there grow a Fig-tree or Ivy out of the house that it spread the root through the chinckes and partitions of the wall a man that cuts downe the Fig-tree shall not profit for it is so fast rooted in the wall and in the chinkes that either hee must pull downe the wall or else it will not die Therefore a wise man will pull down his house and root out the Fig-tree and then set up stones and and there erect the house beautifull and so both are preserved he hath his end in both both the house is rebuilt and the Ivy consumed and rooted out So it is in case of sinne there is the house we carry about us the building the temple of our body the house is man himselfe sinne is the fig-tree it is such a fig-tree as insinuateth it selfe betweene every chinke and partition in our nature there is somewhat corrupt in every facultie of the soule and it sheweth the fruit in every part of the body that is an instrument of sin it hath so wound it selfe in that the fig-tree cannot be destroyed cannot be pulled out except the house be dissolved there must be a pulling downe of the Temple therefore God in wisedome by Death he takes the temple the house in peeces and then the fig-tree may be pulled out and then he erects the wall of that house more glorious then before it was throwne downe while the fig-tree was in it while sinne was in it it is raised up without it that is that the Apostle saith Corruption shall put on incorruption and mortalitie shall put on immortalitie the body that is sowne a naturall body it shall bee raised a spirituall it is sowne in dishonour it shall be raised in glory God therefore takes them away from the evill of sinne hee dissolveth the body that hee may purifie it and cloath it with immortalitie that it may be a purer body then when it was first presented in nature at the first Creation We see hereby what those good things are that Death bringeth It bringeth immunitie from the evill of suffering God takes away mercifull men that they see not that they suffer not And it bringeth immunitie from sinne that they doe not see it that they doe not commit it The use is a Pillar of confidence not to bee afraid of Death who would feare that which makes for his perfection that is the meanes of his translation to happinesse And in respect of others not to mourne for them that are tooke away out of this world as those that are without hope they are not tooke away but translated they are removed for their advantage for the better Elijah was removed from earth to heaven in a firie chariot shall Elisha weepe because hee enjoyeth him not No he is tooke from earth to heaven Ioseph was sold into Aegypt but it was to be a Ruler God intended that it is the same reason God translates us out of the world to give us the end of our hope even the salvation of our soules Shall we mourne as men without hope God takes them out of a valley of teares shall we mourne unsatiably for those that are tooke out of the valley of teares let us not bring their memory to the valley of teares they are past it God takes them from evill to good to the best good the good of immortalitie and eternitie the good of the enjoying of God of that that eye hath not seene nor eare hath heard It is true that when we see any impenitent man die any man die in his sinnes there is just cause of mourning That was the course that David observed he lost two sonnes Absolom a wicked sonne he mourned for him he lost the child that was begotten in adulterie for the life of which he prayed he mourned not for the childes departure and Saint Ambrose giveth the reason well he had a good hope and assurance that the child was translated to a better estate he doubted of Absolom he died in his sinnes therefore he mourned for him for his death not for the childes So when we see any die in his sinnes there is cause then of teares and of excessive teares then David crieth Absolom oh my sonne my sonne But if there be good evidences of a Saint translated to glory shall we mourne as men without hope As Saint Ierom speakes to Paula mourning for her daughter Art thou angrie Paula because I have made thy child mine Hee bringeth in God speaking thus dost thou envie me my owne possession my owne creature It is true for the state of an impenitent man he hath his good things here and his evill to come after there is cause of mourning for that he is translated from good to ill his heaven is in this world his heaven is in his treasure in his riches in his chests and upon his table and as he enjoyed a heaven here so hee must not looke for it after there is a place of another condition his heaven is here his hell after But the penitent and contrite his ill is here and his good after his hell is in this world in suffering and in mortifying the flesh in wrestling with sinne in incountring with tentations here is his hell and his torments but after commeth his heaven and his blisse so he is translated from bad to good he is tooke away from the evill to come So here is the meaning of all I have shewed first the meaning of the three phrases The second thing I propound is this What the Prophet bemoaneth and makes lamentation for and these mercifull men for if they be tooke away from evill present and evill to come evill corporall and spirituall sufferings extraordinary plague and famine sufferings ordinary sicknesse and tentation if it be so that no sinne shall fall upon them to destruction no tentation fall on them to destroy them here much lesse afterward if they be tooke from all these evils how commeth the Prophet to make lamentation that mercifull men are taken away from the evill to come for hee speakes it mourningly It is one sufficient reason he mourneth over them because others did not But there are two reasons that are more speciall There is the losse of the godly man for the present when hee is taken away that is a thing to be lamented And the danger of the world in respect of the losse of a godly man First the losse of a godly man that is a great punishment that God sendeth on a place there is a great losse to those that survive The losse of their example they shine as lights there is a Taper a Candle taken away Yee rejoyced to walke in his light saith Christ to the Iewes concerning Iohn there was a light not only of Iohns Doctrine but of his example whereby those that heard him walked There is the light of grace set up in the life of the Saints of God they are as a Taper to guide us in
bones with strong paines What 's the reason of this but that man may come to this conclusion with himselfe that hee may bring his owne heart to a reckoning for his former cariage This is that the Apostle saith for this cause many are weake and sickly among you and many sleepe some were taken with sicknesse upon others there was a consuming weaknesse and others were strucken with death what is the end that God propounds in all this For this reason that wee should judge our selves for if wee judge our selves wee shall not be judged of the Lord but when wee are judged wee are chastned of the Lord that wee should not bee condemned of the world As if hee should say God now calleth you to a reckoning in this life to the end you may prevent that heavy and grievous one that comes after this life Againe when outward afflictions prevaile not God hath spirituall afflictions to awaken mâ—…n Thus David when hee was in a deepe sleepe of securitie God awakned him with a spirituall judgement see his speech in the 32. Psal. When I kept close my sinnes my bones were consumed and I roared for the disquietnesse of my soule what followed God by this meanes brought him to confession I will confesse my transgressions to the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquitie of my sinne Thus God in this life calleth men to a reckoning sometimes by â—…he preaching of the Word sometimes by judgements upon the outward man or by terrours upon the soule But if all this prevaile not to make a man reckon with himselfe in this life then God hath another reckoning after this life where every man must give an account and cannot avoid it and there hee must abide the sentence of the Iudge that would not prevent it before That there is such a Iudgement to come it appeareth By the equitite necessitie of it In respect of God the Saints the wicked Frst I say in respect of God there is a necessitie of it That his Decree may bee fulfilled and executed Hee hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousnesse And his counsell shall stand and hee will doe all his pleasure Secondly it is necessarie that Gods honour may be vindicated Now things seeme to goe in some confusion and disorder in the world Good men the children of God are not alwayes best in the place of judgement I have seene saith Solomon an evill under the Sunne that in the place of judgement wickednesse was there and in the place of righteousnesse that iniquitie was there this observation Solomon makes therefore I said God will bring to judgement every thing both good and evill for there is a time for every worke and every purpose God hath a time to doe that great worke that he hath now purposed What is that worke that is to bring every worke to judgement whether it bee good or evill I say if wee consider this it is necessary that there should come a judgement that shall set all right againe It is necessarie likewise in respect of the Saints The very tribulations of the Saints in 2 Thes. 1. 5. are called Indigma an evident demonstration or a manifest token of the righteous judgement of God There is a necessitie of it in respect of them in two regards First that their innocencie that is traduced here may bee manifest They undergoe many disgraces and hard censures amongst men the world accounts them proud hipocrites singular foolish vaine-glorious and I know not what now saith Iob my witnesse is in heaven and saith Saint Paul I care not to bee judged of you or of mans judgement hee that judgeth me is the Lord. The Word in the Greeke is mans day as if hee should say Men have their day here but God hath a greater day after the Lord will judge in another manner and upon other grounds then men doe Secondly it is necessary also that their workes may be rewarded When we speake of reward wee meane not the reward of merit wee meane the reward of grace called a reward because God is tied to it by his promise The servants of God though they serve him with all care they have not the fatte of the earth as sometimes the Ishmaels of the world have they doe not abound with outward things as many others doe nay sometimes they are in the worst condition and that makes Gods wayes the more despised as if God were not able to maintaine his servants in the world in his wayes and worke God therefore hath a time when his servants shall have full measure heaped up pressed downe shaken together and running over When God shall make up his jewels as hee saith in Malac. 