their might to plead the cause of Truth and Holiness and finish that great work their Lord hath set them You also that are the People of God should double your diligence You are not ignorant how your faithful Pastors liv'd and labour'd how they walked and wrought what indefatigable pains they took for God and for you and with their own hearts though you do not know half yet let that which you do know be a spur to you Up Christians up shake off a supine sluggish temper Work out your salvation with fear and trembling give all diligence to make your calling and election sure Hasten oh hasten to the Kingdom of God lose no time slip no opportunity neglect no part of your duty fill up your days relations and places and so run as that you may obtain you are compassed about with a great Cloud of witnesses lay aside therefore every weight that presseth down and the sinâ— that doth so easily beset you gird up the loins of your mind call forth all your strength buckle in good earnest to your business and on on in that holy pleasant race that is set before you 5. Remember them so as to be encouraged by them and take heart You live in a world that lyeth in wickedness it is grievously polluted almost all places are so dirty that we can scarce tread clean surely these are the dregs of time you are invironed with enemies and dangers And speak seriously Do you not sometimes feel inward fears and faintings Well encourage your selves in the Lord your God And take my Brethren the Prophets who have spoken in the Name of the Lord for an ensample of suffering afflictions and of patience You have seen what great things God hath done by them and for them you have seen that God hath carried them through all their difficulties so that they have overcome at the last Satan that roaring Lyon hath pursued them and come with open mouth yet could not devour them he hath got some of them and winnowed them as wheat yet their faith did not fail Lusts and corruptions within their own bosoms have made frequent assaults and furious batteries upon them yet they could not prevail These holy souls through Christ strengthning them have trodden down sins strength sometimes they have gone halting but always came off conquering The World again hath one while fawned like a strumpet and another while raged like a fury yet could not gain them by fair means nor foul Though the Archers have shot sore at them their bow hath abode in strength and the arms of their hands have been made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Iacob The waves have lifted up their voice and dashed against them yet have they stood like Rocks unshaken some of them have had an hard passage and met with many a violent storm yet at last they have got in a Calm unto their desired Heaven and being landed in the other world â—re now feasting in the new Hierusalem which is above at the Court of the King of Glory It is true they died and so must we so must the strongest and the highest it is appointed for all men once to dye yet these dye but once they did not dye before the time they did not dye before their work was done they did not dye before they were fit to dye no nor before they were willing to dye they were ripe fruit and so dropt into the bosom of Abraham In a word they dyed to live and now they live to dye no more Be you therefore of good cheer O ye holy Ones that God who did so much for them can do as much for you his arm is not shortned nor his ear heavy nor his love less be you strong in him and in the power of his might 6. Lastly So remember them as to think of theirs who are left behind It is more than probable that some of their Wives and Children are in a low condition and want conveniencies if not necessaries Be you liberal to them give them a supply out of your abundance pare off some of your superfluities for their relief you shall not suffer nor be losers by it I dare ingage to you there is one in Heaven will take care of that There be others who though not reduc'd to such straits as to need the help of your purses yet being now in a disconsolate condition they do need your company and comforts Poor hearts their houses are left unto them desolate they are Turtles alone and mourn sore like Doves give a knock at their doorâ— now and then when you can turn into those Widows houses and speak comfortably to them the very sight of their Husbands friends cannot but be cordial to them though for a time it will open the wound and renew their sorrow yet it will revive and chear them too Thus much for the first part of your duty Remember your deceased Pastors Yet before I pass on to the second let me subjoyn to what hath been said two things by way of Caution 1. While you remember them be not unmindful of God and do not forget to trust in God though they are dead yet God still lives yea he lives for evermore whosoever dyes God cannot dye he necessarily is and is necessarâ—ly what he is As he is eternally so eternally immutable not having the least shadow of turning And this ever-living God hath the residue of the spirit and can pour it out upon whom he will and furnish whom he pleaseth with Ministerial Gifts and Graces and he never ceaseth to look after his interest