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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34165	A Compleat collection of farewel sermons preached by Mr. Calamy, Dr. Manton, Mr. Caryl ... [et al.] ; together with Mr. Ash his funeral sermon, Mr. Nalton's funeral sermon, Mr. Lye's rehearsal ... with their several prayers.	Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666.; Manton, Thomas, 1620-1677.; Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.; Nalton, James, 1600-1662.; Lye, Thomas, 1621-1684.; Ashe, Simeon, d. 1662.	1663 (1663)	Wing C5638; ESTC R8646	623,694	660

that I should be charged with such a horrid impiety as this Oh but Brethren the very truth is it is a very common thing by interpretation to give the lye to God and all that do not believe according to that Gospel-believing that you have heard do tell God to his face that he is a Liar How doth that appear Why take a little help such I am able to give you To profess that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God that he came to be the Saviour of the World is ordered out to be our Righteousness is sent of God to preach Liberty to captives to heal diseased souls and to deliver poor creatures from the bondage of the Devil these things people generally profess to believe but mark you now they never come to Christ nor never set in with him upon this account and to this purpose O Lord thou art the Jesus the Anointed of God I come to thee for life I am a poor dead creature I am in a state of unrighteousness and thou art given to be for righteousness Lord I flye to thee for it I am a poor diseased creature the Plague is set upon my soul and thou art appointed to heal the Soul of the Plague I come to thee for healing There is not one of thousands that come thus to Christ Will you now see how the lye is given to God I profess for my part saith one I know no such matter Jesus is the Christ and I profess to believe so and he is appointed of God for such and such things he is sent to preach liberty to the captives I know not that there is such bondage Christ came to save sinners alas I know no need of any such salvation by him he came to heal diseased Souls I am well enough what need have I of Christ What is this but to give the lye to God He that receives not Christ makes God a liar for he doth in effect say Lord thou sayest so and so concerning the World I know nothing of all this and so the lye is given to God And is it nothing to give the lye to the great God the God of Truth And I tell you while you profess this Jesus to be the Christ the Son of God and in the mean time flye not to him you believe him to be the Son of God and that all authority is given unto him and you will not subject to his authority why you give the lye to God and is this nothing 2. Consider the sad condition of such as believe not according to a right Gospel-believing they are such as are liable to the dreadfulest touches from the Devil that possibly can be He that believeth is born of God overcomes the World and is enabled to keep himself that the wicked one doth not touch him with a mortiferous touch But I tell thee whatever thou art that are under the power of unbelief thou are in danger of a dreadful touch from the Prince of Darkness And if thou livest and diest in a state of unbelief thou wilt fall under the power of condemnation I remember what our Saviour speaks and consider well of it You stand out in opposition to my Doctrine but I tell you Except you believe I am he you shall dye in your sins a dreadful word you shall dye in your sins and what then be damned eternally this is the condition of all such as are in a state of unbelief But then on the other hand in case we be able to give a good account of our believing that Jesus is Christ the Son of God and of our believing on him concerning whom these Testimonies are given Oh what cause have all such to rejoyce in their condition the condition of such persons is happy beyond all expression and comprehension that have owned these Truths owned that Jesus of whom these faithful testimonies are given Now all the Chapter according to the account I have given you comes in to the purpose of comforting and rejoycing the hearts of such persons Here is your comfort now really believing according to a right interpretation of Gospel-believing this is your priviledge you are the persons that are born from above you are the persons that shall be enabled to overcome the world to bear up against all opposition that Men and Devils can make against you you are the persons that have the witness within you and you shall be able to bear up against all the contradictions of sinners you are the persons that have Christ and have eternal life by him you shall have it nay you have it already He that believeth on the Son of God hath eternal life he hath it in the beginnings of it and shall have it in the compleat state of it being brought over to Gospel-believing you may come with boldness to God in a way of Prayer with holy confidence that whatever else you ask believing you shall have a good account of it God doth not neglect any believing Prayer of a believing Soul And all the priviledges of the Gospel are entailed upon you and you are entitled unto them and you shall have the benefit of them while you live and when you dye unto all eternity well may it be said of such a person Blessed is be and she that hath believed with a Gospel-believing Gospel-Truths and Testimonies concerning Christ and on Christ on whom those Testimonies are given for there shall be a full and perfect accomplishment of what ever God hath spoken with his mouth concerning such And then lastly if the Grace of God hath brought us over to a closing with Christ of whom these Truths and Testimonies are given why the last branch of the explication is but this That you would but justifie your believing and labour to manifest the reality of your believing according to the Gospel by a suitable walking this is that that shall be the closing up of this application Oh Brethren let us consider well our Saviour tells us in Matth. 11. Wisdom is justified of her Children Why if ever we mean to approve our selves to be Wisdoms Children our care must be for to give in our Justification of Wisdoms sayings and for to carry it in a congruousness and suitableness unto that Gospel-believing which we profess to be by grace brought over to Why but what is that you will say why consider the Text and see what remains of the Chapter I shall make it our give it out to you in this way Why first of all this one special duty that lies upon you That you would study your mercy and know what God hath been to you and done for you and how highly you are dignified and not be always in a fluctuating state and upon the questioning and disputing point but to come to some well grounded confidence that you may be able to say We know that this and that is our condition and this and that is our dignified priviledge that we are planted under Do but

