of his comming againe verse 3. And if I goe and prepare a place for you I will come againe Sixthly By this that he will receive us to himselfe verse 3. And receive you unto my selfe that where I am there ye may be also and we shall ever be with the Lord. I shall explaine the Phrases when I come to handle them as they lie in order This Text contains in it the most materiall and fundamentall points of all the Doctrine of Christianity as Doct. 1 First the great doctrine of Christs bodily ascension into Heaven If I go Doct. 2 Secondly the fruit and benefit of Christs going into Heaven I go to prepare a place for you Doct. 3 Thirdly here is the great Doctrine of Christs second comming to judge the quick and the dead but I come againe Doct. 4 Fourthly here is the great Doctrine of the Resurrection of the body Christ shall come to receive them again from the dead and all the Elect with them Doct. 5 Fifthly here is the great Doctrine of that everlasting Communion that the Saints shal have with Christ in Heaven that where I am there ye may be also The first clause If I go it s a good note that Calvin hath on these words this conditionall Particle ought to be resolved into an Adverb of time If I go It is not a note of dubitation if Christ should go to heaven or no or a supposition peradventure he may go to Heaven peradventure not but it serves for limitation of time when Christ doth go to Heaven A like phrase you have John 12 32. And I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me This he spake of what death he should die if he be lifted on the Crosse he should save many by his death The word if doth not note a dubitation or a supposition it may be or it may not be but it notes an Adverb of time when I am lifted up and so in my Text And if I goe and prepare a place for you I will come againe and receive you unto my selfe that where I am there ye may be also There is no difficulty in the first expression If I go and prepare a place for you from which words there are two observations If I go First that Christs Ascension or going up to Heaven is a ground of great comfort and great advantage to all his people while they dwell here upon the earth The second observation is from the end and benefit of his going up to Heaven If I go I go to prepare a place for you That the great end of Jesus Christs going bodily to Heaven is to prepare Heaven for all the Elect. Doct. 1 The first Doctrine That Christs Ascension or going up to Heaven is a ground of comfort and great advantage to all Gods people whilst they dwell here upon the earth In the handling of this point there are three particulars First I shall prove it to you by Scripture that Christ is bodily gone into Heaven I prove it by these five arguments in Scripture First by the Types that were before the Law Enoch was translated and taken up bodily into Heaven where now he is Gen. 5. 24. And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him this is confirmed by the Apostle Heb. 11. 5. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation he had this testimony That he pleased God And under the Law Elijah was taken up in a fiery Chariot 2 King 2. 11. And it came to passe as they still went on and talked that behold there appeared a Chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder and Elijah went up by a whirlewind into Heaven So Christ makes a third under the Gospell taken up to Heaven also Second Argument to prove this Doctrine is by Prophesies in the old Testament that Jesus Christ was to be taken up into Heaven bodily three prophesies one in the 68 Psalm there David prophesi'd of Christ in the 18. verse Thou hast ascended on high c. Now we should not have known so full that this had reference to Jesus Christs Ascension if Paul had not expounded this in Heb. 4. and the 14. verse Seeing then that we have a great high Priest that is passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession The Prophesies that were long before Christ was born did declare this that Jesus Christ should ascend up into Heaven and in the 110. Psa 7. verse He shall drink of the brook in the way therefore shall he lift up the head what is that It is spoken of Christ I will set him upon my right hand first hee shall drink of the brook by the way he shall crie I thirst upon the Crosse he shall die and be crucified then afterwards he shall lift up his head he shall rise againe and ascend up into Heaven a full Prophecie in Daniel 7. 13 14. I saw in the night Visions and behold One like the Son of man came with the Clouds of Heaven and came to the ancient of daies and they brought him neer before him And there was given him dominion and glory and a Kingdome that all people Nations and Languages should serve him His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not passe away and his Kingdome that which shall not be destroied This cannot be spoken of Christs comming to judgement but then the Text saith he shall deliver them to his Father 1 Cor. 15. But the comming of Christ in the clouds here is Christs going up into Heaven as it is in the 1. Acts verse 9. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight And thus you have it by Prophesies confirmed Thirdly the Doctrine of Christs going up to Heaven is confirmed to you by Christs promises Christ upon the earth did promise that he would go up to Heaven John 6. 62. What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before In John 20. 17. Jesus saith unto her Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father but go to my brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and to your Father and to my God and your God Christ did promise that he would ascend John 16. 5 7. But now I go my way to him that sent me and none of you asked me whither goest thou Neverthelesse I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you John 16. 16. A little while and ye shall not see me and again a little while and ye shall see me because I go to the Father I could quote you many Scriptures that Christ promised he would
Christ did ascend hee was speaking to his Disciples things that did appertaine to the Kingdome of God and as he was blessing of them he was taken up before their eyes Acts 1. 9. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight Whilest he was blessing of his Disciples and whilest he was speaking to them things appertaining to the Kingdome of God hee was taken away I would give you this note from thence that when you come towards the time of your departure out of this world make Christ your example Christ as hee was going away he spake of things appertaining to the Kingdome of God so let your hearts be full fraught with Divine contemplation do you leave good counsell behinde you when you come to dye that so some body may say these are the last words of a dying Friend I might extend this example of Christ before his departure out of the world unto Master of families that when you come towards your end leave good counsel behind you Let not your speech be filled about worldly affairs but let them bee setled before but leave good counsell with your children Jacob when he was to die he called all his children about him gave good counsel unto them blessed them Likewise David 1 Chron. 28. 