laspes have justly deserved that God should withdraw his grieved Spirit are new Obligations to Thankfulness and the more Grace the less Merit 3. The best Works of Men are imperfect allayed with the mixtures of Infirmities and not of full weight in the Divine Ballance If God should strictly examin our Righteousness 't will be found neither pure nor perfect in his Eyes and without Favour and Indulgence would be rejected And that which wants Pardon cannot deserve Praise and Glory He shews Mercy to thousands that love him and keep his Commandments If Obedience were meritorious it were strict justice to reward them The Apostle prays for Onesiphorus who had exposed himself to great danger for his love to the Gospel The Lord grant he may find Mercy in that day The Divine Mercy gives the Crown of Life to the Faithful in the day of eternal Recompences II. The meritorious Cause of our obtaining Heaven is the Obedience of Jesus Christ comprehending all that he did and suffered to reconcile God to us From him as the eternal Word we have all benefits in the order of Nature for all things were made by him and for him as the incarnate Word all good things in the order of Grace What we enjoy in Time and expect in Eternity is by him To shew what influence his Mediation has to make us happy we must consider 1. Man by his Rebellion justly forfeited his Happiness and the Law exacts precisely the Forfeiture Pure Justice requires the Crime should be punish'd according to its Quality much less will it suffer the guilty to enjoy the favour of God For Sin is not to be considered as an Offence and Injury to a private Person but the violation of a Law and a disturbance in the order of Government so that to preserve the honour of governing Justice an equivalent reparation was appointed Till Sin was expiated by a proper Sacrifice the Divine Goodness was a sealed Spring and its blessed effects restrain'd from the guilty Creature Now the Son of God in our assumed Nature offered up himself a Sacrifice in our stead to satisfy Divine Justice and removed the Bar that Mercy might be glorified in our Salvation The Apostle gives this account of it We have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Christ by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh. 2. Such were the most precious Merits of his Obedience that it was not only sufficient to free the guilty contaminated Race of Mankind from Hell but to purchase for them the Kingdom of Heaven If we consider his Humane Nature all Graces were born with him as Rays with the Sun and shin'd in the whole course of his Life in the excellence of Perfection And the dignity of his Divine Person derived an immense Value to all he perform'd as Mediator One Act of his Obedience was more honourable to God than all the Lives of the Saints the Deaths of the Martyrs and the Service of the Angels God was more pleased in the Obedience of his Beloved Son than he was provok'd by the rebellion of his Servants Therefore as the just Recompence of it he constituted him to be Universal Head of the Church supream Judg of the World invested him with Divine Glory and with Power to communicate it to his faithful Servants He is the Prince of Life In short it is as much upon the account of Christ's Sufferings that we are glorified as that we are forgiven The Wounds he received in his Body the Characters of Ignominy and Footsteps of Death are the Fountains of our Glory His Abasement is the cause of our Exaltation If it be said This seems to lessen the freeness of this Gift The answer is clear This was due to Christ but undeserved by us Besides the appointing his Son to be our Mediator in the way of our Ransom was the most glorious Work of his Goodness 2. The Means of our obtaining Heaven are to be considered Though the Divine Goodness be free in its Acts and there can be nothing in the Creature of Merit or Inducement to prevail upon God in the nature of a Cause yet he requires Qualifications in all those who shall enjoy that blessed unchangeable Kingdom The Apostle expresly declares 'T is not of him that wills nor of him that runs but of God that sheweth Mercy But we must distinguish the Effects of this Mercy which are dispensed in that order the Gospel lays down The first Mercy is the powerful calling the Sinner from his corrupt and wretched State a second Mercy is the pardoning his Sins the last and most eminent is the glorifying him in Heaven Now 't is clear that in this place the shewing of Mercy signifies the preventing Grace of God in Conversion for in the 18 th Verse 't is said God shews Mercy to whom he will and whom he will he hardens Where 't is evident that shewing Mercy is oppos'd not to condemning but to hardning and consequently the intent of the words is this That Divine Grace overcomes the Rebellious Will softens the stiff and stubborn Heart and makes it pliant to Obedience This flows from his pure good Will and Pleasure without the least Motive from the Inclinations or Endeavours of sinful Men. But the other Effects of God's Mercy require Conditions in the Subjects that receive them for he pardons only penitent Believers and glorifies none but persevering Saints To make this clear 't is worthy of Observation The Gospel has several Denominations 'T is called a Law a Covenant and a Testament 'T is called the Law of Faith and the Law of the Spiritual Life As a Law it signifies a new Right that God has most freely establish'd in favour of lost Man that commands certain Duties and sets before them Eternal Life as the Reward of Obedience and Eternal Death the Punishment of Disobedience According to this the trial and decision of Mens everlasting States shall be which is the Character of a true Law This Law of Grace is very different from the Law of Nature that requir'd intire Innocence and for the least omission or accusing Act past an irrevocable Doom upon the Offenders for that strictness and severity is mollified by the Gospel which accepts of sincere persevering Obedience tho imperfect accordingly 't is called the Law of Liberty But the Law of Faith is unalterable and admits of no Dispensation from the Duties required in order to our being everlastingly happy 2. The Gospel is stiled a Covenant and that imports a reciprocal Engagement between Parties for the performance of the Matter contained in it The Covenant of Grace includes the Promise of pardoning and rewarding Mercy on God's part and the Conditions on Man's with respect to which 't is to be perform'd There is an inviolable dependence between them He will be our God to make us happy but we must be his People to yield
Right to redeem them by his Alliance and Propinquity for he that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all one and that he might undergo Sufferings even to death for the price of their Redemption and the remedy of their Infirmities Forasmuch as the Children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he also likewise took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil And deliver them who through fear of Death were all their Lives subject to Bondage The Devil is said to have the Power of Death 1. Because he induces Men to commit Sin that meritoriously renders them liable to Death He tempted the first Man cum effectu and was a Murderer from the beginning 2. In that he inspires them with furious Thoughts and inflames their Passions from whence proceed Strifes and Wars that efficiently cause Death He is supream in all the Arts of Mischief and always intent upon Evil. 