fiftance, and then alass they become hard as Adaman or the nether Milftone, deaf to Counsel, and angry at reproof, and are neither to be melted by Mercies, nor terrifyed by Judgments, and thus it was with Pharoah, thus with the Sons of Ely, 1 Sam.ii.2 5.thus it was with the refidue of the ftubborn Jews, A&s xxviii.27. and then it is a small thing to difobey Gods word, and break his Commandement, for fuch as those defpife and contemn them both, Ifai.v.24. Amos ii. 4. Prov.i.25.30. asking with Pharoah, who is the Lord, that they should obey him? making a mock at Religion, and those who would gladly fnatch them out of the fire: And now how deplorable is this Eftate? nothing on this fide Hell is fo dreadful; fo that now we are got to the very heighth ot Evil, that man can fuffer in this world, to a judgment never used, but when all other means fail,the Perfons which fall under it feldom coming to Repentance,not because they cannot,but because they will for whofoever hath so much sense as to defire Repentance, and to fear the wrath of God, may be affured this is not his Cafe (how great a finner foever he have been) and let us all pray heartily it never may be our Condition. Better were it for us to be fcorched with Lightning, torn with Tempefts, fmitten with Plague, and pined with Famine,yea better were it for us to dye by cruel hands, or fad accidents, then to be given up to Hardness of Heart, and contempt of Gods Commandement, thofe can but kill our bodies, this marks body and foul to Deftruction, wherefore whatever we fuffer, O that we may never fuffer this! And our very defire to escape it, is a fign it is not yet come upon us: Let us then to this abfolutely, and to all the reft, with fubmiffion fay, Good Lord deliver us.. not, by F.IX. the myffery of thy Holy Incarnation, thy Holy Nativity and Cireumcifion, by thy Saptilm, Fafting and Temptation: Good Lord deli ver us. facra,hoc est, ob (a) Lat. Obfecro,ab facra, vel per facra rogare. To be delivered from all these great and grievous Evils, is a Mercy fo defirable, that it ought to be begged by the most importunate kind of Supplication imaginable: And there is not any more engaging manner of entreaty, then to beseech by all that is dear to us, and for the fake of all that we account facred, which is properly called blecration (a): And of this nature is this prefent Supplication now before us, which fome have ignorantly cenfured,as I know not what kind of Conjuration, when as it is a Method used by all the world, as the most effectual, for the obtaining a great Requeft, either from Man or God: So Mercury adviseth Priamus, when he was to beg Hector's body of Achilles, to befeech him by his Father, his fair Mother and his Son, to move him to pity (b), and there are many like inftances elfewhere (c): In Holy Scripture nothing is more frequent with St. Paul then to obfecrate thofe he writes to, By the Mercies of God, Rom.xii.1.By the meekness and Gentleness of Chrift, 2 Cor.x.1. By the coming of our Lord Jefus Christ,and by our gathering together in him, 2 Theff.ii. 1. &c. And it is as often ufed in Prayers to God, as in Petitions to men for thus the Servants of God use to engage him in their greateft need, By all his goodness, and his loving (b) Kaiμer sadę πατρὸς καὶ μητέ ρ ἠυκόμοιο Aiooso xj TEX--Homer.Ïl..446. (c) Per ego te Dees ore, & noftram amicitiam Perque unicam,&c. Chrem. Ah ne me obfecra. Terent.Andr. kindnes (d) Dan.ix. 16,19. Exod. xxxii. 13. Ifai.lxiii. 15. fim. paf (e) Rogo per tuum fanguinem pretiofum, ram ineffabilem Charitatem,&c. Amb. -rogo per hanc mi. by kindness, by his Mercy and Truth, bybis Promifes to Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob (d): They befought him for his name fake,as we do for his Son Jefus fake: And hence this kind of Petitioning was used in the Western Litanies (whence we have tranfcribed it verbatim) and also by St. Ambrofe, who in those preparatory Prayers to the Sacrament, doth in this manner fupplicate our Lord -by his wonderful and Jefus: By his pretious bloodunspeakable Charity (e), bis buman nature, and by the bumility of taking it upon him: And nothing more obvious than this way of praying in the Meditations of the Devout St. Auguftine; of the fame nature we may account, that Commemoration of all that Jefus had done for us, ufed by the Eaftern and Weftern Churches over the bleffed Mysteries, by all which Acts