9. And thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Father serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing minde for the Lord searcheth all Hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts if thou seeke him hee will be found of thee but if thou forsake him hee will cast thee off for ever And thus wee see in the instances of Isaac and many other Servants of God Moses to Joshua when he was to dye I but especially take Christs example that when you are to leave the world you may have your minds possessed with nothing else but with things appertaining to the Kingdome of God as Christ was Fourthly there is instruction to be gathered from the manner of Christs leaving the world the manner was in Act. 1. 9. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld hee was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight they saw him by degrees ascend into Heaven this must not passe our Meditation that a cloud should take Jesus Christ out of our sight it is for a reliefe to your Meditations that when you see the clouds to thinke that these clouds that I see hover in the Heaven they are Christs Chariot that did once carry him to Heaven and they are the chariots that shall carry Jesus Christ to judg the world O labour to have your Meditations on Divine things he went up in a cloud therfore the clouds are called Gods Chariots Fifthly note that circumstance in Christs ascension that he would call all his Friends about him it is expresly said all the eleven Apostles were with him Acts 1. And an Interpreter doth think that there was an hundred and twenty with Jesus Christ when he ascended up into Heaven and he gathered it from Acts 1. 15. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the Disciples and said the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty Now learned men doe thinke that there was an hundred and twenty that did see Jesus Christ ascend up to heaven it is clear that there were the eleven Apostles there and if this be so that Christ gathered about him his friends when hee was to leave the world I gather thence that when you are drawing towards your end and departing out of the world Labour to have your friends about you that you might give them the advice of a dying friend and it is a great blessing for to dye amongst your friends Christ before that he would goe up to Heaven and leave the world hee would have his friends about him and then he was taken up from them I now come to draw out more practicall application of this point If it be so that Christs going up bodily into Heaven bee a ground of such great comfort unto the people of God upon Earth the use that I shall draw it shall be to deduce four doctrinall and four practicall inferences from this point First this point confuteth the opinion of the Selucians and Hermiani that hold that Christs Body is not in heaven but that it is in the beautifull and splendent body of the Sun and they say that is the reason the Sun doth cast such a glorious light o're that the Moon doth and truly this old Heresie is again revived amongst us and I have seen it in a booke called Divine Light when indeed it is nothing but darknesse but Christ is above the Sun Christ is above all the visible Heavens Christ sits in the third Heaven as Paul calls it therefore if Christs Body bee gone into Heaven they are in an errour Secondly this point will confute those who hold that Christs Body hath been on Earth since his ascension into Heaven some in Germany held that they were the very Christ and thus in King Henry the Eights days there was one held that hee was the Christ and his side was pierc'd and there was the print of Nayles seen in his hand c. I but if men say lo here is Christ and there is Christ believe them not for Christ was never on the Earth since his ascension Thirdly that Christs Body is now in heaven it overthrowes the Doctrine of the Popish Religion touching Transubstantiation or the reall presence that Jesus Christ is bodily present at the Sacrament say the Papists we bodily eat Christs flesh and drinke Christs bloud that Christ is as bodily present at the Sacrament as hee was on the Crosse If there were no other argument to overthrow this opinion but this that the body of Christ is now in Heaven it were enough then that opinion of Transubstatiation is hereby confuted Christs body cannot be in Heaven and on the earth both at one time Fourthly the ascension of Christ it overthrowes the opinion of the Carpacratiami that hold that onely his soule did goe to heaven and his body perished as others and this cannot be for the Disciples said that they saw Christ ascend and this must bee his body for they could not see his soule for the soule is a spirit Now you see the reason why I spent so much time in the morning in giving you many Texts of Scripture to prove this point because there are so many Hereticks that doe oppugne this Doctrine of CHRISTS Ascension I now come to give you three or four practical deductions First is Christs body now in heaven then I infer O thou that canst lay a well-grounded clayme for an interest in Jesus Christ O be not thou afraid to dye because thy Christ is in heaven and when thou diest death is but a Trap-doore to let thee into endlesse joy where Christ
whereas the scripture saith expresly that Christ shall come from Heaven with his Saints and wee read in Scripture that there are the Spirits of just men made perfect as well as the innumerable company of Angels Fifthly this would follow that it would bee a great discomfort to a godly man on his death-bed to think he should bee so many hundred yeares soule and body in the grave before Christ would bring him to Heaven it would bee a very uncomfortable Doctrine for a man to thinke on that I shall die like a beast that my soule after death shall not bee taken up into Heaven And thus I have proved that immediately after the godly die their soules are received into heaven I have proved it by pregnant instances in the Scripture by generall expressions in the Scripture and by those expresse passages in Scripture and have given you those absurdities that will arise in case it should be denyed A word now from what hath been spoken If it bee that Christ doth receive thee O thou beleever to himselfe before the totall and compleat reception I would then give you this use for to comfort you Use First fear not a dying time let not death bee dreadfull and terrible to thee Beloved were this true indeed that when thou diest thy soule should perish with thy body then a Life is not worth the having but when thou shalt thinke on thy death-bed here now is a disease consuming thy body and sending of thee to thy grave and now there is but a little time betweene thee and Heaven that when I am a dying I am in the very Suburbs of Heaven a little breath between mee and Heaven O how should this comfort a dying man when that hee hath good evidences for Heaven O this should greatly comfort thee against thou comest to die to thinke that thy dead-bed is the very Suburbs of heaven I have read what John said that wrote the Revelarions when hee was ready to die I doe beleeve saith hee that in this very day my soule shall be presented before the Lord Jesus Christ O thinke now thou art leaving thy friends it will not bee a day before Christ and I shall meet in heaven As in the Booke of Martyrs wee read that in Queene Maries time two friends were put to death together One of them was fearfull to thinke that the flames should scorch his flesh O saith the other bee of good comfort for halfe an houre hence thou shalt bee in Heaven O thinke though thou art weake and sick even unto death yet that thou shalt shortly bee with Jesus Christ doubt not of the truth of this For I could even pawn my soul of the truth of it that the soules of the