3. then shall yee discerne betweene the righteous and the wicked betweene him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Marke yee shall discerne God will make it appeare to the whole world in the day when hee makes up his jewels that notwithstanding his servants are despised and lie here under divers pressures yet that they are a people whom he delights in and accounteth as his treasures Thirdly it is necessarie in respect of the wicked too that is First that Gods righteousnesse may fully be manifested Secondly that their unrighteousnesse may fully bee punished First I say that Gods righteousnesse may fully bee manifested therefore the day of Iudgement in Rom. 2. 5. is called a day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God As if hee should say As God will manifest his wrath against the vessels of wrath so hee will make it appeare to the world that hee proceedeth in a right manner and by a right rule in judging For wee must know that howsoever God cannot bee unjust and howsoever that the ungodly men in this life contend with their owne consciences such is the hardnesse of their hearts and abundance of corruption that they would faine justifie themselves amongst men and againe howsoever it bee true that the soule when it is departed out of the body is under Gods particular judgement by an intelectuall elevation of it that it may receive the sentence of the Iudge by an illumination and by such a spirituall and contemplative discourse and observation and understanding of Gods actions as that by reflection upon it selfe it may know it selfe to bee accursed or acquitted and accordingly is entred into the possession either of happinesse or miserie Yet all this is secret in the world till the day of Gods tribunall come wherein secret things shal be made manifest and things that have been done in darknesse shall appeare before men and Angels Secondly As Gods justice must be cleared and fully manifested so the wicked and unrighteous must bee fully punished They are not fully punished when they are under the sense of Gods wrath in this life or when the soule is judged at death there must bee yet a further degree for
such meditations No man can live well till he can die well Hee that is prepared for Death is certainly freed from the danger of death neither is there any so fit a way to bee ready for it as to be often minded of it Therefore I have made choice at this time to speake of this verse wherein ye see the Apostle declareth and leadeth us to treat of foure things First that there is a Death Secondly that this Death is an enemie Thirdly that this enemie is the last enemie Lastly that this least enemie shall be destroyed A word or two of each of these parts First Death is Yee know that well enough your eyes shew it you daily our senses declare it so plainly that no man is so senslesse that knoweth it not It is agreed upon by all Only for your better furtherance to make use of this point let us acquaint you with that which nature will teach yee concerning Death Secondly with that which Scripture will teach you above and better then Nature Nature sheweth yee concerning Death first what it is And then Secondly what Properties it hath It telleth us this That Death is an absence from life a ceasing from beeing when one was beeing to be thrust as it were out of the present world and be cast some where This is all that Nature informeth us concerning the Essence and beeing of Death Death is a dividing of us from this life and from the things of this life and sends us abroad we know not where Secondly Nature teacheth us three Properties concerning Death One that it is universall It hath tied all to it high and low rich and poore Death knockes at the Princes pallace as well as at the poore habitation of the meanest man It is a thing that respects no mans greatnesse it regardeth no wealth nor wit nothing Death takes all before it That Nature teacheth too Secondly Nature teacheth that Death is inevitable If a man would give all the world he cannot thrust it out of dores It takes whole Armies aswell as one man It scorneth to bee resisted by the Phisitians there is no words no meanes to escape it It is such an enemie as we must grapple with and it will conquer This Nature teacheth Againe Nature teacheth that death is uncertaine A man knoweth not when Death will come to him or when it will lay hold on him or by what meanes it will fetch him out of the world It may fetch him out of the world at any time or in any place and by such occasion as it is impossible for any wit to thinke of before This is in substance all that Nature teacheth And the knowledge of this it is for good use aswell to remember and consider it as to understand it But now I goe on to tell yee what the Scripture teacheth concerning Death for that giveth a perfecter and larger information of the thing then the dimme light of Nature The Scripture then over and above that which Nature sheweth telleth us concerning Death these things First it sheweth better what it is and then It sheweth whence it commeth and what are the causes of it Thirdly it declareth the consequences what follow upon it And lastly and bestly it telleth us the remedie against the ill of Death In all which Nature stumbleth and can doe little or nothing First the Scripture telleth us what it is It letteth us know that it is the disolution of a man not the annihilation It doth not make him cease to bee but takes asunder a while the soule from the body It carrieth the one to the earth and the other to another world so that both continue to bee though they be not united as before The word of God teacheth us that he hath created the world as it were a house of three Stories The middle is this present life where we be And there is a lower place the Dungeon a place of unhappinesse and destruction There is a higher place a pallace of glory According as men behave themselves in this middle roome so Death either leadeth them downe to the place of unhappinesse or conveyeth them up to the pallace of glory and blessednesse This Nature is ignorant of but the Scripture is plaine in The rich man dieth and his soule is carried to Hell the poore man when he died his soule was advanced to Heaven So that Death is nothing but the messenger of God to take the soule out of the body and to convey it to a place of more happinesse or more miserie then can be conceived Secondly the Scripture acquaints us further with the cause of death Philosophers wondred since nature desireth a perpetuitie and continuance of it selfe that man should be so short a time in the world The Scripture endeth this wonderment and tels us that man indeed was made immortall to continue for ever and should not have died but sinne came into the world and by sin death Death is the mother of sinne and of all miserie that by little and little draweth to death I say sinne the first sinne of our first Parents whereby they transgressed that most easie and equall mandate about eating the forbidden fruit That transgression that was the treading under foot the covenant of workes and the disanulling of it that sinne let in Death at a great Gappe and now it triumpheth and beareth rule over all the world Nature cannot tell which way in the world a man should die so soone and that hee that is the Lord of all creatures should bee inferiour to a great number of them in length of life But the word of God unridleth this riddle and telleth us that God made man that hee might and should have lived for ever but Sinne comming and comming in the person of the first man it brought death and made all men mortall and when sinne entred Gods curse came and that working upon us poore and miserable creatures it is the cause that we cannot continue long here It was equall that death should follow sinne for since God made man to obey his will when man had unfitted himselfe for Gods service it was reason that he should have a short continance of life for the longer he endured the more he would abuse himselfe Yee see then two things that the Scripture teacheth concerning death The third thing it sheweth is what followeth after death and that is plaine It is appointed for all men once to die and after death commeth judgement Nature never dreamed of judgement after Death but the Scripture telleth us there is a Judgement after Death Judgement what is that Judgement yee know is a calling of a man before Authoritie a looking into his wayes a considering of his actions a finding out whether hee be a sinner an evill doer and if hee find him so to passe sentence according to his evill deeds When God hath tooke the soule from the body hee takes the soule first
the paths of mercy and pietie that they tread in Iob was set up a light of patience Abraham of faith Cornelius of Charitie and so every grace that the Saints are eminent in they are set up as so many lights When the light is gone is there not a great losse to have a candle put out Though they enjoy their light we lose it the benefit of their example and societie their advise and counsell Oh the experience of the Saints bring a great deale of good to their acquaintance I am in this affliction I remember that you were in the same case how did you carry your selfe It is a great matter to build upon the experiences of the Saints of God Wee lose many benefits by losing of a Saint Hee is not only beneficiall in his example but in his prayers Hee is one of the Advocates of the world that pleads with God that stands in the gap Abraham was a strong Advocate for Sodome and so was Moses for Israel and so was Aaron and so other Saints in their time The Saints while they live in the world there is a great deale of power in their prayers to with-hold judgements and is there then no losse when they are taken away When a Saint is removed a Pillar is removed a Pillar of the house and of the Earth and must there not be danger when the Pillar is gone They are the Corner stones when a Corner stone falleth there is a great deale of trash and rubbish falleth with it There is a great deale of discomfort upon the fall of a Saint When God removeth godly and mercifull men there is a losse every way to the Church to the State The Church loseth a member the State a Pillar godly men lose an example wicked men lose an Advocate poore men lose a Patron all men lose a comfort That is the first thing the Prophet bemoaneth in the losse of righteous men First it went to his heart that the world should be left emptie of pietie and all those vertuous examples that God should cut off those precious Plants those that are looking-glasses for us to see our selves in and that pitch of perfection wee should breath after and aime at That is the first thing But that is not all for there was impendant danger when they were gone It is a prognosticating