is withered away in time of heate yet that which falleth into an vpright heart as it were good ground is neither choked nor withered but bringeth foorth fruite with patience The way then to die in Christ is to liue in him by a true and vnfained faith which purifieth the heart and worketh by loue walking vprightly as it becommeth the members of Christ in the sincere profession of his faith so shall we in the end of our life attaine to the end of our faith which is the saluation of our soules Many there are which could be content to die in Christ who care not to liue in him Many with Balaam desire to die the death of the righteous but leade the life of the wicked But be not deceiued it is an old saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of an euill life coÌ„monly there is an euill end Presume not that thou shalt die in Christ vnlesse first thou liue in him In all the Scripture there is but one example of a man who after a wicked life was conuerted at the houre of his death One there is that men should not then despaire and but one that they should not before hand presume And forasmuch as nothing is either more certaine than death or more vncertaine than the time thereof it behoueth vs carefully to prouide whiles wee haue time to be in Christ that death whensoeuer it commeth may finde vs in him Let our life be a preparation for death and let this be the chiefest care of our life that wee may be found in Christ at the time of our death This life as our Sauiour saith is the day wherein we are to worke afterward is the night when no man can worke or turne vnto God but as the tree falleth so it lieth and as the day of death doth leaue vs the day of iudgement shall finde vs. This therefore must teach vs not to deferre from day to day our repentance towards God and faith in Iesus Christ but presently whiles it is called to day to turne vnto the Lord that wee may bee in Christ to day before to morow because wee haue none assurance that wee shall liue vntill the morow And so much may suffice to haue spoken of the first and chiefe point namely who they are which heere bee pronounced blessed to wit they which die in the Lord. Now are we in the second place briefely to consider what this blessednes is and wherein it doth consist This is shewed in the words following that they rest from their labours and their workes follow with them So that their happines is two-fold first priuatiue in that they rest from their labors and molestations for there is a sabbaâ—sme or rest reserued to the people of God Hebr. 4. 9. whereof the Sabbath was a type For then the Lord shall wipe away all teares from their eyes and they shall be no more subiect to sinne or the punishment therof as sicknes weaknes mortalitie labour wearines troubles wrongs death Death is the hauen and the end of al misery vnto them But their happines is not meerely priuatiue like that of beasts which after death haue no more sense of paine where by the way we are to note that the state of the beast when it dieth is better then of the wickâ—d who die in their sinnes but it is also positiue For their workes that is the reward of their faith and obedience 〈◊〉 God shall croâ—ne with euerlasting happines shall 〈◊〉 â—th â—hem This doth teach vs that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good 〈◊〉 cannot merit â—ny thing 〈◊〉 tâ—e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God as Christ himselfe hath tâ—ld 〈◊〉 Luke 17. and â—ch 〈◊〉 eternall 〈◊〉 and therefore 〈◊〉 are not said to go before our acceptation to eternall 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 cause but follow as fruits yet the Loâ— of his free grace according to his promise doth plentifully reward them The consideration wherof as it must encourage vs all to be fruitfull in good works knowing that our labour shall not been vaine in the Lord so especially those whoÌ„ the Lord hath enriched with his blessings whether temporall or spirituall that they be rich in good workes laying vp for themselues a good foundation against the time to come that they may obtaine eternall life Againe whereas it is said that the workes of the faithfull do accompanie them after death this sheweth that although death strippe vs of all temporall things yet it doth not bereaue vs of our workes but bringeth vs the reward of them And that when all our friends and followers and all other worldly either delights