Elect are taken up into heaven immediately after death O then let not death trouble you Doct. 4 The fourth Doctrine here mentioned is the benefit of Christs coming and that is to raise your bodies from the dead and receive them to himselfe This is the particular that I am now to insist upon and receive you to my selfe Obser The Observation is this that the maine end of Christs coming againe is for to raise the bodies of the Elect and to receive them to himselfe not onely to save the Soule immediately after death but to raise the body also There are two Queries in the Doctrinall part of this point touching the end of Christs coming which is to raise the bodies of the Elect and to receive them to himselfe First Why Jesus Christ must raise the bodies of the Elect and receive them to himselfe as well as the soules Secondly when Christ doth receive the body to himself then what endowments doth the body receive as now it hath not First why must Christ receive the body to himselfe as well as the soule There are four reasons First because of the Resurrection of his own body Christs own body is raised from the dead and received up into heaven and therefore the bodies of the Elect must be there also where Christ is there must his members be Christ the head is raised from the dead and received up into glory The Apostle doth give this reason 1 Cor. 15. 12. Now if Christ bee preached that hee rose from the dead c. As if he should have said Christ being risen from the dead doth argue that our bodies must rise from the Grave though they be dead there In 1 Cor. 6. 14. And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power 1 Thess 4. 14. For if wee beleeve that Jesus dyed and rose againe even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him So that because Jesus Christs body is raised from the dead and received up into Heaven therfore our bodies must bee raised up and received into glory with him Secondly the bodies of the Elect must be raised because of the inhabitation of the Spirit the Spirit doth sanctifie the bodies of the Elect as well as the soules the very God of peace sanctifie you throughout and I pray God that your soule Spirit and Body bee kept blamelesse unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 6. 18 19 20. Flee Fornication every sinne that a man doth is without the body but he that committeth Fornication sinneth against his own body What know yee not that your body is the Temple of the holy Ghost which is in you which yee have of God and yee are not your owne for yee are bought with a price Therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods Now the spirit of God having a gracious worke in the body as well as the soule Therefore the body must be raised up from the dead as well as the soule and this the Scripture makes an Argument of the resurrection in Rom. 8. 11. But if the spirit of him that raised up Iesus from the dead dwell in you hee that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you So that spirit that raised up Christ from the dead if that dwelleth in you and the graces of the spirit that spirit shall quicken your mortall bodies therefore the bodies of the Elect shall be raised from the dead and received into glory with the soule Thirdly because the body hath a conjunction and co-operation with the soule in all gracious working the body shall bee partner with the Soule being received unto Jesus Christ because the body doth co-operate with the Soule Rom. 8. 13. For if yee live after the flesh yee shall die but if yee through the spirit doe mortifie the deeds of the flesh yee shall live Now being that the godly doe mortifie the deeds of the body and do expose their bodies to tortures and torments for Jesus Christ now because the bodies of the Elect doe co-operate with the soule in good therefore the body shall be co-partner with the soule in good
together at the last Day Answer it is the answer of Perkins First much may bee done by Nature by art First an Illustration from a Refiner put before Refiner a masse of mettall and there shall bee in that one Lumpe a veyne of Silver a veyne of Brasse of Gold of Tyn of Iron and the like and these Mettals are all mingled together Now a Refiner by his art he can distinctly sever the Silver from the Gold and the Iron from the Lead Now can art do this and shall not the God of Nature sever this man from that man God shall sever them though they are heaped together Againe a Gardner soweth varietie of Seeds yet doe you come to the Garden and let one aske you what seed lieth in that Bed or in this Bed as roâ—ting in the ground you cannot tell But come to the Gardner and aske him what Seed is in that Bed and hee can tell you distinctly the Seed in every Bed And cannot the the great God doe this hee that made us knowes our shape wee cannot tell what mans dust this is in the Grave I but God that laid it in the Grave he knowes hee knowes which shall bee my dust and which shall be thy dust and which every mans dust hee knowes what body shall spring up thence Therefore labour to exalt Faith in the great Mystery of raising and glorifying your bodies I have now a practicall application to make of this The Uses First this is it so that Jesus Christ shall raise your bodies and receive them to himselfe at his second coming Then let this comfort you against your sufferings in the body Suppose thou art exposed to violent Sufferings to Torments Tortures to Racks Fire and Faggots Suppose thy body undergoeth this for the sake of Jesus Christ yet remember thy body shall be raised and glorified by Jesus Christ Let it not trouble thee then that thy body shall be a crucified body because at Christs second coming it shall be a glorious body Again it may bee comfort to thee by reason of thy naturall infirmities Suppose thy body be a sâ—â—kly body suppose thy body bee full of Aâ—hes Agues Consumptions Diseases and the like suppose thy body bee maimed Blinde and Lame yet remember thy body that is vile deformed and sickly it shall have fresh Robes of glory upon it and be made like to the glorious Body of Jesus Christ We read in the book of Martyrs of two Martyrs that were to be burnt at Stratford Bow neer Lordon one Hugh Laborocke and Iohn Price the one blind the other lame this Price being full of feare when the fire was about him saith Hugh unto him bee not troubled though thou blinde and I lame yet remember death will heale thee of thy Blindenesse and mee of Lamenesse Suppose thou art blinde lame and maymed Christs receiving of thy body will cure all and truly there were comfort to a man under a bodily distemper when a man should thinke that this body of mine should rot in the Grave and never be raised from the dead But thy deformed body it should bee a beautifull body that which is a sickly body shal be made a healthful body and freed from all diseases A second Inference is this will Jesus Christ at his comign raise thy body and receive thy whole man unto himselfe Then learne to have a thirsting and longing soule after the second coming of Jesus Christ doe not desire to continue here upon Barth but to bee dissolved and to bee with Jesus Christ will any man bee grieved for changing of an old sute for a new Death doth this thou hast here an old rotten ragge of flesh about thee Christ will put a new sute on thee therefore the Apostle calls it the desire of the body to bee cloathed upon wee doe not desire to bee in Heaven without Bodies but wee desire to bee cloathed upon with those glorious endowments where with the elect