Chap.) . Se& 18. ~tlM:tenpal . , Get we a Sot•er~igne love to God again.ft was from this Sover~igne love thatthof~ 3 d;;,; ruble Sdf-dwyals of the Marryrs fprung; we mull not tlunK they had bodtes of b. 1 r ufcles of fiecl, or thot they were not as fcnfible of torments as others were; Oh n: 0 [/:as their love to God cid f.v~llow up all : As the heat of a feaver fwallowes tl 'beat of an ulcer ot as the heat of a fire fwallowes up the heat of a feave; So ~~e ~~at ~f the Martyrs love to God fwallo\yed up the he~t of all fires, together with the heat of all loves to their wtve~,cht!dren,frtends, and thctr own ltves. W e mut1 love the Lord above all, not fubordmately as a creature , but foveratgnly as a Creatou\ et us clcave to God with ll:edfallneii'e and refolvcdncii'e offpirit, come what ·I!. come.Thus Earnabns exhorts the Brethren, that tVithf u/1 purpofe <{ henrt they lVo~tld ~~;,veto the Lord: Thus Daniel was purpofed 1lOt to dej>le him{clf with the portion of the Kings meat, tho~tgh it coft himhts hberty or life. Davtd could fay, that rh: PrinFs Jeuk! againft him ; and the l'rmces perfocmed htm, yet he was refolvcd, and hts rcfolu– tion was as llrong as anOa~h, I have fworn, and wdl perfomz tt, that. I wzl/ k!ep thy ri hteousjudgment.<. Thts ts the nature of Chrdhan refolutwn, that tt choofeth thaf, w~ich the Spirit reve~ls to be good, notwtthfi~ndtng all oppofitwns that come betwtxt. When credit, and profit, and vam fearcs put m, and fuggefi that the Wttneffing of fuch truths may coil us our lif e; Refolution anfwers all, It matters not fo I can retain Ch-;ijl· ; tellme 11 ot of rhe di/fim lty of thewa;•, onely let me /z.now wh.ch t.r theway, I am refolved to f ollowthe Lamb whirherfo tver he callJ me ; I k_now there " no rhreatnmg Jo terrible ar Chrifts is no promifc Jo Jrvcet as Chnfts u , nocommand Jo poly as Chrtflsu, and there– jo,-e I nm 1 re(olved toexpofe my[elf to d;in/z.th"t cup, how bitter Jocver, which my Farhe; }hall give to drmk., . 4 . Endeavour after a difpolition or habit to lay down life for a goo_d confcience. It is a true faying, that.none are Javed but M artyrs; I mean M artyrs et the~ actually or habitually, having fatth enoug~ to encourage, and loveenou~h to confiram them to be M artyrs . if the honour of then· profeffion lhould requtre tt. Thts takes away their objeclio~, who fay, it is harfh and unfeafonable to trouble us now with an~ thorny difcourfeofM arryrdome. J. We mull know that the habtt of M artyrdome ts inclu– ded in the mofr fundamental principles of Chrillianity, and therefore they deferve no anfwer but lilence who think a difcourfe •of it at any time harfh and unfeafonablc. ~- The Church never enjoyes fuch a calme, but a terrible ll:orme may unexpetl:edly dafh it away, and therefore there is _noman, though born in the mot1 peaceable time ofthe (Jofpcl, but ere the glafi'e ofhts ltfe be run out, he may be overtaken with a fiery tryal. 3. There is ~o profeii'or of t~e Gofpel though he live and dye during the publick tranqutlltty oltt, but he may pnvately be brought to that plunge that either he mull hazard his life, or elfe in fome fearful horrible manner againt1 his confcience difhonour Chrifi; as, fuppofea Ruffian that had no Religion ofhis own llwuld pull any one of us into a corner, and wtth a naked blade, etther make us forfwear our Religion, or lofe our l!fe. +· As the Prophet Ez.ekJei forwarned the Jews, We havehad mi[– chief upon mifchief , mmo11r upon rumour, and if mifchief and rumours continue, and mul– tiply upon us as fall as they have done of late, the dayes may be fooner upon us than we are a~are,when there may be too much occafion to pradifc this point ofSelf-denyal, and not ttme to preach tt;howfoever let us feek ofGod for the habit or difpofition ofit · for that is fundamental. , 5. Ma_intain a godly jealoufie and fear of our own hearts · for want of this all. the Difciples fainted (efpecially Peter) and fhamefnlly deny~d Chrilt. Memo;able ' is that fiory ofPendleton and Sanders; Sanders as fearful he fhould not endure tlie fire· Pendlcton feemed ref0lute, Be notf earful (faith he to Sanders,)for thou jhAlt fee me & thu fat fief/, ofmmefry in the fire before I willyield. Yet he that was fo t1rong in hisbwn firength fell away, and the other fo fearful! was enabled by God to burne f0r his truth. To fear Martyrdome, and to pray againfi it with fubmiffion to Gods will, is warranted by our Savi?urs own examJ:>Ie, !fe prayed earnejlty that if it were pojfible the cup might– paffe.awayfrom htm ;. but ll:tll Wtth fubmtffion to his Fathers pleafure. That place con– cenung our Savtou~ tsvery remarkable, Who inthe days of his f/ejh, rvhen he had offered up prayers andfl•ppltcat>ons,. IVtth jlrong cryes andtrarcs umohtmthat was able toj11ve him from _death, and was heard m that h~ feared. Heard? how was he heard? not in re• movmg the c~p from him, but in t1rengthening him to drink it with victory. If we pray a~ Chnft prayed, the cun !hall be removed from us, or fwectned unto us. .~ • V ~. Rdift '4') Mls 11. 23 Dan.I, 8 PfAI. ll9 2) 161, tc6.
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