convinced of the need and want of Christ but such as have been partakers of the Spirit of Christ as a sanctifying Spirit labour after communion with him as a comforting Spirit and to this end I shall stir you up to this 1. By way of Motive 2. By way of Comfort First by way of Motive Though you have some comfort it is but little in comparison of what you may have and in comparison of what you may stand in need of though a Saint would not change the saddest hour of his life for the sweetest hour in his former condition If the Saints of God did enjoy the comforts that they might oh what blessed lives might they live but they are so full of trouble as if there were no Holy Ghost the Comforter The people of God are oftentimes troubled without a cause as that holy man Why art thou cast down oh my soul He could not render a true account of his trouble he was sad but he could not tell why or wherefore 2. When there is cause they are apt to be troubled without measure In those cases where it is a sin not to be troubled at all the people of God are apt to be troubled over-much as the Israelites in their bondage in Egypt It were a sin for them not to be troubled but they were so full of troubles that they could not hearken to Moses and Aaron And so the Disciples in the Text it were a sin for them not to be troubled for the absence of Christs body but so to be troubled as if God could not comfort them without him this was their weakness And to come to our Cases it were a sin to slight this Dispensation of God that is coming upon us if we should not be troubled for the loss of the Ministers of Jesus Christ but to mourn before God under the sense of this Dispensation to mourn so much as to think that when these are gone all are gone to be so much troubled as not to hearken to the words of the Text That we have a Comforter I remember an admirable expression of a Child to his Mother when his Father was dead to shew That out of the mouths of Babes and Sucklings God can manifest his praise Why Mother says the Child though my Father be dead yet God is alive May not I say so to you Though your Ministers be as it were naturally dead yet is not God alive Is not the Spirit of God alive Though you have some comfort yet you have little in comparison of what you may have if you seek for it 2. Study the excellent nature of the comfort how little soever a man hath of this spiritual comfort it will sweeten his condition be it what it will be When a Man hath communion with the spirit God he hath comfort in all conditions then though a mans condition be never so bad yet it is very good H●b 3.17 Though the Fig-tree shall not blossome though the fruit be not in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall cease and the Fields shall yeild no meat the Flocks shall be cut off from the Fold and there shall be no Herd in the Stalls yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation He can fetch Hope and ground his Faith upon the Promises though the Providences and Dispensations of God be never so mysterious the comfort of the Spirit doth make up the want of all other comforts The comforts of Ordinances are sweet comforts Sermon-comforts are sweet comforts Sacrament-comforts are sweet comforts Ah but the comfort of the Spirit can supply the want of all these All outward crosses cannot hinder these inward comforts a man that hath these inward comforts may have a Feast with bread and water a little of this comfort is able to sweeten a whole Ocean of sorrow In the multitude of my th●ughts with●n me thy comfort delight my Soul Psal 94.10 So that when the hearts of God's people are filled with sad thoughts what will become of themselves what will become of their Families what will become of the Church of God what will become of the Ministery of the Gospel and of the Ordinances of Christ they are full of sad fears and distracting thoughts when they have a multitude of thougts in the midst of all these spiritual comforts can comfort and refresh the Soul Oh labour after a greater share of this comfort God hath cast us upon sad times wherein we shall have need of more than ordinary comfort We are like to have troubles without if we have not peace within it will be very sad we are like to lose much of Christ's bodily presence I mean in his Ordinances how many of those Messengers that present the person of Christ and stand in his stead If we should not enjoy the other comforter our estates would be doleful If we have darkness without and darkness within how sad will that darkness be 3. Labour to get more communion from the Spirit of God This will raise and sublimate your natural comforts and turn them into Spiritual comforts A man can never relish these outward comforts till he come to taste the ravishment and sweetness of the holy Ghost till he taste the love of God these give them a higher lustre than the men of the world though they enjoy much comfort yet they do not enjoy half that a child of God doth the little that the righteous hath is better than the great revenues of the wicked to a Child of God a dinner of green hearbs is more savoury and pleasant to him than the stalled Ox because a Child of God hath better sauce with it Worldly men they smell to their flowers it is the only godly man that sucks out the honey that all things are given to him in love out of this he sucks comfort A gracious heart sees all these outward comforts that they are purchased with the bloud of Christ and therefore these should do him good and he may take comfort that he hopes for what he hath not as wel as for what he may have and he may take comfort in his condition be it what it will he sees all is for his good such a one believeth what he readeth not So he believeth Gods ways are ways of Truth though some more sweet and some more bitter 4. Labor after communion with the Spirit in his comforing work is another This is the best preservative against all intanglements of sin whatsoever It is a great hour of temptation and if our comforts do do not lie above the world we shall be greatly insnared by the world If a man eat sweet-meats he cannot relish ordinary food so while these sweet comforts lie upon the soul he cannot relish these ordinary things in the world What do you tempt me with those things saith a child of God What are these to the comforts of the Holy God The heart of man will seek comfort one way or