'T is by his Instigation that Men become like raging Beasts animated and bent on mutual Slaughter 3. Because he is many times the Executioner of God's Wrath and inflicts Death upon rebellious and incorrigible Sinners 'T is recorded by the Psalmist That God cast upon the Egyptians the fierceness of his Anger Wrath Indignation and Trouble by sending evil Angels Those Princes of the Air the Instruments of the Thunder and fiery Storm of Hail that destroyed them 4. Because he makes Death more formidable to Sinners by heightning their guilty Fears of God's Tribunal The false Spirit tempts Men to sin by many Blandishments but afterward he is a severe Accuser of them to God and to themselves Lastly This Title may signify his tormenting Sinners with unrelenting Cruelty in Hell which is the second Death Now these Evils being the penal Consequence of Sin our Saviour by his Death appeas'd the injur'd Justice of God and thereby destroyed the cruel Tyranny of the Devil As the Lamb of God in the notion of a Sacrifice he overcomes our spiritual Enemies Sin Satan and Death lie vanquish'd at the foot of his Cross. Besides our Saviour having felt such Sorrows and Infirmities as are usual to his People by that correspondence and resemblance between them is compassionately inclin'd to relieve them I shall now insist upon the blessed Priviledg of Believers set down in the Text viz. That Jesus Christ by his Death frees his People from the servile tormenting fear of Death In prosecuting the Point I shall 1. Consider the Account the Scripture gives of Death's entrance into the World 2. Shew what the fear of Death includes and the Bondage consequent to it 3. How the Death of Christ frees us from the thraldom of that Fear 4. Who are partakers of this blessed Priviledg And then apply it I. The Scripture gives an account of Death's entrance into the World in a threefold Respect 1. As the Desert of Sin 2. As the Effect of the divine Decree 3. As the Sentence of the Law 1. As the Desert of Sin The first Design of the Creator was his own Glory in conjunction with the Happiness of Man He was made accordingly holy in Perfection placed in Paradise and his State contained all the Ingredients of Felicity proper to his Nature He was capable of dying as sad Experience proves yet no Accident from without no Distemper from within had impair'd his Vigour and made him actually subject to Death without Sin Whilst innocent he was immortal not from everlasting Principles of Nature but by Divine Preservation of which the Tree of Life was the ordained Means and sacramental Pledg For God unchangeably loves his own Image and though by his Sovereignty and absolute Power he may resume the Being he gives yet his Goodness and Covenant were a sacred assurance that Mans happy Life should run parallel with his perseverance in his Duty This Immortality was not the singular Priviledg of Adam's Person but had been the Inheritance of all his Progeny But he soon revolting from his just Obedience of Immortal became Mortal and according to the original Establishment of Propagation transmitted his Nature with the guilt and poison of Sin to all his Posterity Thus by one Man Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin and so Death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned As his Obedience had been rewarded so his Rebellion is punish'd in all that naturally descend from him From hence it is that so numerous a part of Mankind are cut off before the commission of actual Sin Death enters into the Forge of Life and destroys the Conception that newly began to live And what is more righteous than that Man when he disobeyed the Author of Life should forfeit his Life and Blessedness The Soul voluntarily lost the spiritual Life by forsaking God therefore unwillingly loses the natural Life by expulsion from the Body The Apostle says the Wages of Sin is Death not only that of the Body but the Death of the Soul which is a dreadful Concomitant of it And from hence we may discover the false Philosophy of the wisest Heathens in their Opinion of Death They judged it to be the primary necessity and condition of Nature fix'd by irresistible Fate and not understanding the true and just reason of its coming into the World they could not apply a sufficient Remedy against its Evil. 2. As the Effect of the divine Decree respecting Sin This is discovered by Revelation in the Word of God and by the real execution of it It is appointed to Men once to die This Decree is universal and unrepealable One Generation passeth away and another Generation cometh like the ebbing and flowing of the Sea in its stated Periods Nothing can interrupt or frustrate this Appointment There are divers Conditions of Men and various ways of living in the World some are high in Dignity others are level with the Earth some walk in a Carpet-way smooth and easy others in a thorny and troublesom some walk on the golden Sands others on the Mire but the same uncontroulable necessity of dying involves all And whatever the way be whether pleasant or doleful yet every one passes in it with equal Steps measured by the same invariable spaces of Hours and Days and arrive at the same common End of Life Those who are regarded as visible Deities amongst Men that can by their Breath raise the Low and depress the Lofty that have the Lives of Millions in their Power yet when the ordained Time is come as they cannot bribe the accusing Conscience for a minute's Silence so neither delay Death I have said ye are Gods but ye shall die like Men. 3. Death is to be considered as the Sentence of the Law The reasonable Creature was made under a Law the Rule of his Actions The moral Law directed him how to continue in his holy and blessed State To which was annex'd the Precept of not eating of the
2. Death considered in the strictest propriety as destructive of the natural Being that is our first and most valuable Good in the order of Nature is the just object of Fear The Union between Soul and Body is very intimate and dear and like David and Jonathan they part unwillingly Nature has a share in the best Men and works as Nature St. Paul declares we would not be unclothed not finally put off the Body but have it glorified in conjunction with the Soul Our blessed Saviour without the least impeachment of the Rectitude and Perfection of his Nature express'd an averseness from Death and with submission to the divine Will desired a freedom from it His Affections were holy and humane and moved according to the quality of their Objects 3. The natural Consequents of Death render it fearful Life is the foundation of all natural Enjoyments and the Loss of it induces the loss of all for ever 'T is from hence that such Evils that are consistent with Life and deprive us only of some particular Content and Pleasure are willingly chosen rather than Death The forfeiture of Estate the degrading from Honour the confinement to a perpetual Prison the banishing from our native Country are less Penalties than Death There is a natural love of Society in Man and Death removes from all The Grave is a frightful Solitude There is no Conversation in the Territories of Darkness This also Hezekiah in his apprehensions of Death speaks of with Tears I shall see Man no more in the Land of the Living As in the Night the World is an universal Grave all Things are in a dead Silence Palaces Courts of Justice Temples Theaters Schools and all Places of publick Conversation are shut up the Noise and Rumour that keeps Men in continual Observation and Action ceases Thus when the Sun of this present Life is set all the Affairs and Business all the vain Joys of Company Feasting Dancing Musick Gaming ceases Every one among the Dead is confined to his sealed obscure Cell and is alone an entertainment for the Worms The Psalmist saith of Princes Their Breath goeth forth they return to the Earth in that very day their Thoughts their glorious compassing Thoughts perish This the Historian observes was verified in Julius Cesar After his assuming the Imperial Dignity he thought to reduce the numerous Laws of the Romans into a few Volumes comprising the Substance and Reason of all to enrich and adorn the City of Rome as was becoming the Regent of the World to epitomise the Works of the most learned Grecians and Romans for the publick Benefit And whilst he was designing and pursuing these and other vast and noble Things Death surprised him and broke off all his Enterprises At the terrible Gate that opens into Eternity Men are stripp'd of all their Honours and Treasures and as naked as they come into the World go out of it Be not thou afraid when one is made rich when the Glory of his House is increased For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away his Glory shall not descend after him Death equally vilifies makes loathsom and ghastly the Bodies of Men and reduces them to sordid Dust. In the Grave the Dust is as precious and powerful of one as of another Civil Distinctions are limited to the present time The prodigious Statue in Nebuhadnezzar's Vision Dan. 2.32 33 34 35. while it was upright the Parts were really and visibly distinct The