or commodities doe faâ—e and forsake vs yâ— our workes doe follow with vs to our â—all comfort Which should make vs to esteeme the keeping of faith and a good conscience aboue all the things of this world Now what this reward is which God hath prepared for these that die in Christ though neither the eye hath seene nor the eare heard nor the heart of man conceiued yet thus much we may gather out of the Scriptures that it shall consist in eternall and most perfect glory and gladnes The glory standing partly in the excellency of those heauenly gifts wherewith they shall be adorned being in respect thereof like vnto the Angels and renewed perfectly according to the glorious image of God yea made conformable to Christ our head in such a proportion of glory as his seueral members bee capable of and partly in the fruition of heauenly blessings as the possession of heauen and all heauenly good things the fellowship of the blessed Saints and Angels and that which is all in all the enioying of God himselfe who is the chiefest good In whose presence there is fulnesse of ioy and at whose right hand there be pleasures for euermore And that is the second thing their eternall ioy and gladnes arising from that glory For as they shall be most happie so shall they reioyce in it with vn speakable and endlesse comfort and in the sense thereof shall euermore bee stirred vp with wonderfull alacrity to glorifie God In expectation of this happie hope we are to liue soberly iustly and holily in this present world For if wee set this ioy before as the marke towards which we contend we will not suffer our selues to be withdrawne from our obedience to God neither by any worldly desires which in comparison hereof are to bee esteemed as meere vanities nor by any terrors of the world which in respect of the ioy that is set before vs wee are to contemne The third thing remaineth that is the time when this blessednes doth belong to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he thenceforth that is from the time of their death and so forward for presently they rest from their labours and their workes follow he doth not say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after them but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with them This therefore is a
vs and the Papists do affirme that whiles we consider the mercies of God and merits of Christ wee haue cause of assurance as the Protestants teach but when wee looke into our selues wee haue iust cause to doubt according to the doctrine of the Papists But I answere if we looke into our selues as we are in our selues considered a part from Christ the best of vs all shal haue iust cause not onely to doubt as the Papists teach but also to despaire Yea it were presumption for a man in that case to make but a doubtfull matter of it But although we are to be humbled in the conceit of our owne vilenes and are not onely to doubt but also to despaire of saluation in our selues wee being not considered as in Christ yet this hindreth not but that wee may and ought to be assured of saluatioÌ„in Christ. For though wee be sinfull in our selues yet are wee the righteousnes of God in Christ though in our selues wee haue broken the law and are therefore subiect to the curse thereof yet in Christ we haue fulfilled the law and are freed from the curse though in our selues we are the children of wrath and seruants of sinne yet in Christ we are the children of God and heires of eternall life As therefore the faithfull most certainly be in Christ so let them learne to conceiue of themselues as they be in Christ that what cause soeuer they haue in themselues to doubt they may in Christ assure themselues of their iustification and saluation Many a one that indeede beleeueth in Christ doth himselfe wrong by not thinking of himselfe as hee is in Christ. For the more assured wee are of Gods loue in Christ the more shall our heart bee enflamed with loue towards God and our brethren for his sake the more zealous we shall be of Gods glorie the more cheerefull in his seruice And that which is the happinesse of a Christian here wee shall leade our liues in the expectation of a better life For the life as it were of this life mortall is the assurance of life immortall Thus you haue heard that the faithfull be in Christ and the vse which wee are to make thereof now wee are to shew that this being in Christ is the ground