Christian Reconcilement, OR GOD AT PEACE with MAN IN CHRIST, Delivered in a Sermon at St Mary's in Oxford.  
By JOHN WALL Dr in Divinity, and PRAEBENDARY Of  in OXFORD.  
Psalm. 37. 4. Delight thou in the Lord, and he shall give thee thy hearts desire.  
OXFORD, Printed by H. Hall, for R. Davis. 1658.   

To the Honourable, and truly noble Lady, the Lady SARAH HOGHTON, Wife to Sr RICHARD HOGHTON Knight, and Daughter of PHILIP, Lord STANHOPE, late Earl of CHESTER-FIELD; Grace and Peace be daily multiplied.  
Noble MADAM,  
PArdon my Confidence that I make use of your Name, and place so rare a Frontispiece before so mean a Piece. My desire hath been to honour your Ladyship some kind of way for those many favours derived to me, not only from the Root and Stemm, but also from the several branches of that your noble Generation and Parentage. Yet in this, I must needs Confess I honour myself, while the eminency of your graces casts a lustre upon my Services; and the high esteem of those magnetic virtues draws greater acceptance to these endeavours. However, be pleased to receive this manual, & give it some place in your Closet among the Saints of God departed this life, with whom you have been used to Converse frequently in their writings. It will not take up much room, and though it Contain little that you may learn, yet doth it somewhat that you may remember, the incomparable blessing of Christian atonement, which is the very foundation of all our Comfort. This I Commend to your pious thoughts, and the religious exercise of your diviner Meditations: that you may joy in God, and be strengthened daily in the Spiritual Union which you have with him in Christ Jesus. For I well know when the Scriptur's were a delight unto you, and you had (as Saint Jerome writeth) of Marcelia, a Roman Lady (ardorem incredibilem &c:) an incredible desire to read & understand, the precious Mysteries of those saving Oracles; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (in the words of the Apostle) from a Child: wherein I have late evidence, that you persevere Constantly, to the honour of God, and the rejoicing of your Spirit, with the Continual feast of a Good Conscience. Sure I am, it was the practice of that Honourable Lady your dear Mother, now with God blessed for ever: whose Goodness like an Ointment poured out, left a Sweet Savour in the parts where she lived round about: whose paths you tread, and seem to enlarge, or make plain, in a Pious emulation, and zealous Imitation of Her choicest Graces. But I will not make an Elegy of an Epistle, or a Panegyric of a presentment: (though you well deserve it) lest I seem to dipp my Pen in Oil, and mingle Honey with my Oblation: Contrary to the direction given to Moses by God himself in those levitical instructions. The Lord pour a blessing upon you all, from the top, and head, to the several branches of your Noble Family. Irest,  
MADAM, Your most Humble Servant in him that took upon him the form of a Servant, our Lord Jesus Christ, JOHN WALL.   

CHRISTIAN RECONCILEMENT.  Rom. 5. 11. We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 
WHEN St. Paul wrote to the Saints at Rome, there was a ball of contention (as 'twere) thrown betwixt the jew and the Gentile. And howsoever they were converted as true proselytes to the Doctrine of Christ, yet did they burn with jealousy one towards another, and receive the gospel with strife and envy, and sharp contests of mutual reproach, and fervent emulation (a fault to much used in these our Days, both in the expressions and impressions of many Christians, though interdicted by St. Paul to the Ephesians, and condemned by St. James in the very brethren, with a note and character of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is mere bitterness, the gall and wormwood of crabbed Zeal and corrupt affections.) The jew boasted of his stock, the Gentile of his Wisdom, the jew of his privileges, the Gentile of his Endowments; the jew despised the Gentile as a wild olive, the Gentile despised the jew as a withered branch cut off from the right olive; the jew despised the Gentile as a stranger from the Covenant, the Gentile despised the jew as one despised of God and rejected of him for murdering his only Son, and crucifying the Lord of glory.  
But as it is said of Nestor, an ancient Counsellor of the Grecians. 