Head was of fine Gold the Breast and Arms of Silver the Belly and Thighs of Brass the Legs of Iron the Feet part of Iron and part of Clay but when the Stone cut out without hands smote the Image upon the Feet then was the Iron the Clay the Brass the Silver and the Gold broken to pieces together and became like the Chaff the Wind carries away Who can distinguish between Royal Dust taken out of magnificent Tombs and Plebean Dust from common Graves Who can know who were rich and who were poor who had Power and Command who were Vassals who were remarkable by Fame who by Infamy They shall not say this is Jezebel not know this was the Daughter and Wife of a King The King of Babylon stiled Lucifer the bright Star of the Morning that possess'd the first Empire in the World was degraded by Death humbled to the Grave and exchanged all his glorious State for Worms and Putrefaction The Worm is spread under thee and the Worms cover thee In short Death separates Men from all their admired charming Vanities Now considering Man merely in the Order of Nature what Reflection is more fearful and tormenting than the necessity that cannot be over-ruled of parting for ever with all the Delights of Life Those who have ascended to the Throne that are arrived at the height of Temporal Happiness what a melancholy Prospect is before them of Death and the dark Grave When all things conspire to make Men happy here the sensitive Faculties and their Fruitions are ebbing and declining till then sink into Death the Whirlpool that will shortly swallow them up for ever This renders the Thoughts of Mortality so frightful and checks the freest enjoyments of carnal Pleasures 2. Death is fearful in the apprehension of Conscience as 't is the most sensible mark of God's Wrath that is heavier than Death and a Summons to give an account of all Things done in this Life to the righteous Judg of the World 'T is appointed to all Men once to die and afterward the Judgment The Penal Fear is more wounding to the Spirit than the Natural When the awakened Sinner presently expects the Citation to appear before the Tribunal above where no Excuses no Supplications no Priviledges avail where the Cause of eternal Life or Death must be decided and the awards of Justice be immediately executed O the Convulsions and Agonies of Conscience in that hour when the diseased Body cannot live and the disconsolate Soul dare not die what Anxieties surround it This redoubles the Terrors of Death that the first transmits to the second that was figured by it O the dismal aspect of Death riding on a pale Horse with Hell the black Attendant following This Fear surprized the Sinners in Sion Who among us can dwell with devouring Fire who among us can remain with everlasting burnings This made a Heathen the Governor of a Province to tremble before a poor Prisoner While Paul discoursed of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come Felix trembled 'T is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God who lives for ever and can punish for ever None is so powerful as God nothing so fearful as the guilty Conscience 3. The Degrees of this Fear are express'd by Bondage This Passion when regular in its Object and Degree is excellently useful 't is a wise Counsellor and faithful Guardian that plucks off the Mask from our Enemies and keeps Reason vigilant
Death and Judgment sting them by fits and make them uneasy The flashes of Conscience like moments of Lightning startle them but they relapse into their habitual stupidity And the account of it will be clear by considering the following Particulars 1. Men are apt to flatter themselves with the hopes of long Life and look upon Death at a great distance Tho there be a dying disposition in the youngest and strongest Persons though we live in a World of Casualties and Death lie in ambush to surprize us every day yet we are secure because Evils affect us according to their apprehended nearness A petty Constable that is troublesom and vexatious is more fear'd by his Neighbours than the Grand Signior with all his Executioners As remote Objects though of vast bigness are lessen'd to our sight so through the supposed interval of many years Death is look'd on with a diminution of its Terror But when Death presents it self before Men ready to dispatch them how formidable is its appearance Saul though renowned for his Valour yet when he understood by Revelation that to morrow he and his Sons should be in the state of the Dead there was no strength in him but he fell straitway all along on the Earth struck through with fear before he was wounded by the Arrows of the Philistines Belshazzar in the midst of his luxury and jolity attended with a thousand Lords and his Herd of Concubines inflam'd with Wine and therefore less capable of fear yet upon the sight of the fatal Hand writing on the Wall a few unknown Characters which his guilty Conscience before the Prophet Daniel came interpreted to be the Sentence of present Death how fearfully was his Countenance changed pale as a Carcass How suddenly did his Blood congeal and his warmest quickest Spirits die in his Heart His whole Body was seized by such a vehement trembling that his Joints were loosed and his knees smote one against another This is a representation of those who bid defiance to Death at a distance but when the fatal Hour is come and they hear the Sentence decreed against them God has numbred thy days and finish'd them thou art weighed in the ballance all thy Words and Actions thy Thoughts and Affections and art found wanting and thy Soul shall be divided from thy Body the one sent to Hell to suffer the undying Worm of Conscience the other to the Grave to be a Prey to the Worms of Corruption how are they overcome with horror 2. The continual succession of the Pleasures and Business of the World divert the Mind from the attentive strong contemplation of Death and the Consequences of it Pensive Thoughts are unwelcome and we studiously endeavour to cancel the memory of such things as afflict us 'T is said of the Wicked that God is not in all their Thoughts The consideration of the holy Inspector and Judg of their Actions is tormenting therefore they fill their Minds with earthly Imaginations to exclude the Divine Presence We read of those who to put far away the evil Day chaunted to the sound of the Viol and drank Wine in Bowls They are rock'd asleep with the motion of phantastick Vanities And Sleep takes away Fear but gives no safety 'T is recorded of Marius that after his Overthrow by Sylla he was always in consternation as if he heard the sound of the Trumpets and the noise of the victorious Army pursuing him And his Fears were no longer quiet than whilst charm'd with Wine and Sleep he therefore was continually drunk that he might forget himself his Enemy and his Danger Thus Men make a pitiful shift to forget their latter End and whilst they are following either secular Affairs or sensual Pleasures are unconcerned for what is to be hereafter But this Diversion will shortly be at an end for in their languishing hours when the wasted Body fails the carnal Mind and sensual Desires fail the Man then Conscience that spoke with a low Voice before is loud and terrible and like the rigid Exactor in the Parable that took his Debtor by the throat requires them to pay what they owe. 3. Some are so hardned in Infidelity that the Powers of the World to come make no Impression on their Hearts They mind but little and are less affected with invisible things They fortify themselves with gross Thoughts that the Spirit of Man vanishes with his Breath that Death is the end of this Life and not the beginning of another and feed without Fear Place one in the midst of destructive Evils but unseen or not believed and he is as fearless as a blind Person walking on the brink of a deep Pit Indeed there are none less disturbed with the Terrors of Death than the eminently Good or the extremely Bad for the one sort have a blessed Hope that Death will be to them an entrance into Life and live like the Angels with a Joy unspeakable and glorious The others are as sensual and secure as the Beasts that perish having extinguish'd the fear of eternal future Evils which is the proper passion of Reason The Apostle declares That knowing the Terror of the Lord we perswade Men to be