The First Part.

Devotion, as it denotes a particular Virtue, is defined by St. Thomas to be a Preparation or disposition of the Will, Sum. 22. q. 82. a. 1^o. by which a man prompt­ly and readily, tradit se, gives himself up, or (as we use to say) devotes himself to execute the things which belong to the service of God. Some of these things are expresly commanded by God himself, others intimated only or commended, as pleasing to him. And whereas there is this difference between them, that every Command of God is a sign of his Will, but every Signi­fication of his good pleasure is not a Command, 'tis manifest, that as the Perfection of Devoti­on on consists in a readiness to comply with both, so it shews it self chiefly in the Execution of the latter. And such was that of the Shep­herds of my Text. They went to find out the New-born Christ, without being com­manded. The Angel, as you have heard, gave them a Sign, by which, if they would take the pains, they might find him, which was that they should find him wrapped in swadling-clothes, and laid in a manger. But it is no where expressed in the Gospel, that he bid them go. We do not read that the Angel said unto them, Ite [Page 9] Pastores, Go to Bethlehem; but only, Hoc vo­bis signum: This shall be to you a sign, and yet they presently resolv'd to go. And we need not go far to seek the Reason. The Angel in the Proclamation he made of Peace upon Earth, when he return'd to Heaven, suffici­ently signified them to be men of good will, that is,Psal. 1. as holy David describes such Persons, Men, whose Wills are in the Law of God: In lege Domini voluntas ejus: Psal. 36. 31. and the Law of God in their wills. Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius. And where the Will and the Law are thus recipro­cally in each other, in order to the Service of God, a Command serves but for a Sign, and a Sign becomes a Command.

1. To Men of Good Will, a Precept serves them but for a Sign, to point out what they are to do. And this is what the great Apo­stle St. Paul gives us to understand,1 Tim. 1. 9. when he says, that Lex Justo non est posita. The Law is not made for the Just man, but for such as are unjust and refractory. And why not for the Just Man also, if he cannot be just without the Observance of it? But because, as you heard before, the Will of a Just Man is in the Law,St. Aug. in Psal. 1. and not under the Law. 'Tis on thing says St. Austin to be in the Law, and another to be under the Law. He whose Will is in the [Page 10] Law, Secundum legem agit, acts indeed con­formable to the Law. But He whose will is under the Law, Secùndum legem agitur, is driven or forced by the Law. The Law like a severe Adversary stands over him with threats and menaces to compel him to the performance of what it commands; and therefore our Sa­viour, as the same St. Austin expounds his words,De Sermon. Matth. 5. 24. bids us to agree with this Adversary, Dom. c. 21. that is, to conform our wills to his, quickly whilst we are in the way of this life, lest at any time, (and we know not how soon) he deliver us to the Judge, and the Judge to the Officer, and we be cast into a Prison, from whence there shall be no delivery, till we have paid the uttermost farthing, Nihil sic ad­versatur peccantibus ac praeceptum Dei, Nothing so opposite to sinners as the Law of God; be­cause their Will is in the Sin they would com­mit, and not in the Law. Nothing so agree­able to the Just as the Law, of God, because their Will is in his Law that they may not sin. To those the Law is a weight which lies heavy upon them, and presses them down; to these, it is a weight also,St. Aug. In Psal. 59. but such as that of Wings, which bears them up, and carries them, Christi sarcina pennas habet, to those it is a Curbing Bitt, which restrains their licentious and irregular appetites; [Page 11] to these a Gentle Bridle, Froenum quo pulchrè agi­tur St. Chri­sost. Hom. 2. in 1 Tim. 1. In mo­rali. which serves only to turn them into the way they are to go: To those, it is a Rod of Iron, which compels them for fear not to do, what otherwise they would, Reges eos in virga ferrea, thou shalt rule them, (that is the Refractory) in a Rod of Iron. Psal. 2. 9. To these a Rod of Direction, to point out to them, what their Wills are ready to perform. Virga directionis, Virga Regni tui; The Rod of thy King­dom (and such are the Just) is a Rod of Dire­ction. In a word,Psal. 44. 8. such is the force of Love, that if it possess the Heart, that which is a Pre­cept to the unjust and refractory, serves but for a Sign to men of Good Will. But this is not all. 'Tis the Property of Love to dilate the Heart it possesses, and render it so pliant to the motions of Grace, and ready to execute what is pleasing to God, that,

