are we bound to the goodness of God in this behalf! How many thanks and praises do we owe unto him for this our falvation, wrought by his dear and only Son Christ who became a pilgrim in earth, to make us citizens in heaven; who became the son of man, to make us the fons of God; who became obedient to the law, to deliver us from the curfe of the law; who became poor, to make us rich; vile, to make us precious; subject to death, to make us live for ever. What greater love could we filly creatures defire or wish to have at God's hands?

Therefore, dearly beloved, let us not forget this exceeding love of our Lord and Saviour, let us not fhew ourselves unmindful or unthankful toward him: but let us love him, fear him, obey him, and ferve him. Let us confefs him with our mouths, praise him with our tongues, believe on him with our hearts, and glorify him with our good works. Chrift is the light, let us receive the light. Chrift is the truth, let us believe the truth. Chrift is the way, let us follow the way. And because he is our only mafter, our only teacher, our only fhepherd, and chief captain; therefore let us become his fervants, his fcholars, his fheep, and his foldiers. As for fin, the flesh, the world, and the Devil, whofe fervants and bond laves we were before Chrift's coming, let us utterly caft them off, and defy them, as the chief and only enemies of our foul. And feeing we are once delivered from their cruel tyranny by Chrift, let us never fall into their hands again, left we chance to be in a worse cafe than ever we were before. Happy are they, faith the Scripture, that continue to the end. Be faithful, faith God, until death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Again, he faith in another place, He that putteth his hand unto the plough, and looketh back, is not meet for the kingdom of God. Therefore let us be ftrong, fteadfaft, and unmoveable, abounding always in the works of the Lord. Let us receive Chrift, not for a time, but for ever; let us believe his word, not for a time, but for ever; let us become his fervants, not for a time, but for ever; in confideration that he hath redeemed and faved us, not for a time, but for ever; and will receive us into his heavenly kingdom, there to reign with him, not for a time, but for ever. To him therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour, praife, and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

AN

AN

HOMILY

FOR

Good-Friday, concerning the Death and Paffion of our
Saviour Jefus Chrift.

[T fhould not become us, well-beloved in Chrift, being that people which be redeemed from the Devil, from fin and death, and from everlasting damnation, by Christ, to fuffer this time to pafs forth without any meditation and remembrance of that excellent work of our redemption, wrought as about this time, through the great mercy and charity of our Saviour Jefus Chrift, for us wretched finners, and his mortal enemies. For if a mortal man's deed, done to the behoof of the commonwealth, be had in remembrance of us, with thanks for the benefit and profit which we receive thereby; how much more readily fhould we have in memory this excellent act and benefit of Chrift's death? whereby he hath purchased for us the undoubted pardon and forgiveness of our fins, whereby he made at one the Father of heaven with us, in fuch wife, that he taketh us now for his loving children, and for the true inheritors, with Chrift his natural Son, of the kingdom of heaven. And verily fo much more doth Christ's kindness appear unto us, in that it pleafed him to deliver himself of all his goodly honour, which he was equally in with his Father in heaven, and to come down into this vale of mifery, to be made mortal man, and to be in the state of a moft low fervant, ferving us for our wealth and profit; us, I fay, which were his fworn enemies, which had renounced his holy law and commandments, and followed the lufts and finful pleasures of our corrupt nature. And yet, I fay, did Chrift put himself Coloff. ii. between God's deferved wrath and our fin, and rent that obligation, wherein we were in danger to God, and paid our debt. Our debt was a great deal too great for

1

us

us to have paid. And without payment, God the Father could never be at one with us. Neither was it poffible to be loofed from this debt by our own ability. It pleafed him therefore to be the payer thereof, and to difcharge us quite.

Who can now confider the grievous debt of fin, which could none otherwife be paid, but by the death of an Innocent, and will not hate fin in his heart? If God hateth fin fo much, that he would allow neither man nor angel for the redemption thereof, but only the death of his only and well-beloved Son, who will not ftand in fear thereof? If we, my friends, confider this, that for our fins this moft innocent Lamb was driven to death, we fhall have much more caufe to bewail ourselves that we were the cause of his death, than to cry out of the malice and cruelty of the Jews, which purfued him to his death. We did the deeds wherefore he was thus ftricken and wounded; they were only the minifters of our wickedness. It is meet then that we should ftep low down into our hearts, and bewail our own wretchedness and finful living. Let us know for a certainty, that if the moft dearly beloved Son of God was thus punifhed and ftricken for the fin which he had not done himself; how much more ought we fore to be ftricken for our daily and manifold fins which we commit against God, if we earnestly repent us not, and be not forry for them? No man can love fin, which God hateth fo much, and be in his favour. No man can say that he loveth Chrift truly, and have his great enemy (fin I mean, the author of his death) familiar and in friendship with him. So much do we love God and Chrift, as we hate fin. We ought therefore to take great heed, that we be not favourers thereof, left we be found enemies to God, and traitors to Chrift. For not only they, which nailed Chrift upon the crofs, are his tormentors and crucifiers; But all they, faith St. Paul, crucify again the Son of God, as much as is in them, who do commit vice and fin, which brought him to his death. If the wages of fin be death, and death everlasting, furely it is no Rom. viii. Small danger to be in fervice thereof. If we live after the flefb, and after the finful lufts thereof, St. Paul threateneth, yea, Almighty God in St. Paul threateneth, that we shall furely die. We can none otherwise live to God, but by dying to fin. If Chrift be in us, then is fin dead in us: and if the Spirit of God be in us, which raised Chrift from death to life, fo fball the fame Spirit raife us to the refurrection of everlafling life. But if fin rule and reign in

Heb. vi.