reconcil'd to him before the Season of Mercy be expired But those who have suppress'd the natural Notions of Eternal Judgment as they think it beneath their Wisdom to be perswaded by the Promises of Heaven so beneath their Courage to be terrified with the Threatnings of Hell and triumph over the Ruines of Conscience But though wicked Infidels slight the Threatnings they shall not escape the Vengeance of God We read of Noah That being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear he prepared an Ark for the saving of his House His Fear was the native issue of his Faith But the profane World in whom Sense was predominant that despised the Oracle and trembled at no Judgments but what were acting on the visible Stage they ate and drank married and were given in marriage till swept away by the unfeared Inundation We read that Lot being certified by an embassy of Angels that a Deluge of Fire would in a few hours pour down from Heaven upon Sodom he most earnestly sollicited his Sons-in-Law Arise depart out of this Place for the Lord will destroy this City but they entertained his compassionate Advice with derision he seemed to them as one that mocked and were surprised by those fearful Flames that dispatch'd them from a Temporal Hell to that which is Eternal Thus 't was prophesied That in the last days there shall come Scoffers walking after their own Lusts and saying Where is the Promise of his coming But let them blaspheme and scorn the most sacred and terrible Truths let them perpetuate their excess of Riot and wild Mirth while they live Death will come and Judgment as sure as Death III. I now come to shew how the Death of Christ frees us from the tormenting fear of Death
great Distance and since he cannot lessen the Certainty of Death in Mens Belief he removes the Image of it out of their Memories to weaken the Impression that it is capable to make on their Affections they dare not venture to die as they live careless of Salvation and unprepared for their Accounts with God therefore they suspend the Workings of Conscience by a seeming Compliance they resolve at random to convert and reform hereafter but will not determine at present to forsake their Sins The Tempter insinuates there will be a long Interval between the present time and the last hour that shall decide their State for ever that it will be a convenient season to prepare for the other World when they have done with this as if Repentance were best at last when there are no Temptations and therefore no Danger of retracting it And the Heart of Man is a great Flatterer very subtile to deceive and ruin him with vain Resolutions of a devout Retirement and becoming seriously religious hereafter and thus by an easy Permission he gratifies the present Desires of the Flesh and goes in a Circuit from one Vanity to another till Death surprize the Presumer 'T is very applicable to this purpose what is related of Alcaeus the Poet who from every season of the Year took Arguments to give a new Title to his Intemperance The Spring he said required liberal drinking in Sign of Joy for the Renovation of Nature the Summer to temper our Heat and refresh our Thirst 't was due to Autumn that is dedicated to the Vintage and Winter required it to expel the cold that would congeal the Blood and Spirits Thus he pleaded for the Allowance of his Excess And so Men in the several Ages of Life that are correspondent to the Seasons of the Year frame some Excuses to delay Repentance and give some colour to their Rebellion against God who commands us to hear his Voice to Day obediently and immediately upon no less Penalty than being excluded from his blessed Rest for ever Yet the self-deceiving Sinner preaches another Gospel to himself and thinks the Vanities of Childhood the Pleasures of Youth the Business of Middle-Age and the Infirmity of Old Age are plausible Pretences to put off the serious Work of Repentance O that such would duly consider the desperate Uncertainty upon which Men build their Hopes of a future Repentance and Divine Acceptance 1. Men delay Repentance upon the Presumption of a long Life But what is more uncertain 'T is the Wisdom and Goodness of God to conceal in his impenetrable Counsels the time of our Sojourning here For if Men though liable to Death every hour and therefore should be under just Fear lest it surprize them unprepar'd yet against so strong a Curb run with that exorbitant vehemence after the present World how much more licentious would they be if secured from sudden Death But none can promise to himself one Day Death comes not according to the order of Nature but the Decree of God How many in the Flower of their Youth and Strength thought themselves at as great a Distance from Death as the East is from the West when there was not the space of an Hour between them and Death between them and Hell The Lamp suddenly expires by a Blast of Wind when there is plenty of Oil to feed it The rich Man pleased himself with Designs of sensual Enjoyments for many years yet did not see the dawning of the next Morning Thou Fool this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee This Sentence is pronounced in Heaven against thousands that are now alive conversant in the Vanities and Business of the World Eating and Drinking Playing and Trading and all unconcerned as to dying yet shall breath their last before to Morrow and their unwilling Souls be rent from the Embraces of their Bodies In various manners Men die from inward and outward causes an Apoplexy an Imposthume a Flux of Rhume stopping Respiration kills the Body without any presaging Signs of Death As if the Roof and all the Chambers should fall within the House while the Walls are standing entire And how many unforeseen Accidens and therefore inevitable put a sudden Period to Life Is it not our truest Wisdom by an early Repentance to prepare for Death when the Season is certainly short and but uncertainly continued and the Omission is irreparable 2. Suppose Life be continued yet Sinners that delay Repentance can have no rational hopes that they shall sincerely repent in time to come For 1 st Saving Repentance is the Gift of God and is it likely that those who have been insensible of the loud and earnest Calls of the Word inflexible to the gracious Methods of his Providence leading them to Repentance should at last obtain Converting Grace The Gales of the Spirit are very transient and blow where he pleases and can it be expected that those who have wilfully and often resisted him should by an exuberant Favour receive afterwards more powerful Grace to over-rule their stubborn Wills and make them obedient To expect Divine Grace and the powerful Workings of the Spirit after long resisting his Holy Excitations is both unreasonable and unrevealed 'T is written as with a Sun-beam that God will graciously pardon repenting Sinners that reform their Lives but 't is no-where promised that he will give Saving-Repentance to those who securely continue in Sin upon a corrupt Confidence they will repent at last Our Saviour threatens to him that neglects the improving the Grace that is offer'd That which he hath shall be taken away Yet Men unwilling at present to forsake their Sins of Pleasure and Profit vainly hope they shall obtain Grace hereafter without any Promise from God and against the Tenor of his Threatnings God has threatned that his Spirit shall not always strive with rebellious Sinners and then their State is remediless This may be the case of many in this Life who are insensible of their Misery As consumptive Persons decline by degrees lose their Appetite Colour and Strength till at last they are hopeless So the Withdrawings of the Spirit are gradual his Motions are not so strong nor frequent and upon the continued Provocations of the Disobedient finally leaves them under that most fearful doom He that is filthy let him be filthy still He that is unrighteous let him be unrighteous still and thus punishes them on this side Hell as he does the Damned by giving them over to Sin 'T is a bloody Adventure for Men to indulge their carnal Appetites as if they had infallible Assurance that they should not die in an impenitent State The Delayer does not regularly trust but tempt God 2 dly Suppose the Holy Spirit be not totally withdrawn yet by every Day 's Continuance in Sin the Heart is more hardned against the Impressions of Grace more averse from returning to God and Repentance more difficult and hazardous The last guilty Disposition