of our happinesse For it is not our liuing nor our dying in it selfe that maketh vs happie but our being in Christ whilest we liue maketh vs happy beatitudine viae that is with such a happinesse as in this time of our pilgrimage is incident vnto vs whilest we are in the way and our being in Christ when we die maketh vs happie beatitudine patriae that is with complete and eternal felicitie when we comming to the end of our way doe arriue into the hauen of rest and heauen of blisse which is the countrey and kingdom which the Lord hath prepared for all those that be in Christ. Now that our being in Christ is the ground of all our happinesse I shew it thus For first if we be not in Christ we are in the state of damnation And contrariwise the cause why any man is exempted from damnation is because he is in Christ. There is no condemnation saith the Apostle to them that are in Christ Iesus Rom. 8. 1. Secondly If wee be not in Christ wee are dead in our sinnes neither can we do any thing being out of him which belongeth to a spirituall life But being in him we liue in him and he in vs a spirituall life which neuer shall haue end For as in the vnion of the bodie with the soule the bodily life consisteth so in the vnion of the whole man with Christ consisteth our spirituall life And as the bodie seuered from the soule is dead so the whole man seuered from Christ is spiritually dead how liuely or cranke so euer he may seeme to be in respect of the bodily life Thirdly if we be out of Christ we are altogether foolish in respect of spiritual things yea our wisedome is â—mitie against God we are in our serues vniust and guiltie of sinne vnholy and defiled with manifold corruptions and laffly in our selues are bondflaues of fin and Satan but being in Christ he is made vnto vs of God wisedome righteousnes sanctification and redemption For being in Christ wee haue communion with him and he with vs. So that as our sinne was his by imputation so is his obedience ours he being made sinne for vs that we might be the righteousnes of God in him And as his sufferings be ours so ours be his But wee are not onely made partakers of his merits to our iustification but also being in him we are made partakers of his graces vnto sanctification For as the sacred oyle being powred on the head of the high Priest who was a figure of Christ rested not there but descended to his lower parts so the oyle of grace wherewith Christ our head was annointed without measure is from him deriued to his members For of his fulnes wee doc all receiue euen grace for grace Ioh. 1. 16. Fourthly being in Christ we haue not onely communion with him in respect of his merits and efficacie but also haue vnion with him in respect of his person wee being made one with him and hee with vs from which vnion the asortsaid communion doth proceede And therefore in him as our head wee may truly be said to haue fulfilled the law in him wee haue satisfied the iustice of God And that which is more in him are wee not onely risen againe but also are ascended into heauen and set in the heauenly places in Christ Ephes. 2. 6. And our life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3. 3. Al which doe argue the assurance which the faithfull ought to haue of their iustification of resurrection vnto glorie and of eternall life For so long as the head is aboue the waters the other members cannot be drowned so while our head is happie in heauen the saluation of all his members is most sure and certaine Lastly being in Christ we are not only vnited vnto him but in him wee are also vnited to the whole Trinitie and being vnited vnto it we shall haue with it euerlasting fellowship in which fellowship and fruition of God perfect felicitie doth consist Thus haue you heard that the faithfull are in Christ and that all which bee in Christ are happie and blessed Now if we beleeue as our dutie is this vndoubted truth namely that al which by faith are in Christ be blested then will we in our iudgements esteeme and in our affections desire to be in Christ aboue all the things of this world For what is our happinesse that is esteemed and affected of vs as our chiefest good If therefore this be our happinesse to bee in Christ then will wee with the Apostle esteeme all other things as drosse and dung that hauing gained Christ
