It appears at first hearing, the most Mysterious and unaccountable, the most Strange and amazing Event, that ever the Wisdom of God produced in the World, That he should permit his Own People, of all the People of the Earth, to be the Murderers of his Son! Acts 2.23. says S^t Peter, Him being delivered by the determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. But the wonder of this will vanish, as soon as the Reason appears; for if we consider the Blind∣ness and Hardness of the Jews Hearts after so many Glo∣rious Revelations; their Uncorrigible Lives under so many holy Laws; their high Ingratitude after so many Benefits; Who deserved to be condemned to such a Prodigious Punishment, but those who were the Greatest Prodigies of Stubbornness and Impiety? From this wonderful and dreadful Judgment of God, I shall reflect upon two things for our Edification.

First, The Wickedness of Mens Hearts, when they are void of the Spirit of Grace: For upon such no Reason, no Benefits, no Miracles, whether of Power or Goodness, can effect any thing: but those very Means and Endeavours which are employed for their

Salvation, serve only for their greater Obduration; those that are their chiefest Friends, and of whom it may be said, as of the Apostles, These Men are the Servants of the most High God, which shew the Way of Salvation, if they rebuke them for their Sins, seek to instruct their Ignorance, or to confute their Folly, they will look upon them as the Worst of Enemies.

Am I become your Enemy, says S^t Paul, because I tell you the Truth? Yes, Blessed Apostle, there's no∣thing more certain, nothing turns Friends sooner into Foes than an Unwelcome Truth: they that will not be reformed, will not be taught; and to instruct one that loves his Sins, is like the bringing a Candle upon him, when he is retir'd to commit it. And 'tis obser∣vable in all times, that those Persons who, mov'd by an Heroick Piety, have attempted to reform the Errours and Vices of a Nation, have found as hostile a Reception, as those who have sought to Enslave it; men defending their long-wedded Opinions as passionately, as their Riches; their Hereditary Corruptions, as their Hereditary Coun∣try. In the Parable in which our Lord set forth his own Ill Success in seeking to convert Sin∣ners, when he liv'd upon the Earth, he introduces certain Husbandmen, saying, Come, this is the Heir, let us kill him, and the Inheritance shall be our own. For such was the Consultation of the Sanhedrim or principal Council of the Jews concerning him. Come, let us rid our selves of this Pretended Messiah, this bold Reprover of our Vices, and Confuter of our Traditions no less by Miracles than by Reason, and then we shall continue to sit in Moses's Chair, lead the People as we please, and none will dare to contradict us. If we will not shew our selves such Friends to Christ, as my Text speaks of, who stain'd their hands

in his Bloud, let us with all Submission of Soul, and Singleness of Heart embrace his Doctrines, and pay Obedience to his Precepts, whether they relate to Faith or to Manners; and suffer neither Pleasure, nor Pro∣fit, Reputation among Men, or any By-Respect what∣soever to disaffect us to him: For the things of this World are at Enmity with Christ, and if we set our Affections upon them, they will lead us from the Worship of the True God, as the Canaanitish Wives did the Israelites, to worship Idols, and the worst of Idols, even themselves: Christ himself will appear to us a Deceiver, and we shall sooner rescue Barabbas from the Cross, than him. And let none in these days, who have received the Knowledge of the Truth, and after extinguisht the Grace of God in their Hearts by fulfil∣ling the Lusts of the Flesh, flatter themselves as the Jews did, who said, If we had lived in the Days of Old, we would not have been Partakers of the Bloud of the Prophets: So if we had liv'd in Christ's days, we would not have used him, as the Jews did: for this is but a Pharisaical Deception, those that hate Christ's Gospel, would have shew'd but little Kindness to his Person; who crucifie him now by their Wicked Lives, would not have spared his very Life, if they had liv'd in his days. Idem qua idem semper efficit i∣dem, the same thing dispos'd in the same Manner, will produce the same Effect; the same Corruption in the Heart will always bring forth the same Wick∣edness in the Hands.