is an happy means to render Death comfortable to us Sins of Ignorance and Infirmity of sudden Surreption and Surprize the best Men are not freed from in the present State and being the daily motive of our Grief and serious circumspection to prevent them are consistent with the regular Peace of Conscience and the Friendship and Favour of God But great Sins in their matter being so contrary to natural Conscience and supernatural Grace or Sins presumptuous in the manner of their commission such as proceed from the choice of the perverse Will against the inlightned Mind whatever the matter or kind of them be are direct Rebellion against God a despising of his Command and provoke his pure Eyes and make the aspect of Death fearful The Spirit seals our Pardon and Title to Heaven as the holy Spirit his Testimony that we are the Children of God and Heirs of Glory is concurrent with the renewed Conscience and distinguish'd from the ignorant Presumptions blind Conjectures and carnal Security of the Unholy As the sanctifying Spirit he distinguishes true Christians from the lost World appropriates them to God confirms their present Interest in the Promises of the Gospel and their future Hopes Briefly Grace is the most sensible effect and sign of God's special Favour the fruit of Election and the earnest of Glory and the Truth of Grace is most clearly and certainly made evident by the continual Efficacy of it in the Conversation The observation of our Hearts to suppress unholy Affections and of our Senses to prevent them a constant course of Holiness in our Lives though many Frailties will cleave to the best is usually rewarded with great Peace here God has establish'd a connexion between our Obedience and his Comforts Those that keep themselves pure from the Defilements of the World have the white Stone promised the bright Jewel of assurance of God's pardoning and rewarding Mercy We read of Enoch that he walk'd with God was a Star shining in a corrupt Age the tenour of his Life was holy and he was translated to Heaven without seeing Death Though this was an extraordinary Dispensation yet there is a peculiar Reward analogical to it for those who walk circumspectly they shall not see Death with its Terrors but usually have a holy Chearfulness a peaceful Joy in their passage through the dark Valley to Heaven But presumptuous Sins against external and internal Restraints the convincing Law of God and the Directions of Conscience to which even the Saints of God are liable here as appears by David's earnest Prayer to be preserved from them such Sins grieve the holy Spirit and wound our Spirits and if continued sequester us from the comfortable Priviledges of the Gospel and render us unfit for the Kingdom of Heaven And when they are retracted by Repentance yet there often remains a bitter Remembrance of them as deep Wounds though cur'd yet are felt in change of Weather And sometimes a Spring-tide of Doubts and Fears breaks into humble penitent Souls in the last Hours though Death brings them safely yet not comfortably to Heaven 3. The zealous Discharge of the Duties of our Place and Calling the Conjunction of our Resolutions and Endeavours to glorify God and do good according to our Abilities and Opportunities of Service sweetens the Thoughts of Death to us For the true End and Perfection of Life is the Glory of God and when with Fidelity it is employed in order to it Death brings us to the blessed Rest from our Labours Our Saviour when he was to leave the World address'd himself to his Father I have glorified thee on Earth I have finish'd the Work thou gavest me to do And now Father glorify me with thy self with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was A Christian that imitates and honours Christ and with Diligence perseveres in well-doing may with an humble Confidence in the Divine Mercy expect the promised Reward The Reflection upon a well-spent Life is joyn'd with a joyful Prospect of God's Favour and Acceptance above But to the careless and remiss to those who are wilfully negligent of their Duty how fearful is Death that summons them to give an account of their Talents to the Righteous Lord 4. A holy Indifference of Affection to present things makes it easy to part with them and Death less fearful to us David though a King declares he was a Stranger on Earth not only with respect to his transient Condition but his inward Disposition and that he was as a weaned Child from the admired Vanities of the World Chrysostom in a Letter to Ciriacus who was tenderly sensible of his Banishment wrote to him You now begin to lament my Banishment but I have done so for a long time for since I knew that Heaven was my Country I have esteemed the whole Earth a place of Exilement Constantinople from whence I am expell'd is as distant from Paradise as the Desert to which they send me But when our Affections are set upon external things and we are irregular in our Aims intemperate in our Use and immoderate in our Delights how sensible and cutting is the Division from them How bitter is Death that deprives a carnal Wretch of all the Materials of his frail Felicity What a Storm of Passions is raised to lose all his good things at once for 't is a Rule in Nature What is possess'd with transporting Joy is lost with excessive Sorrow As the Ivy that twines so closely about the Tree and is intimately fastned by so many Roots as there are Branches cannot be pluck'd away without rending the Bark with it so when the World that was as it were incarnated with the Heart is taken away the Heart it self is grievously rent by the violent Separation And the Infelicity of carnal and worldly Persons is heavily aggravated in that the Guilt in procuring or abusing those Treasures and Delights that they leave here with so great Sorrow will cleave to them and give Testimony against them before their Judg. But when the Affections are loose to the World and set upon Heaven our leaving the Earth is no Loss but Gain and our Separation from the Body of Flesh is with that Alacrity as the putting off a vile Garment to be clothed with a Royal Robe 'T was the wise Counsel of Tertullian to the Women of the first Ages of the Church not to value and love the Jewels and Ornaments of Gold that they might be more ready and resolved to obtain by Death Martyrdom and by Martyrdom Eternal Glory And that we may disentangle our Souls from those voluntary Bands that fasten us to present things we must have a sincere uncorrupted Judgment of their Meanness The Apostle exhorts Christians to Moderation in their Temper and Conversation with respect to the Business and Enjoyments here that they who have Wives be as though they had none that those that rejoice be as though they rejoiced not and they
that buy as though they possessed not and they that use the World as not abusing it for the fashion of the World passeth away To a wise and pondering Observer what comparison is there between Shadows and Dreams and substantial everlasting Blessedness If Men had the same opinion of this World whilst they live as they will have when they are to die they would not inordinately seek it They who have magnified temporal Honours and Riches and lived in Pleasures without Remorse yet in their dying Hours when Men speak with most Feeling and least Affectation how have they vilified those empty Appearances of Happiness with what moving Expressions declared the Vanity and Brevity of worldly things As when the Israelites were to go through the River Jordan that opened it self to make a free and dry Passage for them the lower part of its Waters ran into the Dead Sea and utterly fail'd but the Waters that came from above rose up and appear'd like a Mountain Thus when Men come to the universal Passage from this to the next Life inferiour things absolutely fail and are lost in the dead Sea but the things above that are eternal then appear in their true Greatness exceeding all humane Comprehension from hence is the change of Mind and Language concerning the one and other 5. Solemn affectionate and frequent Converse with God in religious Duties will render Death not fearful to us The whole Life of a Christian