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A25827
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Sermons preached upon several occasions by Timothy Armitage.
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Armitage, Timothy, d. 1655.
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1678
(1678)
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Wing A3702; ESTC R25891
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316,267
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489
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unto God in 1 Pet. 3. 17. It is better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well doing than for evil doing If you suffer as evil doers you will have little comfort in it but if suffering in well doing take it patiently and the more patiently you take it the more acceptable it will be unto the Lord. Object Ay but I have been a friend unto him thus will men stand to plead for their passions a hard matter it is to forgive I have been a friend unto this man I have done him good all my daies and yet he hath wronged me so and so nevertheless To which I say Answ 1. Thou hast the more cause to pity him if he be one that doth return evil unto thee for thy good thou hast the better end of the staff see what Solomon saies in Prov. 17. 13. Whoso rewardeth evil for good evil shall not depart from his house Mark here 's a sad threatening if thou remembrest this thou hast cause to pity thy brother that hath done wrong unto thee the Lord hath said it and thou hast cause to pity him Evil shall not depart from his house Again The Lord may Object against thee the Lord may say I have been a friend to thee and done thee good all thy daies and thou yet sinnest against me and if this be not any bar unto the Lord to shew forgiveness unto thee let not it be a bar to shew thy forgiveness unto thy brother Object Ay but he hath done me much wrong spoken evil of me in every company he comes in he hath wronged me after reconciliation and peace-making he hath done me much wrong this is a hard task Answ But let me say unto thee notwithstanding all this thou comest short of the rule of Christ thou hast forgiven often thou saist hast thou forgiven one Brother seven times why truly there are many that cannot say they have exceeded that But if thou hast forgiven seven times that is no great matter thou thinkest it much but Christ thinks it little Alas what is seven times to seventy times seven four hundred threescore and two times Which when done thou art but come up to the Letter of the Word Thou hast wronged the Lord in his Name thou hast sinned against God again and again thou hast wronged him in his Name and in his Glory many thousand times and yet that is no obstacle of the Lords mercy towards thee notwithstanding thine often renewed provocations Oh let not the often renewed provocations of thy brother hinder thee from thy forgiving him SERMON I. GEN. 5. 〈◊〉 And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him YOu have an History in this Chapter of the ten first Patriarchs from Adam unto Noah In every Age God had some to bear up his Name in the World and amongst those these ten Fathers were choice Pillars But here is something remarkably spoken of Enoch here was accounted more of him than all the rest Enoch walked with God and he was not He saith of all the rest they lived so long so many years and then they died but Enoch walked with God and he was not therefore we should consider who this Enoch was the New Testament bears witness of him and speaks of this Enoch as one that was a choice piece in his Generation the Apostle Jude tells you that he was a Prophet as you may read in that Epistle the 14 Verse Enoch also the seventh from Adam prophesieth of thee saying Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Judgement upon all c. Enoch the seventh from Adam so Jude describes him Some put a great deal in this mysterie The seventh from Adam and I think there was something in it as he was a Type of Christ he was a Type of that Christ that was to be the Rest of his people that was to give perpetual Rest everlasting rest unto his Sains his name Enoch signifies one that was dedicated or separated unto the Lord and so he was a Type of Christ that was chosen out among his Brethren and he was separated and dedicated unto the Lord He walked with God and so did Christ and therein he was a Type of him he was well pleasing unto God He had this Testimony saith the Apostle to the Hebrews he pleased God Heb. 11. 5 Christ was the object of the Fathers good pleasure in a special manner This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased But I rather think the Apostle intended no more than Enoch but only to distinguish him from another Enoch that was in that Generation as you may read of him in Gen. 4. 17. And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bare Enoch and he builded a City and called the City after the Name of his son Enoch So this Enoch in Gen. 5. was a third from Adam for he was not the son of Cain but the son of Jared and of Adam's posterity by Seth and Rubin Cain he came of that seed that was given instead of Abel when Abel was slain God gave another seed instead of Abel and Enoch came of that seed The Church of Christ shall lose nothing by persecution if Abel be taken away by bloody hands the Lord will raise up another seed and Enoch a choice man is of that seed to hold up the name of God in the World When John Baptist was put in Prison Christ himself goes forth to Preach the Gospel the Church of Christ shall not lose by Persecution out of the very ashes of the Saints that are slain shall arise new ones men upon whom a double measure of the Spirit shall be given as it was to Elisha when Elias was taken away And this by the way Let us now more strictly consider what it is that is spoken of this Enoch There are two remarkable things the one is concerning his Life and the other concerning his Death Touching his Life it 's said that Enoch walked with God he walked with God nay through his whole life he walked with God so many years as he lived after he begat his first son three hundred years and upwards the Apostle to the Hebrews saith That he pleased God that is his walking with God in Heb. 11. 5. By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death before his translation it 's said He had this testimony that he pleased God at the latter end of the Verse He walked with God it was his constant aim to please God in all things he aimed at God in the whole course of his life He had this testimony that he pleased God he lived in Faith and Obedience and by Faith he pleased God For without Faith it 's said it 's impossible to please God He continually exercised Faith upon the promised Messiah that was to come he lived in expectation to see his day and he saw it before-hand as Abraham did by Faith and rejoiced and so he
