you Let no Talents lie dead upon your Hands and unoccupied but be all imployed and improved for him to whom you owe your selves and your All. Do what you can for the Name and Interest of Christ. This was the excellent Account which the holy Apostle Paul was able to give of himself Philip. 1.21 That to him to live was Christ. And it will be well very well for us if we through Grace are able to give up the like Account of our selves that while to too too many to live is Sin and the World to fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh to heap up Riches to advance in Honours to pursue the empty and perishing Delights which the Creatures afford we fly a more sublime and lofty pitch for to us to live is Christ. Our hearts are immovably fixed upon Christ and devoted to him Our Projects and Designs are laid for Christ Our Lives and Actions are directed unto Christ to his Honour and advancement of his Interest the increasing of the number of his Subjects and enlarging the Bounds of his Empire It is the positive and declared Will of God That men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father Now let us all conform and be obedient to this Will as we will answer the contrary at our peril It is far better for us to live to Christ than to our selves or to any thing else in the World. This will yield us the greatest Peace and Comfort here together with the greatest Profit and Reward hereafter They that live to Christ will never see cause to repent of it whatever else they repent of they will never see cause to reflect upon it with a Blush for they live to good purpose to the best and most excellent purpose Those Persons shall find no reason to be ashamed of so living nor to be afraid of dying when they are called hence nor tremble at the thoughts of giving up their Account when called to appear before their Judge Let me therefore in the first place direct my Discourse to you who are private Christians and accordingly move in the lowest and narrowest Sphere of Activity If you have an Heart such as you should have you even you are in a capacity of doing something for Christ though not so much as others above you I pray give me leave to ask What have you done And now do you take up the Question and bring it home to your selves and propound it seriously to your own Souls O my Soul what have I done You have lived several Years in the World some fewer some more you have some of you been great Talkers and made an high Profession of Faith in Christ and Love to him and I do not in the least question but some of you have taken a great deal of pains and eaten your Bread in the sweat of your Brows you have wrought hard for your selves and your Families you have had multitudes of Thoughts and been taken up with carking Cares you have risen up early and sate up late and eaten the Bread of Carefulness you have watch'd and you have work'd and wearied your selves with working and when you have not met with the desired Success you have fretted and pined and could almost for grief and vexation tear off your Hair But now inquire What have you in the midst of all this done for Christ Certainly he deserves something of you He humbled himself for you he suffered and died for you he became a Curse for you He did bear your Iniquities and his Fathers Wrath He made peace and purchas'd Heaven for you And all this deserves something You owe him a great deal no less than your All and you are shamefully disingenuous and ungrateful if you do not study Returns Besides this consider as he died so he rose again a Conqueror and is a King upon his Vesture and his Thigh there is this glorious Name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords And so he is able to reward you to make up all your Losses to satisfie you for all your Labours to answer all your Hopes and to exceed your highest Expectations Well then call your selves to an Account before God call you to it for he will do it one day What have you done for Christ If you have done much if you have been stedfast immovable and abounding in the Work of the Lord take the Comfort of it knowing that God is not unrighteous to forget it your Labour shall not be in vain you shall enter into Joy. But still go on and endeavour to do more and abound in it more and more for none of you have as yet done enough but have cause to mourn at your coming off so pitifully If there be any of you that to this day hath done nothing for Christ and truly I do fear yea I greatly fear there are too many such in this Congregation and in all you have had a great many Irons in the Fire and all of them diligently minded and tended while Christ hath been forgotten and neglected let me ask you Doth Conscience say nothing to you Have you not sometimes some secret Checks and inward Gripes If in such a Case as this Conscience be silent if it do not reprove you and set this Sin before you really your Case is sad But I shall do my Duty and in the Name of God I advise you to be ashamed and to begin your Duty now and double your diligence upon the account of your former slothfulness neglect and wofully mis-spent Time not knowing how soon your Breath may be stopp'd and all Opportunities for Service taken from you Now now begin and go on to speak for him plead the Cause of his Name Ordinances and Institutions and do not do it with a cold Indifference but as becomes Persons nearly concerned Commend him to your Families Relations Friends and Neighbours See what Hearts you can get for him Love him your selves with all entireness of Affection and do what you can to allure and draw others to love him too Dan. 12.3 They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever Labour then my beloved Friends labour hard as those that have a dear and fervent Love to this lovely Iesus and as those who also have an eye to this glorious Recompence of Reward In the next place I shall with faithfulness and earnestness yet with all due respect offer my Advice and Request to my Reverend Fathers and Brethren in the Ministry who hold the Head by whatsoever Sentiments and Opinions they are divided and distinguished Of and among whom all that are sound in the Faith and accompany their Labour in the Word and Doctrine with an unblamable holy and exemplary Conversation I greatly love and highly esteem and honour You are Embassadors for Christ Oh do not forget that You ought to be his Paranymphs the real and hearty Friends of this ever-blessed