as such is a continual Communion with the Father and with Jesus Christ. For he performs all good Works by Divine Grace communicated from above and refers all to the Divine Honour As in a pair of Compasses one Foot is fix'd in the Center while the other moves in the Circumference so the Heart of a Christian is in Heaven his aims are for God whilst he is active here in the World His Natural and Civil Actions are heightened to a supernatural End And thus his Conversation is in Heaven But this was spoken of before and that which is now specified is the more immediate Service of God in Holy Meditation Prayer and the Ordinances of the Gospel which is the noblest part of the spiritual Life Our blessed Saviour who was a Comprehensor upon Earth always saw the Face of God and invariably sought his Glory in all things yet had his special times of Prayer and Heavenly Communion with God and the most glorious Testimonies of his Favour in those times Our Communion with God here is as true as in Heaven but the Influence and Fruition is different according to our Capacity When the Soul feels the vigorous Exercise of the Thoughts and Affections upon God and the raised Operations of Grace in Holy Duties 't is as certain a Sign of God's Favour and Acceptance as when Fire descended from Heaven to consume the Sacrifice And often our affectionate Duties are rewarded with sensible Consolations and holy Souls are dismiss'd from the Throne of Grace as they shall be received at the Throne of Glory with the reviving Testimonies of God's Approbation Now the Assurance of God's Love conquers the Fear of Death This Communion must be frequent As Love and Respects between Friends are maintained by constant Visits and Letters and mutual Confidence arises from Acquaintance so by the interchange of holy Duties and divine Favours we preserve a lively Sense of God's Love and an humble Familiarity with his Majesty that his Presence is not a Terror to us A Christian that walks with God here when he leaves the World to use the Words of a dying Saint changes his Room but not his Company God was always with him on Earth and he shall be ever with God in Heaven But cold and seldom Converse begets Strangeness and that makes us shy of God When religious Duties are performed as a complemental Visit without zealous Affections or used only in times of Affliction and Exigency as Cordial Waters in swooning Fits the Divine Presence is uncomfortable to us They who prefer carnal Sweets before Acquaintance with God cannot with Peace and Joy think of appearing before him O how unwelcome is Death to such for then the Spirit returns to God that gave it 6. Let us strengthen our Belief of the blessed State after Death Divine Truths lose their Influence and Efficacy when they are not stedfastly believed Faith is the substance of things not seen and the Evidence or Conviction of things hoped for The Spirit confirms our Faith not by a pure Physical Act but by convincing Reasons of the Truth of the Gospel The Life of Christ so glorious in Holiness his Doctrine so becoming the Wisdom and other excellent Attributes of the Deity his Miracles so great numerous open and beneficial not meerly to surprize the Spectators with Astonishment but to touch their Hearts his Death foretold by the Prophets and exactly agreeing in all the Circumstances of the Predictions his Resurrection the most noble Operation of the Divine Power are the strongest Proofs that what he has reveal'd as the Counsel of God for our Redemption and the Preparations of Glory for the Saints in Heaven are divine Truths And the Efficacy of the Spirit of Christ in sanctifying his Disciples in all Ages is a continual and as satisfying an Argument that the Gospel is derived from God the Fountain of Truth as extraordinary Miracles For Holiness is as inseparable a property of the Divine Nature as Omnipotence and the Sanctification of the Soul as divine an Effect as the Resurrection of the Body Now in the Gospel God enters into Covenant with obedient Believers to be their God a Title and Relation that supposing them the most happy here all the Enjoyments of this World cannot fulfil This Covenant is not dissolv'd by Death for he uses this Stile after the Death of his faithful Servants and from hence it follows they are Partakers of his Glory and Joys in the next Life For the Honour of his Veracity is most dear to him The Psalmist declares that he has magnified his Word above all his Name No Perfections of his Nature are more sacred and inviolable than his Truth The Foundations of Nature shall be overturn'd and the most solid parts of the Creation destroyed but his Promises shall be compleatly accomplish'd We are assured by his infallible Authority that there remains a Rest for the People of God And he that receives this Testimony sets to his Seal that God is true honours the Truth of God's Word and binds himself more firmly to his Service and is encouraged to leave this sensible World for that which is infinitely better Our Confidence and Patience in well-doing and in suffering the utmost Evil to Nature is from the pregnant Apprehensions of the Reality of eternal things We know saith the Apostle if our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved we have a Building not made with Hands eternal in the Heavens This fortified him against the Terrors of Death When Stephen saw the Heavens open
Stream is disturbed it does not truly represent the Object When the Affections are disordered the Mind does not judg aright of a Christian's State A Serpent may hiss when it has lost its Sting Death may terrify when it cannot hurt us I doubt not but some excellent Saints have been in anxieties to the last till their Fears were dispell'd by the actual fruition of Blessedness As the Sun sometimes sets in dark Clouds and rises in a glorious Horizon We read our Evidences for Heaven by the Light of God's Countenance his Image is made visible in our Souls by the illustration of his Spirit and he exercises Prerogative in the dispensation of his Comforts 'T is his pleasure to bestow extraordinary Favours on some and deny them to others that are as holy But every penitent Believer has just cause of Joy in Death for Jesus Christ has reconciled God destroyed Satan and conquered Death and the last Day of his Life is the first of his Glory FINIS OF ETERNAL JUDGMENT BY WILLIAM BATES D.D. LONDON Printed by J. D. for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1691. OF Eternal Judgment Acts 17.31 Because he hath appointed a Day in the which he will judg the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given Assurance unto all Men in that he raised him from the dead SAint Paul had this Title of Honour eminently conferred upon him the Apostle of the Gentiles This Office he performed with persevering Diligence diffusing the Light of Life to those that sate in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death In this Chapter we have recorded the Substance of his Sermon to the Athenians wherein his admirable Zeal and Prudence are remarkable in the matter and order of his Discourse to convince and perswade them to recive the saving Truth of the Gospel He first lays down the Principles of natural Religion to prepare them for the more easy Belief of supernatural revealed Religion The Depravation of the Minds of Men was in no Instance more prodigious than in their vilifying Conceits of the Deity They attributed his Name and Honour to various Idols and ascribed to him their own Figure and which was infinitely more unworthy and dishonourable their own Passions and Vices They adored their own vain Imaginations The Idols of their Hearts were erected on their Altars Venus was a Goddess because impure Love reigned in their Brests Bacchus had religious Rites because sensual Pleasures as sweet as Wine intoxicated their Spirits These Errors as gross as impious were universal the Philosophers themselves were not exempted from the Contagion The Apostle therefore makes use of the clearest Arguments to give Authority to the plain conspiring Voice of Nature that had so long in vain recall'd them from Idolatry to the Worship of the only true God He therefore declares that the Divine Maker of all things the Father of Spirits could not be represented by corporeal and corruptible things but was to be acknowledg'd