2. To men of Good Will a Sign becomes a Command. Their hearts like that of David are doubly ready, Paratum cor meum, Deus, Para­tum cor meum, ready to do what God commands: And again, Ready to do what he signifies only to be his Good will and Pleasure. Their Will (as I said before) is in the Law of God, and the Law of God in their Will. And what is the Product of this Happy Union, but that the Will, as consider'd in the Law changes a Com­mand [Page 12] into a Sign, because it performs it wil­lingly; and the Law, as consider'd in the Will, improves that which is but a Sign into a Com­mand; because the Will performs it exactly. This is the Happy State of Men of Good Will, Let them but have a Sign, an Intimation of what they are to do; Their Hearts are ready, and they presently set themselves to put it in execution.

What moved the Wisemen of the East to un­dertake so long and dangerous a journey, to find out, and adore the New-born King of the Jews? All the Account they give of it, is, vidimus stellam ejus, that they had seen his Star, that is his Sign, in the East. They had heard, if not read, what Balaam had prophesied of old, that a star should arise out of Jacob. Num. 24. 17 They expected the rising of this Star; and no sooner did it appear, but, as the Church represents their devotion in one of her Antiphons, they said one to another, Hoc signum Magni Regis est, This is the Sign of the Great King, who is to be born, Eamus & inquiramus eum, let us go and enquire him out, & offeramus ei munera, Aurum, Thus, & Myrrham, and offer to him Gifts, Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. And what can be more Parallel to the devotion of the Shepherds in my Text? No sooner had the Angel given [Page 13] them a Sign, by which they might find out the same New-born Saviour of the World, but pre­sently they said one to another, Transeamus usque ad Bethlehem, Let us now go even to Bethlehem. Those wisest of Kings saw but the Sign, and went without delay, vidimus & venimus. These faithfullest of Shepherds heard but hoc, vobis sig­num, this shall be a Sign to you, and went with hast, venerunt festinantes. O the Incom­parable Devotion both of Kings and Shepherds! How happy should we be, would we follow their Example, and not neglect, or (which is yet worse) reject so often as we do the Holy Inspi­rations which God is pleased from time to time to give us for the amendment of our lives, and setling our selves after a more serious manner to his service, to comply with the modes of the world, and our own Ease and Humour? O how different is this Comportment from that of these Kings and Shepherds? A Sign is to them, a Precept, and an Intimation in lieu of a Com­mand. And by whom may we think were they inspired with this devotion, but by the Divine Infant himself, whom they went to seek, of whom Albertus Magnus saith, Voluntas & Com­placentia Patris Summum Praeceptum fuit, that the Good Will and Pleasure of his Father, in order to man's Redemption, was to him as the greatest and strictest of Commands.

[Page 14] God, when he vouchsafes to speak to us of himself, is pleased to speak to us after our own manner, and in our own language; And we can speak no otherwise of him. Whatever we af­firm, says the Great St. Dennis, Affirmatio­nes de Deo sunt incom­pactae. St. Dionys. of God, is by reason of the narrowness both of our thoughts and words, incompetent and unsuitable to what he is in Himself, as always carrying some tincture of Imperfection in it. Whilst therefore I endea­vour, as I may, to express what my own low Thoughts have been able to conceive of this Gracious Concurrence of the Son, with the Good Pleasure of his Father, in relation to the great design of his Incarnation, and perhaps in words not reaching my own Conceptions, your Pious and Charitable attention, will, I hope, help to supply the defect of the one, and make allowance for the other.