from the evil to come Object But you will say There may be hopes of good daies and that might make us unwilling to die in hopes of good daies Answ Why God may make you willing as Moses was though at the Borders of Canaan yet God would have him die and he goes up to the Mountain and dies very willingly there may be a great deal of evil before the good come a great deal of shakings sore shakings before the good day come the passage to the Land may be very strait yet Christ will bring thee along with him when he comes I say when ever Christ comes he will bring the Saints along with him We that are alive shall not prevent those that are dead No they shall rise first and then shall we be changed Therefore God took away Enoch at this time that he may give warning to the World that wrath was a coming 2. Secondly Again God took away Enoch at this time that he might declare that he had respect unto his people though the World was never so wicked though they are never so cruel yet they shall not be forgotten but the Lord remembers the Lord takes notice of them If I find ten righteous men in Sodom saies God I will not destroy that City for tens sake God seeks his own people and if he finds but ten righteous souls in a City for their sakes it shall not be destroyed not an Enoch shall be forgotten Men may cast away much chaff and though there be two or three Corns or more of Wheat they won't look for them but God won't do so if a heap of chaff be never so great God will look over it and he will not lose one Corn though in abundance of Chaff his people do glorifie him much in an evil time and grace is remarkable then when it shines bright in the midst of a dark night the Lord will remember you and therefore if the Lord will find you out and remember you in an evil World Oh! how should you remember him He will do the more for you and deal the more remarkably with you because you are found faithful in an evil time in an evil World even as Enoch therefore be ye careful to walk with God Again 3. Thirdly and lastly God will declare hereby that the perfection and happiness of his people is not here below and therefore he would have them and all the world to know that the perfection and happiness of the Saints is not below Enoch enjoyed as much of God as ever man did and yet Enoch must be translated before he comes to perfection God witnesses to this in the lives of the best of the Saints in that Generation there is none that lived a thousand years though there came many nigh to a thousand years which is the perfect number the perfect account The Lord would teach that perfection is not here but he would have us to know where we shall enjoy it therefore let us see what necessity there is to live upon Jesus Christ by Faith in the worst of our daies if perfection be not here O what need then have you to live in Christ You are perfect in him saies the Apostle compleat in him and therefore in the sense and greatness of your Imperfections you had need live upon that fulness and breath after that fulness of time and perfection whither Enoch was translated unto So much shall serve for this time SERMON I. PHILIP 1. 21. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain THE Apostle was now in Bonds for the Gospel of Jesus Christ he takes care that the Philippians might not be offended at it that his sufferings might not be any stumbling-block to them in Verse 12. he tells them that whatsoever befell him it was for the furtherance of the Gospel I would have you understand saies he the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather to the furtherance of the Gospel he gives two particular Instances how the Gospel of Christ was furthered by his sufferings the one is in Verse 13. My Bonds in Christ are manifest in all the Palace By his sufferings many in Nero's Court came to enquire after the Gospel of Jesus Christ for which Paul suffered and by enquiring into it were convinced of it Another benefit of these his sufferings is in Verse 14. Many of the Brethren in the Lord waxed confident by my Bonds They were more bold to speak the Word of the Lord they feared not sufferings because they saw how God carried Paul through his sufferings They waxed more bold through my Bonds You see what improvement the Lord makes of the sufferings of his people Truth never thrives better than when it is most trodden upon the more the wind blows upon this fire the more it kindles the hotter it burns and the clearer it shines when the stream is dammed up it rises higher so it is with Truth this was the advantage that God makes of the sufferings of his people for though the Truth was upon trial yet Paul may suffer and Paul may lose by it Paul was in danger of his life Well take no care for me saies he in Verse 19. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your Prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but with all boldness as alwaies so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death Take no care for me saies he I desire nothing but your Prayers for I am confident that God will carry on his Work it shall turn to my good and what ever befall me the Lord shall be glorified in it I am confident of it saies he that Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death You see the breathings of a gracious heart it cares not what becomes of it self so God may have his honour Take no thought saies Paul whether I live or die it is all one to me so the Lord Jesus may be magnified in my bonds by my life or by my death if Christ be glorified it is enough it matters not what becomes of Paul so Christ be magnified in my life or in my death For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain Christ is gain to me both in life and death so some read the words For Christ is gain to me both in life and death Others make two Propositions of it Christ is life to me or to me to live is Christ Christ is my life and death is my gain Why if I live saies he Christ shall be magnified for Christ is my life if I live I shall gain and if I die I shall gain If I live I shall gain more of Christ I shall gain more knowledge of him and more communion with him here in the way Ay but what if Paul die If I die saies