and ador'd in a manner becoming his spiritual and infinite Perfections That he made all Nations of one Blood though distinguish'd in their Habitations and Times that they might seek and serve the one universal Creator And though the Pagan World for many Ages had lived in an unnatural Oblivion of God and he seem'd unconcerned for their Violation of his Laws yet it was not from the defect of Justice but the Direction of his Wisdom that his Patience was so long extended to them And this he proves by the new and most express Declaration of his Will But now he commanded all Men every where to repent because he hath appointed a Day in which he will judg the World in Righteousness by the Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given Assurance to all Men in that he raised him from the Dead In the Words the Eternal Counsels of God are revealed in two great things 1. The determining a time wherein he will righteously judg the World He hath appointed a Day 2. The Designation of the Person by whom he will perform that eminent part of Soveraignty by Jesus Christ whom he hath raised from the dead In order to the handling of the main Point it is requisite to premise briefly some Propositions 1. That God is the Universal Monarch of the World and has supreme Authority to govern reasonable Creatures antecedent to their Election and Consent The Psalmist calls to the Heathens Know ye that the Lord is God that is the most glorious Being and absolute Sovereign for it is he that made us and not we our selves He formed all things by his Almighty Goodness and is King by Creation 2. The two principal and necessary parts of his Soveraignty are to give Laws for the ruling of his Subjects and to pass final Judgment upon them for their Obedience or Disconformity to his Precepts Mere natural Agents are regulated by a wise Establishment that is the Law of their Creation The Sun and Stars are moved according to the just Points of their Compass The Angels are under a Law in Heaven and obey his Commandments The Humane Nature of Christ though advanced to the highest capacity of a Creature yet received a Law And his whole Work upon Earth for our Salvation was an Act of Obedience to the Will of God If a Prince out of affection to his Friend will leave his own Dominions and live privately with him in a foreign Country he must be subject to the Laws of that Place Indeed it is not conceivable that a Creature should be without a Law for this is to make it supreme and independent Supreme in not being liable to a superior Power to confine and order it Independent as to its Being and Operations for Dependance necessarily infers Subjection There is a visible connexion between those Titles The Lord is our Judg the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King And sometimes in Scripture his Soveraignty is intimated in the Title of Judg thus in that humble Expostulation of Abraham for Sodom Shall not the Judg of all the World do right He addresses his Request to God under that Title to soften his Power and incline his Clemency to save the Wicked for their sakes who were comparatively Righteous that is innocent of their crying Sins 3. As his right to govern and judg the World is natural so are his Attributes his Wisdom Holiness Justice and Power that qualify and render him most worthy to exercise this Government These are finite separable Qualities in Angels or Men but essential Perfections to the Deity 'T is more rational to conceive that things may be congeal'd by the heat of Fire or turn'd black by whiteness than that the least act of Injustice can be done by the righteous Lord. The Apostle rejects with extreme detestation the blasphemous Charge of Unrighteousness in God's Proceedings Is God unrighteyus that taketh Vengeance God forbid For then how
consummate act of his Regal Office after a righteous Trial pronounce Judgment upon which the eternal Destiny of the World depends And immediately the Saints shall ascend with him to the everlasting Mansions of Glory and the Wicked shall be swallowed up in the fiery Gulph for ever To define the particular Time when this shall be accomplish'd is beyond the knowledg of the Angels of highest Dignity 'T is inter Arcana Imperii among the Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven 'T is observable that God has revealed the Times precisely wherein some great Events should come to pass after how many Years the Israelites should be freed from Egyptian Bondage after what space of Time they should be restored from the Captivity of Babylon when the Messiah should die for the expiation of Sin but there is no designation by certain Characters of the particular Day nor Year nor Age in any Prophecy of our Saviour's coming to Judgment And of this an Account may be given The special End of those Predictions was that those who lived to see their accomplishment notwithstanding the seeming Impossibilities might believe the Truth and Power of God to fulfil the Revelation of his Purposes for the Time to come But at the last Day all the Promises and Threatnings will be fulfilled nothing will remain to be the Object of Faith and consequently it was superfluous to declare the certain Time since the exact accomplishment of it according to the Prediction will neither be useful to confirm Believers or convert Infidels Lastly The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most convincing and commanding Evidence of this Doctrine that he shall judg the World For he was charged with Blasphemy deserving of Death for this Testimony I say unto you hereafter shall you see the Son of Mand sitting on the right Hand of Power and coming in the Clouds of Heaven He dedicated Martyrdom in his own Sufferings Now God in raising him from the Dead confirmed the Truth of his Testimony by that visible Miracle and the belief of it converted the World to Christianity I will now proceed to illustrate and prove the main Point which is this That God will judg the World in Righteousness by Jesus Christ. The Mediator who shall be Judg in the Union of both Natures considered as the Son of God is essentially Holy and Righteous and considered as the Son of Man was holy harmless undefiled and separate from Sinners In him all Vertues shin'd in their absolute Purity and who is so worthy and qualified to reward Holiness and punish Wickedness as the holy One of God 'T is said of him Thou hast loved Righteousness and hated Iniquity therefore thy God hath anointed thee with Oil of gladness above thy Fellows Consecrated him to the Regal Office and enrich'd his humane Nature with Endowments suitable to it 'T was prophesied of him The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledg and of the Fear of the Lord and shall make him of quick understanding in the Fear of the Lord and He shall not judg after the sight of his Eyes neither reprove after the hearing of his Ears But with Righteousness shall he judg the Poor and reprove with Equity Humane Judgments are often unrighteous from vicious Respects and Affections that pervert the Will or fair appearances that deceive the Understanding by Gifts or Guile Innocence is cast and Guilt acquitted but the Judg of the World is inflexible to Partiality and all things are entirely open to his sight In the Act of Judgment he is represented sitting on a white Throne the Emblem of unspotted Holiness The Righteousness of God's Judicial Proceedings will appear by considering three Things I. The Equity of his Law the Rule of the great and final Judgment II. The Evidence of the Facts and Matter which shall be produc'd as the Reason of the Judgment III. The Impartiality of the Sentence I. The Equity of the Law which shall be the Rule of the last Judgment This will appear by considering the Law of Nature and the Law of Faith in their Precepts and Penalties annex'd to enforce the Observation of them 1. The Law of Nature which is the Rule of Mans Duty will be the Rule of Judgment for without the Law there is no Transgression and consequently a Person is unaccountable for his Actions This Law is composed of such Rules as are most becoming the wise and gracious Creator to give and the reasonable Creature to receive and obey for they entirely agree and concenter in his Glory and the Good of his Subjects The Apostle adorns the Law with the most excellent Elogy 't is Holy