shall bee clad in glory Therefore bee not unwilling to die doe not be unwilling to leave an old rotten Carcasse a sickly Body a Diseased Body Put a Bird into a Cage though the Cage bee made of Silver of Gold yet the Bird had rather flie abroad then be tied up in the Cage Whilest in the Body thou art in a Cage thou hadst better have thy Body in a glorified capacity then now it is Thirdly bee not afraid nor unwilling to die because thy Body shall bee changed by Death if thy Body should not die it would never be a glorified Body keep your Corne in your House and you will never have a Crop but cast your Corne into the ground and let it die there saith the Apostle that thou sowest is never quickened till it die let your Body bee kept alive here in the world and it shall never be raised to glory O do not thâ—n be unwilling to die because death to an Elect man is as a laying of Corne in the Earth As Corne doth rot in the ground to spring againe against the Harvest So doth thy Body rot in the Grave to spring againe at the Resurrection Fourthly if this be true that Jesus Christ will raise thy Body unto glory O then doe not abuse these Bodies of yours they are the Temples of the Holy Ghost these Bodies of yours shall one day bee raised and received by Jesus Christ It is an argument that the Apostle raiseth 1 Cor. 6. 14 15. vers And God hath both raised up the Lord by his own Power know ye not that your bodies are the Members of Christ shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the Members of Harlots God forbid This is the Apostles Argument The Apostle would reason against Adultery and Uncleannesse in the body what argument doth hee use Know yee this Christ will raise up our bodies and shall wee take these Members of our bodies and make them the members of a Where So then Beloved let the Doctrine of your Resurrection and of your bodies being raised and received to Jesus Christ provoke you that you doe not abse your Bodies He that keeps company with a Harlot sinneth against his owne Body 1 Cor. 6. 18. Flee Fornication every sinne that a man doth is without the Body but hee that committeth Fornication sinneth against his owne body For a man to lie and sweare it is against his Soule but for a man to bee uncleane it is to sinne against his Body O doe not die with an uncleane Body with an Adulterous Body and doe not abuse thy Body doe not abuse those Eyes of thine to bee windowes of lust that shall one day behold Jesus Christ do not abuse that body that must have a sweet communion with Christ in Heaven I am now come to handle the last point in the Text the last Clause that where I am there you may bee also These words they note unto you the Event or Consequent what shall follow upon Christs coming againe and receiving our
have done evil in thy sight but cannot call to minde any particular sin they have done Was it never thus with you that ye did not know what to bewaile to God and what to lament of in his presence this is a Defect that godly men are often guilty of Defect 2 A second Defect in the confession of sin to God is this when men in prayer do confesse many sins to God yet do leave out their master and predominant sins many men are large in confession yet do leave out their master sins Moses though a good man yet was faulty in this regard God commanded him to go to Egypt to deliver his people but saith Moses I am not eloquent I am of a slow speech he did complain of a natural defect but he did not complain of a spiritual defect but God did answer all his pleas in Exod. 4. 19. And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian Go return into Egypt for all the men are dead that sought thy life Vers 20. And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an asse and he returned to the land of Egypt So that God here put his finger upon the sore Moses complained of the peoples incredulity of his own natural infirmity but Moses did not complain of his slavish fear that if he should go to Egypt there were men that would kill him till God did assure Moses that those men that sought to kill him were dead Moses would not go here a good man would not confesse his slavish fear that he did fear death therefore he would not go on Gods command Beloved this is a Defect that doth many times cleave to godly men to leave out their predominant sins and to confesse only those sins which are sins of infirmity and herein men do but dissemble with God and like the lapwing crie lowdest when farthest from the nest Defect 3 A third Defect in confession of sin to God is this to have the heart to hanker after the committing of those sins you do confesse Austin doth ingenuously acknowledg this of himself saith he I did often beg strength of God against the sin of incontinency yet had often an unwillingnesse in my heart that God should hear my prayers lest I should leave my sins Indeed conviction of conscience doth force to a confession of sin yet the strength of thy depraved affection doth make thee hanker after the sin and cause a lothnesse to leave it Defect 4 A fourth Defect in confession of sin to God is this to confesse to God the sins of your life but not the sins of your nature many men will be large in confessing the sins of their life but seldom or never bewail the sins of nature that vicious inclination in the heart to sin very few but David in the Old Testament and Paul in the New who did sufficiently confesse original sin David in the Old Testament Psal 51. there he begins to bewail the root of those sins which he was guilty of So Paul in Rom. 7. bewails the body of sin many men bewail actual sin but not habitual sin but not original sin many men bewail bad actions but never confesse unto God their vicious inclination This Defect good men many times are guilty of Defect 5 A fifth defect is this to confesse grosse and open sins but not to confesse small and secret evils we are commanded to keep the Law as the apple of our eye Prov. 7. 2. Keep my commandements and live and my Law as the apple of thine eye Now you know a man that keeps his eye will not only keep his eye from great blowes but from small motes which may put out the eye as well as a great blow men should not only take heed of great blowes great transgressions but they should take heed of lesser motes small sins Now beloved good men many times commit those sins that are infamous that the natural light of conscience can control them for why those evils are complained of and confest but secret evils wandring thoughts in duties vanity of minde the deadnesse of the heart emptinesse of spiritual meditations inward distrust these evils are seldome bewailed and confest this is many times a Defect found in good men good men are not so apt to confesse omission of good as commission of evil Defect 6 A sixt Defect in confession of sin to God is this to confesse sin more because of its guilt then of its spot my meaning is more because sin hath a damning power then a defiling nature more because sin damns thy soul then defiles thy conscience A child would touch a coal though it be smutty and soily but he forbears to touch it meerly because it is a burning coal we forbeare sin because sin is a burning coale but we doe not forbear to touch it because it is a defiling coal that is a defect in many godly men to be found But we should confesse sin and bewaile it not because it wil damn us but because it doth dishonour God Defect 7 A seventh defect in confession of sins to God is this to confesse those sins to God which if men should charge us with we should deny and be angry This holy Greenham doth take notice of in mens confession of sin thou wilt confesse thy pride to God but if a man should say that thou art proud thou wouldst be angry with him thou wilt confesse thy waies to God but if men should tell thee of thy sins thou wouldst be angry with them this shews there is much defect in your confession Defect 8 The eighth defect in confession of sin unto God is this not to have the heart sensibly affected with those sins that are confessed to God many confesse as if they were telling stories rather what other men did then what themselves did there are few that confesse sin as the Prodigall did that he was ashamed to be called the son of his father We should confesse sin as Daniel did Dan. 9. and as David did Psa 51. But many confesse sin like Pharaoh Exod. 9. 