and people Look you to it that you be true to him and he will be true to you He will have a Ministry in England as long as he hath a Church in England and may that be as long as the Sun and Moon endure Amen This great Lord of the Harvest will lose none of his Corn not an ear not a grain for want of Labourers to gather it in This gracious and loving Father of the Family sees good now and then to pinch some of his Children but he will starve none When Israel was in a Wilderness he was pleased to work Miracles rather than they should not be provided for therefore let your Faith live as long as God liveth in Heaven and you upon Earth And let me add this for your comfort Let never so many good men eminent men dye your life O Believers is secur'd and insured to you by the life of Christ. Hear his own words Iohn 14. 19. Because I live ye shall live also 2. While you remember them do not forget your selves It is readily and joyfully acknowledged that God doth not stand in need of Ministers He that could make Heaven and Earth by the Word of his Power can accomplish all his pleasure without helps and instruments yet you do need them and it is his Will to employ them and continue them to the end of the world Magistracy and
Specially the Names of such professors who by their villanies have made Religion stink in the nostrils of foolish men though it is pity it should Let all men judge of our Religion not by the practices of some that pretend to it but by its own Rules and Laws which are the most exact excellent and noble of any in the World But let the name of the wicked rot and indeed so it doth and shall There is a curse upon it and that rots it There was wickedness in their Lives and that causeth rottenness in their Names No good man will speak well of them and the commendations of the wicked are not worth the having for they are a real disgrace But these followers of the Lamb have obtained a good report and left it behind them That Death which makes them naked and bare of all their temporal enjoyments cannot strip them of this The righteousness of Christ and the graces of the Spirit go along with them their works sollow them and the remembrance of their holiness and usefulness stays behind How do their Relations and Friends want them How do their People and acquaintance bewail their absence nay some of their Enemies will strew flowers upon their Herse And though they will not be so liberal as their Conscience nor speak all that 's put into their mouths but suppress and detain such truths in unrighteousness yet they will bestow the Epithet of an honest man That God whom they served hath said The Righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance He takes care of their names as well as of their dust And he hath also said the memory of the just is blessed It is and shall be so like a precious oyntment which fills the whole place where they lived with a fragrant odour yea and places far remote We cannot expect all should speak well of them Some paint the Angels black the Devil would have had Iob taken for a meer mercenary although he was the Worlds none-such for his uprightness Shimei cursed David and Tertullus the Orator threw dirt upon a Paul Christ himself was called a Deceiver after his death yet He was in all things faithful to him that appointed him When all men speak well of one it is a shrewd sign all was not well Either something was amiss they will be such as their company is or else something was wanting viz. Faithfulness and plain dealing It is honour enough to have a good report among them who fear God they are best able to judge and most to be credited and this honour have all his Saints all those whose character I have given you and those also who tread in their steps and hold out to the end so doing 5. Lastly It is a most blessed and glorious end You Slaves of Hell who are at the Devils beck and drudge for him all your days committing uncleanness with greediness and drawing sin as with Cart-ropes what is the end you must expect The Apostle tells you Rom. 6. 21. The end of those things is death That is the best wages the Devil hath to bestow upon his Servants a never-dying death a death which is unspeakably worse than death and their end is shame Now they are impudent but then they shall be ashamed Dread shall fill them and shame cover them That is the promotion of fools Prov. 3. 35. Oh! change your Master leave your work break off your sins by repentance unless you think eternal death a good reward and everlasting shame desirable preferment But behold these servants of the Lord who have served their generation according to the will of God and glorified him upon earth who have fought a good fight and kept the faith to the finishing of their course who have desired and endeavoured to turn many to righteousness how is it with them when their end comes I want words The lines fall to them in pleasant places they have a goodly heritage Who can summe up their happiness were one of them here were an Angel here he could not tell you half They are approved and highly commended The testimony given is that they pleased God that they have done well very well Eâ—ge bone serve Well done good and faithful