The Eternal Father (whose Goodness is equal to his Knowledge,) fore-seeing from all Eternity the Fall of Man, out of the Bowels of his Mercy, design'd forthwith to repair it, and that by the Incarnation of his Son. This amongst many other means, which were pre­sent to his Infinite Wisdom, he was pleased to make choice of, as most conducing to his own Honour, and the redress and advantage of man. But how was this Great Design to be brought [Page 15] about? By laying a Command on his Son to take our Nature upon him?St. Tho. 1. p. q. 43. No, For, (as St. Tho­mas observes,) a Command supposes Inferiority in the Person to be commanded; and Catho­lic Faith tells us, that in the most Holy Trini­ty there is no Inferiority or Subjection: No one of the Persons Higher or Lower, Greater or Less than another, but as they are All Co eternal in Duration, so are They Co-equal in Dignity and Authority. There could be no place for a Command, where there was no Inequality; Nor even for Counsel, as supposing an Advantage of Wisdom in the Giver, in respect of the Person to whom it is given. What then remain'd, but (if I may be permitted to speak accord­ing to our imperfect and incompetent man­ner of conceiving in this Life) an Intima­tion of the Fathers Good Pleasure to his Son; presenting him in the Comprehensive Know­ledge, which he communicated to him of all things both Future and Possible, together with his Essence, a Prospect (as I may call it) of a Humane Body, so to be framed, as might serve for a decent Tabernacle for the Divinity to dwell in, and a fit and proper Instrument for Him, who was the Word, to accomplish the Re­demption of man, by uniting himself to it. How readily he concurred with his Consent to [Page 16] this Gracious Intention of his Father, thus com­municated to him, is seen by the Blessed in Hea­ven, in the Unity of one and the same Will in Both; but can be discern'd only by us in this state of Obscurity in it's Effect, as in a Glass which reflects rhe Beams that are darted upon it. And such is the account which the Royal Prophet gives of its Execution in his 39th Psalm, where he represents the Son at his coming into the World, addressing himself to his Father in these words, Sacrificium & Oblationem noluisti, I see, O my Eternal Father, that Sacrifices and Obla­tions are rejected by thee, as insufficient to make satisfaction for the sins of men, and to appease thy wrath so justly enkindled against them. But withall I see, Corpus aptasti mihi, that thou hast framed a Body fit for me, and me alone, as the means thou hast made choice of for this great work. And what follows then, but Ec­ce venio, Behold I come?

Nor was a like concurrence of the Holy Ghost wanting to the compleating this Great Design, as may be gather'd from those words of the Angel to the Blessed Virgin on the day that it was to be put in execution, when he told her, that the Holy Ghost should come upon her, and the Power of the Most High should over-shadow her, and there­fore the Holy Thing, which should be born of her, [Page 17] should be called the Son of God. Thus as the Great St. Leo excellently observes,Serm. 3. Pen­tecost. Divisit sibi opus nostrae reparationis misericordia Trinitatis, the Three Persons of the most Sacred Trinity, in that co-eternal and mutual design they had of re­pairing lost man, divided (as I may say) the work of his Redemption amongst them, not by way of Command, but out of that pure Mercy and Good­ness, which is the same in them All. Pater (as the same St. Leo goes on) ut propitiaretur; Filius, ut propitiaret; Spiritus Sanctus, ut igniret. The Father, by communicating together with his Essence his Propension to accept of a Propiti­ation for the sins of mankind: The Son, by mu­tually concurring to make the propitiation; and the Holy Ghost, by as readily undertaking to ex­ecute what was the Good Will and Pleasure of Both. From all which it appears, that tho the Son (the decree of the Incarnation supposed) re­ceiv'd a Command from his Father to lay down his Life for the Redemption of Man, (as con­sidered subsisting in our Humane Nature, and in that consideration Inferiour to him) yet the Sourse and Origin of his undertaking to make a Propitiation for our sins, was not any Pre­cept (of which, as consider'd subsisting only in the Divinity he was not capable, being equal to his Father,) but a communication only, he [Page 18] receiv'd in his divine Procession from him, of his good will and pleasure, that he should unite himself personally to our humane nature to redeem us. And as he, most willingly and rea­dily concurr'd with this gracious design, (but in a manner infinitely transcending what the understandings of the Highest Angels are able to comprehend;) So as soon as he was born into the world he inspir'd the Shepherds to do the like: He only gave them a Sign or Intimation by which they might find him, and presently without delay they resolv'd to go seek him out. Loquebantur Pastores ad invicem, The Shepherds▪ said one to another, Let us now go even to Bethlehem.