27. And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them I have sinned this time the Lord is righteous and I and my people are wicked Vers 34. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder were ceased he sâ—nned yet more and hardned his heart 〈…〉 Defect 9 The ninth defect in confesâ—ion of sin to God is this to content your selves with slight ordinary and generall confessions of sins to come into Gods presence and say you are sinners just as 〈◊〉 the eleventh king of France who when he had blasphemed would take his Crucifix and kisse and cry God forgive me and then sweare again this is the fault which Christians many times are guilty of many men rest contented with a confused and a generall confession of sin when they doe not come to any distinct view of their particular sins there is a tumult in the
not depart away from him c. A promise to Solomon I will be his father and he shall be my son but if he commit iniquity I will chasten him with rods And the Psalmist when he quotes this expression referres it to all the godly Psal 89. 31 32. If they break my Statutes and keep not my commandements then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes It was not onely true of Solomon but it is spoken of all the Church If they commit iniquity I will chastise them with rods See here a Solomon may be chastned with rods if he commits iniquity nay not only one man but all the Church 3. 2. You onely have I known of all the families of the earth therfore I will punish you for all your iniquities If God be severe it is with his own people to make them smart for sin he may spare wicked men and not punish them here because he hath his hell for them hereafter but this shall be all the hell of a godly man and all their punishment I but this is Old Testament and thus the Antinomians take off and evade this Scripture but doth God so in the New Testament Yes in the New Testament Rom. 8. 20 And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin He speaks of the beleeving Romans that death on their bodies was because of sin And then the Apostle speaks to the godly Corinthians 1 Cor. 11. 29 30. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation or judgement to himselfe not discerning the Lords body For this cause many are weak and sickly amongst you and many sleep Many godly men were sick and weak for their prophaning the Lords Supper and this is under the New Testament that the Apostle saith as approving the righteous judgement of God let not us commit fornication as some of them commited 1 Cor. 10. Let not us fall as they fell and many of them it is probable among the 23 thousand were good men The Apostle approves of Gods Judgement to bee righteous in that Act. Only one objection against this Doth not the Scripture say in Isa 53. That the chastisement of our peace was laid on Christ now if all those chastisments that were due to us for sin were laid on Christ doth not this derogate from Christs sufferings that hee must suffer too doth not this intimate that Christs sufferings were not satisfactory The Answer is easie That when we say we suffer for sin and are punished for sin understand it thus there is a great deal of difference between our suffering for sin and Christs suffering for sin we doe not suffer for sin as Christ did because our punishments for sin are not by way of satisfaction to Divine Justice but onely by way of castigation from Divine Justice when God doth punish a pardoned man with some outward Judgement for sin it is no satisfaction no compensation when the text saith that our chastisements are laid upon Christ the meaning is Christ suffers for sin by way of satisfaction he appealeth Gods wrath he satisfies Gods Justice for the sins that we have done should we lose our bloud for a sin should we give the fruit of our body for the sins of our soule yet this cannot make a compensation for sin therefore it may well consist that God punished Christ for our sins by way of satisfaction to his Justice and may punish us by way of castigation as a father his children Now to ratifie and satisfie your thoughts the more in this that though God doth pardon a sin yet hee will punish for a sin take some reasons for it First Because wicked men that are punished for sin would accuse God of partiality and injustice should he punish them and not his own people for the same sin wicked men would account God partiall but the wicked shall say I see Gods own people are punished in this life more severely then I am the Lord doth it to vindicate the impartiality of his Justice that he will not spare sin where ever finds it A second Reason is Because God doth command Magistrates to execute punishments in this life for sin even upon good men therefore if he commands a Magistrate to punish a good man for his sin surely he doth approve of their punishment Suppose a good man should commit adultery he was to dye for it suppose he should commit murder he was to dye for it if God did command that pâ—â—nall punishment should be inflicted on good men in this life then surely he might doe it much more himself Case 3 The third Case of Conscience is this Whether doth pardon of sin go before faith and repentance or else follow after I doe not speak now of the priority of nature but of the priority of time This is a usefull question There are many Books in Print made by severall Antinomians that plead for this and they say that repentance is not a condition to qualifie the subject to obtain forgivenesse but onely a signe to manifest that sin is forgiven and that a man is pardoned from all eternity that before a man beleeves and repents he is pardoned which is a falshood for to a beleever the Apostle doth confine pardon Rom. 3. 25. Whom God hath set forth to bee a propitiation through faith in his bloud to declare his righteousnesse for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God For sins that are past those sins you have committed and have repented of he gives you pardon for all them He that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall fiade mercy and he that doth not so shall not find mercy He that hideth his sin shall not prosper I answer to this query that God doth pardon sin after a man repents and beleeves not before and to give you a proofe for this First I shall give you the grounds from the Scripture then absurdities that would follow if this were not so First from the Scripture Observe that the Scripture doth limit and confine pardon to a repenting state Act. 3. 19. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sin may be blotted out No blotting out of sin without repentance Repent that your sin may be blotted out Act. 26. 18. To open their eyes and to turn them from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgivenesse of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me So that till thou beest turned from darknesse to light untill thou beest turned from Satan to God thou hast not received forgivenesse of sins mark the antecedent word hee opens their eyes c. therefore God expresly doth tye forgivenesse of sin to repentance and so in Joh. 1. 9. If we confess our sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse There is first a confession this is