of our Lords Love, they did befeech God to be propitious to them, Comp. to the Altar. Part.III. Sect.II. §.x. So that this excellent way of Obfecration hath the concurrent Suffrage of all Mankind, and very defervedly is it here adopted into this our Office, fince we have not any Arguments more co(f) Non mentiar, fi gent to our glorious Mediator,than dixero, neminem non the setting out of what he hath amare beneficia fua, done for us, for his Method is to give more to thofe, to whom he hath given,Mat.xiii.12. and we are dear to Jefus not by any worth inherent in us, but by the benefits which he hath done for us (n): he præc.præp.1. neminem non ita com pofitum animo, ut libentius cum videat in quem multa cong fit, cui non fit caufa ite rum dandi femel dediffe.Sen.de benef. 1. C. 15, loves loves us not because we deferve it, but because he hath loved us: So that when we reprefent all his kindness and declare how far he came to us, how dearly he paid for us,doubtless we shall engage him to deliver us. There is a powerful kind of Holy and Divine Charm indeed, and a forcible Obligation in each of thefe facred words, devoutly recited, and therefore we fhall now more practically illuftrate the efficacy of them, to beget in us a devotion futable to fo rare a kind of addrefs. I. By the mystery of the Holy Incarnation: We have an exact recital here of all thofe fteps, by which our Saviour did proceed, when he undertook to fave and deliver us. 1. The entrance by his Incarnation and Birth. 2. The continuance in his life, by his Ctreumcifton,his Baptifm, Falting and Temptation, at his Death, by his agonies and Pallion, after his Death, by his Refurreaton and Afcenfion. 3. The Confummation by his Interceffion, and his fending the Holy Ghoft: Thefe are the Means by which he hath delive red us, and by which we must be delivered from Gods Wrath, and berlafting Damnatton, yea from all Ebil; and therefore we might fo apply thefe Petitions, as to be a Requeft, that by means of all thefe meritori ous Acts of Jefus we may be delivered from all the aforefaid miferies, temporal,fpiritual and eternal: Or elfe we may urge them as fo rnany motives to our dear Redeemer to engage him to deliver us now: As for this Bytery of his Incarnation, it was the firft Act that Jefus did for us, and is called by St.Paul the great Myftery of Godliness, 1 Tim.iii.16. and indeed it is full of wonder. That the Word fhould be made ficfh, and God fhould take a body, that Eternity should have a beginning, and infinitenefs be contained within the compass of a Span, that the Divine Nature and the Humany G Humanity should be so united, as neither the Divinity fhould confume the Manhood, nor that pollute the Divinity: This was a mystery too deep for the apprehenfion of Angels to understand, yet it was not too great a Miracle for Jefus to accomplish for our Salvation : And now oh how powerfully may we beseech him, by the ftupendious mercies of this His Incarnation to deliver us? Is he a Partner with us in our nature, a fharer in our infirmities? Hath he broke through so many difficulties, and reconciled so many seeming Contradictions, to fave us, and fhall he now fuffer us to perish? It cannot be; we will befeech him by all that Love, that induced him to become incarnate, to deliver ur. II. By bis Holy Pativity; this was the next step. After his holy Conception, followed his immaculate Birth, and that was ftill a further condefcenfion to submit to the dishonours of fo mean a beginning, yet he was willing to be born a weak and helpless Infant,in a defpicable place,naked,cold and weeping as all others are, only that he might deliver us, the Good Lord grant we may be delivered thereby; and here we have a further Argument to move him to deliver us,even by the humility and the Condefcenfion of his Holy Birth; for why did he take fo long a Journey as from Earth to Heaven, but to rescue us? Why did he stoop fo low, but to take us up, who were fallen? Why did he take our bone and our flesh and become one of our Brethren, if it were not that he might feel our Miseries,pity us in them, and deliver us from them? If thou hadft never regarded us, O bleffed Jefus, never been born among us, never participated of the forrows and calamities under which we lye, we could have had little hope of thy pity, but now that thou haft become like one of we beseech thee by thy Holy Kativity, and thy |