is our reasonable Service. And lastly, to conclude, we must offer our most hearty and affectionate Thanks to God Almighty, for that incomprehenfible Inftance of his Love, in fending Chrift Jefus to us, to be our Saviour; for his wonderful Birth, for his Holy Life, for his precious Death, for his glorious Refurrection and Afcenfion, and for his Interceffion for us, at the Right Hand of God.

And, O thou Bleffed Saviour! that haft done all this for us, give us fuch a lively Sense of thy marvellous Love, in leaving thy Glory, and taking Human Flesh upon thee, that thou mightèst dwell among us, and inftruct us in cur Duty, and affift us in the Performance of it, and encourage us thereto by the glorious Hopes of a never-dying Life, and at laft make thyself an Offering for our Sins! O let these Things fink fo deeply in our Minds, and fo wholly poffefs our Hearts, that we may entirely give up ourselves to thee! That we may, with our whole Souls, embrace all thy Doctrines and Revelations: That we may endeavour in all our Actions, to conform ourfelves to thy Example; and make it the Bufinefs of our Lives, to be obedient to thy Precepts, to fubmit to thy Will, and to be contented to be difpofed of by thee, in all the Circumstances of our Lives. O let nothing in thy Religion, ever be an Offence to us! But enable us to hold the Profeffion of our Faith, in thee, without wavering, in all the Tryals and Difficulties thou shalt think fit to expose us to; that fo in Faith and Obedience, in Patience

Z 4

and

and Perfeverance, we may ever wait for, and at laft obtain that Crown of Righteousneß, which thou haft laid up for all that love thee, and expect thy Second and more Glorious Appearance.

To Thee, O Eternal Son of God, thou great Lover of Mankind; To Thee, who tookeft upon thee to deliver Man, and didft not abhor the Virgin's Womb; To Thee, who overcameft the Sharpnes of Death, and didft open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers: To Thee, O moft dear, O most beloved, O moft adorable Jesus! be for ever given by us, and by all the Souls whom thou haft Redeemed, and by all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth, All Honour, and Glory, and Praife, all Service and Love, and Obedience, henceforth and for evermore.

SER

SERMON XII.

Preached before the

QUEEN,

AT

WHITE-HALL,

On EASTER-DAY, 1692.

PHIL. iii. 10.

That I may know him, and the Power of his Refurrection.

W

E fhall eafily fee the Design of these Words, and what ufe we are to make of them, if we look at their Connexion with the Difcourfe that goes before. S.Paul in this Chapter, fets himself to fhew the Excellency, and the great Advantages of the Knowledge of Jefus Chrift; and how inconfiderable, how unworthy to be named in Comparison therewith, all those Things were, that the Jews his Countrymen fo much gloried in. His Difcourfe, upon this Occafion, is fo very Remarkable, that it will be worth our while to run over the Particulars of it.

I

I alfo (faith he in the 4th Verfe) might have confidence in the Flefb. If any other Man thinketh that he hath whereof he might truft in the Flesh, I more. As if he had faid, Think not, O Philippians, that I therefore fpeak lightly of those Privileges and Advantages, which the Jews among you so much boaft of, upon this Account, because I have none of them myself: No, on the contrary, if I would value myself upon fuch outward carnal Things, I have as much Reason as any. Nay, there is not a Few among you, that, perhaps, can fay fo much on his own behalf, in this respect, as I

can.

For (as he goes on in the 5th and 6th Verfes) I was Circumcifed the Eighth Day of the Stock of Ifrael, of the Tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; As touching the Law, a Pharifee: Concerning Zeal, perfecuting the Church: Touching the Righteousneß which is by the Law, blameleß.

That is to fay; I have not only the Character of a Son of Abraham upon me, being Circumcifed; but I am alfo of the Race of Ifrael, which all the Circumcifed Children of Abraham are not.

Nay, further, I am an Ifraelite of the Tribe of Benjamin; that Benjamin which our Father Ifrael fo dearly loved, and of that Tribe, which, together with Judah, kept firm to the House of David, and the true Religion, when the other Ten Tribes revolted.

Nay, more, I am an Hebrew of the Hebrews: Not fprung from Profelytes, as many among

you

you are, but all my Ancestors, both by Father and Mother, being natural born Jews.

And then, as to my Profeffion in Religion, it was the ftricteft among the Jews; for I was a Pharifee. And you all know, that Sect of all others to be the most eminent for the Reputation of Preciseness and Sanctity..

Neither did I in my Zeal for the Law of Moses come short of the ftrictest Pharifee that is among you; for who was more bufie, more eager, more violent in perfecuting Christianity, than I was?

And lastly, Tofum up all, As to the Righteoufneẞ which is by the Law, I am blameleß. So punctual have I always been, in observing the Precepts of Mofes his Law, that none can reprove me in that Point; but I may truly, in the Jewish Notion of Righteousneß, be accounted a Righteous Person.

But now, am I much the better for all these Things? Have I any great Reason to glory upon the Account of them? No, verily, (as he goes on in the 7th Verfe) but what Things were Gain to me, thofe I counted Lofs for Christ. All these outward Advantages, my Birth, my Profeffion, my Sect, my Reputation, my ftri& Way of Living, which might have proved very beneficial to me, in all worldly Respects, when I once came to the Knowledge of the Christian Religion, I defpifed them all: For in Truth, I found that they were so far from being real Advantages to me, that they were rather Hindrances in the way of Vertue and Piety.

Tea,