28o SERMONS upon Serm.p. fters are fent to you by Chrift's fpecial Love and Care, and fo fhould you acknowledg it. I tell you, many have laboured for the Gofpel, fought for the Gofpel, and yet they have,miffed it, becaufe they de not confider him that hath the Stars in his Hand, and direð and guideth their Motions. God will have this Mercy taken out of his own Hand, as a fpecial Token of his Love; therefore becaufe they do not acknow- ledg God, tho they fight, firive, and labour for it, yet the Gofpel' is taken from them. 4. For what are they Cent, or theEnd and Scope of the Gofpel? Ever Cnce the Fall,there is a quarrel between God and Man ; and God might fend Heralds to proclaim War, as he fendeth Ambaffadors of Peace to pray you to be reconciled, 2 Cor. g. 20. that is the purport and drift of our Meffage, to gain Men to lay down the Weapons of their Defiance, and to accept of Chrift, that in him they may find Life and Peace. God might fend Meffengers into the World, as he fent Jonah to Nineveh, to warn the World of their Deftru &ion ; or, as he revealed the Law upon Mount Sinai to make Men fenfible of their Bondage, and obnoxioufnefs to Divine Wrath and Juflice : But he fendeth Meffengers of Peace, with an Olive Branch in their Mouths, to tell the World of God reconciled, and God pacified by Chrift, and invite them to be in Fa- vour and Peace with God, that fo they may enjoy Communion with him in Grace here, and Glory hereafter. Col. 1. 27, 28. Cbry1 in you, the Hope of Glory. Whom we preach, warning "every Man, and teaching every Man in all Wifdom, that we may pre- font every Man perfeïl in Chrifl Jefus. There is the Subje& of our Miniftry, Commu- nion with Chrift, and Reconciliation with God by Chrift, as the Hope of Glory; the manner of managing it, with Wifdom warning every Man ;, the Perfons with whom we treat, every Man, without diftin &ion ; and our Aim and Scope, that we may prefent every Man perfea in Chrifi Jefus. vree r. It informeth us of four Things. I. The Excellency and Dignity of the Miniftry. They are Chrifi's Ambaffadors; they are lent, not as a Poft or Letter-Carrier, but as honourable Meffengers. An Ambaffador ufually is one of the Nobility, Cent by a Prince, or the Supream Power of a Nation ; not to private Men, but to their Fellow - Princes or States ; not upon a light Caufe, but to treat of Matters of Moment ; and not in a low or bate manner, but with an Equipage and Pomp anfwerable to the Dignity of him that fendeth. Or, in fhort, an Ambaffador is an Eminent Perlon, fent from fome chief Prince, with Dig- nity and Authority to tranca& Affairs of the greateft Moment ; and becaufe he repre- fenteth the Perlon from whom he is Cent, therefore Credit and Honour is to be given to him, fuitable to his Place and Office. Now the greater the King or Potentate is, from whom he is lent, the more Honour is done him : if from an Emperor, it is more Honour than from an ordinary Prince ; and the greater and more welcome the Bufinefs is, frill the greater Honour : If the Nature of the Bufinefs be to require Satisfa &ion for Injuries, to denounce War, yet fill he is refpe &ed according to his Place; but if it be a Matter of Peace, he is more welcome ; or if it bd. eltablifh a Correfpondence of Traffick between Nation and Nation ; much more if it be about a Treaty of Mar, tinge, and to propound Terms of the higheft Amity and Friendfhip, he is much more refpe&ed ; and yet more efpecially, if the State or Prince to whom he is fent, be in- ferior to the other that fent him. Now there are the Terms upon which the Minifters of the Gofpel are lent ; they are Chrift's Ambaffadors, they are fent from the greateft Monarch that ever was, from Chrift, who is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; and they are fent to milerable and wretched Men, to Rebels to. the Crown of Heaven; and their Meffage is not to denounce War, but to propofe Terms of Friendfhip and Amity, to tell you that God is willing to be reconciled to, and to be at Peace with his Creatures. Oh, how beantiful"upon the Mountains fhould their Feet be, that publifh fech glad Tidings ! Ira. 52. 7. It is an Allufion to the dirty Feet of Travellers, that come about weighty Bufinefs ; the Dirt of the Journey doth not render them defiled, but beautiful. Nay, this is not all, they are furnifhed with Authority, with Power of binding and looting, of remitting and retaining Sins. John 2.23. Whofe foever Sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whole foever Sires ye retain, they are retained. To them are given the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, to open and (hut; not as they pleafe, but fo as the Lord ratifies their regular Proceedings in the Court of Hea- ven. They have a Power, in God's Name, to take up the Controverfy between God and you, and they bear God's Name, that is, reprelent his Perron. And they are fet forth
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