Thus, Dear Christian Auditors, was this Di­vine Lover of our souls pleased both to prove and make known to us the devotion of the Shepherds, when he came into the world: And now that he has finished his dispensation upon Earth, and is return'd to Heaven; has he left us no Sign of his Good Will and Pleasure, to pro­voke our Love, to sollicite our affections and show our devotion to him? Yes: Corpus aptavit nobis, he has left us also a Body, the same Body which his Father framed for him, and he gave to the Shepherds; but in a different manner to them and to us: to them as wrapped in Swadling [Page 19] clothes, and laid in a Manger: Hoc vobis signum. To us, cloth'd with the forms of Bread and Wine, and laid upon the Altar, Hoc nobis Signum. And what greater Sign could he give us of his Love, than to give us that very Flesh to be our Food, which he had given for the Life of the World? Ad­mirable is the Reflection which St.Hom. 61. ad Pop. Antioch. Chrisostom makes upon this passage. Mothers, says he, oftentimes put forth their Children to be nurs'd and fed by others, Ego autèm non ita; sed carnibus meis alo, & meip­sum vobis appono, vos omnes gene­rosos esse vo­lens, &c. But not so I, (and he speaks in the Person of Christ,) I feed you with my own Flesh; I set my self before you for food, so to breed Generous Spirits in you, and fill you with hopes of future Glo­ry; since you cannot think, but that I, who have given my self to you here, will do it in a much more excellent manner hereafter. Volui Frater vester fieri. That I took Flesh and Blood up­on me, was out of the desire I had to become your Brother; Vobis vicis­sim ipsam Carnem & Sanguinem, per quae Cog­natus vester factus sum, trado. and now behold I give the same Flesh and Blood to be taken by you, by which I became so near­ly related to you. These are the words of that Great Father and Light of the Church St. Chry­sostom, by which he declares the Faith of the Church of his time (which was between the Third and Fourth of the four first General Coun­cils) to be the same which the Catholic Church professes at this day.

And now, dear Christans, that this Divine Lover of our Souls has left us so great a Sign [Page 20] and Pledge of his good Will and Love, shall we not make hast with the devout Shepherds to go to Bethlehem? Bethlehem in English signifies The House of Bread. St. Greg. Hom. 8. in Evang. And St. Gregory observes, that our Lord would have the Place in which he was to be born, to be called long before by this name, to signifie to us, That He who appear­ed there in our Flesh, is the Living Bread, which came down from Heaven to nourish the Souls of his Elect to everlasting Life. And now, as I said, that he has given us so incomparable a Sign of his Good Will and Pleasure, shall we not make hast with the Shepherds to Bethlehem? Shall we let this Holy Time pass over, or rather shall we Trifle it all away in Pastime and Mer­riment, without ever approaching to this Holy Table? Such was the Fervour of the First Chri­stians, that they were wont to communicate eve­ry day. And necessary it was in those times of Cruel Persecution, to arm themselves daily with the Bread of Life against the fear of Death. But no sooner was Peace restored to the Church in the beginning of the fourth Age, but Piety began to languish; (So much more hard is it for Virtue to bear up against a Prosperous, than an Adverse Condition) which gave St. Chrysostom, before that Age was ended, cause to inveigh so frequently as he does, against such [Page 21] as were present at the Divine Mysteries, with­out communicating. But the Malady went on increasing, and Christians grew so tepid in the performance of this Duty, that the Council of Agde in the beginning of the sixth Age,Conc. A­gath. An. 506. thought fit to declare, that those who did not com­municate at the Three Great Feasts of the year, Christmas, Easter and Whitsontide, were not to be believ'd to be Catholics, nor reputed for such: And the Council of Tours in the beginning of the Eighth Age,Conc. Tu­ron. 3. An. 813. found it necessary to admonish them anew to communicate, if not oftner, yet three times at least in the year, viz. at the three aforesaid Feasts. And if the Church in these later times, as still more remiss, have thought good to lay no farther obligation upon all the Faithful of both Sexes, than of re­ceiving once a year, and that at Easter, yet the Addition of the words, ad minus, (that it must be done then at least) sufficiently shows the desire she has that they would do it oftner, and that a Command were not at all necessary to compel, where there is so great an At­tractive of Bounty to invite. Lex Justo non est posita. This Law was not made for the Just, for men of Good Will, who are led by the Spi­rit of Love, but for such servile and degenerous [Page 22] Spirits, as are acted only by fear of Punish­ment: And it is much to be feared, that those who in this matter, will do no more than just what the Letter of the Law obliges, would not do that neither, but for fear of the Censure annexed.