go away Fourthly the Doctrine of Christs going up to heaven is confirmed by the Testimony of the Apostles who were eie-witnesses of Christs Ascension Gerrard notes saying Jesus Christ did rise invisible none saw him Rise the Scripture telleth you that the Souldiers that watched were asleep yet Christ gathereth all his eleven Apostles that they might be eie-witnesses of his ascension that they saw him ascend to Heaven Acts 1. 9 10. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight And while they looked stedfastly towards heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparell and so the Apostle Peter in 1 Pet. 3. 22. Who is gone into Heaven and is on the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being subject unto him So Paul tels you in Ephesians 4. 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all Heavens that he might fill all things So in Hebrewes 9. the Author of that book tels you that Jesus Christ is not gone into the holy place but is gone into Heaven it selfe In verse 24. For Christ is not entred into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into Heaven it selfe now to appeare in the presence of God for us 1 Tim. 3. 16. And without controversy great is the mystery of Godlinesse God was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world received up into glory And in Mark 16. 19. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into Heaven and sate on the right hand of God I take the more pains to prove this because of what ancient Heresies there have been to overthrow this great comfortable doctrin of Christs going bodily into heaven having our flesh in heaven this very day Fifthly it may be proved by the concurrent Testimonies of the Angels who were witnesses of this truth Acts 1. 10. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparell These two men were Angels the Angels did give in their concurrent Testimonies that Jesus Christ did goe into Heaven and the same Jesus Christ that did go shall come againe Beloved I know not any one point in all the Bible that is so proved and strengthened as Christs personall and bodily going up to Heaven and thus much for the strengthning of you in the proof of the point I lay that for the foundation because if the proof of it be not well grounded then the fruit of it will not be well regarded Secondly what is the reason that Christ must have his body and soul go up to heaven First Christ in his bodilie presence must goe to Heaven lest his Disciples should be taken too much with his bodily presence and never look after the Communication of his Spirit Therefore they ask Christ Lord when wilt thou restore the Kingdome to Israel They expected that Christ would take away the Roman Emperour which was a heathen and expected that he would be King himselfe Acts 1. 6. When they therefore were come together they asked of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel It is for this reason say Interpreters because the Disciples should not dote on Jesus Christ as to look on him as a temporall King and look on him for a temporall Kingdome but that they might look after the Kingdome where he is therefore Paul hath a passage in 2 Cor. 5. 16. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more As if he should say it may bee those that lived in Christs time that knew him according to the flesh as a lovelie person but saith Paul we know him in a spirituall way to look after heaven by Christ to look after salvation by Christ Secondly Christ must be taken up into Heaven in his body to make a compensation and a recompence to himselfe for his sufferings in his body Phil. 2. 8 9. And being found in fashion as a Man he humbled himselfe and became obedient unto death even the death of the Crosse Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name Therefore God did exalt Christ and raise him from the dead and bring him to Heaven because he obeied to the death of the Crosse and took on him the form of a servant Psal 110. last verse He shall drink of the brook in the way thersfore shall he lift up the Head Because thou diedst and sufferedst therefore thou shalt lift up thy head therefore thou shalt ascend up to Heaven Heb. 2. 9. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower then the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should tast death for every man For suffering of death hee was crowned with Glory and Honour and translated bodily into Heaven that is a second Argument Thirdly Christ was taken up bodily to heaven it was manifest to the world that Christ was God as well as man to manifest the God-head of Jesus Christ therefore taken up bodily to heaven Eph. 4. 9 10. Now that he ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all Heavens that he might fill all things There the Apostle proves that Christ going up to Heaven it was an Argument that Christ came down from heaven So in John 6. 62. What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before That shews that Christ was in Heaven before therefore must he be God Coequall and Coeternall with God the Father and thus you have the second point dispatched to you shewing the reasons why Jesus Christ must go bodily into Heaven The third point is I but what benefit and comfort is that to us that Jesus Christ is now bodily in Heaven what comfort was this to the Disciples that Jesus Christ should leave them that he must go from them unto his Fathers house There are seven particulars that it is great ground of comfort to all the people of God that Jesus Christ is gone bodily to heaven The first ground of comfort is this Christs going to heaven bodily it assures you of Christs full Triumph and compleat conquest over all your spirituall Enemies This the Apostle lays down as a ground of comfort upon Christ Ascension Eph. 4. 8. Wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men That is the Devill and sin that carried you captive Christ by his going up to heaven hath led them captive that is hath led your spirituall enemies that carried