servant thou hast been faithful in thy little Now they shine as Stars in the â—irmament now they have their Crown of Righteousness in comparison of which the richest Diadems are not worth taking up in the street And their glory is answerable to their Crown An exceeding and eternal weight of glory such as hath substance and solidity in it And no wonder if together with all this they have their joy If any thing can this will make them forget their sormer sufferings the worlds affronts and inoignities the angers and bitter unkindnesses of their Mothers children who are dandled in her lap and yet are peevish with their weaned Brethren All this will make them merry at heart and cheerful in look and sing Allelujah They have a joy of God's making and maintaining not the crackling joy of the world but the unconceiveable joy of their Lord a joy too big for them to contain though their capacities are greatly enlarged it cannot enter into them they shall enter into it a joy that shall fill them to the brim and compass them round about they shall be in joy as a full vessel in the midst of the immense Ocean The doctrinal part being thus finished I shall speak a little and but a little in a way of Application And Vse 1. My Reverend Fathers and Brethren in the Ministry of whatsoever Judgment you are in these divided times give me leave in all humility yet with all earnestness to beg of you that you would so preach and walk so labour and live as that you may be exâ—mples to the flock and your memory may be blessed Oh! let us all look to it that we know and speak the truth as it is in Iesus not departing from the purity and simplicity of the Gospel Let us remember whose Embassadours we are and keep close to our Commission delivering only our Masters word Let our lips preserve knowledge and not cause people to erre May our discourses turn chiefly and mostly upon those two Cardinal points that Pauls did Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Iesus Christ. Do what you can to turn your Auditors from all their immoralities to a sober civil and unblamable life Doubtless the Gospel requires this Christ came to redeem us not only from Hell and condemnation but also from a vain and vicious conversation And our perfection in Heaven will consist in a compleat conformity to the Moral Law If any decry Morality it is because they do not understand it Yet my Brethren let us also teach Faith in Jesus Christ do not rob him of any part of his glory to bestow it upon another Sure I am that is far from Morality it is no good manners to deal so with a precious Saviour to whom we are infinitely
secretly mock him as well as those that publickly affront him Make sure work therefore for your precious souls see that you have that faith which is unfeigned the faith of Gods Elect that you do cordially imbrace the Truths of the Gospel and â—lose with an offered Jesus that you have that faith by which you may live that faith by which you may walk until you come to walk by sight I would not have any of you deceived and cheated to your own destruction as many poor creatures are who run away with a lie in their right-hand build hopes of Heaven and Happiness upon a sandy bottom please themselves in a lifeless Image of Religion which the holy One of Israel will despise when he awaketh unto judgment their faith is no better than a fancy their Godliness is not a Godliness of Gods making nor approving they walk about in the sparks of that fire which themselves have kindled and at last lie down in sorrow Be you wise for your souls and deal prudently get that faith which upon tryal will be found to praise and honour much more precious than gold that perisheth be ye provided with that Oyl which will keep your Lamps burning when the blessed Bridegroom cometh 3. Follow them in the actings of their faith Grace is given you not only for Ornament but also for use we are not only to be justified by faith and saved by â—aith but to live by faith Have you got it then suffer it not to lie dormant but exercise it Act your faith upon Christ his Mediation Merits and Intercession He is a full Christ it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell a fulness that is far beyond your emptiness live upon him therefore and draw from him you can never draw him dry Act your faith upon the Covenant it is an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure God is ever mindful of it with it holy David comforted himself in it he placed all his happiness and sum'd up all his desires Act your faith upon the Promises these are exceeding great and precious you cannot measure them nor over-rate them In them there is an answerableness to every case a complete suitableness to every condition in which you either are or can be And you cannot over-trust them being Yea and Amen of most sure and certain accomplishment The Womb of Divine Promise never miscarried but shall bring forth at the time of life all the mercies and blessings with which it travails Ever count Gods Promise abundant security and believe that all Mountains which lie in the way of its performance shall be made a plain the darkest Providences are still subservient to the promise Iosephs being sold for a