of some evill to befall a place when God takes them away If Noah enter into the Arke the world may expect a deluge If Lot be out of Sodome let it looke for a showre of fire and brimstone God himselfe expresseth himselfe by the Angel that he could doe nothing as long as Lot was in Sodome he had a commission not to raine fire and brimstone while Lot was there while Lots person and prayers were there assoone as Lot was gone there commeth a cloud of Judgement and in that a showre So the Saints when they are translated into the Arke when they are tooke from the earth as Noah was Noah was to ascend from the earth to the Arke when Lot is gone to the Citie God provided for him the Citie of refuge then we may expect one Judgement or other for they are meanes to hinder and keepe them from being poured out That is the second thing in the losse of righteous men They are tooke away for their good but for our ill wee have lost the benefit of their example the comfort of their societie and now we may feare that Judgements will come plentifully for mercifull men are taken away from the evill to come So I have done with the first part of the Complaint I will be very briefe in the second that is over the living no man considereth it this is truly to be bemoaned There is a double extent first of the Act they consider not And then an extent of the person no man considereth This Act hath a great latitude It is either an aggravation of the former they lay it not to heart nay they doe not take it into consideration or else it is a rendring a reason of the former they lay it not to heart because they bethinke not themselves Consideration is an act of the judiciall part of the understanding as incogitancie is a rocking of reason asleepe a shutting of the dore of reason Neglect that is a negligence of due care to bee taken on the other side inconsideration or incogitancie that is a neglect of the due course of reason due pondering of a thing A man is said not to consider that scanneth not that examineth not the cause that laies not the effects and consequences together that compareth not one thing with another So that it is thus much now they considered not that is they pondered not in their hearts they examined not according to the rule of reason they looked not to it what should bee Gods meaning in taking away mercifull men from the evill to come they looked not forward to the time to come nor backward to the time past they were altogether inconsiderate It is a great sinne and a fruit of sinne and a cause of all sinne It is a sinne in it selfe for God hath given man Reason to use upon all occasions to consider Gods workes and his owne workes and those things that befall others and himselfe The true improvement of Christianitie is the exercise of consideration That exciteth a man to repentance David laies it as a ground I considered my wayes and turned my feet to thy testimonies A man never repenteth that considereth noâ—…â—…is wayes The want of consideration keepeth a man freezing and settling on the dregs of sinne It is a fruit of sinne of the first sinne incogitancie bringeth securitie that rocks reason asleepe then passion hath her scope when reason governeth not It is the true punishment of the first sinne and the fruit of it because reason is decaied in man by sinne reason was then unrectified reason grew irregular Nay it is the cause of all sinne We can resolve no particular sinne to any other principle but this that men consider not before they commit it The reason why men goe on in excesse and riot and continue in drunkennesse is nothing but this they lay it not to heart they looke not forward what will bee the issue and event they consider not the account they are to make to God they thinke not that God is providing a cuppe of deadly wine and that all must appeare before the judgement seate of Christ. The reason why mens desires of the world and of living here are so in larged it is the want of consideration of what is the happinesse of heaven of the promises that God hath made There is no sin but it is resolved into this case So here it is that the Prophet complaineth of the want of consideration When mercifull men were taken away they considered it not to sympathize to prepare themselves to what God would doe after he had removed these that when he
is the reason why infidelity doth presently bring judgements upon men The cause is apparant infidelity it draweth men from God An unbeleeving heart departs from the living God And when a man departs from Gods presence God pursueth him with his judgements All the judgements of God are upon that place where Gods presence in his grace is not If I goe saith David to the uttermost parts of the earth thou art there if I goe into the deepe thou art there And how there Not only as an observer but as a punisher that is when men come to this point to flie from God Now unbeleefe is a drawing of the soule from God to the creature therefore it provokes God for it sets up an Idoll in the heart of man and Idolatrie exceedingly provokes God and therefore he bringeth judgements upon it Beside that marke the threatning of the Word against this Deut. 29. When a man heareth the words of this curse and blesseth himselfe and saith I shall have peace though I walke in the stubbornnesse of my owne heart the Lord will not spare that man but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoake against him and all the plagues that are written in this booke shall be heaped on him When is that when is the time that the wrath of God shall smoake At that very time and instant when he flattereth himselfe with his vaine conceits that he shall have peace though God threaten judgement then at that very instant the wrath of God shall fall upon such a man In this manner did God deale with the Israelites in Isa. 6. 9 10. Make the heart of this people fat make their eares heavy and why so that they may see and not perceive that they may heare and not understand lest they should be converted and I should heale them How long shall this be saith the Prophet till the Cities be wasted without inhabitant and the houses without man and the land be utterly desolate When God giveth over a people to bee regardlesse in hearing the Word that they heare and doe not hearken they heare and doe not regard they doe not conforme and reforme according to the doctrine delivered then God intendeth to sweepe them away by judgement that they may be utterly left desolate as the Text saith You see then it must needs be a grievous fore-runner of a judgement upon a place or Citie or people or nation when they remaine impenitent in their sinnes and yet crie peace Againe secondly If you marke the concommitants what accompanies this carnall securitie in the hearts of men and it will appeare then that it must of necessitie bring a judgement upon a a Land and place What is that that accompanies it A disposition slighting of God himselfe When a man I say heareth the Word the judgements threatned heareth the Law warning him to take heed of wrath the Gospell alluring him to repent and yet all moveth him not but still hee flattereth himselfe I say here is a disposition slighting God himselfe God in all his Attributes is slighted His power his wisedome his justice his truth is slighted yea his mercy and patience and long-suffering all are slighted when a man in the course of sinne goeth on in carnall securitie Especially amongst the rest this is a slighting of Gods patience and long-suffering and forbearance of men Wherfore do men harden themselves against exhortations to repentance but because they presume upon the continuance of Gods long-suffering toward them Marke how the Lord takes notice of this Rom. 2. 4. The forbearance and long-snffering the goodnesse and mercy of God should lead thee to repentance and therefore God hath for bore thee all this while that he might bring thee to repentance But what if hee doe not Thou after thy hardnesse and impenitent heart heapest up as a treasure to thy selfe wrath against the day of wrath What day is that The day of the revelation of the righteous judgement of God As if hee should say Now you obscure Gods justice and righteousnesse from others and from your selves Well God therefore will take a time to declare his righteous judgement for that purpose God hath a day of wrath and thy daily going on in sinne against the long-suffering and patience of God it doth but adde wrath to that day Thus it is when God hath borne with a man his owne selfe So it is likewise when God warneth a man by his patience toward others What hardneth men in securitie Doe wee not see God hath beene mercifull to many sinners why may he not be so to me too Hee gave them repentance after many sins committed why may he not doe so to me Marke what Solomon saith Eccles. 8. 11. Because sentence against an evill doer or an evill worke is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sonnes of men is set in them to doe evill This they purpose they resolve upon they venture up on God hath beene thus and thus to others patient and long-suffering and why may hee not be so to them Well yet I know saith Solomon that it shall not goe well with them in the end neither shall the wicked prolong his dayes Why because he feareth not before God They are not awakened by the example of his judgements on others they are not allured by his patience and long-suffering it doth not make them to feare him therefore it shall not goe well with them in the end Thirdly Looke to the end what the consequence of this carnal securitie is what followes upon it Where there is carnall securitie there must of necessitie be an increase of sin and consequently a hastening of judgement for the more sin hastneth to ripenesse the more judgement hasteneth also upon the sinner God hath set unto particular men a certaine stint and it is not knowne to them what that stint limited is Gen. 15. 16. The iniquitie of the Amorites is not yet full They were a sinfull people at that time but the neerer they came to that fulnesse and stint and limitation that God intended to be the immediate fore-runner of the judgement the faster judgement hastned upon them So for particular persons there is a certaine stint limited Let every man looke to it The adding of one sinne more may be thy uttermost stint that shall bring the last stroke of judgement and destruction upon thee Now I say this carnall securitie is that that increaseth sinne upon a man Wee know how the securitie of the Israelites increased their sinne upon them And the securitie of Sodome their pride and idlenesse increased the rest of their sinnes and consequently hastned on their judgement In Rom. 3. when there was no feare of God before their eyes when there was a neglect of that there was abundance of wickednesse amongst them and what followes then there was nothing but destruction and calamitie in all their wayes I could give you sundrie