not yet made manifest while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing The meaning is this that the way to Heaven it was not manifest to the Jewes whilest their Tabernacle stood that is whilest their Leviticall Ceremonies were in use the way to heaven was not manifest the godly went to heaven before Christs time but it was not manifested for the common sort of the Jews did not understand that by Jesus Christs Passion and Ascension they must come to heaven therefore the Apostle saith the way to the holiest of all was not yet manifested whilest their first Tabernacle stood So my Text is true that heaven was prepared for believers by the Lord Jesus Christ his ascension The third Quere is this but you will say if Christ by his ascension into heaven did prepare heaven for believers then what became of all the people of God and holy men of God under the old Testament whither went they The Jesuites raise the difficulty from the Text. They say that before Christ ascended none did goe to heaven therfore they make Abraham Isaac and Iacob with all the Patriarkes and all the holy men of God to be in the place called Limbus Patrum which was for the good men till Christs ascension Then there is Limbus Infantum a place of receipt of Infants Then there is Purgatory for men guilty of grosse sins heaven and hell they concurre in to be a truth Limbus Patrum say they was the place to receive all the good men till Christs ascension and then Christ tooke them all into heaven Protestant Divines do take a deale of paines to vindicate this Text. If you will aske me what is become of the Patriarkes and all good men of old before Christs going into heaven how can they come to heaven if heaven be prepared by Christs ascension First I may say that of Christs ascension as Gerrard doth of Christs Passion the Death of Christ it was availeable before it was in being so I may say of Christs Ascension that it was availeable before it was in being Gerrard hee hath another passage that the benefits wee have by Christ they are not onely to bee restrained to ages that are to come after Christ but to looke backward to all ages before Christ Revel 5. 9. And they sung a new Song saying Thou art worthy to take the Booke and to open the Seales thereof for thou wast slaine and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation Not onely the Lambe slain decretively in Gods decree nor onely is the Lambe slaine Typically in the ceremoniall Sacrifices but also vertually that there was vertue in Jesus Christ that all the Godly Jewes had vertue by CHRISTS death there is my first Answer Secondly observe this that the Scripture doth not say that Christ by going up to heaven did open heaven for us he being our Mediator sitting at Gods right hand in heaven heaven was opened before but not so fully adorned as it was by Christs ascension Heb. 9. 8. The holy Ghosts this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest whilest the Tabernacle was yet standing The Grecians doe observe that Christ doth not use a word that signifies to open a thing that is shut but to open clear and manifest a thing that is obscure it was open before Thirdly against the Jesuits conceit of Limbus Patrum there are cleare passages in the Scripture and undenyable reasons drawn from the Scripture that doth prove beleevers under the old Testament went to heaven before CHRISTS ascension As in Luke 16. 22. And it came to passe that the begger dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abrahams Bosome the Rich man also dyed and was buried Hee lived two thousand years and more before Christ was borne heaven is called Abrahams Bosome and the elect that dyed are said to goe into Abrahams Bosome and Eliah and Enoch are in heaven Heb. 11. 5. By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him in the 16 verse but now they desired a better Countrey that is heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for hee hath prepared for them a City Hee is ashamed to bee their God therefore they have a City prepared for them by God that likewise Lazarus was said to be carried by Angels into Abrahams Bosome this was before Christ dyed then frequent Scriptures there are touching Christs transfiguration that when Christ was taken up that hee saw Moses and Elias from thence Divines gather that they must bee in Heaven There are foure undeniable Reasons wil prove that the godly before Christs Ascension they went to Heaven First it appears by this because it is said that those that were carried to heaven they were carried to Heaven by the Angels the Angels carried Lazarus into Abrahams Bosome now certainly Angels are not in Limbus Partum Luk. 16. 22. Againe if the Beleevers of old should not goe into Heaven the Death and Merits of Christ would bee extenuated Heb. 13. 8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever Hee was the same yesterday that is before he was borne hee was of use then as well as to after time Againe if the Soules of wicked men bee in Hell before Christs time then the Soules of Godly men must bee in Heaven before Christs time that must clearly follow by the Rule of contraries now that wicked men went to Hell is cleare Jude 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities about them in like manner giving themselves over to Fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an examples suffering the vengeance of eternall Fire They went to Hell before Christs time therefore it must follow clearly that the elect must go to Heaven before Christs time Fourthly there is the very same reason why Believers should goe to Heaven before Christs Ascension as there is why they should goe to heaven after Christs Ascension because Beleevers under the old Testament they had the same Gospell preached to them as now wee have and they had the same Spirit the same Faith and under the same Covenant and therefore why must not they go to the same place I shall clearly prove this unto you First they had the same Spirit and the same Faith that we have and this is laid down by the Apostle in 2 Cor. 4. 13. We having the same Spirit of Faith according as it is written I beleeved and therefore have I spoken wee also beleeve and therefore speak and they with us had the same justifying Faith Their circumcision was a signe of righteousnesse by Faith And then againe they had the same Gospel that we have Heb. 4. 2. For unto us was the same Gospell Preached as well as unto them but the word Preached did not profit them not being mixt with Faith in them that heard it The same
peremptory conclusions about this dark and obscure Doctrin of Christs coming to judge the world There are many loose and lavish frolick wits that have bold and adventurous attempts touching the coming of the Lord in determining that which the Scripture determineth not it is not my intent to trouble you with niâ—â—ties but onely to check the frollick and bold attempts of some who goe about to determine that which the Scripture doth no way reveale to which end take heed of these things First take heed of determining the place from whence Christ should come The Papists they are bold thiâ— way they hold you in hand that Christ shall come from the East Therefore our Churches all of them were built East and West and upon that ground that Christ would come from the East the Scripture saith that Christ shall come as lightning from the East but that doth not shew the place from whence hee comes but as Christ shall come as Lightning it notes the visibility of Christs coming and the celerity of Christs coming Lightning it is visible and so shall Christs coming bee all shall see him as yee see Lightning Now this bold attempt hath been the foundation to many Superstitions Opinions it is the reason of bowing and câ—inging towards the East All rose meerely from that ground of Christs coming from the East the Scripture onely saith that hee shall come downe from Heaven and the Lord shall come from Heaven but from what part of the heaven the scripture speaketh not Againe passe not bold conjectures in determining the place where Christ shall come to judge the world many men where the Scripture is silent doe run into many strong conceits to determine that which the Scripture doth not many Books doe determine the place where Christ shall come to judge the world and that is in the Valley of Iehoshaphat and there is one Text which seemes to carry it that way which is in Ioel 3. 