or gaudy Attire of a loathsome Harlot And besides there is a most gracious Promise made to the Church which shall have its certain and full accomplishment in due season Isa. 2.2 It shall come to pass in the latter days and hath he said it and will he not do it Yes without all doubt he will that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains and exalted above the hills that is there is a time coming and I would hope it is not far off the nearer it is the better when the true Church of Christ shall be the Head and not the Tail when she shall not be as a Scullion among the Pots but as a Bride made ready for her Husband and when that Religion which came down from Heaven and will carry them to Heaven who sincerely profess and practice it that Religion which is pure and undefiled before God and the Father shall prevail against all the false and counterfeit Religions in the World as it doth now excel them all in Truth Purity and Glory so it then shall in Virtue Power and Efficacy Dagon shall fall before the Ark of God and the Idols be utterly abolished Yea tho they be made of Silver or Gold which men have made each one for himself to worship yet shall they be cast to the moles and to the bats Isa. 2.20 The Inventions of Men shall be made to give place to the Appointments and Institutions of Christ and the Doctrines of Devils shall disappear and vanish before the Doctrine of the Gospel Babylon shall be made a Hissing and Confusion but Ierusalem a Rejoycing and her People a Joy this we do now rejoyce in the Faith of and patiently wait for the glorious and happy performance Amen Come Lord Jesus Fourthly Sion was a Type or Figure of the Gospel-Church because of its Firmness and Stability It is said in Psal. 125.1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever So shall the Church yea tho the Hills do depart and the Hills be removed even Sion it self at the end of the World yet the Church shall abide and when it ceaseth to be in any part Militant it shall be throughout Triumphant Let Men and Devils combine and unite their Strength and do their worst the Church shall stand the shock and outlive their Fury They may Rage Persecute and Kill they may Imprison Inslave and by their Cruelties force multitudes from their own Countries and native Soils but when they have done Christ will shew himself to be above them They may weary themselves in the greatness of their way and sweat and fret in their Gears but they shall never reach their designed and desired End. They may say Raze her raze her even to the Foundation but Ierusalem is a burthensome Stone upon whomsoever it falls it will grind them to Powder This spiritual Vine which Gods own right hand hath planted may be cut and wounded and bleed sorely but it shall not be to Death the old and excellent saying is at this day as true as ever Sanguis Martyrum semen Ecclesiae The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church The more Martyrs there are the more Believers there shall be Pauls bonds did turn to the furtherance of the Gospel and so have done and shall do the patient sufferings and joyful comfortable Deaths of others in the Cause and for the sake of Christ and his Truths and Worship Let all the Enemies do their best and their worst too God will have a People in the World to praise his Name to load his Altars and to serve him in the beauty of Holiness In the worst of times when Ahab had the Throne and Idolatry was grown rank and rampant there were seven thousand in Israel that had not bowed the Knee to Baal so tho at some times the number of faithful Professors may be much diminished by miserable Persecution and far more miserable Apostacy yet there shall be so many preserved as shall be a seed to serve him and accounted to him for a Generation and that seed being water'd with the Divine blessing shall happily spring up in its season and yield a mighty increase There is a sweet and precious Promise of eternal Truth gone out of the mouth of him who is the faithful Witness upon which it is our duty and richly worth our while to live and in the assurance thereof greatly to rejoyce Mat. 16.18 Upon this Rock will I build my Church Upon what Rock not Peter himself for tho he was a good Man and an excellent Apostle yet he was a frail fallible and dying man But either upon the Truth which was then confessed by him or rather upon my self who am the eternal Rock i.e. upon the Lord Jesus Christ himself and what he hath so built none shall be able to pull down The gates the Policy and Power of Hell shall not prevail against it So much may suffice to be spoken to the first thing viz. what is here meant by Sion and why the Gospel-Church is called so 2. Q. Our second Question is this Why is Sion called Gods holy Hill Or the Hill of Gods holiness A. To which I thus briefly Answer Sion is so called because of the Ark which was there when the sweet Singer of Israel composed this Psalm which was a visible Symbol of Gods special spiritual and gracious Presence and also because of the Temple which was built there afterward and was an eminent Type of Iesus Christ. In that the great God was pleased to place his Name that house he was pleased to fill with his Glory there he did meet his People hearing their Prayers and returning his Answers from thence it was that he commanded the blessing even life for evermore Psal. 133.3 There is no argument to be drawn from hence that can evince to us the holiness of Places now As in every Nation Persons that fear God and work righteousness are accepted of him So is that Worship in all places which is performed to him according to his Will in Spirit and in Truth Ierusalem is not now an holy City nor Canaan the holy Land. Christ our Altar doth sanctify indeed those Gifts which are by a gracious heart in Faith offered up to God upon and by him but the meer place doth not do it it contributes nothing toward it it puts no beauty upon it no savour nor rellish that will take with God. Fervent prayers cordial praises all holy duties have as free an access to God as speedy admission with him as full a welcome as sweet gracious reception and entertainment which are offered and performed in this place in a Kitchin a Closet a Chamber or a Field as those that are performed in any place which man is said to consecrate If men would look more after heart-holiness they would not talk so much of nor insist so much upon the holiness
