620 Practical Chrifiianity, ' t Pet. 2. ... (1.) Firft, You have the exciting Examples of others, rrho haw already happily gone through rhi.s Work. You are not commanded that which neYer yet wa s impofed upon any of the Sons of Men, nor that whoever undertook failed in the performar.ce and funk under the burthen of it: No, there are Hund reds and Thoufands g~n~ before you, from whom God ~·equired as much as he doth from you, thefe have dernonfrrated that the \ Vork IS poffible, and the Reward certain. And there· fore as lfrael followed the Cloud for their Condufr into the Land of Canaaw: So may you be led into a Land of better Promife by a Cloud of Witn rj[ts of thofe who have already paOCd through the fame Faith, Patience and Obedience, wherein you are to folio~ them. I~ is Superfti~ion heightned to Idolatry, to make ufe of thc}epaJted Samts as fubfhtuded Medtators and under-Advocate; unto Chrift, th:tt Ch1xft may be our Advocate unto God the Father; what the1r prcfent Prayers for us are we know not, but th is we are certain of, their pail: E xample ought to be propounded and improved by us for our Incouragement in the ways of Ho.. linefs and Obedience. Hcn~e the Apo_ftle exhor~s us th~t we /hould be diligent, not flothful ; and he grounds lt upon this, becaufe m fo domg, we flwuld be followers of them who th:ough Faith ll11d Patience inherit the Promijes, In difficult and hazardous Ente~pnzes, every Man is apt to ftand !t ill and fee who will lead the way, and ~ccordmg to the Succefs of the firft Attempters, fo either to be incouraged or dzfinayed. Now what fays our Saviour, Mat. I r. 12. The Kingdom of Hea ... vm fu./feretb violence , and the violent take it by fora . You are not the forlorn Hope, you are not the firft Affailors: No, whole Armies of Saints have in former Ages ftorm'd Heaven; they have heretofore planted ftrong Batte· ri es againft it, and llldde wide Breaches in it; t hey have heretofore entred and taken polf'e ffion; and !till the panage is as open for you, and the Conqueft as eafie as tOr them; and you may fee them beckoning out of Heaven to you, ~nd hear them calling to you , Fe!loJV Soldiers , bend your Force hither, there lS your Labour, here is your Reft; there are your Enemies, here is your Crown and Victory ; believe it, there are no more Dangers for you to pafs throug:h no more Difficulties for you to meet with than what we have paffed th rough, yea, 'and paffed with fo much fafety as not fo much as one Soul of us mifcarricG!, not a Soul left dead on the place; we ftruggled againft the fame Corruptions that you do, and overcame them; aga inft the fame Temptations, and batHed them ; aaainft the fame Devils, ai1d routed them ; againft the fame Flatteries, and Oppofitions of a bafe World and defpifed them : Believe it upon our Experience 1 all thefe Things are but Scare-Crows fet in the ways of Obed ience on purpofe to affi·ight you, but there is no danger at all in them unlefs you fear them; this they tell you with one confent: And 'hereforc if Examples are any Incouragemen t, as indeed they are almoft the greateft : lf Imitation bath any force to Obedience, as too ofren we find it bath great force to fin; why fhould we not hereby quicken our felves? Why do you not arife and prefs upon the Footfteps of them who have gone before you, and !hew'd you that the way is both cerea in and paffable? Are you called to exercffe Self-denial/ Abr.<1ham looks down from Heaven upon you, and tells you that he Was ready to Sacrifice his beloved lfaac. Are you afraid of the Scoffs and Jears of a ftearing World? Why Noah builded an Ark; Mo[ts relinqui!h'd the Honours of Pharoah's Court, and met with as many Pe,rfecutions and AffliCtions, and underwent as many Taunts and Flouts as you are hke to do. A 1e you called to lay down your Lives for the Teftimony of ] efus and a good Confcience? Why Stephen tells you a Storm of Stones fell upon him, and brake open the Prifon, and fct the Prifoner free; his Soul cfcaped, that broke our of the Cage, and as a Bird took Wing and flew to Heaven. Are you affaulted with Temptations? St. PauL looks down and tells you that he had much ftronger Temptations than you have, and yet he' got fafe to Heaven? Yea, our great Mafter and Pattern Jefus Chri!t wrought out all Obedience; and what were the Motives: that put him upon this mighty U adertaking? 1' was not for his own Sa~vation and Happinefs, but it was for ours: Nay, the Scripture goes yet lower, It was, To lta'Vt tu an E.\'ample that we Jllould follow hU Steps. Now !hall Chrift do all this, not for himfclf, but for us, and {hdl} we fit frill and do noth ing for our felves? Shall Chrift take fa much Pa ins to fer us an Example, and flull not we follow that Example? We who have fo great a Happinefs to work for, and fo great a Pdttern to work by? Shall we be llothful in procurin~ our own Good, fince ChriJt was fo
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