sanctified THe words are part of St. Paul's Farewel-Sermon or Discourse to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus one of those famous seven Churches of Asia that we read of in the Book of the Revelations It is not to be doubted as Calvin doth comment upon the place but though the Apostle speak immediately to the Elders yet he doth comprehend the whole Church in the Speech Our holy Apostle had been a long time with the Church preaching among them taking pains with them both in publick and private as you may see in the 20 verse and declares to them the whole counsel of God verse 27. and now being called away taken off by Divine Provividence by the will of his Master the last and best office that he thought he could do for them was to commit them to the care of God and to leave them in his arms and to recommend them to his Grace It would be more then the time would permit to look over the whole Apostles Sermons which is partly Narrative and partly consolatory Narrative to put them in mind in what manner he had preached to them from ver 17. to ver 27. and it is partly consolatory from the 27. to the Text wherein the Apostle could hold no longer but his love constrains him and makes him break forth into the pathetical wish or rather prayer And now Brethren I commend you to his Grace As if he had said I am just now going from you not knowing that I shall see your face any more now I am a dying man as to my conversing with you any more Now I am departing this is the best Legacy I can bequeath unto you To commend you to God and to his Grace And if he speaks to persons as standing in the same relation with God and Christ and having the same Faith and the same elder Brother As if he should have said You are as dear to me as my own flesh a●●if you were my Brethren by Consanguinity and it is my sorrow that I must leave you but as it is my greatest grief to part with you and must leave you yet this is the comfort that I shall leave you in safe hands I do not leave you to the wide world I do not leave you as Orphans without a Father as Sheep without a Shepheard but I commend you to God and his Grace O happy words Though I must leave you yet I trust God who is able will keep you As God is present every where by his Essence so by his gracious presence more especially God is present with his people I commit yon I commend you to God I commit you to his care to his keeping so the word signifies so Pavenelus interprets the words I trust you with God I leave you as a Depositum in Gods hands as a dying man leaves his Children in a Friends hands to look after them as Christ did his Mother in Johns hands So the Apostle leaves the Ephesians in the hands of God and the Word of his Grace that is the Gospel that he had declared to them The Word of God in Scripture is often called his Grace 2 Cor. 6. Eph. 3.5 because it is a declaration of the free Grace of God to poor souls and because it is the Spirits instrument to work grace in the hearts of sinners This is remarkable That after the Apostle had recommended them to God he adds this word of his grace He doth not think it enough to mention Recommending them to God but to the Word of his grace The expression is not for Euphoniae gratia it is no tautology it is not for more than needs but to shew how needful and necessary the word of Gods grace is as well to the building up as for the converting poor sinners and though God can build up a Saint immediately yet ordinarily he doth it not but by the Word of his Grace which is able to build you Beza and Calvin refer this clause to God answering to that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 9.18 God is able to cause all grace to abound in you But Erasmus refers this word to the Word of Gods Grace which is able to build you up And this Construction is favoured by those two places of Scripture and may very well be meant both in 2 Tim. 3.15 Jam. 1.21 both which places attribute to the Word of God as this doth And in the second place Receive with meckness the ingrafted Word which is able to save your souls So that both these words may be referred to this cause The word of God and the Word of his Grace to God as the Principle and to the Word of his Grace as the Instrumental cause to build them up As much as if he had said I commend you to the Grace of God which is able to build you up The Apostle tells them that he left them to such a God as through the Gospel was sufficient to build them up till he brought them to the full fruition of the Saints in light The Apostle commends this to his Church that were ready to weep and fay at his departure O Paul God hath made thee a happy Instrument of laying a good Foundation among us of doing a great deal of good to our souls and we may bless God that ever we saw thy face but now alas thou art going from us we are afraid all thy pains will come to nothing we should hope that if God had pleased to continue thee among us then we should have been built up and surely if God had intended good to us and brought us to Heaven at last he would not have taken thee from us No sayes the Apostle be not discouraged though I leave you yet I commit you to God and to the word of his Grace If I be here it is God alone that must build you up I am but a poor weak Instrument in the hand of God And when I am gone God can build you up by some means or other and earry you over or thorow all oppositions temptations and discouragements till he bath fitted you for himself and given you an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified Thus have you the words explained in this familiar Paraphrase and being thus opened you may take notice that The words hold forth the special care of this blessed Apostle of Jesus Christ Though he must leave them yet he takes care to leave them in safe hands that was able to give a good account of them You have the Apostle making a deed of trust for the securement of the Saints at Ephesus after his departure or if you will you have the Apostles last Will and Testament 1. You have the Person making over this Trust St. Paul 2. You have the Trust it self and those were the Saints at Ephesus 3. You have the Trustees those to whom the Trust is committed and they are two-fold 1. To God 2. To the Word of his Grace 3. Here is the time of making this