often to God and beg Wisdom and Strength from him and the raising of you up as high as you ought to be that is above the Fear of Man so that nothing may be able to divert you from nor hinder you in the Path of Truth Justice and Holiness Cowardize and Timorousness speak a low mean and base Spirit It is intolerable in a Souldier truly it is as bad if not worse in a Magistrate As the former will in a time of danger flie from his Enemy so the other will in times of Difficulty and Discouragement turn his back upon his Duty When one was hired by Tobiah and Sanballat to persuade Nehemiah's going into the Temple and shutting the Doors for fear of the Enemies Designs He returned to him this brave and truly Heroick Answer Nehem. 6.11 Should such a Man as I flee And who is there that being as I am would go into the Temple to save his Life Thus do you think with your selves every one of you Doth such and such a thing become me Should such a Man as I one that hath made such a Profession as I have done one that is advanced to such a Place as I am in do so or so And if a well informed Conscience saith no then do not do it if it saith yes this is your Duty this becomes your Profession and Place then apply to it whatever Flesh and Blood this and that sort of Men say to the contrary But it is high time now to come to the third and last Use. Vse 3. And in that I shall speak some things by way of support and comfort to those in this Congregation yea and all others to whom this Discourse shall come that bear good will to Sion and to that blessed Lord Jesus who Reigns there Though the Times into which we are cast are very cloudy and evil upon many accounts and though the Providences of God up and down in the World are abstruse and mysterious hard to be understood they are such Riddles as we do not know how to interpret them In many places the dark side of the Pillar is turned toward the Israel of God Yet let me say at this Day as the Holy Prophet said formerly in Psalm 149.2 Let Israel rejoyce in him that made him let the Children of Sion be joyful in their King. It cannot rationally be denied but that we have cause of Fear and Mourning when we look into our selves and take a view of our own Hearts and Ways and there discover Sins more than enough to provoke the fierce Wrath of God against us and to bring down his desolating Judgments upon us and also when we look abroad into the Nation and the World and consider the Designs of bad Men and the Divisions of good Men the Heats and Anâ—mosities among professed Christians and how great strangers they are to that Healing Spirit by which they all ought to be acted yet I am sure we have great cause of Comfort and Rejoycing when we look up to Christ And therefore that Command of the Apostle Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce in the Lord alway and again I say rejoyce He repeats the Command because of the excellency of the Duty and of how much concernment and advantage it is to the Christian For this Joy is his Strength while Dumpishness and Melancholy infeebles him unfits him for Service and exposeth him to Temptations Yea and of how much Concernment it likewise is unto Religion This Joy is its Honour It is a comely and beautiful thing and makes it shine even in the Eyes of By-Standers Therefore he saith Rejoyce always 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at all Times in all Places and in all Conditions not only when the Sun of Prosperity shines upon your Tabernacles and divine Protection hedges your way and Mercy paves it not only when Goodness follows you and Favour compasseth you about and you have as much as Heart can wish but even when the Fig-Tree doth not Blossom neither shall Fruit be in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall fail and the Fields shall yield no Meat Hab. 3.17 18. At such a time and in such a case do you rejoyce but remember in what and in whom not in things below that is a mushrom Joy that is rejoycing in a thing of naught it is not worth your while Your Joy must not be Carnal but Spiritual your Faith must draw it up out of the Well of Salvation fetch it into you from Christ in whom there is cause enough You can never form to your selves right Thoughts of Christ never look upon him with a believing Eye but in him you will discover abundant cause of Rejoycing yea of Triumphing As you meet with that Expression 2 Cor. 2.14 Thanks be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. Yea the Apostle would have Believers so full of Joy in Christ as that he would have them quite empty of all disturbing and carking Cares In the same Phil. 4.6 Be careful for nothing but in every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving let your Requests be made known to God. And indeed He would have us live comfortable and chearful Lives in the World as well as holy and gracious Lives and if we do not the Fault is our own we are miserably wanting to our selves for he hath in his Revelations of himself and in his Covenant and Promises made ample and abundant Provision in order thereunto And therefore let us now in the close of all a little look to Jesus a little consider the Apostle and High Priest of our holy Profession this glorious King of Sion and Saints and take notice of some things in him which very well may raise feed and maintain our Joy. First We have great cause to rejoyce in this that Christ always lives Others do die it is appointed for all Men for mean Men the Shrubs shall be stubb'd up and great Men too the Cedars must fall Dives died as well as Lazarus Death doth not regard their Honours nor will it be brib'd with their Riches Great Men must die they are not too big for Death to wrestle a Fall with and so do good Men too yea the best of them those that have been most holy and useful Moses the Typical Mediator was commanded to go up to Mount Nebo and die there David was a Man after Gods own Heart and he served his Generation according to the Will of God so long as God would have him and in good measure in such a manner as God would have him He walked in Communion with God and he ruled in the Fear of God but when he had done his work he fell asleep The Sleep of Death came with a Commission from Heaven and closed his Eyes the Scepter dropt out of his Hand and he dropt into his Grave That is the House of all the Living Princes and Nobles Kings and Emperours must take that for their long home Psal. 82.6 7. I have said Ye are Gods