570 A Sermon on the Earth to Heaven, yea, to make Earthly Comforts and Enjoyments to tend u , 0 you farther _than the Grave. We fay commonl y, Theft things will go no farther :ha~ the Grave Wtth tts, there we mujf part w1th them; no, lay up thefc Earthly Things · Heaven. by employing them for the Honour and Glory (lf God, and they fhall a~~ will go farther with yo!t than the Grave; and though you brought nothing with you into the World , yet you Ihall carry them out of tht! World with you. See that Rev. 13. 14. Their worJu follow them, they enter into Heaven with them. And Mat' 16. 19. (14ake ~our [elves f:iends ~~ t?c mammon of um·ighte?ufnefs,,rhat when ye fail the. may recetvc you mto e'Ucriaftmg habttanom. Mammon of unnghttoujneji, that is Earth!~ Enjoymenrs, ~o called, becaufe nfually abufed to unrighteonfners. Make y;u friend1 of them; that ts, fo Jay them out for the glory of God, and the· good of others that when y.tm fail , .that is, when you die~ you may be received into everiafting Ha~ bitatiom, that is, m to everlafting Glory. And thus I have finifhed this SubjeCt of laying up Treafure in Heaven. The Lord make what hath been ft)oken profitable to your Souls. SERMON XXII. 0 N THE N A T IV IT T of oar L 0 R D JESUS CHRIST. LUKE ii. q, 14. And {uddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly Hojl,praiJing God, and faying, Glory to GoJ in the highejl, and on Earth Peace Good-will towards Men. ' IN this Chapter we have a moft wonderful Hiftory of the Nativity of the Son of God ; and it is defcribed both by the mean entertainment that Earth, and the glorious attendance that Heaven afforded him. His own appearance was but defpicable, but the appearance of his Retinue Was moft magnificent and aftonifhing. He that was the Ancient of Days, became an helplefs lnfatJt. He that was the Light D[ the Sun, comes into the World in the D~trkneft of tht Night. He who came that he might lay us in the Bofom of the Father, is himfelf laid in the Manger of a Stable. The Inn is full, and Jofcph the Carpenter, and Mary, though big with God, mufl: take up with a StabLe, and lay her BleJfed burthcn among Beafts and Horfes, far more hofpitable than their Owners: But though l1e be meanly welcomed on Earth, yet- Heaven makes abundant amends for all: A company of induftrious Shepherds lying all Night in the Fields by their Flocks, while they are watching their Sheep, they themfelves find their own Shepherds: Whilft they thought of no Apparition, but of fome ravcuous Beafts to devour their Herd; and .AI~,gti is winged away with fo great.fwiftnefs, that he fcatters light round about the place, and tells them of the Birth of Chrift; but then he bids them fearch for him in a ftrange .Place, telling them, They Jhould find the Lord of Life and -Glory in an Inn, and a ftrange circumftance, that an Holy Angel lhould call the lhameful debafement of the King of .Heaven Tydi~gs of g"reat 'Joy, and make it the matter of his 'Jubilee, and triumph upon· the dellvcry of his Meifage! Tl\e Text tells us, There WM with the .Angel a multitude of the flea · vrnlJ
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