Christ shall sit on the Bench as Judge Hee shall then openly come to shew himselfe a just Iudge amongst men as before he came to be judged when he came privately he was judged of them that were unjust It was once a scorne that he the Sonne of man should bee Iudge of the world therefore God will have him come and appeare in that very forme he was scorned in that now they may behold him in his Majestie that before would not take notice of him when hee appeared in humilitie that they who the more contemptuously before esteemed him in his basenesse may now more severely tast of his justice God then is Iudge Not men Not Angels but God himselfe Had men beene our Judges we might not feare the face of men because they are vessels of the same earth as wee tooke out of the same pit hewen out of the same rocke If Angels had beene our Judges wee should not have stood in so much feare because though they be Spirits more glorious then we yet by their owne confession they are our fellow creatures and our fellow servants therefore we after a sort participate with them in some degree of nature But neither men nor Angels shall be Judges then but Almighty God that as much excelleth men and Angels as the heavens doe the earth And looke what is necessarily required to the office of a Iudge it is incomparably found in him To the office of a Iudge there are three properties specially required Knowledge to discerne Power to determine Justice to execute In God these are all of them transcendent and emminent For Knowledge he is the most wise For Power most absolute For Execution most just Knowledge to discerne that is the first He that assumeth the person of a Iudge must needs be one of wisedome and understanding Though he have the Scepter of authority in his hand if hee have not the eye of wisedome in his head if he be not able when men plead their case before him as the two Harlots before Solomon to decide to whom the right of the case belongeth as hee to whom the living child pertained he is as unfit to be a Iudge as an illiterate Ignaroe is to be a Priest The Iudges ignorance is the honest mans overthrow We commonly paint Justice blind not because he should be so that sits in Gods seat of Justice to decide Cases but only in respect of persons Blind Isaac was faine to put forth his hands to feele whether it were Esau or no that came to aske the blessing it is a hard case when Iudges have sore eyes that they cannot discerne the right Case but only by feeling But it shall not be so here God is the Iudge that is of infinite wisedome and understanding that is able to discerne right and wrong Of necessitie it must be so because he is Omniscient hee knoweth all things he hath the true understanding of them it is impossible to deceive him Earthly Iudges they sometime are blinded in the hearing of Cases that are brought before them for what their eyes see not they are not able to discerne there are not glasse windowes into the bosomes and breasts of men by which they are able to come into their hearts all the information they have is from Evidences and Witnesses the hear-sayes and reports of others where if any thing bee concealed or mistold how easily may they miscarry But Gods knowledge is not so unsound or uncertaine because he himselfe is an eare and an eye-witnesse of all things that are he knoweth whatsoever is done he beholdeth not the actions only but the very intentions he is able to judge of the thoughts and intentions of the heart It is but folly to thinke to hide any thing from him heaven is not so high but he can reach it hell is not so deepe but hee can search it the earth is not so wide but hee can span it the night is not so darke but he can see it the chamber the bed the closeâ—… is not so close but hee can pierce it Hee that sitteth upon the circle of the heavens and whose eyes are as flames of fire seeth everything Heb. 4. There is no creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open like an Anatomized body for thence the Metaphor is drawne where the bowels are laid open and every nerve and muscle and ligament every Atome discovered so that we may take a full view of it In a word if it were Davids commendation that he was wise as an Angell of God how wise must God be that infuseth wisdome into the Angels and in whose sight the Angels are foolish That is the first thing requisite in a Iudge he must have knowledge to discerne In the second place Hee must have power to execute hee must have authoritie to command and not be as an Image set against a wall for if he be so Abjects will insult over him though peradventure some may regard him because hee hath eyes to see yet others will contemne him because hee hath no hands to punish so innocencie shall be hopelesse of recompence and the wicked of their desert Againe if he have not power if hee have power only to heare and not to determine or if his power be restrained to some petty Cases and not also extended to matters of greater consequence and moment Appeales will bee made as commonly they are from inferiour Courts to the higher But it is not so here God is the Iudge who as hee is infinite in knowledge so he is in power and authority Wee stile the King Supreame head over all persons and in all causes in his Dominions but God is over all the Dominions of the earth supreame over all not only in all causes and over all persons but over all causes too even Kings are subject to his regiment Hee bindeth Kings in chaines and Nobles in fetters of Iron Psal. 149. The kings of the earth saith Saint Iohn and the rich and the great men and the great Captaines and the mighty men they shall all hide themselves in the caves and rocks and mountaines Revel 15. crying to the mountaines and rockes to cover them from the face of the Iudge and from the wrath of the Lambe because the day of desolation is come Nay God is not only over all the Kings of the earth but he is Potentate of heaven and hell too He hath a commanding power over all the Angels feare the Divels tremble when they come to stand before God In a word as Saint Paul saith all power is of God then of necessitie followeth that God himselfe in his power is most absolute That is the second thing belonging to the office of a Iudge as he must have knowledge to discerne so he must have power to execute Thirdly there must be Iustice in the Execution therefore the Grecians were wont to place Justice betweene Libra and Leo to
signifie indifferencie in weighing causes and strictnesse in executing the sentence So the Egyptians signified as much by their Hierogliphicall portraiture of an Angell without hands wincking or without eyes such a one a Iudge should be he should have no hands to receive bribes nor no eyes to respect persons the person of a Iudge must not take the person of a friend A man must not personate a friend in justice but as Levi he must know neither father nor mother nor brother Justice amongst us is portrayted holding a Ballance in one hand and a sword in another the Ballance sheweth the upright weighing of causes and the Sword sheweth the strictnesse of the execution of the sentence And if this Execution be wanting both the other are to no purpose It is to no purpose to know and to have power if there be not Justice But God is a true and just Iudge Howsoever it be amongst the Iudges of the earth yet unworthy is he of the place of a Iudge and fitter to stand at the Barre then to sit on the Bench that suffereth himselfe to miscarry by friendship or love or bribes or sutes or favour or envie when either of these prevaile they tie the tongues of men to plead for wrong causes Shall a Traytour presume on the Kings favour and Mordecai be out of the Kings grace But there shall be no such thing here God is the Iudge of all the earth and shall not hee doe right Gen. 18. Doth God pervert judgement or doth the Almigty pervert Iustice Job 8. 3. When thou standest before the Iudgement seat of God thou shalt neither be elevated with vaine hopes nor dejected and cast down by sinister and wrong feares but assure thy selfe such as thy cause is such shall thy sentence be as Saint Bernard well a pure heart shall prevaile more with God then a smooth word good consciences shall speed better then full purses for he is an upright and just Judge with whom no faire words nor friends shall prevaile So I have done with the first thing The Iudge Secondly something of the Iudgement and therein two things First that it shall be Secondly in what manner it shall be First that it shall be The text is plaine God shall bring to judgement There might many Texts besides this be alledged consonant and agreeable to this but it is superfluous Besides Texts of Scripture we have Types also to prefigure it and reasons also to prove and confirmeit Two Types of the last Judgement our Saviour himselfe propoundeth Luke 17. One was the destruction upon Sodome the other the destruction that God brought upon the old world Looke as Christ saith how it was with them of Sodome in the dayes of Lot they did eat they dranke they bought they sold they planted they builded and looke how it was with the men of the old world in the dayes of Noah eating and drinking and sporting and marrying untill the very day that Noah entred into the Arke and the flood came and destroyed them all So it shall be at the last day when the Sonne of man shall come The Apostle Saint Peter speaking of the latter of these telleth us of mockers in those times that scoffed when they heard of the Iudgement there hath beene talke a great while of such things promised but when will it come Where is the promise of his comming There are scoffers in these dayes but such if there be any cannot but speake against their owne consciences and knowledge they cannot be ignorant both of the judgements that have beene and shall be or if they be they are wilfully ignorant That God did once wash away the sinnes of the world with a Flood of water and that the time is comming that God will purge the sinnes of the world with a flood of fire the Rainbow in the cloudes as it is a Monument of the one so it is a forerunner of the other The two principall colours of the Rainbow are blew and red the blew and waterish colour of the Rainbow is an evidence of that Judgement that is past when God washed the sinnes of the world away by Water the fiery colour is a prediction of a Iudgement that is to come when God shall purge the world by a Flood of fire But besides these Types there are divers reasons that may be given to assure us that we have reason to expect this day Those five Attributes of God afford five reasons to confirme it His Power his Wisedome his Truth his Iustice his Mercie First his Power God will have it be thus for the manifestation of his Power A