Slave and clapt up in a Prison were steps to his being made the second man in the Kingdom Act your faith upon the wisdom and power the love and care of your heavenly Father know he endears you and will look after you His Glory shall not be lost nor given to another his Truth is great and shall overcome his Church is built upon a Rock and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Iacob though small shall rise and though a worm he shall thresh the mountains the Beast and the false Prophet shall be cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone and the glorious victory shall be the Lambs for he is King of kings and Lord of lords and they that be with him are chosen and faithful and true Believe and rejoyce while you believe that when Gods desperate Enemies are at work He himself is not idle but observes them is in the Conclave and the Cabal undermines them counter-acts them and will turn their counsels backward or headlong so that no weapon shall prosper which they form against his cause and people but he will accomplish the thoughts of his heart which shall stand in all generations and effect his own designs and be absolute Master of all his ends finishing all the work which he hath to do in the world and that without losing either time or ground as our days go off so Gods work goeth on it is never out of hand Thus act your faith upon God in all conditions and under all dispensations when you are high and when low yea at the lowest for still still still the everlasting arms arms are underneath In these actings of faith those holy men lived and so must you otherwise you will never be established much less in such gloomy tottering turning and tumbling times as these are 4. Lastly Follow them in the fruitfulness of their faith Your gracious Pastors were not neither may you be Solifidians As they did believe so they maintained good works and by that means obtained a good report While you know that faith justifieth you you must also know it is your duty to justifie your faith that faith which is alone is stark naught it is dead and rotten and stinks above-ground shew me and shew the world your faith by your works If you ask me what fruits they are which grow upon the root of faith and prove it genuine I Answer all the fruits of the spirit in which you must abound if you would have an abundant entraâ—ce into the glorious Kingdom of our God and Saviour But I shall speak only to three Holiness Love Ioy. 1. Follow them in their Holiness A wicked Believer is as meer an impossibility as a gracious Devil such a faith as will consist with the love and life and reign of sin is no better than what may be found in Hell among lapsed Angels and damned Spirits who as the Apostle Iames tells us Believe and tremble Wheresoever true faith is it purifies the heart and reforms the life and orders the footsteps according to the word As it cloathes the soul with the beautiful Robe of Christs Righteousness so it subjects the soul to his governing Scepter and Law it lets Christ in and casts corruption out when Christ dwells in the heart by Faith he shines in the life by Holiness The pearl of faith is never found in the dunghil of profaneness Study then study holiness and perfect it too in the fear of God think with your selves what manner of persons ye ought to be how acurate and exact in your whole course remembring That grace of God which bringeth salvation and hath appeared unto you teacheth you that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts ye should live soberly righteously and godly in this present evil world 2 Tit. 11 12. And that you ought to be like your Father who is holy in all his ways and righteous in all his works When therefore a temptation to any sin assaults you resist it with utmost indignation and say as Nehemiah did in another case Shall such a man as I do this or as Ioseph How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God or as that good Woman Christiana sum I am a Christian. This my dear Friends
this is the way to glorifie your God to honour your Religion to credit your Pastors In this way you shall be their comfort while they live their Crown when they are dead yea their joy and rejoycing in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming The exemplariness of your carriages is the best commendation of the Ministers you have and of the Sermons you hear whereas when you walk disorderly and as Enemies to the Cross of Christ you are our shame and reproach spots in our Assemblies goads in our sides and burdens upon our spirits Let no man nor woman tell others they sit under my Ministry unless they resolve by the grace of God to depart from iniquity 2. Follow them in their Love True faith works love and by it it kindles a pure flame of love and then makes use thereof for the promoting and furtherance of all duty Have you not taken notice of your Pastors love What did they think too much to do for you They have hazarded their liberty and spent their strength and broken their rest and wasted their lungs for you They mourned under the untractableness of some and were humbled for the unreformedness of others who had sinned and had not repented they longed for your Conversion