— Nestor Componere lights  
Inter Peliden festinat & inter Atriden;   
So doth the Apostle use all diligence, to repress the animosity of their carnal spirits, and to reduce both to love and unity, patience and humility, showing plainly that all were debtors unto God, and that none had cause to boast of themselves, first by reason of their natural condition they were subject unto wrath; then by reason of their spiritual renovation they were justified by faith, not of merit but of grace, free grace, rich grace, the grace of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All which is copiously delivered in the precedent Chapters, and compendiously gathered in the latter verses, whereof my Text is a brief Synopsis  We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 
We joy in tribulation, because it tends unto hope: we joy in hope because it ends in glory, as the precedent Words do rightly insinuate. But the top of our joy and the crown of our rejoicing is God alone, pacified by his Son in the wood of his Cross, the blood of his Cross: who indeed is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (as Theophylact speaks) the author of joy, the author of rest, the author of glory, the author of righteousness. Have our conflicts abounded, and have not our Comforts abounded? Have our trials abounded, and have not our triumphs abounded? Yea doubtless, as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so doth our consolation abound through Christ Jesus. And we never had more Cause to rejoice, than now we have in the Day of our peace, the blessed reunion of God with us, the heavenly redintegration of his infinite love and merciful Kindness.  We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 
These words are exceeding jubilar, and not unsuitable with the present time, which is dies palmarum, or (as we term it) Palme-Sunday, a Day of spreading garments, unfolding graces, discovering holiness, singing praises, and crying Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest: not with green bows of Pagan wildness, but with palm branches of faith and godliness: which St. John will have to be most flourishing and victorious, with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, this is the victory which overcometh the World, even your faith, the 5th and the 4th of his 1. Ep. You may compare them to the Song of Mary, when she cried, My Soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. There seems at once, to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, on the Lords part 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, on our part 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: on the Lords part grace, on our part glory, on the Lords part goodness, on our part gladness, with a sober kind of ravishment and spiritual Ecstasy.  We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 
1. That which I shall first observe is the grace and benefit of humane reconcilement. [We have received the atonement.]  
Secondly the means or conveyance, and that is [our Lord Jesus Christ:]  
Last of all the result or extraction, which is delight and glory, exultation and jucundity, together with the circumstance of time, or rather indeed the instance of time, not future but present, not in expectation but fruition, now we are reconciled, and now we are comforted, since the death of Christ and the power of his rising:  We joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 
All these have their implicit theses, and may be easily resolved into enuntiative positions, one, That man is reconciled unto God.  
Another: Christ is the author of this reconcilement.  
A third, We ought to joy in God alone, through Christ our Mediator and Advocate. But I proceed after the method I have delivered, and shall begin with my first observation, which is the grace and benefit of humane reconcilement, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, we have received the atonement.  
Man is an empty thing, and hath nought in himself, but what he doth receive, nec quid, nec quale, nec quantum, as the Logicians speak of their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or rather indeed like that ancient chaos which Moses would have to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the first of Genesis, without form and beauty, a mere solitude and vacuity, in so much that a Heathen could say, as well in respect of men as of their actions. O Curas hominum, & quantum est in rebus inane?  
St. John tells us, we have received Grace for grace, or grace upon grace: one grace brings in another; and one grace brings in another; and one grace draws in another, neither is it man's wisdom, but God's bounty that leadeth to repentance, charity, meekness, humility and whatsoever is praise worthy; most agreeable to that of Bernard, Quaevis scintillula in cord accensa, etc. The least spark of holy fire, kindled in the breast of any Creature must needs arise from the love of God, and the infinite grace of his eternal providence. We receive life in our creation, strength in our being, knowledge in study, comfort in misery, patience in trouble, help in adversity, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the same hand that framed us must preserve us, neither can we any more relieve ourselves, than we could at first make ourselves, as Justin Martyr has observed in his Apology for Christians. Formation, conservation, reformation, consummation are glorious acts but from the Lord, as fruits of the divine goodness; not branches of humane impotence, which the Apostle has comprised in a word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our sufficiency is from God, in the 2d to the Corinthians.  
But among all the favours that have been bestowed upon us, that of reconcilement is most precious, whereby we are made friends unto God, stronger than our enemies, Lords over the Creature, and equal with the Angels, that warre on his throne, stand in his presence, delight in his worship, and rejoice to do him service.  
St. Origen is so charitable, as to extend his mercy to the Devils, and would have them to be saved after a thousand Years completely ended: howbeit, we know the worm dyeth not, and their fire never goeth out, as we gather from the words of our Saviour, in that final doom, and fatal sentence, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, provided for the Devil and his Angels, Mat. 25. 48.  
As for the host of blessed Angels, that kept their station; they are not said to be truly reconciled, because they never departed from their obedience: yet are they confirmed by the mediation of Christ, and seem to have a two fold advancement: one in respect of their knowledge, because they look into the mystery of our salvation: another in respect of their joy, because they delight in the work of our Conversion. That which makes the Scruple touching their reconcilement, is taken from St Paul, in the Ist Chapt. of his Ep: to the Colossians, where he notes of Christ, that he sat at peace with the blood of his Cross, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, things on Earth and things on Heaven. All which is most unquestionable, & aught to be understood of the holy Angels, not in relation to God, but in relation to man; not as they are reconciled unto him, but as they are reconciled unto us, and united more firmly with us under one head which is Christ Jesus. And therefore; if you consider the words of the Text, it is not said, they but we, not all but some, We the Saints of God, we the Sons of God. 
— Queis meliore luto finxit praecordia Titan.   