worke of great power it will be indeed All must be brought before Gods judgement seate every one as the Text saith after It may seeme strange peradventure incredible to heare that all the men and women that ever lived in the world that so many multitudes and millions of thousands of all kindreds and nations should all be summoned to appeare before one Iudgement seat But as Saint Austin saith Consider who is the doer and then thou wilt not doubt It is true indeed with men such a thing as this is impossible but with God all things are possible Could God at the first draw all things out of nothing and cannot God as well bring together all againe when they are turned to nothing Could hee make that body of thine out of the dust of the earth and cannot he raise that body when it is turned to dust Could hee unite that body to the soule in the time of the Creation and cannot he unite it at the time of the Resurrection Certainly there is nothing impossible too hard to the great and terrible voyce of God as Saint Chrysostome saith to that voyce of God that cleaveth the rockes that breakes the brazen gates asunder that looseneth the bands of death Therefore unlesse thou question the power of God no doubt but he is able and can bring all of us to judgement Hee will doe it for the manifestation of his power Secondly as for the manifestation of his power so for the manifestation of his wisedome It is a point of wisedome when one hath made a thing to bring it to the intended end for which hee made it Beloved this is Gods intended end in making of us therefore he brought us hither into the world not that we should have alwayes a Beeing here but that after a certaine time wee should be dissolved and put into an everlasting condition therefore Saint Peter speaking of the salvation of Gods elect he calleth it the end of their faith not only the end they aspire but that end that God hath assigned and appointed them to If God should faile of his end we might call his wisedome into question it might give us occasion to say that hee undertooke that which he was not able to accomplish so that in stead of shewing himselfe wise he should shew himselfe weake Therefore
so freeth men from the latter as they never come neere it and so freeth them from the former as they never dread to be under the power of the latter And the first Death of the outward man which is the separration of the Body from the Soule it is no Death if it separate not both from God which it can never doe if a man keepe the sayings of Christ therefore though his body that keepeth the sayings of Christ bee tooke from his soule yet he seeth not death so as to have any hurt by it hee feeleth no ill by it nay it is good to him for it is a passage from miserie to rest and felicitie Thus yee have these words as faithfully interpreted to you as I know how And now I will make proofe of this Doctrine thus explicated namely that thus to keepe Christs sayings to know and follow the Doctrine of the Gospell is the only sure way to escape the danger and hurt of Death Saint Peter acknowledgeth as much when he said to the Lord Jesus Christ that hee had the words of eternall life then he that keepeth them is certainly safe against the hurt of Death So the Angell speakes to the Apostles whom the Pharisees had imprisoned when he brought them forth of Prison he biddeth them speake to the people the words of this life since Christs Doctrine is the word of life it must needs follow that the keeping thereof is a per a perfect Antidote against the poyson of Death And Saint Peter when he gave an account to the rest of the Apostles and the brethren of Iudea of his going to the Gentiles he saith that an Angel appointed Cornelius to send for him that he might speake words to him whereby himselfe and his family should be saved and those words which cause a man to be saved you know will give him freedome enough from Death Thus I have proved the point by expresse Texts and there are two reasons of it The first is delivered by the Apostle Saint Iohn in his first Epistle and second Chapter where hee saith let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning that is the Doctrine of the Gospell which Christ taught his sayings if that remaine in you you also shall continue in the Sonne and in the Father Hee that hath fellowship with the Sonne and with the Father can never see Death for God is the fountaine of life therefore those that are one with him and continue in him cannot see Death no more then he can be overwhelmed with darknesse that is where the Sunne shineth fully no more then the body can bee dead as long as it hath communion with the soule so those in whom the word of Christ remaineth and stayeth they are assured that they shall remaine with the Father and the Sonne and therefore being united to that that is life God the Father and the Sonne it is impossible that ever they should be hurt by the first or ever at all taste of the last Death Againe the Word of Christ freeth him in who it remaineth from the power and hurt of finne bringing to him remission of sinnes and sanctification And being free from sinne the cause of Death it is easie to conjecture that hee shall bee freeed from Death itselfe Let a mans Debt be satisfied and let the favour of the Prince be obtained and a Pardon granted the Prison shall never hold him long he shall not be brought to the place of Execution but when his guives are knocked off he is set at libertie so when we have obtained power against sinne by the powerfull worke of the Spirit of God which alwayes at the same time doth bend the heart of man to rest on Christ for salvation and heartily to indevour to walke before him in holinesse and righteousnesse when I say wee are thus freed from the power and guilt of sinne it is impossible that Death should lay hold upon us as his prisoner to carry us to the dungeon of Hell and to hold us under the wrath of God and that fiery indignation of his that causeth Hell to bee Hell Therefore certainly the words of Christ are an undoubted truth and we must rest upon them without all distrust and wavering that hee that keepeth his saying shall never see death and that the knowledge and beleeving and obeying the Doctrine of the Gospell is the only sure way to escape the hurt and ill of Death it selfe Let us now make some Application of this Doctrine to our soules First to stirre us up to a right hearty thankfulnesse unto Almighty God that is pleased to cast our times and dayes into that age and those places where the Doctrine of the Gospell this Saying of our blessed Saviour is so clearely and plainly and evidently laid open to you and frequently and earnestly prest upon your soules where the Lord commeth to declare unto you the way to life where he scoreth you out a path that will bring you quite out of the clutches and danger of Death this is the happinesse of our present Age and place where wee live and this whole kingdome too The grace and mercie and favour of our loving God hath so disposed of us that wee doe not live in times of Paganisme and darknesse where there was no newes of Christ that wee live not in places of Popish darknesse where the Doctrine of the Gospell is so mixed and darkned with tricks and devises of their owne that they cannot see Christ clearely It is our happinesse I say that wee doe not live in those places and times where either Paganisme or Poperie with their darknesse covered Christ from us and caused us that we could not clearely see or heare him and so not keepe his sayings But now grace is offered light is tendred to us wee may be saved wee may escape the danger of damnation if the fault be not solely and wholly in our carelesnesse and wilfulnesse and neglect and abuse of the meanes that God hath afforded us The heathen men that have not heard of Christ cannot possibly attaine to life as farre as we can Judge by the Scripture And it is very difficult for the Papists that heare so darkely and are told of the Doctrine of the Gospell with so many sophistications to come to be saved But for us that have the Doctrine of the Gospell so plainly and carefully taught us and revealed unto us wee may be saved and may easily see the way to obtaine salvation So we goe beyond them in happinesse Oh blessed be the name of the Ever-living God that beside the peace and plenty and other temporall benefits wherewith hee hath crowned this unworthy Nation of ours hee hath added this blessing of blessings this King of favours to give us so cleare a revelation of the Doctrine of salvation by faith in Christ alone Blessed bee his name and let your hearts say Amen to this thanksgiving and let it
experience every where how few there be that in their life time deserve the praise of Religion in their death For my part I never did nor never will gild a rotten post or a mudde wall or give false witnesse in praising to give the praise of Religion to those that deserve it not I desire those of my congregation would make their owne Funerall Sermons while they be living by their vertuous life and conversation As the Apostle saith Hee hath not praise that is praised of men but hee that is praised of God FINIS THE RIGHTEOUS MANS RESTING PLACE OR A FENCE AGAINST VNNECESSARIE FEARES PROV 18. 10. The name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth into it and is safe PSAL. 27. 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I feare the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE RIGHTEOUS MANS RESTING PLACE OR A FENCE AGAINST VNNECESSARIE FEARES SERMON XXVII GEN. 15. 1. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abraham saying Feare not Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward THE tender mercie of God is seene in nothing more then in afflicting his owne people for hee proportions his chastisements not to our deserts but to our strength and you shall ordinarily observe where Almightie GOD layes a heavie affliction hee gives an extraordinarie assistance when he leades any of his people through a hote fire hee is with them in extraordinarie manner This holy Saint Abraham as hee was the Father of the faithfull so he was a Patterne to all the faithfull in both these both in his tryalls and in Gods assistance There was never any man called to more tryalls then he to leave his Countrey and his Kindred and his Fathers house and after to sacrifice his owne sonne And there was never any man more assisted from God as we see in those many apparitions that God vouchsafed him Comforting him sometimes in dreames and visions Sometimes hee appeared to him in an admirable and most friendly manner talking with him as a man doth with his friend One of them are in this Chapter The Lord appeared to Abraham and comforted him in the middest of his tryals and troubles Where you may see an admirable incouragement that God gives to his servant Abraham You may note First the incouragement it selfe that is not to feare Secondly note the time when God gave him this incouragement when he had encountred with those Kings immediatly before as we see in Chapter 14. And when hee was to encounter with many evils and troubles after then the Lord appeared to him Thirdly note the manner how God is pleased to reveale this comfort that is by way of vision God appeared by vision Fourthly note the ground of this comfort and incouragement that God gives him and that is taken from a twofold Argument First what God was to him in regard of any evills that hee did feele or feare he was his shield to beare them off Secondly in regard of all the good things that Abraham could lose in the world an exceeding great reward hee would bee to him all in all So you see this portion of Scripture affords plentifull matter for instruction and consolation All that I will speake of at this time I will wind up in this proposition that is that They that are in covenant with God and labour to keepe his covenant as faithfull Abraham was and did they may be a people without all carnall and inordinate feare For Abraham felt much and had just cause to expect more but in the middest of all God appeared to him and bid him he should not feare And what was spoken to Abraham is spoken to us for he was the Father of the faithfull and they that are of the faith with Abraham are blessed with him So then the blessing of Abraham and all the incouragements that were given to him they belong not to him only but to all that are the spirituall seed of Abraham to all the faithfull so that the Proposition is not limitted to him but extends to all A Doctrine if ever needfull it is now Wee know how it is with all men that are out of Covenant with God Adam as soone as he had sinned he runnes from God he was afraid and hid himselfe from the face of God so every unregenerate man is except his conscience be ignorant in a dead sleepe and cauterized for he seeth God on the one side a revenging Judge and hee knowes himselfe on the other side to be guiltie and therefore hee cannot but with amazement and feare continually tremble before God and he desires if it were possible that there were no God at all that he might never be called to account for his doings But now the child of God a faithfull Abraham that is in covenant with God he may in the middest of all evills lift up his head with joy and comfort even when wicked men are at their wits end and know not whether to turne themselves It is I say a point needfull to urge in these times wherein we heare abroad of warres and rumours of warres and so many distractions and what they feele we have cause to feare but now it is seasonable at this time when we see the King of feares act his part before our eyes hee that the Philosophers call the most terrible of all terribles that is Death that tends to the extirpation and abolition of nature in regard of our being here I say there cannot be a better argument treated of then somewhat that may fence us against the feare of this evill Now for the opening of this point First consider what feare is And then what feare a Christian should be freed from And then how it comes to passe that a Christian is exempted from all slavish and inordinate feare And then come to make some Use of it to the present occasion First that we may know the point the better let us consider what feare is in generall And feare beloved is such an affection or passion of the soule that is stirred up with a through apprehension of some future evill that is very difficult to be resisted by the partie or patient It is an affection or passion of the soule for it makes a reall transmutation in the man It is such an affection as is stirred up with the apprehension of evill for evill is properly the object of feare we doe not primarily feare any thing that is good except the losse of it and it is ill to lose any good thing Againe it is evill future for if the evill be present we grieve and not feare And it is such an evill as is difficult and hard to resist and overcome with patience for if it be a small evill that is easily conquered you contemne it you feare it not You see then what feare is in generall Is all
two for the Use of this Since this is the Use that the servants of God have made and that wee should make of the Judgement to come therefore to bee more carefull in the duties of obedience and holinesse so to speake and so to doe as those that shall be judged It first shewes the cause of the discouragements of Gods servants and the prophanenesse of the world is because they perfectly beleeve not the judgement to come The hearts of Gods servants would not droupe so they would not be so faint so dejected and discouraged if they beleeved that there were such a judgement to come wherein Christ will abundantly recompence all their sorrowes and labours wherein he will bring his reward with him plentifully Againe the wicked world would not be so prophane as they are drunkards and swearers and Sabbath-breakers and all sorts of wicked persons they would not give themselves so to sinne as they doe if in truth they did perfectly beleeve there were a judgement to come when all their words and actions their company their time and every thing shall be brought to account I say the cause of all prophanenesse is this here it begins men beleeve not the judgement to come The Apostles were troubled with these kind of scoffers Where is the promise of his comming So they hardened themselves upon the observation of the continuance of the seasons upon the face of the earth in like manner from the beginning Well saith the Apostle God is not slacke as men count slacknesse but is patient and forbearing that men may repent but at the last he will come and come with flaming fire So this is certaine whatsoever you thinke and put the evill day farre off from you yet there is a judgement comming wherein all your actions and affections and speeches and your whole conversation shall be scanned and brought to the rules of this law that you have despised Therefore let men take heed and know it is a device of Satan to harden their hearts either to thinke that the law is a dead letter I meane in respect of the directing use of it that it is of no use to direct them it is a devise of Satan to put them off for they shall find that that law will judge them that now should direct them And then againe for men to thinke that there shall bee no Judgement or not such proceedings according to the law this is a tricke of the Divell to keepe men in prophanenesse and hardnesse of heart Therefore secondly if wee would grow up in holinesse in the feare of God Let us perfect and strengthen our faith in assenting to this truth that there is such a judgement to come wherein our words and actions and all shall be brought to account Therefore so speake and so doe as those that shall bee judged Thou art now in companie and thou speakest amongst men but thy words are with God they are written in thy conscience as it is in Ieremie upon the Table of thy heart there they are written the words that thou hast forgotten seven yeares agoe it may bee twentie yeares agoe and never tookest a course to get them blotted out by repentance there they are written and these words shall be brought to judgement and so many actions as thou hast neglected therefore looke to it First bewaile those words and actions past as things that else will come to judgement if thou judge not thy selfe before-hand And then againe for the time to come set on a resolution to walke daily as one that may die every day and then shall bee brought to judgement Therefore judge thy selfe daily renew thy Covenant settle thy peace on a right ground daily and perfect holinesse in the feare of God daily as one that expectest a Judgement Saint Iude condemnes those that feasted without feare They were at their Tables companying and feasting as men without feare S. Ierome speakes of himselfe that whatsoever he was doing he had a fearefull apprehension of the day of Judgement Alwayes saith he whether I eate or drinke or whatsoever I doe I heare the Trumpet and the voyce of the Arch-Angell saying Arise yee dead and come to judgement Well I say doe thou so let this be thy serious thought and doe it not slightly but thinke that this may bee thy last word and thou must bee brought to judgement for it this may be thy last opportunie and thy last action and thou must be brought to judgement for that Doe things in this manner as those that so speake and so doe that they must bee judged Wouldest thou be content to have thy oathes brought before Christ in judgement if not take heed of swearing for it is judged already by the law therefore judge and condemne thy sinnes in thy selfe and forsake them that thou maist find mercie Wouldest thou be found guiltie of Sabbath-breaking at the day of Judgement if not repent of thy former guilt and bee more conscionable of sanctifying the Sabbath after And so I may say of every sinne Wouldest thou be found an Usurer a Deceiver unrighteous in any course a scoffer a prophane person Wouldest thou appeare before Christ so in judgement If not repent of thy guilt in this kind that thy sinnes may bee done away when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of Christ. And in the meane time set thy selfe in a contrarie course to that thou hast beene doe as one that would have Death find thee in a good course for as death leaves thee judgement shall find thee If Death find thee in a state of repentance in a course of reformation of thy evill wayes judgement shall find thee so too Let Death therefore find thee as a man interest in Christ as a man humbling thy soule abhorring thy selfe for thy former sinnes let Death find thee as a man reforming all those evills that are condemned in the Word and in thy conscience Now when I say let Death find thee so I meane set about it presently for how soone Death may set upon thee thou knowest not whether to night or no and if this be not now done if thou set not about it now it may bee too late thou shalt have no more time therefore doe that now and goe on constantly after knowing that Death may find thee every moment Therefore it is that God keepes from us upon purpose as it were the certaine knowledge of the time of Death that wee may bee alwayes prepared for Death FINIS SINNES STIPEND AND GODS MUNIFICENCE ROM 2. 8. 9. Vnto them that doe not obey the truth but obey unrighteousnesse indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soule of man that doeth evill upon the Iew first and also upon the Gentile LVKE 12. 32. Feare not little Flocke for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdome LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. SINNES STIPEND AND GODS MVNIFICENCE SERMON XXIX ROM 6.