by the receipt of the Sacrament Againe not long before his speech began to faile him the second and last time hee deliuered as many times hee had done before diuers good and godly speeches Among the former I remember one argument which he vsed to comfort himselfe Christ Iesus saith he who was my Sauiour he and no other shall be my Iudge Among the latter and indeede one of the last that I could vnderstand he professed his vndoubted faith assured hope of saluatiō but as he said trusting only to the mercies of God in Christ Iesus my Sauiour and in that faith as we neede not doubt he ended his life or as the Scripture speaketh he fell asleepe for such indeede was the manner of his death All which premisses being weighed in the ballance of charitie wee may bee bold to conclude according to the iudgement of charitie that hee is in the number of those whom the holy Ghost in this place pronounceth blessed Wherefore though wee haue iust cause to mourne in respect of our selues as namely his graue and vertuous Ladie that the Lord hath taken from her so louing and kinde an husband his nephewes that they be depriued of so wise and prouident a grandfather his welwillers that we are berest of so good a friend the countrie that it hath lost so prudent and carefull a Iusticer and so good a commonwealths man as I said but yet so as that with meekenes and humilitie wee submit our selues to the gracious prouidence of God our heauenly father giuing him leaue to call whom and when it pleaseth him yet in respect of him wee haue little cause to mourne but great cause to be thankfull vnto God for him In that after so many fauours which it pleased the Lord t◠vouchsafe vnto him throughout y e whole course of his life hee hath been now pleased to receiue him into the numbe◠of those whom the holy Ghost heere pronounceth blessed The Lord for h◠mercies sake grant that wee after th◠example of all the faithfull departed may be carefull to liue in the Lord Iesus by a true and a liuely faith that liuing in him wee may die in him and dying in him may be found in him at the resurrection that rising in him we may be glorified with him by the fruition of God himselfe the chiefest good To which most gracious and most glorious God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost be all praise honour and glorie both now and for euer Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The context and coherence * Bellarm. de Pontif. Rom. lib. 3. cap. 10. Reuel 18. 4 In 2. Thess. 2. Ad Algas Quaest. 11. 2. Thess. 2. 10. 11. 12. The text analysed 2. Pet. 1. 19. Reuel 21. 5. Galat. 1. 8. Luke 16. 31. 2. Cor. 11. 14 1. Sam. 28. 12. 1. Cor. 13. 3. Eph. 5. 30. Iohn 15. 2. c. 2 Rom. 6. 3. Gal. 3. 27. Ioh. 6. 56. 1. Cor. 12. 13 3 1. Cor. 1. 30. Ephes. 1. 1. Philip. 1. 〈◊〉 Col. 1. 2. Rom. 〈◊〉 1. 2. Cor. 5. 17. 2. Tim. 3. 12 Gal. 2. 20. 1. Cor. 6. 15. Gal. 3. 13. Ephes. 2. 3. Iohn 1. 12. Rom. 8. 16. Tit. 2. 13. Rom. 8. 1. Ioh. 15. 4. 5. Gal. 2. 20. 1. Ioh. 5. 12. 1. Tim. 5. 6. Luke 9. 60. Rom. 8. 7. 1. Cor. 1. 30. 2. Cor. 5. 21. Col. 1. 24. Act. 9. 4. Psal. 123. 2. John 1. 16. Ephes. 2. 6. Coloss. 3. 3. 1. John 3. Phil. 3. 8. 9. Rom. 10. 17. 14. 1. Cor. 3. 5. Deut. 12. 3. 1. Cor. 4. 15. 1. Pet. 1. 23. Rom. 1. 16. 1. Cor. 1. 21. Hebr. 4. 2. Ioh. 1. 1◠Mat. 5. 3. 6. 2. Pet. 1. 1. 2. Cor. 13. 5. Hebr. 11. 6. Hebr. 11. 6. Iam. 2. 29. Iohn 8. 33. Mat. 9. 13. Mat. 9. 13. Mat. 18. 11. Luke 4. 18. Luke 18. 14. 1. Ioh. 2. 3. 4 Ier. 23. 24. Gal. 3. 10. Esay 53. 5. Iohn 6. 55. 2. Cor. 5. 20. Act. 15. 9. Gal. 5. 6. Iam. 2. 18. Rom. 3. 28. Gal. 2. 16. 1 Iohn 1. 6. Iohn 19. 34. 35. Rom. 5. 12. c. 2. Pet. 1. 4. 2. Cor 5. 17. Rom. 8. 1. 1. Iohn 1. 6. Luk. 11. 23. Rom. 8. 15. 16. Ephes. 1. 13. 14. 4. 30. Gal. 2. 20. 2. Pet. 1. 10. 1. Ioh. 3. 24. Mat. 10. 32 Apoc. 2. 10 Mar. 16. 16. Iohn 3. 16. 1. Cor. 10. 12. 1. Ioh. 2. 19. Iohn 15. Ioh. 15. 6. Ioh. 15. 4. 7. 2. Pet. 2. 20. 22. Ezec. 18. 24 Matth. 7. 26 Matt. 7. 24. Luk. 18. 13. 14. 15. 1. Pet. 1. 9. Num. 23. 10 Chrysost. Luke 23. Philip. 3. 9. John 9. 4. Eccl. 11. 3. Hebr. 3. Apoc. 21. 4. 7. 17. Luk. 17. 10. Rom. 6. 23. 〈◊〉 Cor. 15. 58 1 Tim. 6. 18. 19. 1. Cor. 2. 9. 1. Iohn 3. 2. Psal. 16. 11 Titus 2. 13. Rom. 8. 18. Hebr. 12. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philip 1. 23 1. Cor. 15. 36 42. 43. 44. 1. Cor. 15. 53 Titus 2. 12. Reuel 14. 1. Reuel 20. 6. Ioh. 13. 20. Luk. 10. 16. Isocrates ad Daemonicū 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ioh. 15. 19. Prou. 29. 27 1. Ioh. 3. 14. Iames 3. 2.