Chosen freely, drawn sweetly, renewed by his word, quickened by his Spirit: WE have received the grace of divine love, and heavenly atonement,  
Before the Apostasy of our father Adam, there was a sweet harmony betwixt God and man, but as soon, as he fell, and had transgressed, he ran away, and was cast forth of Paradise; at what time there was a breach made, and we became (as the Apostle notes) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: not only strangers and aliens but foes & enemies to the Lord of glory; such as despise his grace, and despite his goodness, with the infinite provocations of enormous impieties. We grieve him and he forsakes us: We resist him & he abandons us from the brightness of his face, and the glory of his presence. For Sin is abominable to God, neither can his pure eyes endure to behold the filthiness of our Corruptions, whereupon saith Isaiah, Your iniquities have separated betwixt God and you. He did so love us, that nothing could take him of and make him leave us but our sins: He did so hate Sin, that nothing could bring him on, and make him love us again but his Son: his dear Son, his only Son, the death of his Son, the oblation of his Son, who gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice unto God, of a sweet smell and pleasant odour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Your iniquities have made a separation betwixt God and you in the 59th of his prophecy.  
It was for sin, that he left Israel, and it was for sin that he cast the Angels down from Heaven: It was for sin that he drowned the old World, and it was for sin, that he destroyed the works of his creation: Though at first he took pleasure in them, and said of every thing (which he made,) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was good, very good the first and the last of Genesis.  
This was our Condition in the sad times of humane defection, and thus we stood at a distance, I will not say a defiance with the Lord of hosts and the God of spirits. But since the partition wall is broken down, and there is an entrance made into the holy place; we have obtained mercy and are received into favour. The heat is of, the fire is quenched, wrath is alaid, the strife is ended: and he that was most wronged, is most desirous to be reconciled. Whilst the Angels of God are made the Ambassadors of peace, and do openly proclaim tidings of good will unto men upon earth. As James said of Abraham, that he was termed the friend of God, so we may say of all beleivers, the Sons of Abraham, the generations of his Children. They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, lovers of God and beloved of him. God is their friend, and they are Gods friends, by the new Covenant of eternal righteousness, in the dispensation of Christ, and merit of his obedience. For, as when two men fall out, a third coming between, makes them friends and brings them to an amicable condition: so Christ being in the nature of God and man, hath united both and made them one, as well in love as in person, by the sweet interposition of his mediatory function.  
If any shall desire to be further satisfied concerning the nature of this atonement and shall say to me of this spiritual Manna, as the Israelites did of their corporal Manna, which fell in the Wilderness, full of pleasure and delectable sweetness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What is this? or how do you Conceive it to be understood? We are ready to pronounce with learned Zanchius, that it is renovatio, etc. a reinvesting of man with pristine holiness, or a reducing of man to that former interest we had with God in Christ Jesus, from the state of wrath to the state of peace, from the state of bondage to the state of liberty, from the state of fear to the state of assurance, from the state of misery to the state of mercy, that we may draw near with boldness to that heavenly throne, and having received that spirit of adoption, cry Abba, father, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Rom. 8. as Sons and heirs, heirs of God and coheires with Christ, in the sweet fruition of an everlasting Kingdom. The dislike and antipathy, the variance and the enmity which transgression wrought, being quite abolished and obliterated by the precious blood of that paschal Lamb, sprinkled upon the door posts of our hearts and consciences. For to speak in the Words of Salvian, Crimen nostrum discrimen gravissimum, Our greatest danger is from sin. That being cleansed, we are preserved, nor only so, but graced and honoured, embraced and dignifyed with signal ornaments of love and kindness, by ring and by robe, as they are distinctly mentioned by St Luke the Evangelist, in that comfortable story of the prodigals Conversion. Hence it is the Apostle doth so much boast of a holy Communion which the saints have with the Father and the Son, Our fellowship, saith he, and that with an Emphasis, truly, Our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, in the 1st and 3d of his First Epist. That as he is one with the Father, so we may be one with him, of one heart, of one mind, of one desire, of one judgement, of one building, one Temple, one body, one spirit, which indeed is the height of comfort, and doth most eminently represent the wonderful excellency of Christian atonement.  
St Bernard mentions divers unions in a tract of his styled, Varij Sermons, natural, carnal, virtual, moral, personal, substantial, and the like. Natural between the Soul and the body, they are one man; Carnal between the Man and the Woman, they are one Flesh; Virtual in the Consent of our affections, they are one harmony; moral in the Conjunction of brethren, they are one Society: personal with the divinity and humanity, they are one Christ; substantial in the deep mystery of the blessed Trinity, They are are our God, our Lord, of whom, and by whom, and through whom all things were made. As for the union in the Text it is spiritual, whereby we are not only transformed in ourselves, and transported out of ourselves, but engrafted in Christ, and made one Spirit with him, as it is directly avowed by the Doctor of the Gentiles in the 6 Chapt. and 17. verse of the 1 Ep. to the Corinth. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he that is joined with the Lord, is one Spirit with him, acted by one Spirit, raised by one Spirit, sanctified by one Spirit, governed by one Spirit, the holy ghost moving as it were upon the whole body of the Church, and having a gracious influence from the head of Christ to the hearts of men, and the secretest juncture of his dearest members, For when Christ was gone, he sent down a fire on the Earth, a Vestal fire, a sacred fire, a blessed fire, a holy fire; I mean the Comforter, which is the love of God, that he might keep us to to himself, and abide with us for ever.  