my glorie Wicked men see his glory what priviledge then betweene them and the godly It is true indeed wicked men see the glory of Christs person and they shall see and feele the glory of his justice but the godly see the glory not onely of his person not onely of his justice but the glory that no wicked man ever shall see the glorie of his Mercie and goodnesse and grace here is the difference God getteth himselfe glory upon Pharaoh in drowning of him but God getteth himselfe the glory of his Mercie in Israel in saving them in the bottome of the Sea so the godly they see the glory not onely of the person of Christ and that is infinite and surpasseth apprehension but they see the glory of his Mercie of his eternall goodnesse and they see it so as to bee like him to be translated into that glory to get a part and share of it as much as they are capable of they make themselves all glorious with his glory and shine with his brightnesse and beauty Alas brethren all the sight we can get of Christ in this world it is like the sight of the blind man that Christ cured hee bad him looke up and lift up his eyes and he saw men walking as trees an imperfect sight so wee have here but an imperfect glimpse of Christ we see him through a glasse through the Word and Sacraments and these meanes that he hath appointed an imperfect sight till Christ give us a cleere sight and makes us see perfectly and this is in the day of his returne All the sight and vision of Christ in this life it is but to see him in a glasse saith the Apostle as in a looking-glasse but then we shall see him face to face wee shall see him as he is What difference there is betweene the shadow in a glasse and the face it selfe so much difference there is betweene the sight of Christ here and hereafter when we shall see him as he is when we shall see him with open face and not in a mirrour Therefore let this incourage us and stirre up our hearts to expect and waite for the comming of Christ with vehement and daily prayers with fervencie of spirit with the Church and the Bride and the Spirit to say Even so Amen Come Lord Iesus FINIS The coherence Devision of the words Propos. 1. Every man in the world is Gods Steward Proved 1. By what every one receiveth from God 2. By what God expects from every one Psal 24. 1. mâ—…n doe not waste his goods 2. That they doe not abuse them to ill ends Luke 19. 27. Iames 4. 3. 3. To doe him Homage Acts 10. 33. 3. To returne him fruit Matt. 21. 33. Vse Two things required of a Steward 1. Dispensation Rom 1. 3. 4. Rom. 1. 14. 1 Tim. 5. 8. 2. Right ordering of his dispensations Luk. 12. 42. 1. Faithfully Heb 3. 5. Exod. 32. 19. 2. Wisely Rom. 8. 7. 1 Tim. 3. 17. Gen. 18. 19. Propos. 2. All Gods stewards must give an account Two dayes of reckoning 1. In this life By the Word Gen. 3. 11. 1 King 19. Mar. 3. Acts 2. By the Rod. Iob 33. 14. Mic. 6. 9. Iob 33. 19. 1 Cor. 11 30. Psal. 31. 5. 2. After this life A necessitie of a day of judgement 1. In respect of God his decree Acts 17. 31. Isa. 46. 10. His honour Eccles. 3. 16. 2. In respect of the Saints 2 Thes. 1. 5. For the manifestation of their innocency For the reward of their workes Mal. 〈◊〉 1â—… 18. 3. In respect of the wicked For the manifestation of Gods righteous proceeding against them Rom. 2. 5. For the persecting of their punishment Why God is said to call all men to an account 1. Because he will proceed in particular Job 27. 18. Jam. 5. 1 2 James 4. 3. Mat. 16. Mat. 5. 22. Mat. 15. 19. 2. Because he will proceed by method and order Psal. 50. Psal. 51. Rom. 7. A direction in the exercise of repentance 3. Because he will proceed by books Dan. 10. Rev. 20. Ioh. 12. 48. Ier. 17. 1. 4. Because God will exact of every one according to what he hath been trusted with Luke 12. 48. Vse 1. For confutation Atheists in the Church 2 Pet. 3. Vse 2. For instruction 1. Not to judge others Rom. 14. 10. 1 Cor. 4. 5. 2. To judge our selves here A twofold reckoning to be made here 1. Reckon with our selves Jer. 8. 6. Lam. 3. 39. Psal. 4. 2. Reckon with others 2 Sam. 12. 3. Acts 20. 26. Iames 5. 3. 3. To Exercise daily repentance Acts 17. 31. 4. To get an interest in Christ. Rom 8. 1. Exod. 25. 21. 5. To lead a holy conversation 〈◊〉 Pet. 3. 11. 2 Cor. 5. 〈◊〉 Acts â—…6 15 16. Vse 3. For Comfort James 5. Heb. 9. 27. The Coherence The meaning of the words The devision of the words Obser. 1. The death of others is a just occasion of Mourning Gen. 23. 2. Gen. 27. 41. Gen. 50. 10. 2 Sam. 25. 1. Zach. 12. 10. John 11. Act. 20. 38. Reas. 1. Reas. 2. Ier. 5. 3. Vse Object Answ. A twofold distemper in mens affections 1. 2. 1 Thes. 4. 13. Deut. 14. Observat. 2 Death the end of all men Iob 3. 14. Zach. 1. 5. Reas. 1. In regard of Gods decree Heb 9. 27. Reas. 2. In regard of the matter whereof men are made Job 13. 12. Reas. 3. In regard every man in him hath the cause of death Object Hâ—…b 11. 5. 2 King 2. 11. Answ. 2. Obiect Joh. 11. Answ. Rom. 8. 38. Matt. 22. Vse 1. Make account of it for ourselves The benefit of the particular application of death to a mans selfe 1. Sin will be made more odious Rom. 5. â—…1 2. The truth and justice of God will bee the more acknowledged 3. Death will be the better prepared for Job 14. 14. Three things wherein there is to be a particular application of death to a man 1. In matter of sinning Acts 5. 2. In redeeming of the time of life 1 Cor. 10. 35. Heb. 3. 13. Gal. 6. 10. 3. In the manner of our conversation Vse 1. In respect of the death of others 1. To moderate our mourning for the death of others 2. To improve the life of others Obser. 3. It is the duty of the living to lay to heart the death of others Reas. 1. 1. God is glorified by it Psal. 28. 5. Reas. 2. Our selves are benefited by it 2. Thereby we come to see the certainty of death 2. Thereby we come to see the nature of death The proper worke of death 1. To separate the body from the soule 2. To separate a man from his estate 3. To separate a man from his friends Gen. 23. 2 Sam. 1. 9. 1 Cor. 7. 19. 3. Thereby we come to see the end and cause of death 1 King 14. 13 2 Chro. 34. 28 Isa. 57. 1. Ezek. 9. 4. 5. Vse 1. For reproofe of the genetall neglect of this duty Vse 2.