O the Prodigious sloth and negligence of such careless Christians, whom so great Signs and Pledges of their dear Saviours Goodness can­not draw, without the necessity of a Precept to drive them to him! What will they pretend for their excuse? That they cannot, that is, will not leave their Sins? Few will be willing to own this, but such as have lost all fear of God's Justice, and care of their own Souls. Will they say they have no time? But has God then given us 365 days in a year, and shall not we afford to give him one at least in the hundred? Or finally, will they pretend, that they do not find themselves worthy to come oftner than once a year to this Divine Table? This indeed carries some show of Religion in it,St. Cyril. Alex. l. 4. in Jo. c. 17. but such as St. Cyril doubts not to call dam­nosam Religionem: Amischievous sort of Religion, which the Devil makes use of to perswade remiss and slothful Christians, to deprive them­selves of the Food of Life: But alas! as the [Page 23] same H. Father saith, if they find themselves not worthy now, when will they make them­selves so? will it be easier to do it after Ten or Twelve months, than after One, or Two, or Three? Or will it require less pains to make themselves worthy, after their sins by long continuance, and repeated Acts, have taken deep root in their hearts, than whilst they are yet Green and Tender? Caveamus ne loco laquei damnosam Religionem Diabolus nobis praetendat, Let us be­ware, that our Enemy do not ensnare us to our ruine under a feigned pretence of Religion: or rather, let none be deluded with such irreligi­ous pretenses as these to make him abstain from frequenting this Holy Table. And that we may do it worthily, let us go with these de­vout Shepherds to Bethlehem, and there see the Word which is made Flesh for our sakes, first to adore him as our God and Saviour, and then to adorn our souls with those virtues of which he has given us so pretious an Example, which is the subject of my Second Part.

The Second Part.

'Tis so natural to man, who draws all his knowledge from the impressions of his Senses to desire to see what he is to worship, that not being able to see the true God with his eyes, he fell to worshiping the Creature, Rom. 1. 23. rather than the Creator, changing as St. Paul says, the Glory of the Incorruptible God into an Image made like to corrupti­ble man, and to Birds and four-footed Beasts, and Creeping Things. Thus did they become vain, as the same Apostle says, in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkned, resolving to worship what they saw, because they could not see, whom they were to worship. Four thousand years had this error over-spread the World, ex­cepting only the little corner of Judea, when God commiserating the sad condition of man,Serm. 147. and knowing, as St. Peter Chrysologus says, visendi se desiderio cruciari, lassarique mortales, with what anxiety men desired to see him, and that nothing [Page 25] could content them, but a visible deity, unde se visibilem faceret, hoc elegit; out of his Infinite Goodness was pleased to take upon him the nature of Man, that he might be seen by them. This remedy alone was left to cure the blindness of humane nature, because this Object alone was able to draw the Eyes of Men from all other visible things, and fix them upon it self. And of this our Saviour himself was pleas'd to give us a Figure in the miraculous cure he wrought upon the Blind man, Joh. 9. by anointing his Eyes with a mixture made of his sacred Spittle and the dust of the Earth, in which was repre­sented the union of the divine wisdom with hu­mane nature, caecatis luminibus, (as St. Anselm ele­gantly expresses it) collyrium suae Incarnationis apponens, applying the Eye-salve of his Incarnation to the Eyes of Men, that those who could not behold him in the splendors of his divinity, might see him appearing in the form of man. O the Riches of the Goodness and Mercy of God, in condescending thus graciously to the weakness of our nature, and making himself visible, to satisfie the desire we had of seeing with our Eyes the God whom we are to wor­ship! This the devout Shepherds did, as you heard before, when they found him in his [Page 26] Crib; and this must we do, as often as we present our selves before him at his Altar.

