Serm. CXII. ofan Holy andVirtuous Life. 53 fet us free; But now being made free fromfn. And foour Saviour tells us, that whofoever committethfin ie the Servant offin 5 and this is the vileft and hardeftSla- very in theWorld, becaufe it is the Servitude of the Soul, the heft and nobleft part of our felves ; 'tis the fubje&ion of our Reafon, which ought to rule and bear Sway over the inferiour Faculties, to our fenfual Appetites and brutith Paf- fions ; which is as uncomely a fight, as to fee Beggars rideon Horfe-back, and Prin- ces walk on foot. And as Inferiour Perfons, when they are advanced to Power, are ftrangely Infolent and Tyrannical towards thofe that are fubje& to them ; fo the Lufts and Paffionsof men, when they once get the Command ofthem, are the molt domineering Tyrants in the World; and there is no fuch Slaveas a Man that is fubje& to his Appetite and Lut , that is under the Power of irregular Paf- fions and vicious Inclinations, which tranfport and hurry hint to the vileft and moft unreafonable things. For a wicked Man is a Slave to as many Matters as he hatb Paf iionsand Vices ; and they are very imperious and exaeting, and themore he yields to them, the more they grow upon him, and exercife the greater Ty- ranny over him : and being fubjea to fomany Matters, the poor Slave is continu- ally divided and diftraaed between their contrary Commands and Impofitions; one Paffìon hurries him one way, and another as violently drives him another; oneLuft commands him upon fuch a Service, and another it may be at the fame time calls him to another Work. His Pride and Ambitionbids him fpend and lay it out, whiltt his Covetoufnefs holds his Hand fait clofed ; fo that he knowsnot many times hti iitodifpofe of himfelf or what to do, he matt difpleafe fome of his Mailers, and what Inclination foever he contradi&s, he certainly difpleafeth himfelf. And that which aggravates the Mifery of his Condition is, that he voluntarily fubmits to this Servitude. In other Cafes men are made Slaves againft their wills, and are brought under the Force and Power of others, whom they are not able to refill , but the (inner chufeth this Servitude, and willingly puts his neck under this yoke. Thereare few men in the World fo tick oftheir Liberty, and fo wea- ry of their own Happinefs, as tochufe this Condition : but the Sinner fells him- fell, and voluntarily parts with that Liberty, which he might keep, and which none could take from him. And whichmakes this Condition yet more intolerable, he makeshimfelfaSlave to his own Servants, to tholewho areborn to be fubje& to him, to hisown Ap- petites and Paffions; and this certainly is the worft kind of Slavery, fo much worfe than that ofMines and Gallies, as the Soul is more Noble and Excellent than the Body. Men are not ufually fo fenfible of the Mifery of this kind ofServitude, becaufe they aregovern'd bySenfe more than Reafon : But according to a true Judgment and Eftimation ofthings, a Vicious Courfe of Life is the faddeft Slavery ofall o- thers. And therefore the Gofpel reprefents it as a defign every way worthy of the Son of God, to come down from Heaven, and to debafe hititfelf fo far as to af- fume our Nature, and to fubmit to the Death of the Crofs, on purpofe td refcue us from this Slavery, and toaffert us into the libertyof the Sons ofGod. And this is the great defign of the Doftrine of the Gofpel, to free men from the Bondage oftheir Lufts, and to bring them to the Service of God, whole fervice it perfile freedom. And therefore our Saviour tells us, john 8. 31, 32. That ifwe conti- nue in his word, i. e. if weobey hisDo&rine, and frame our lives according to it, it will make us free; re (hall know (lays he) the truth, and the truth/hall makeyou free. And if we obferve it, the Scripture delights very much to fet forth to us theBenefitsand Advantagesof the Chriftian Religion by the Metaphorof Liber- ty andRedemption from Captivity andSlavery. Hence our Saviour is fooften call'd the Redeemer, and Deliverer, and is Paid to have obtained eternal Redemptionfor us. And the publithing of the Gofpel is compared to the Proclaiming of the year of pibilee among the Yews, when all Perfons that would were fet at Liberty. Ifa. 61. r, 2. The fpirit ofthe Lord is upon me, faith the-Prophet, fpeaking in the Perfon of the Meffiah, becaufe he bath anointeduse to proclaim liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the prifon tothem that are bound, toproclaim the accep- table
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