I could fix upon such a meditation as this, and dwell in the contemplation of divine peace, that great atonement, that blessed atonement, the atonement with an Emphasis, the atonement with an excellence that clears the mind, and cheers the spirit with unimaginable comfort, dulcor ejus absorbet conscientiam, saith that elegant father the sweetness thereof swallows up my thoughts, and puts me into a frame of jubilar excess. O that it were no less with men, than with God, and that we might see a perfect reconcilement in every condition, like that of the disciples who met together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as the Text hath it, with one mind, in one place in the 2. and 1. of the Acts of Apost. But this is more to be prayed for, than can easily be expected in Massa and in Meribba, at the Waters of strife, amidst the divisions of many brethren. And yet it is a shame, that Christ should die to make our peace, and we should live to make debate amongst ourselves: striving and struggling, like jacob and Esau in the womb, and bowels of Church and Country, not as true Israelites, but as vain Ishmaelites, or generations of the Patriarch Dan, who was said to be Coluber in viâ, a Snake in the path, and a Serpent in the way Gen. 49. The Lord grant, that at length we may be able to say in a general sense, a sense moral, a sense political, a sense natural, a sense ecclesiastical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, we have received the atonoment, for the honour of God, the peace of Zion, and the great Security of this Land and Nation.  
But I hasten to my Second observation, from the grace to the means, from the benefit to the Conveyance, and that is Dominus Iesus Christus, our Lord Jesus Christ. Not Moses or Aaron, not an Angel or Cherubin, nor any creature of highest order, but God alone through Christ his Son: Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ, (as we read in the Words of my Apostle.) He is a Lord for his Dominion, a Jesus for his salvation a Christ for the dignity of his threefold unction. A Lord that doth rule us, a Jesus that hath freed us, a Christ that shall anoint us, with grace holiness, joy and gladness, to the rich inheritance of immortal blessedness.  
Give me leave then to put you in mind of a notable saying which I have from St Ambrose, vulnus accepit, unguentum effudit, he took a sore wound in his natural body, he poured forth a Sovereign balm in his mystical body: a Sovereign balm, a precious ointment, that hath cured our sores, and healed our infirmities, to all wellpleasing, and good acceptance with the God of all comfort and Father of mercies.  
Indeed we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Word of reconcilement, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the ministry of reconciliation: but the Work is his, the power is his, the merit is his, the performance is his, that made both one, by virtue of his passion. We are serviceable, and instrumental, as suppliant Orators, and subordinate cooperators in so great a business. He is the root, and the ground, the spring and the fountain of that celestial agreement, and heavenly composition. Whereupon saith John, We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the reconciliation for our sins. As for Paul, he is most clear, with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, God hath reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ. And again, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, 2 Cor. 5. 18, 19  
How then is it that in the same place, we are desired to be reconciled unto God, we pray you in Christ's steed, that ye be reconciled unto God? Have we strength enough to do it ourselves? and are we able to make our own peace? This seems to contradict the series of the Text, and to derogate from the honour of an absolute mediator. Yet if we distinguish the manner, 'twill be no hard matter to reconcile the Scripture. Christ did it fundamentally, we conformably: Christ authentically and radically, we obsequiously and readily, with desires answerable and hearty being drawn and converted in the sound of his word and power of his Gospel, in the smell of his garments, and the savour of his ointments. Insomuch that what he wrought by the wonderful humiliation of his temporal oeconomy, we must apply it to our hearts and consciences by faith, repentance, charity, obedience, invocation, adoration, the frequent exercises of the holy Sacraments, and the religious observation of divine ordinances, which were given us for no other end, but that we may draw near unto God as loving children.  
Let men please themselves never so much with their several Idols, whether Corporall or spiritual, among the dead, or among the living: there is no creature in heaven or in earth, in the centre of the one, or circle of the other that can bring us to God but only Christ Jesus; The Angel of the Covenant, the first borne of every creature, the great high priest, that took the censer of his flesh, and laid upon it the burning coals of divine love, and offered up the sweet incense of a pure heart and a gracious spirit. Is he not the way and the door? the way in whom we go? the door by whom we enter? As no man comes to the son, unless the father draw him: so no man comes to the father, unless the son doth bring him. Abraham is ignorant, and Israel knows us not, as we read in that Evangelicall prophet. 