But was this all? Was this the only End, why he was pleas'd to appear to us in this visi­ble manner?S. Aug. l. 83. Quaest. Q. 25 No: St. Austin tells us of a farther design he had in it, when he says, Sapientia Dei hominem ad exemplum unde viveremus suscepit, that the wisdom of God, that is, God the Word, the se­cond Person of the Trinity, took the nature of man upon him, to give us an example how to live well by living like him. 'Tis the particular Pri­viledge of this Divine Word made Flesh for our fakes, that whereas other words are, properly speaking, the Objects not of the Eyes, but of the Ears, this Word not only speaks to our Ears by his Doctrine, but much more to our Eyes by his Example. And hence it is, that that great de­vote of our Saviours Nativity, St. Thomas de Villa Nova, calls the Manger, in which he first appeared,Serm, 1. de Nat. Dom. Magna Cathedra, the Great Divinity-Chair or Pulpit, which his Eternal Father had prepared for him, as soon as he should make himself visible in our nature, to teach us the Doctrine of Salvation.

Draw near then, O Christian Souls, and hear, or rather see (says this Holy Saint) the Lessons which the Word made Flesh preaches to [Page 27] your Eyes from the Pulpit of his Crib. Dis­cite Paupertatem, Learn of me, says he, to be truly Poor, that is, you who are Poor not to repine at your condition, and you who are rich, not to set your hearts upon the riches of this World, but to abridge your selves in su­perfluities to communicate to those who are in want, because I who am the Lord of the Uni­verse, and can dispose of all that is in it, at my pleasure, have no other Mantles to shroud my tender Body, but such as a Poor Carpenters Spouse could provide me with, and no other Cradle to repose my head in, but a Manger. Discite Humilitatem, Phil. 2. 3. Learn of me to be truly Humble, each esteeming other better than them­selves; because I, who am the most High, have humbled my self so low, as to become the Companion of Beasts. Discite Mansuetudinem, Learn of me to be truly Meek, forgiving from your hearts those that offend you, since I, who am the Person offended, do here water my hard Couch with my Tears to make an attonement for the sins you have committed against me. Discite Patientiam, Learn of me to be Patient in all your sufferings, because I, who am Om­nipotent, lye here exposed in an open Stable to the contempt of the World, and the rigour of the [Page 28] Elements. Discite Obedientiam, Learn of me to be Obedient to your Superiors, because I, who am the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, have submitted my self as a little Infant to the disposal and conduct of a young and unexpe­rienced Virgin. Discite Charitatem, Learn of me to love your Neighbours for my sake, since I, who am true God of true God, have made my self man for yours. Discite denique verum bono­rum omnium hujus saeculi contemptum. Lastly, Learn of me a true and real contempt of all the Goods of this World, since I, who am the wis­dom of God, have despised and rejected them as false and counterfeit, to teach you by my ex­ample the true way to Heaven.

These are the Lessons which this divine Word preaches to our Eyes from the Pulpit of his Cribb. And if the Scholars of Pythagoras had so great a veneration for their Master, that whatever he said, they believ'd it, because he said it, quia ipse dixit; Now that a greater than Pythagoras is here, now that God himself is become both our Master, and Pattern in his own Person, shall we not much rather do what we see him do, quia ipse fecit, because he has done it, and not only so, but quia ipse factus est, because himself was pleased to be made man, [Page 29] that we might see him with our Eyes, and learn from his Example the true way to Bliss? And when shall we do it, if we do it not now?