Rom. vi.

Rom. i.

ed us from

us, then is God, which is the fountain of all grace and vir tue, departed from us: then bath the Devil and bis ungracious fpirit rule and dominion in us. And furely if in fuch miferable state we die, we shall not rife to life, but fall down to death and damnation, and that without end. For Chrift hath not so redeemed us from fin, that we may Chrift hath fafely return thereto again: but he hath redeemed us, not redeemthat we fhould forfake the motions thereof, and live to fin, that righteousness. Yea, we be therefore wafhed in our bap- we should tifm from the filthiness of fin, that we should live after- live in fin. ward in the pureness of life. In baptifm we promised to renounce the Devil and his fuggeftions, we promised to be, as obedient children, always following God's will and pleasure. Then if he be our Father indeed, let us give him his due honour. If we be his children, let us thew him our obedience, like as Chrift openly declared his obedience to his Father, which, as St. Paul writeth, Phil. was obedient even to the very death, the death of the crofs. And this he did for us all that believe in him. For himfelf he was not punished, for he was pure and undefiled of all manner of fin. He was wounded, faith Ifaiah, for our Ifaiah ? wickedness, and stripped for our fins: he fuffered the penalty of them himfelf, to deliver us from danger: He bare, faith Ifaiah, all our fores and infirmities upon his own back. No pain did he refufe to fuffer in his own body, that he might deliver us from pain everlasting. His pleasure it was thus to do for us; we deferved it not. Wherefore the more we see ourselves bound unto him, the more he ought to be thanked of us, yea, and the more hope may we take, that we fhall receive all other good things of his hand, in that we have received the gift of his only Son, through his liberality. For if God, faith St. Paul, bath not fpared his own Son from pain and punish- Rom. viii ment, but delivered him for us all unto the death; bow should be not give us all other things avith him? If we want any thing, either for body or foul, we may lawfully and boldly approach to God as to our merciful Father, to ask that we defire, and we fall obtain it. For fuch power is given to John i. us, to be the children of God, fo many as believe in Chrift's name. In his name whatsoever we afk, we shall Matt. xig bave it granted us. For fo well pleafed is the Father Almighty God with Chrift his fon, that for his fake he favoureth us, and will deny us nothing. So pleasant was this facrifice and oblation of his Son's death, which he fo obediently and innocently fuffered, that we fhould take it for the only and full amends for all the fins of the world.

And

And fuch favour did he purchase by his death, of his heavenly Father for us, that for the merit thereof (if we be true Chriftians indeed, and not in word only) we be now fully in God's grace again, and clearly difcharged from our fin. No tongue furely is able to exprefs the worthinefs of this fo precious a death. For in this ftandeth the continual pardon of our daily offences, in this refteth our juftification, in this we be allowed, in this is purchased the everlasting health of all our fouls. Yea, there is none other thing that can be named under beaven to fave our fouls, but this only work of Chrift's precious offering of his body upon the altar of the cross. Certainly there can be no work of any mortal man, be he never fo holy, that fhall be coupled in merits with Chrift's moft holy act. For no doubt, all our thoughts and deeds were of no value, if they were not allowed in the merits of Chrift's death. All our righteousness is far unperfect, if it be compared with Chrift's righteoufnefs: for in his acts and deeds there was no fpot of fin, or of any unperfectnefs. And for this caufe they were the more able to be the true amends of our righteoufnefs, where our acts and deeds be full of imperfection and infirmities, and therefore nothing worthy of themselves to ftir God to any favour, much lefs to challenge that glory that is due to Chrift's act and merit; For not to us, faith David, not to us, but to thy name give the glory, O Lord. Let us therefore, good friends, with all reverence glorify his name, let us magnify and praise him for ever. For he hath dealt with us according to his great mercy; by himself hath he purchafed our redemption. He thought it not enough to fpare himself, and to fend his angel to do this deed; but he would do it himself, that he might do it the better, and make it the more perfect redemption. He was nothing moved with the intolerable pains that he fuffered in the whole courfe of his long paflion, to repent him thus to do good to his enemies: but he opened his heart for us, and bestowed himself wholly for the ranfoming of us. Let us therefore now open our hearts again to him, and ftudy in our lives to be thankful to fuch a Lord, and evermore to be mindful of fo great a benefit; yea, let us take up our cross with Chrift, and follow him. His paffion is not only the ranfom and whole amends for our fin, but it is alfo a most perfect example of all patience and fufferance. For if it behoved Chrift thus to fuffer, and to enter into the glory of his Father; why fhould it not become us to bear patiently our fmall croffes of adverfity,

and