Dr. Thoma~ Jacomb's Funeral Sermon.' 787 nefits in making and preferving us, acquire to him a fuprerne Right in us. Now if there be a Spark ofRea[on in our Minds, 'tis irupoffible to have the lea([ Sh~dow.of doubt, that a derivative Being has a dependentWorkmg, and iS to employ !us acbv_e Powers according to the Will of his Maker, as the Rule, and h!S Glory as the ultimate End of all. The Connexion is indiffolvabie, for ofhim, aJtd thro11gb him, and to him are aU thi11p. The P[almift ardently calls the wholeWorld; Blefs the Lord all)'' his Works, Pf>l. "l· ;, all Places of his Domi11ion. The Angels who by Nobility of Nature a.re Wperiour to all his other Works, yet arc notjui j~tris, at their own difpofals, but his Minifters that do his Pleajitre : They employ their excellent Strmgth in hm:nble Obedience to his Commands: they fly with incredible Swifi"efs to perform !us Orders. And in D>n. 9· the vi!ible World, the Heavens in their Motion, the Earth in itsSeafons, with an invariable Tenor ob[erve the Law impre[s'd upon them in their Creation: As the P[alrnift fpeaks, they continue this day according to thy Ordimmcc, for all are thy Servants. Pfa1. u8.1S1. And if the Creatures without Rea[on andSen[e are perfectly [ubjelt to his Will, much more fhould Man who underfrands his Obligations to the Creator. Now the Son of God made us, and maintains our Beings by his powerful Providence; from whence it follows, we are under an eternal Obligation to [erve and glorify him to the utmofr of our Capacities. His unexcited and moft free Goodnefs decreed our Beings from everlafting, and in time brought us into the World, whereas he might have created innumerable other Per[ons, for Omnipotence is without Bounds, and left us in the pure Poffibility of Being, without the giving actual Being to us. The natural Law thatfhines in the MindsofMen, in the Knowledge of what is juft ahd good, and in the Confcience ofwhat is evil, binds them with the deepeft Humilitytoackhowledge the Greatne[s and Goodnefs of our Creator, and in the Sen[e of this fir([ and fundamental Benefit to confecrate our felves fof ever to his Service. . 2. We are his Servants not only upon the genera l Title of Crcadon, but in a more peculiar manner by Redemption. Man by· his Difobedience was fallen into a woful Bondage, his Guilt fubjelted him to the threatning, that contained two Deaths in one Sentence, the temporal and pre[ent of the Body, and the eternal of the Soul. The righteous Judge ofthe World, whore Law was broken, required an honourable Reparation of it: the moft comy Sacrifices of Beafts,. a Sea of Blood could neve~ ~~0~~ e~~u~'[gtgt~~;:; ;,is~~~r:JleJ~~~~~~n~g;,d ~~~~i~f,~ts~~~p~~~tj;~~~.w;~~ Ruines ( if I may (o [peak) were [owed with Salt, we were concludeJ under his moft righteous and fearful Wrath : If the Love and Wifdom of God had not accorded to find out that aftonifhing expedient of uniting the eternal Son of God with the humane Nature in one Per[on, that as Man he might voluntarily [ubmit to bloody Sufferings, and as God give an infinite Merit and Value to them, and thereby purchafe our Redemption. This is accomplifhed by Je[us Chrifr ; The Lord laid o?Z :;~:;: ~~t~if:tbtn~i~i~n; :~efa~; ::s~f:e ~;~~; 1~vi~~-iby;o~~g~~~'ce n ~:;11~~~~ C:~' th;Jc ;~e J:;p;t 1v~~eat~~:d ::;et;;~fi~~i~f~i11s i~{J~; g;t~~; ~i;di~Jufrra~! ken a dear Sen[e of our Obligations to our Saviour : but if we [olemnly and deliberately contemplate this amazing Benefit, out of what Rock is the Heart framed, that is not [often' cl and melted in Love and Obedience to our Bleffed Redeemer. To hciguten the Sen[e of our Obligations, Confider, , 1. A more excellent Goodne[s is vifible in the redeeming Man than in creating tlie Angels, upon the account of the diftance of the T erms and the Difficulty oft-he way to effect it. In the Creation of Angels, Goodne[s was rich indeed, there being no Poffibility of de[ert in pure nothing, but it was fimply free ; whereas in our Sal'l'ation it is merciful beyond all Imagination, for by our Rebellion we were ju([[y fallen under the Wrath of God : Their Creation was without the lea([ ftrain of his Power; Hejpake, and it was done: But there was a legal Bar againft our Rellitution: To re" move it, his Son endJtred the Cmfe oft he Lawfor tlf, and bore our Si11s in his own Body ou the Tree. Divine Love in our Redemption not only exceeds what was fhewed iri the Creation of Angels, but is admirably illuftrated by a higher compari[on: For the Father feemed to love us above his only begotten Soo, whom hefparecl1rot, b11t delivered hi!Jt up for Its all; and the So1t loved 1/S above hii Life, which he laid do'W1! fr= . . ' 2. By the way of our Redemption he has infinitely honoured our Nature that was (o vilified by the Fall. Man, whore Soul was an immortal Spirit framped with the lively
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=