The second Reflection I shall make upon Christ's being wounded in the House of his Friends, Is the Part which God performed, after the Jews added this Great Wickedness of murdering the Messiah, to all their former Impieties: For if we look on the Re∣verse of the Coin, as I may say, the Vengeance God

sent upon them, we shall find it stampt in as deep and legible Characters, as their Wickedness was engraved on the other Side; it being no less than the utter Re∣jection and Ruine of their Nation, and with such Tragical Circumstances, as are in no Story to be paral∣lell'd: but they are so generally known, that I shall spend no time to dilate on them, but rather exhort all such, who after the manifold Admonitions and fre∣quent Warnings of God, still persist in their Sins, and are deaf and incorrigible to all his Invitations to Re∣pentance, to consider, How for the like Refractori∣ness and Hardness of Heart God suffered his Own People to proceed from Wickedness to Wickedness, till they arriv'd at last in profundum malorum, into such a Gulph of Perdition, that if the most Desperate among them had seen the End of their Rebellious Ways, at their first setting-out in the Course of them, they would have started back with Horrour at the Prospect. The 2^d Kings 5. we read, that when the Prophet Elisha foretold to Hazael (yet a Private Per∣son, and unacquainted with his own Temper) what Immanities and Cruelties he would commit, when he came to be King of Assyria, that he would butcher Men, rip up Women with Child, dash Infants against the Stones, &c. He answer'd, But what! is thy Ser∣vant a Dog, that I should do these things? And the very Scribes and Pharisees, who were the Chief A∣ctors in this Days Tragedy, when our Lord insinuated to them (in the Parable I late mentioned of the Husbandmen consulting to kill the Heir) that they would be his Murderers, and by it pull certain Destru∣ction on their Nation, they reply'd, God forbid; Not only deprecating the Punishment, but detesting the Crime. The raw Novice-Sinner knows not at first to what a Villain, to what a Devil he will grow:

Men ought therefore to fear the first Motions of Sin, and to suppress the Beginnings of Wickedness, if for no other Reason but this, Lest they become Worse than they could have imagined it possible for them to have been. Who allows himself at first only to Over∣reach his Brother, by degrees will take from him by Violence or Open Robbery; who makes no Scruple to be Factious and Seditious, will hardly stop till he arrives at Rebellion and Treason; who indulges him∣self at first in a Negligent Irreverent Performance of God's Service, and makes the Church the Scene of his Vanity, and not of his Devotion, is in the ready Path to proceed from Prophaneness to Atheism. But as Sin encreases, we have heard that Vengeance also ripens and Encreases; says our Lord, Whoever falls on this Stone, shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to Powder. The first Sins a man commits, dangerously wound his Soul, they dash against Christ, as an Earthen Vessel does against a Rock; but Presumption and Obstinacy in Sinning causes Christ to fall upon the Sinner, as a Rock upon an Earthen Vessel, which is sure to crush it to Dust.

To conclude: Though we that are here present, are not of the House of Christ's Friends, i. e. of his Kin∣dred and Nation: yet we have a Nearer and more Excellent Relation to him, in that we are of the Houshold of Faith, and of the Family of his Church; as himself declared, when he stretcht forth his Hand to his Disciple, saying, Behold my Mother and my Brethren; for whoever shall do the Will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my Mother, my Sister, and my Brother. Now, if we in our Spiritual Rela∣tion shall by our Sins crucifie Christ in his Glory, as his Kindred according to the Flesh nail'd him to the Cross when he liv'd on Earth, our Wickedness will

far exceed theirs; as the Wickedness of a Disciple far exceeds that of an Unbeliever; the Wickedness of Judas, did that of Pontius Pilate and Caiaphas. It is our Unspeakable Happiness, that Christ was Wounded for us, but it will be our Unexcusable Impie∣ty, if he be wounded by us; 'tis again our Strange Fe∣licity, that when Others slew him, we reap the Bene∣fit of his Death; when the Husbandmen Kill'd the Heir, that we inherit the Vineyard. And if we make that faithful Use of Christ's Death which we ought, while the Jews bear the Guilt of his Bloud, we shall be purged by it from all our Transgressions; and while Eternal Infamy and Wrath cleaves to them, Eternal Glory and Felicity shall be our Portion; which God of his Infinite Mercy, through our Lord Jesus Christ, grant to us.

And to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be ascribed all Honour, Glory, &c. Amen.