Holy David, astonish'd, (as we may say) to see the general depravation of Mankind in his time, how their hearts were bent upon nothing, but the Love of the things of this world, as their only happiness, calls upon them to bethink themselves of their Error in these words,Psal. 4. 3. Filii hominum usquequo gravi corde! Ut quid diligitis vanitatem, & quaeritis mendacium? O ye sons of men, how long will you let your hearts lye groveling upon the Earth! Why will you set your affections upon vanity, and seek after a lye, meaning the transitory and deceitful goods of this world? And St. Austin to extenuate,St. Aug. in Psal. 4. as it were, in some measure their fault, subjoins, Saltem usque ad adventum Filii Dei error vester duraverit, that possibly this error of theirs might continue till the coming of the Son of God into the world. But then considering the depraved lives of too many Christians, he changes the Prophets us­quequo, and crys out himself Quid▪ ultra graves corde estis? O ye sons of men, why are your hearts still possessed with this Error, now that the Son of God is come in the Flesh to teach you the true way of Life? Quando habituri finem [Page 30] fallaciarum, si praesente Veritate non habetis! O, when will you make an End of suffering your selves to be cheated with the Fallacious Maximes and Fashions of the world? if you do it not now that Truth it self has taken a Body, and presents it self visible to your very Eyes to teach you by its own Example what you are to chuse, and what to avoid.

Is it possible, dear Christians, that we can think that to be Good and desirable, which He, who is Truth it self, has rejected and con­temned, or that to be vile and contemptible, which He has made choice of and embraced? If our Judgment and Conduct be not conform to his, one of the two must follow, Either that he was deceived, or we are mistaken. And no doubt, but the mistake will be found to be on our side, if we think to go to Heaven by any other way, than that by which He went himself. If He who was Innocent, chose not only to walk upon Thorns in this World, but wore them for a Crown upon his Head, must we, who are the Criminals, expect to have the way strew'd with Flowers, and our Temples crown'd with Gar­lands of Roses? Let me tell you, dear Christi­ans, that 'tis as much an Article of our Faith to believe the way to Heaven, as to believe [Page 31] Heaven it self: And if He who has told us, there is such a Place prepared for us, as Heaven, if we take the Right way to it, has told us also,Matth. 7. 14. that that way is no other, than what himself calls, The strait way, viz. the mortifying of our sensual appetites, renouncing the Pomps and Vanities of the World, crucifying the Flesh with its inordinate desires, bringing the body into subjection to the spirit, by Praying, Fast­ing, and other Penitential Works, giving what is above necessity, and true Christian de­cency, in Alms to the Poor, denying our own Wills, patiently bearing the Afflictions and Crosses which God sends, meekly forgiving those that offend us, and the like Christian Duties; ei­ther we believe this to be the only way to Hea­ven, or we do not? If we do not, why do we believe there is such a Thing as Heaven at all, since He who has told us the one, has told us the other also. When he said of himself, Ego sum via, Joh. 14. 6. veritas & vita, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, he placed Truth in the middle, be­tween the Way and the End, as Equally engag'd for both.

But then again, if we do believe, the strait way, and which himself made choice of, to be the only way to Heaven, why do we chuse to [Page 32] walk in the Broad and beaten Road of the world, as if that would bring us thither? Is it by pleasing the Senses, pampering the Body, mispending the time which God has given us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, in indulging to our own ease the best part of the day, and throwing away the rest in vain, and too often Criminal Conversations and Pastimes, and the Riches He has bestowed upon us, to secure our own Salvation by relieving his poor and necessitous Brethren, in purchasing to our selves, all that may conduce to the gratifying of our Fancies, and the satisfying of our sensual appe­tites; Is it, I say, by doing these things, that we can think at last to arrive at Heaven? O no; we are convinc'd of the contrary both by the Doctrine and Practice of God himself made Man for our sakes. And when shall we put an End to this fatal Cheat, if we do it now? Let us then no longer suffer our selves to be deluded with the vain and transitory things of this world. But transeamus us (que) ad Bethlehem, pas­sing over, let us with the devout Shepherds go to Bethlehem; and see this Word which is made Flesh for our sakes, which our Lord hath shown unto us. Let us in a word, see and do accord­ing to the Pattern which is shown us in the [Page 33] Manger, purifying our hearts from all sinful affections, and transcribing those Vertues, of which this fair Original has given us so lively an Example, into the Copy of our own lives. So shall we be prepared worthily to receive him here under the Sacramental Veils, in which he lies wrapped upon the Altar, no less truly, than he did in his Swadling-clothes in the Manger; and be found worthy, when he shall come the se­cond time into the world with great Power and Majesty, to behold him face to face in his Glory; which God of his Infinite Mercy grant us all, to whom in Unity and Trinity be all Honour and Glory now and for ever. Amen.