— Nec defensoribus istis  
Tempus eget—  For behold Christ is here, clothed with our flesh; that he may invest us with his righteousness, and present us to the father, holy and unblameable, without spot in his sight: a greater than Moses, a greater than Aaron, a greater than Elias, a greater than Solamon, or any prophet, since the world began. And therefore God must needs be angry, if we do not kiss the Son, his dear Son, his beloved Son, in whom alone he is well pleased, and by whom alone we are truly reconciled: kiss the mouth of his word, and precious oracles: kiss the hand of his power, and wondrous miracles, kiss the feet of his justice and sure mercies, his sure mercies and steadfast promises that stand as the Sun, and continue as the Moon for ever in the heavens. These we must kiss, and these we must embrace, looking towards Jesus, the author and finisher of our course: if ever we mean to have God our friend or the light of his countenance to shine upon us.  
It was for Joseph's sake, that his brethren were so courteously received: and it is for Christ's sake that we are so graciously reconciled. He came into the world as Joseph came into Egypt, for the good and the benefit, for the protection and the liberty, the help and the comfort, the provision and the safety of all his brethren. And therefore Augustine will have him to be a figure of Christ, with a typum gessit salvatoris, in one of his sermons inscribed, de tempore: both alike sold, both a like spoilt, one thrown into a pit, another into a grave; one cast into a dungeon, another into hell by a voluntary condescension; though exalted at length that he might save us, as well from death as from dearth, the dearth of his word, and the death of our souls, in that burning lake of intolerable woe, and insupportable misery. And therefore saith Bernard, mortem pertulit, at mortem sustulit, he suffered death, but he abolished death, and destroyed him that had the power of death with his own weapon.  
Sweet Jesus! who shall declare the strange procurement of our gracious reconcilement in that rare Conjunction of both natures, by the power of the Godhead, by the patience of the manhood, by the majesty of the one, by the humility of the other? This enabled thee to bear, that to overcome; this to endure, that to satisfy; this to descend and lay down thy life, that to ascend and take it up again, that we may be advanced above those angelical Thrones, and sit together with thee in heavenly places. St chrysostom is astonished with it, and cries out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; how comes this work, this great work to be acted and accomplished? And therefore I will not take upon me to describe the manner of it, further than I have direction from the Apostle, who gives you a twofold explication in the 1 Chap. of the Epist. to the Collos. that he doth reconcile us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the body of his flesh through death: and that he doth reconcile us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with the blood of his cross: where you have death and blood, and a Cross. In death there is misery, in blood there is cruelty, in a cross there is shame and notorious infamy. All which meet together like three fatal sisters in Conjunction, for ill to Christ, for good to us, the aggravation of his punishments, the instauration of our nature; that we may be joined with the Saints above, and gathered into the bosom of our heavenly father; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in the body of his flesh through death, and that with blood, the blood of his Cross; the blood of his cross that hath drowned our iniquities, the blood of his cross that hath purged our Consciences, the blood of his Cross that hath destroyed our enemies, the blood of his Cross that hath justified our persons, the blood of his Cross that hath quenched the violence of that flaming sword that hung at the gate of our celestial paradise, to keep us back from the sight of God, and the blessed Communion of his glorious Angels. Insomuch that Augustine speaking of Satan hath these words victus in patibulo qui vicerat in par adiso, He is now overcome in the blood of his Cross, that did first overcome in the garden of paradise.  
The Apostle affirms we are bought with a price. I confess we are reconciled with a price, a great price, the price of blood, whilst the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him, and his stripes were our healing; for it cost him dear, and whatsoever he got for us, he purchased at a very high rate; our peace with his own travel, our freedom with his own bondage, our favour with his own disgrace, our comfort with his own punishment, our welcome and reception with his own contempt and dereliction, a strange dereliction, a grievious dereliction, that made him cry, and lift up his voice, with anguish of heart and agony of Spirit, Eli, Eli, lammasabachthani, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  
Now me thinks, I stand amazed at the love of God that hath reconciled us with the death of his Son, the bitter death of his only begotten Son, at the love of Christ that hath reconciled us with his blood, the voluntary effusion of his own most precious blood. What shall he not do for us, now we are made friends and righteous, that did so much for us being enemies and sinners, dabit tibi bona sua qui pertulit mala tua, saith learned Augustine. He must needs bestow his rest upon us that hath taken his burdens upon himself.  
The truth is, his death is available unto life, his life is available unto glory, his death plucks us out of Satan's hands, his life puts us into God's hand, and the protection of his majesty. We are absolved by his death, we shall be advanced by his life, we are saved by his death, we shall be kept by his life never to departed from the obedience of his truth, when he shall have bound us to himself with everlasting mercy, in a threefold cord of faith, hope, and charity, 
— Quem nec satanae it a nec ignis, Nec ferrum potuit, nec edax abolexe vetustas.  as the Poet hath it in another sense, which no force shall be able to break, no age to consume, no power to dissolve, nor yet the gates of hell ever to prevail against.  