Let me have a place to burie my dead out of my sight It parteth father and child how unwilling soever they be see it in David and Absolom Oh Absolom my sonne would God I had died for thee and Rachel mourned for her children and would not be comforted because they were not It parteth the Minister and the people see it in the case of the people of Israels lamenting the death of Samuel and in the case of the Ephesians at the parting of S. Paul sorrowing especially when they heard they should see his face no more It parteth those friends who were so united together in love as if they had but one soule in two bodies see it in the separation that was made by death betweene David and Ionathan that were so knit together in their love that he bewaileth him Woe is mee for my brother Ionathan This is a necessary consideration for us that live that wee may learne to know how to carrie our selves towards our wordly friends and how to moderate our selves in our enjoyment of these worldly comforts Looke upon every worldly thing as a mortall as a dying comfort Looke upon children and friends as dying comforts Look upon your estates as that that hath wings and will be gone Looke upon your bodies that now you make so much of as a thing that must bee parted from the soule by death and that ere long See what advise the Apostle giveth 1 Cor. 7. 19. the time is short saith he therefore let those that marry bee as if they married not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it A man abuseth the world when he useth it beyond the consideration of the shortnesse of enjoying these things when hee lookes upon these things as things that hee shall enjoy alwayes But if we would use it aright looke upon things as things that we shall enjoy but for a short time This body that seemeth now to have some beautie in it yet it must die and be laied in the dust these friends that seeme now to haue some pleasure and delight in them yet I must die and be tooke from them this estate and wealth that now I set so much prize upon I must die and death will part me and it So I say lookeupon every thing as separable from us Moderate your affections likewise to them Vse them onely as comforts in the way as a traveller doth the pleasures of his Inne hee stands not to build himselfe houses against every pleasant walke he lookes upon he stands not to purchase lands and to lay them to every Inne he comes to lie at No he knowes that he is now but in his passage in his way he knowes that hee is not at home that is the place he is going to and after a time hee shall come thither So make account that you are not now at home it is death that must helpe you to your home Let this therefore take you off from all these things that are in the way It is a strange thing to see how Sathan besotteth and befooleth men They strive and labour to compasse many worldly things as if their happinesse stood in the enjoyment of them as if they should have their wealth and their comforts for ever What care is there amongst men to get wealth and many times lose their soules in getting the world Alas Death will part soule and body them and their wealth and all Doe wee not see this daily in the death of others before us such a one is dead where is his body now in the dust Where are his friends and his companions now Where is his wealth and his estate for which many flattered him and fawned upon him are they not all separated from him they have nothing now to doe with him he cannot dispose of one penny of his estate now it is left he knowes not to whom others now have the mannaging of it As now you can say this of others so there will a time come that other men will say the like of you I had such a friend but death hath parted him from me hee had such an estate but death hath parted him and his estate Let us therefore make this use of the death of others to conclude with our selves that there will be a parting of all those outward things that now wee are so apt to dote upon The third speciall thing considerable in the death of others that will be matter of profit and benefit to those that live and survive after them is the end and cause for which God sendeth Death abroad into the world with such a large commission that it goeth on with such libertie to every familie to every place that it seizeth upon every person What 's the reason of it You shall see in the severall deaths of men severall causes There is judgement and mercy sometime a mixture of both and sometime but of one of these Sometimes wee see an apparant judgement of God in the death of some A judgement of God upon themselves Thus the young Prophet that disobeyed the word of the Lord a Lyon met him in the way and slew him So those Corinths that did eate and drinke unworthily in the Lords Supper though they were such as were saved after yet neverthelesse for this very cause saith the Apostle some of them were sicke and weake and some slept they died they were judged of the Lord that they might not bee condemned with the world When you see death seizing upon men as an act of divine judgement of divine displeasure let it make you more fearefull of sinning against God lest you provoke against your selves the same wrath in the very act of sinne Sometimes againe it is a judgement of God upon others Thus God takes away divers of his servants because the world is not worthy of them And as this is an act of judgement upon the world so it is an act of mercie to them God in mercy taking of them away from the evill to come and from the evill present A judgement of God to others that are unworthy of them A mercie to themselves that they are tooke away from their owne evill from sinne from temptations from all the effects and fruits of sinne and taken away from the evill that is to come upon others An act I say of mercie to them So it was to the child of Ieroboam he should die and should not see the judgement that was to come upon his fathers house because there was found some good thing in him toward the Lord. So it was to Iosiah Hee should bee gathered to his fathers in peace and his eyes should not see all that evill which the Lord would bring upon Ierusalem and upon the inhabitants thereof An act of judgement to others Righteous and mercifull men are taken away and noman layeth it
to heart they consider not the causes wherefore God takes away those good men A Land a Kingdome a State a People a place is much weakned when those that are righteous and mercifull men when those that stand in the gappe and use their endevours to prevent judgements are taken away The house will certainly fall when the pillars are removed They are the people of God only that hold up a state that hold up the world Assoone as Noah is put into the Arke presently commeth the deluge upon the World Assoone as ever Lot was got up to Zoar presently the Lord rained downe fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah Assoone as ever the mourners are marked presently commeth the destroying Angell upon the rest Beloved when wee see those that are mourners for the evils of the times and places where they live tooke away we should lay it to heart and consider it as a signe of Gods displeasure as a signe that hee is a going and departing when he takes away his jewels as a signe that he is a comming to judge the world when hee beginneth to separate to take to himselfe his owne Certainly as soone as ever that number of the elect shall bee accomplished when the company of those that God hath determined to eternall life shall be fulfilled when the sheepe of Christ that are yet to be brought into his fold are gathered together when the fulnesse of the Gentiles is come in and the nation of the Iewes added then the world shall bee burnt with fire and the day of Iudgement shall come nothing shall hinder that generall destruction that shall be the end of all things here below As it is with the generall Iudgement of the world so with particular Iudgements upon Nations when God takes away his people when the Saints goe out of Ierusalem to Pila then commeth the sword of the enemie upon Ierusalem when God drawes out his owne people presently commeth judgement upon the rest It is good to observe Gods method and order that he takes in governing of the world at this day that in the death of the servants of God wee may consider our owne time that wee may prepare for those evils that are a comming and for those greater judgements that are hastning Thus you see what use may bee made of laying to heart the death of others God is much glorified thereby For all his attributes are seene in all his workes and the glorifying of God is a declaring of God to be as glorious as hee hath revealed himselfe to be in his attributes which is by shewing of them forth in his workes When men can see the wisedome the justice the power the mercie the truth the soveraigntie of God and all in the death of others then they glorifie God in taking to heart the death of others You see likewise what good commeth to a mans selfe by laying to heart the death of others He sees thereby the certainty of his owne death He sees the nature of death and what the proper worke of it is viz. to separate betweene him and all those outward comforts all those props and staies whereupon his heart rested too much on earth in the daies of his vanitie And lastly he sees the end and cause why God sendeth Death into the world sometime in judgement that men should take heed of sin sometime in mercie in mercy to the men themselves and in mercy also to those that live that they seeing the servants of God lodged up before the tempest may learne to feare and to hide and secure themselves under Gods speciall providence who can either hide them amongst the living or the dead in the worst times Now let us conclude with some application to our selves In the first place it serveth for the just reproofe of that great neglect that is in the world at this day that men lay not to heart the death of others I wish that this were only the sinne of worldly men I know to a worldly man it is of all things the most unpleasant thought that can be to thinke of death hee cannot endure to heare this they shall fetch thy soule from thee It is as unpleasant to him as it is to a bankrout to heare of a Sergeant comming to arrest him as unpleasant as it is to a malefactour to heare of being brought before the Iudge And that is the reason why men in the time of feasting cannot endure such discourses at their Tables as might put sad thoughts of death into them oh these are to melancholy thoughts Yea but in the meane time it is thy folly thy want of wisedome Hee that was guided by the spirit of wisedome and had now bought some wisedome at a deare rate by wofull experience of his former follies hee now seeth that it was farre better to goe to the house of mourning that is seriously to consider of that which men account the most ordinary cause of mourning that is the death of others and of themselves then to goe to the house of feasting that is to sport a mans selfe in the pleasures of the world and to give libertie to a mans selfe to all manner of delights But I say I wish that this were their fault onely and that it may die with them But it is too much the fault of Gods owne people Moses is faine to pray for Israel in the Wildernesse where they saw so many die before them that God would give them wisedome to number their dayes And Ministers have still the same cause to pray for the people and Christians to pray one for another that God would give them wisedome to lay to heart the death of other men Have you well considered of Death when you can only discourse that such a one that was profitable in his instruction is dead such a one by whom we have had good in conversing with is dead such a one that was young and likely to live many yeares longer is dead What of all this this is but idle and emptie discourse What use makest thou of this to thy selfe dost thou gather from thence the certaintie of thy owne death Dost thou consider what Death will doe to thee when it commeth how that it will separate betweene thee and all things in the world as it hath done them Dost thou consider for what cause God sendeth Death abroad into the world Dost thou consider this with thy selfe as thou oughtest to doe This is an act of wisedome This is that wee call due consideration when the soule reflects upon it selfe it is their case now and it will be mine and mine in the same manner therefore it is good for me to set my accounts straite with God When thou accompaniest another to the grave dost thou conclude thus with thyselfe the very next time that any death is spoken of it may bee mine or as Saint Peter speakes to Saphira after the death of Annanias The feet of those that have buried