to God and progress in Religion and growth in grace They had no greater joy than to see you walking in the truth Oh! how did they prize God and Christ and you how did they rejoyce in their work though hard yet sweet how welcome was a Sabbath upon which they might draw their breasts for your consolation and open their treasures for your inriching imitate you them in their love give the best the flower the quintessence of it unto God Erect in your hearts a Throne for Christ love him as well as you can and then mourn because you love him so little and always pray that you may love him more Love one another dearly for you are brethren and so fulfil the law of Christ and prove your selves his Disciples Have an universal love for all the Saints all in whom you can see aliquid Christi any thing of Christ yea so love all men as to wish their good and to do them all the good you can even your Enemies your Persecutors those that hate you do you hate their sins and wicked ways but love their persons and pray for their conversion and salvation 3. Follow them in their Joy You read of the joy of faith and of the Saints rejoycing in believing with joy unspeakable and full of glory Certainly it is a duty incumbent upon all the Saints to rejoyce in the Lord and that evermore and call to remembrance the times that are past Have you not seen the faith of your Pastors budding and blossoming with joy when you have been sinking and days have been dark and fears many Have you not seen a smile upon their brow even then when there was a Cloud upon their tabernacle You have indeed been acquainted with their sorrows and their tears because men hated to be reformed would not keep Gods Law but dishonoured his Name and opposed his Gospel and would break his bands asunder and cast away his cords from them but you have also been privy to and witnesses of their joys follow them in this Let them that are of a fearful heart be strong be you of a cheerful spirit and let your brethren and others see you are so You have O Saints matter of rejoycing in your worst conditions nay let me say this You have much more matter of rejoycing than you now have or ever shall have of sorrow and disquiet For if you be really what you profess your selves to be God is the cause and matter of your rejoycing it is he that is your comfort and your glory Psal. 43. 4. I will go saith that sweet singer of Israel unto the Altar of God unto God my exceeding joy or as the margin tells you it is in the Hebrew unto God the gladness of my joy Now I beseech you if you can tell me What can possibly be I ask you again what can possibly be so great a cause of sadness and sorrow as your God is of joy and rejoycing Thou O poor drooping soul thinkest thou hast a great many sins in thy heart and the Church of Christ hath a great many dangers at this day in poor England City and Country is full of them and doubtless all this is very true too too true the good Lord help us Yet know God is above them all and greater than them all He is greater than all thy sins and so can both pardon and subdue them He is greater than all his Churches enemies and so can either reconcile and change them if he pleases or curb and conquer them As he is greater than all our dangers and so can easily obviate and prevent them He can with a word command deliverance and create peace and place a defence upon and about all our glory You have my Brethren at all times in the very worst times more cause of joy in God than you can have of sorrow and discouragement in any thing nay in all things This made the holy Prophet take up that brave resolution Hab. 3. 17 18. To rejoyce in the Lord and to joy in the God of his salvation though there should be a famine in the world and the staff of creature-comforts should be broken to pieces though earth should sink under him yet he would by faith hang upon a God above him and as long as he had a God above to live upon his joy should live and flourish He knew not only how to make a meal but how to feast it upon God alone Thus have I at large set before you that duty which is incumbent upon you in reference to your deceased Pastors who have Preached to you the Word of God it lieth in these two things Remember them Follow their faith Now I come to the last clause in the Text which you may look upon either as a third duty or an excellent means for the commending of the two former and facilitating them unto you and that you have in these words Considering the end of their conversation Here again you have the Act Considering and the Object The end of their conversation I will begin with the former Considering We ought to be a considering people it would be our safety our honour our comfort and advantage every way as I could easily shew you We should sin less if we would consider more Most if not all our sins come in at this door want of consideration Men do not consider their ways lead directly to Hell going down to the Chambers of Death and therefore they go on in them They do not look into the state of their souls nor consider how affairs stand with them and so when they should mourn and weep they live jovally and frolick their days away dancing and roaring upon the very brink