It is recorded of St Bernard, in his life Guilielmus, when Satan came to him in his sickness, and thought to drive him to despair with remembrance of his sins, that he was much troubled at first, but afterwards gathering strength, said unto him, non sum aignus etc. I confess, I am not worthy of myself, neither can I expect to enter heaven by any righteousness of my own, but Christ hath a double right unto that glorious kingdom, one of inheritance by the father, another of purchase by his passion. That of inheritance he keeps to himself, and rests in it; that of purchase he gives to me, and I lay hold on it with faith and confidence. At these words the enemy was confounded and vanished away: but the holy father was much comforted, and triumphed exceedingly in the merits of his Saviour. By this we learn to cast ourselves upon God for eternal safety, with a perfect abdication of humane infirmity; and may justly Condemn the vanity of such as go from the Sun to the Moon, from the lord to our lady, from the fountain of living waters, to the broken cistern of humane emptiness, and from the protection of our Saviour, to the mediation of any creature, from the temple of God to the temple of idols, from the sacrifice of Christ and the satisfaction of his death, to the shrines of Diana, or the rotten sepulchres of the most holy Martyrs. These I might argue, and these I might condemn, but that indeed they are not so much to be refuted with care and deliberation, as to be exploded with scorn and derision.  
The use I shall make of this doctrine is a short expostulation out of St Augustine, with à quanta iniquitas? quanta perversitas & c? If the peace of our souls, and the reconcilement of our natures be the price of blood, the blood of Christ, the true Son of the everliving God: what a pravity, what injustice, what a frenzy, what a madness is it, to sell again those souls unto the Devil for a little gain, a little pleasure, a little smoke, a little honour, or any the like shadow of outward means and temporal felicity, which God hath purchased to himself with extreme pain, and infinite misery?  
The Argument which the Apostle frames is most considerable, and worthy of observation, ye are bought with a price, and are not your own. Your bodies are his, your souls are his, that did emancipate and set them free from the strong man's hand and danger of the enemy: his by creation, his by redemption, his in making, his in reconciling, and therefore he must be glorified in both, and loved of both, that we may delight in him, and he delight in us, that we may rejoice in him, and he may rejoice in us with joy unspeakable and full of glory. For if it be life eternal to know God, what is it to love God? and to have the gracious returns of love from him again? Without controversy; it is the fullness of joy, and the marrow of bliss: as rivers of oil, and floods of peace, whereof the Angels drink most plenteously, and are continually refreshed. And therefore saith chrysostom, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, To love God and to be loved of God, with the sweet reciprocation of mutual dilection is more than a Kingdom to the Saints; the Kingdom of glory, the Kingdom of heaven.  
My dear brethren, I beseech you with the Apostle, or rather I charge you with King Solomon, by the hinds and by the roes, by the mercies of God and bowels of Christ Jesus, by the obedience of his life, by the power of his death, by his Word and by his Gospel, by his Sacraments, and by his ordinances, by the blood which he shed for you, and by the Spirit which he sent to you, that he might lead you into all truth, and make you partakers of a precious inheritance amongst the Saints in glory,  Custodite animas & nulli credite raso. 
keep your souls with all diligence, and let nothing draw you from the love of Christ Jesus, cleave to the Lord with all perseverance, and what God hath joined let no man sever. In vain do we renew the league of divine friendship, if we do not hold it inviolably, without provocation of great offence. The fathers would have Caudam hostiae, as well as Caput hostiae, both head and rump to be offered, no less in spiritual sacrifices, than heretofore in the just performance of legal observances. The precious robe of Christian holiness ought to be like the embroidered Coat of the Patriarch Joseph, which is said to be talaris, down to the feet and below the ankles: that we may adhere constantly to the Lord, and finish our Course in the perfection of holiness. It is a great interest we have in God by means of this present union; labour to improve it, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit; whereby ye are not only joined and coupled, but Sealed and confirmed unto the time of your redemption. Christ says, ye are made whole, sinne no more, lest a worse thing come unto you. I say, ye are made friends, sinne no more, lest a worse thing come unto you, when the house of your Soul, and tabernacle of your Conscience being swept and garnished, may draw many unclean spirits in, and the end prove worse, than your beginning. Are ye not washed? are ye not cleansed? are ye not reconciled? are ye not justified? are ye not cured? are ye not healed? are ye not renewed? are ye not sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus; and by the Spirit of our God? Christ hath obtained for you the remission of your sins, and Christ hath put on you the garment of his righteousness, that ye may find grace in the sight of God, and be adopted into the family of his dearest children, with all the Company of his elect Angels. Beware then of relapsing into sin, and take heed there be not found among you a heart of unbelief, to departed from the living God. O let not the poison of sin, abide in you, because the love of God hath abounded towards you: but hate it as a Serpent, and embrace him that hath taken away the sting. Avoid it as a Siren, and hold what you have, that no man take away your Crown, the Crown of your life, the Crown of your rejoicing, whereby we are enabled to cry with the Apostle, and to sing triumphantly, with joy in God through our Lord Jesus, by whom we have now received the atonement.  