Just and Good Holy as it enjoins all Acts of Piety to God the adoration of his Majesty resulting from his inexpressible Divine Perfections the imitation of his Purity a reliance on his Goodness a resignation to his most wise Providence and a dutiful obedience to his Will Such a sense of our dependance and subjection to God is the proper Character of the reasonable Creature as dignified above inanimate and mere sensitive Beings The Law is just as it directs us how to demean our selves in our various Relations Justice is the Cement of Societies without which they disband and fall into Confusion And the Sum of the Law is virtually comprized in one Rule to do to others as we would they should do to us than which nothing is more equal 'T is good to Man that keeps it commanding nothing but what is influential upon his Well-being here and for ever It does not infringe his true Freedom but allows him unstain'd Delights and enjoins what is proper to advance and secure his Dignity Felicity and Perfection It forbids every thing that defiles and debases him and causes a degeneration from his native Excellency If we prescind in our thoughts the sacred Authority of the Law-giver all the Precepts of the Law for their moral Goodness deserve our esteem and choice and entire observation The sanctified Mind approves them universally I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right saith holy David Nay in the Wicked there is an intellectual assent to the Goodness of the Law though the corrupt Will doth not embrace it there are some Inclinations and Wishes to obey it but controul'd by vicious Desires 'T is said of the convinced Sinner Thou knowest his Will and approvest the things that are more excellent It may be objected That the Law being pure and Man in a frail state surrounded with innumerable Temptations to require perfect Obedience from him and condemn him for his Failings seems hard The Law lays a restraint upon all the Senses and forbids all fleshly Lusts this may be easy to separate Souls but for Men to live in the Body as if they were out of it to be always vigilant against the insinuations or attacks of Sin is impossible
are glorified in that great and blessed Work In Octavo Considerations of the Existence of God and of the Immortality of the Soul with the Recompences of the Future State To which is now added The Divinity of the Christian Religion proved by the Evidence of Reason and Divine Revelation for the Cure of Infidelity the Hectick Evil of the Times In Octavo The Soveraign and Final Happiness of Man with the effectual Means to obtain it Also the Joys of Heaven and Torments of Hell are discoursed of In Octavo Several Sermons upon Death and Eternal Judgment In Octavo The Four Last Things Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell practically considered and applied in several Discourses In Octavo The Danger of Prosperity discovered in several Sermons upon Prov. 1.17 In Octavo The great Duty of Resignation in Times of Affliction c. In Octavo A Funeral Sermon preached upon the Death of the Reverend and Excellent Divine Dr. Thomas Manton who deceased October 18 1677. To which is now added the last publick Sermon Dr. Manton preached In Octavo The Sure Trial of Uprightness opened in several Sermons upon Psal. 18. v. 23. In Octavo A Description of the Blessed Place and State of the Saints above in a Discourse on John 14.2 Preached at the Funeral of Mr. Clarkson The Way to the highest Honour on John 12.26 Preached at the Funeral of Dr. Jacomb The speedy Coming of Christ to Judgment on Rev. 22.12 Preached at the Funeral of Mr. Benj. Ashurst ADVERTISEMENT NEwly printed The Holy Bible containing the Old Testament and the New With Annotations and Parallel Scriptures To which is annex'd The Harmony of the Gospels As also The Reduction of the Jewish Weights Coins and Measures to our English Standards And a Table of the Promises in Scripture By Samuel Clark Minister of the Gospel Printed in Folio of a very fair Letter the like never before in one Volume Printed for Brabazon Aylmer in Cornhill Ver. 4 5. Ver. 6. Deut. 6.13 10.20 Ver. 7. Ver. 8. Ver. 10. Ver. 13. Ver. 14. Psal. 97.9 Chap. 2.11 Psal. 78.49 Rom. 5.12 Anima volens perdidit vivere nolens ergo perdat vivificare Rom. 6.23 Hac lege intraverant ut exiirent Senec. Heb. 9.27 Eccles. 1.4 Gen. 2.17 1 Sam. 26.10 Psal. 89.4 Eccles. 8.8 Isa. 38. Isa. 38.11 Dies moritur in noctem tenebrisusquequaque sepelitur funestatur mundi honor omnis substantia denigratur sordent silent stupent cuncta ubique justitium est Tertul. de Resurrec Car. Talia agentem atque meditantem mors praevenit Sueton. Psal. 49.16 17. * As our Divine Poet expresses it The brags of Life are but a nine days wonder And after Death the Fumes that spring From private Bodies make as big a Thunder As those that rise from a huge King Herbert 2 Kings 9.37 Isa. 14.11 Heb. 9.27 Acts 24.25 Heb. 10.31 Praestat semel mori quam semper timere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 1.7 Eccles. 11.7 Prov. 29. Job 36.21 Rev. 21. Nullum malum sine effugio Senec. Timor fugam perdidit 1 Sam. 28. Dan. 5.1 2 3 4. Amos 6.3 4. Aelian 2 Cor. 5.11 Heb. 11. 1 Tim. 2.6 1 Pet. 1. 〈…〉 〈…〉 1 Cor. 15. Gal. 3. Isa. 53. Heb. 12. 1 Cor. 10.33 Rev. 2. 1 Thess. 4.14 Annon longe gloriosius fuit quandoquidem totum pro nobis agebatur ut non modo passio corporis sed etiam cordis affectio pro nobis faceret Et quos vivificabat mors nihilominus trepidatio robustos moestitia laetos taedium alacres turbatio quietos facecet desolatio consolatos Bern. Serm. 1. de S. Andr. Isa. 57.1 2. Luke 2. John 6.48 †Dies iste quem tu tanquam supremum reformidas aeterni natalis est Senec. Job 14.1 Tempus angustatur ad vitam dilatatur ad miseriam * Omnes homines aut sunt penitus caro nihil habent spiritus ii sunt infideles sine regeneratione Aut sunt tantum spiritus sine carne Ii sunt sancti qui jam in Coelo aeterna fruuntur pace sine pugna Aut sunt partim spiritus partim caro Ii sunt omnes renati per Spiritum Sanctum in Christo. Aug. cont Jul. 1 Cor. 13. 1 John 3. Rom. 8. ‖ Poterat autem Christus etiam hoc donare credentibus ut nec istius experiâ—entur corporis mortem sed si hoc fecisset carni quaedam foelicitas adderetur minueretur fidei fortitudo Quid enim magnum erat vivendo eos non mâ—â—i qui crederent se non morituros Quanto est majus quanto fortius quanto laudabilius ita credere ut se speret moriturus sine fine victurum Aug. de pecc Mort. Lib. 2. Exercitia nobis sunt non funera dant animo fortitudinis gloriam Contemptu mortis praeparant ad coronam Cypr. de Mortal * Nomen terrae in igni reliquit Tertul. Rom. 1.11 Acts 2.24 Rom. 4. Heb. 13. * Qui sibi ipse pulcherrimum medicamentum Celsus Ephes. 2.6 Exod. 10.26 Mat. 27.52 53. Phil. 3.1 Rom. 8.23 1 Cor. 15. 1 Cor. 15. Mark 9. †Foelices errore suo quos ille timorum Maximus haud urget leti metus inde ruendi In ferrrum mens prona viris animaeque capaces Mortis ignavum rediturae parcere vitae Lucan 1 John 5.12 Rom. 8.1 Revel 1 Cor. 15.22 1 Cor. 6.17 John 6.36 2 Kings 4.34 Gal. 2.20 John 15.26 Rom. 1.4 Rom. 8.9 Rom. 8.11 2 Cor. 5.17 Revel 1. Macti ingenio este Coeli interpretes rerumque naturae capaces Argumenti repertores quo Deos hominesque vinxistis Plin. lib. 2. * Foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas Atque metus mortis inexorabile fatum Subjecit pedibus Virgil. Acts 20.21 Heb. 6.1 2 Cor. 5.14 Athen. Heb 2.7 8. Quis enim satis explicet verbis quantum mali sit non obedire tanto potestatis imperio tanto tenenti supplicio Nemo ergo sibi promittat quod evangelium non promittit Aug. Jer. 13.16 Psal 78.34 36. Rom. 2. 1 Sam. 26.21 Prov. 1. Matth. 25. Male cum his agitur quibus necessitas incumbit belli morbi Vâ—g ‖ Quod alicui gratiosè conceditur trahi non debet ab aliis in exemplum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys. Vix dici potest quantos haec inanis spei umbra deceperit Aug. †Tull. Tully ‖ Miserrimum morbi genus in quo aeger siti aquae metu cruciatur quorum spes in angusto est Cels. John 17. Haec enim est infoelicitas hominum propter quae peccant Morientes hic dimittunt ipsa peccata secum portant Aug. Stemus expeditae ad omnem vim nihil habentes quod relinquere timeamus Retinacula ista sunt spei nostrae De cult Foem Josh. 3.16 Ad instar montis intumescentis apparebant procul 1 John 1.3 Heb. 11.1 2 Cor. 5.1 Epist.