And so I come to my last observation, The result or extraction, of delight and glory, exultation and jucundity. Which indeed is pleasing and may serve for application of all that hath been spoken, In Deogloriamur, we joy in God.  
Saul had a Jonathan, David an Absalon, and Paul himself a beloved Timothy, and a dear Philemon; wherein they took much pleasure and delight. But God alone is the joy of our hearts, and the Solace of our Spirits, that hath called us to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus. And doubtless we may very well joy in God, that enjoy so much from God, in temporal mercies, spiritual graces, outward benedictions, and inward refections, that fill our souls with marrow and fatness. For to speak in the words of Solomon, The winter is past, the showers are gone, the singing of Birds is come, and the flowers appear in our land: Choice flowers of grace and peace, truth and righteousness, whereof we may compose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (as St chrysostom speaks) a thousand garlands of divine celebrities, and tripudiant gratulations. He that turned water into wine before his death, turned blood into wine, at his death; the blood of his Cross into the wine of gladness, the blood of his passion into the wine of consolation: A sweet wine, a pleasant wine, the mulsum of grace, and the mustum of his Spirit, (for so I promise you, St Bernard terms it,) reserved for the marriage of the lamb, and kept as 'ttwere in the wine cellars of the King: that we may be cheered and wholly forget the vanities of the world, the pleasures of sin, the lusts of the flesh, and the lures of Satan.  
For indeed, he is the right object of humane Comfort, most absolute and complete, most adequate and perfect, that can satisfy the heart of man, and fill every corner of that winding Labyrinth with delicious Content. We joy in him, and we joy of him, in him for the grace of present adoption, of him for the hope of future exaltation to ourselves and to our brethren: In him simply, as he is God in himself, of infinite power and incomprehensible majesty, in him respectively as he is God to us of infinite goodness, and unspeakable mercy; In him as a God, in him as a Father, in him as a Lord, in him as a Saviour, that we are his, and that he is ours, by the gracious stipulations of Evangelicall promises, Our God and our Father, our Lord and our Saviour, the Author of peace and everlasting tranquillity, the donor of life and immortal glory; which makes the spouse rejoice with melody, and sing with jubilee, my beloved is mine, and I am his. He feedeth among the lilies, the white Souls and pure Consciences of men Sanctified with the Spirit of holiness.  
Aeneas Silvius used to say (as 'tis recorded in his life by Platina) nullum gaudium sine virtute solidum, there Can be no solid joy without the exercise of virture. Had it been said without the love of God in Jesus Christ, it had been spoken most divinely. Some joy in their strength but that is Carnal, some joy in their wisdom but that is imperfect, some joy in their treasure but that is deceitful, some joy in their greatness and honour but that is inconstant and sometimes mutable, and therefore we joy in God that are endeared to him, and have received the benefit of divine atonement. Our heart doth rejoice, and our flesh doth rejoice in God, the living God, that makes us a rejoicing, and Creates us a very joy, through Christ his Son, and the powerful working of his Continual intercession.  
The original word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is most emphatical, and impleyes a kind of joy more than ordinary, even gestient gladness, and triumphant glory: I know not whether I should call it an exultation, or an insultation, because it makes us insult over the adversary, and triumph over the enemy, laughing at his destruction, and exposing him openly, as the Grecian did, of whom the verse goes,  
Ter circum Iliacos raptaverat Hectoramuros,  
for by this, we do not only joy in God, but we joy over that which may annoy our souls, and trample on it with derision and contempt. Not unlike our blessed Saviour, when he bruised the head of the Serpent, and broke the head of the Leviathan in the midst of the waters; sporting with him that sported therein, with the staff of his Cross, and the rod of his power, his eternal power and Godhead, Rom. 1. Who then shall lay any thing to our charge? It is God that justifieth, who shall condemn? It is Christ that died. yea rather which is risen again, and sits at the right hand of God, and makes intercession for us, as we have it in that brave challenge, graciously set down, and courageously sent forth by that Champion of God, and trumpet of the Gospel, the Doctor of the Gentiles, and vessel of election, in plain scorn and open defence of spiritual wickedness in highest places.  
We joy in God, we joy over death, we joy in God, we joy over sin, we joy in God, we joy over the grave, we joy in God, we joy and crow, (as it were) over hell and Satan, with all the powers of that infernal kingdom, and may safely tread upon Serpents and Scorpions, (as the Apostles did) without hurt and danger, in the name of Christ, and strength of our redeemer, that hath set up his cross, as a glorious Trophy in the midst of the Nation, to the everlasting reproach and eternal confusion of the Dragon and his angels. Of this we have both an emblem and example: an Emblem in the woman that was clothed with the Sun, and had the Moon under her feet: an example in the Apostle when he broke forth into that triumphant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Oh death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law: but thanks be to God who hath given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore saith God by the mouth of his Servant, Qui gloriatur, in me glorietur; let him that glorieth, glory in me, that he understandeth me, and that he knoweth me, who showeth mercy, and judgement, and righteousness upon the earth, Jer. 9  
Give me leave then to put you in mind of those everlasting joys, which shall never be taken from you, not of meat and of drink, not of harp and viol, in the luxury of the greatest feasts, but of God and of Christ, the Word and his Spirit, Quo nihil speciosius, quo nihil pretiosius, in the sweet language of that incomparable Father: than which nothing is more amiable and specious for grace and beauty, nothing more admirable and precious for substance and value, lest it be said of you, as it was of the Pharisees, Luk. 7. 32. Cantavimus, & non Saltastis, we have Piped unto you, but ye have not Danced, we have Sung unto you, but ye have not rejoiced; you may peradventure have joyed in the pleasant noise of musical instruments, ye have not rejoiced at the Word of God, and sound of his Gospel, in sober dances of Spiritual rejoicings: with this he is pleased, with that he is grieved: in this he is glorified, in that he is dishonoured, and sometimes mightily blasphemed.  
I will not deny, but that we may rejoice in the outward comforts of humane life, and take pleasure in the very creature, joy in health, joy in beauty, joy in wealth, joy in safety, joy in Arts and Sciences, Tongues and Languages, friends and favours, privileges and preferments, the gifts of nature and the graces of the Spirit, whereby we are enabled to promote the honour of God and benefit of his Servants. In these we may rejoice, in these we may triumph, as they are blessings of our heavenly Father and pledges of his love: so it be with a twofold Caution and respect: the one of thankfulness, in the right acknowledgement of divine bounty, from whence they come; the other of subordination in the real intendment of divine glory, whereunto they run. For that is finis debitus, as Aquinas speaks, and aught to be the main aim of our best faculties and most eminent perfections. In this sense we interpret the words of St Paul, and are to understand that deprecation of the Apostle; God forbidden I should rejoice in any thing, but the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: not primarily and wholly, but conditionally and moderately in order to Christ and the advancement of his glory.  
And therefore, as Aristotle said, when they brought him two sorts of wine, the one from Rhodes, the other from Lesbos, with allusion to his Scholars, Menedemus and Theophrastus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 etc. That of Rhodes is good, but this of Lesbos is the sweeter: So do I profess of earthly joy and heavenly joy, corporal joy and spiritual joy, the joy of the Creature, and the joy of the Creator: that may be good, this is better, that may be pleasant, this is sweeter, that may be useful, this is needful, and such as aught most to be desired.  
Feign would I draw you to it, that your hearts may rejoice, and your joy may be full, when that which is perfect shall come, and that which is imperfect shall be done away. For in his presence, there is fullness of joy, and at his right hand there are pleasures for ever more. But where I fail, let Augustine go on, and make supply with his gaudete in one of his Sermons de Verbis Domini, Gaudete in Domino, non in saeculo: Gaudete in veritate, non in falsitate: Gaudete in spe aeternitatis, non in store vanitatis: rejoice in the Lord, not in the world: rejoice in the truth, not in falsehood; rejoice in the hope of life and glory, not in the flower and flourish of Pride, and of vanity. All this is strongly enforced by the Word of God, which indeed is mighty in operation, and sharper than a two edged sword, to divide betwixt the Soul and the Spirit, the joints and the marrow, the world and your heart, the earth and your affections. I might send you to the Prophet David for ample direction, who writes many Psalms of this argument, with a jubilate in Deo, O be joyful in the Lord, all ye Lands, serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song: And with a Venite, exultemus in Domino, O Come let us sing unto the Lord, let us hearty rejoice in the strength of our Salvation, let us come before his presence with , and show ourselves glad in him with Psalms. But I shall leave you to a shorter compendium out of the Apostle, Philip. 4. 4. where he gives you a double charge, and bids you rejoice in the Lord, with an Iterum dico, Again, I say rejoice: that he may awake you from the dreams of secular fancies, and bring you to the joys of Spiritual ecstasies. I scarce remember a place in the Volume of this Book, of greater emphasis, that doth more insinuate into the heart of men, with a sweeter Echo of forcible ingemination, and pathetical instruction, than what I last spoke unto, rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice.  
Therefore I wish it may have a deep impression with you, and be as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, never to be removed and forgotten, that yet may affect it, and that it may lift you up, from worldly desires and earthly Cogitations, as the Spirit did Ezekiel, when it took him by a lock of the hair, and brought him to Jerusalem, lift you up, and bring you on to Jerusalem, the vision of peace, the fruition of bliss, the new Jerusalem, the celestial Jerusalem; Jerusalem which is above; the Mother of us all. Where amongst other songs and doxologies of praise and  we may remember this, and sing aloud upon our beds, with patriarchs and Prophets; with Apostles and Evangelists, with Martyrs and Confessors, with Saints and Angels, We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Which the Lord Grant for Christ his sake, to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit, three persons and one God be ascribed all Power, Majesty, and Dominion now and for ever, AMEN.  
FINIS.