12. Let the Heathen bee awaked and come up to the Valley of Iehoshaphat for there will I sit to judge all the Heathen round about Here they doe conjecture that Christ shall come to the Valley of Iehoshaphat and there hee shall judge all the world and I shall to shew the vanity and wickednesse of these give these five demonstrations First it is not spoken of God the Sonne but of God the father to bee thy judge therefore it cannot have a reference to the last Judgement for Christ judgeth then Secondly their Judgement here onely referres to the Judging of the Heathen round about Now the generall judgement is for the judging of the righteous and the unrighteous Thirdly that it is impossible that the Valley of Iehoshaphat should containe all the men that ever were that are and that shall bee in the world to bee judged therefore it is not profitable that this hath reference to the last Judgement Fourthly the time that this judgement here is spoken of it is limited by the prophet himselfe for compare this verse with the second verse I will also gather all Nations and will bring them downe into the Valley of Jehoshaphat and will plead with them there for my People and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the Nations and parted my Land The time is spoken of when God shall turne againe the captivity of Iudah and Ierusalem then God should judge the Babylonians and those heathen Nations that assisted them for to undo the people of God therfore it refers to some time after the captivity not to the general and last coming of the Sonne of God and thus much for taking off that Text from yeelding patronage to that fond conceit of Christs coming to judge the world in the Valley of Iehoshaphat and the Scripture is farre from giving you the place where Christ shall come to judgement either in the Valley of Iehoshaphat or Mount Olivet out only in the ayre 1 Thess 4. 7. Then wee which are alive and remaine shall bee caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the Aire and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The Scripture doth make no mention of Christs coming upon the Earth at all Take heed of bold attempts and conjectures about the place of Christs judgement Thirdly take heed of bold attempts about the time of Christs judgement there have been them which have shewne abundance of wickednesse in this Gerrard doth confute the folly of such men that do guesse at the time when Christ shall come to judge the world Austin doth make mention of some in his time that held that Christ should come to judge the world a thousand years after his Death but wee have seen their folly and shame for there is more time expired then that Another saith that some held in his time that Christ should come to judge the world 365. yeares after his Death that is a folly likewise for there is more time past then that Luther saith that there were Anabapists which held that in the yeare 1530 Christ should come to judge the world but wee have seen their folly likewise for there is more time past then then that Napier though a learned Nobleman in Scotland hee was too frolick in this way for he doth boldly say that Christ shall come to judge the world in the yeare 1688. But beloved Christs coming to judge the world cannot be determined for Christ would not gratifie his own Apostles to tell them the time when his coming should bee Mat. 24. Hee would not tell them when the end of the word should bee it shews then it is great pride of heart to passe peremptory conjectures upon the period of time Christ did not thinke it meet for to tell his Apostles of the time of his coming 1 Thess 5. 1. But of the times and seasons Brethren yee have no need that I write unto you nay Angels in heaven and Christ himselfe as hee was meere Man could not tell the time Marke 13. 32. But of that day and that houre knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in heaven neither the Sonne but the Father Mat. 24. 36. But of that day and houre knoweth no man no not the Angels of Heaven but my father onely I onely mention it for this to shew the vanity of our age of those who will undertake to shew the very day when Christ should come Likewise to condemne the former Ages who run to things not revealed I remember what a learned Man saith one that commenteth upon my Text saith hee there is nothing that doth expose the Christian Religion to more contempt then that the Preachers and the hearers of it will run into nice questions and bee peremptory in their resolves of that the Scripture speakes not of And Jews and Gentiles may suspect the whole Gospell because they see Men peremptory about things which are not revealed in the Gospell and shall see their false-hood appearing to all bee not peremptory in
lived but nine hundred sixty and nine yeares and David saith the life of man is cut shorter The Text saith they shall live and reigne with Christ in that sense taking living properly and all the phrases properly they must necessarily say that men shall live when that time comes a thousand yeares together Againe it cannot bee the sense of this Scripture because that cannot bee the sense of this Scripture which crosseth the sense of other Scriptures to make this Scripture to affirme that Christ shall reigne on the Earth a thousand yeares and other Scriptures tell you that Christ shall stay in Heaven in person till all men shall rise from the Dead every man shall rise then cometh the end 1 Cor. 15. 23 24. But every man in his owne order Christ the first fruits afterwards they that are Christs at his coming Then cometh the end c. 2 Thess 2. 1. Now wee beseech you Brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him Then besides it doth crosse the Scripture to say that at Christs coming onely some men shal rise but not all Job 14 10 11 12. But man dieth and wasteth away yea man giveth up the ghost and where is hee As the waters faile from the Sea and the Flood decayeth and dryeth up So man lieth down and riseth not till the Heavens bee no more they shall not awake nor bee raised out of their sleepe Job telleth you expresly That the Dead shall not bee raised till the Heavens bee no more and that cannot bee the thousand yeares for there will bee a Earth and a Heaven then and in Peters phrase The Heavens shall melt away like a scrowle c. Now to make a Resurrection before a Resurrection it is that which the Scripture doth no where mention John 5. 28 29. Marvell not at this for the houre is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall heare his Voyce and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of life and they that have done evill unto the Resurrection of damnation The judging of the just and unjust shall bee the same houre and upon Christs coming all men shall bee judged 2 Tim. 4 1. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Iesus Christ who shall judge the quicke and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdome So that Christs appearing and Christs coming is a judging of the quick and the dead Now beloved then to make this Scripture to say that Christ shall come on the Earth before his last coming this is to crosse other Scriptures then of necessity therefore it cannot bee the scope of thâ—s for there is no jarring between one phrase of the Scripture and another Fifthly when the scripture saith here That they live and reigne with Christ a thousand yeares it is not spoken whether it bee a reigning with Christ in Heaven or on Earth so the phrase neither carrieth it one way or another Sixthly John doth not say that hee saw the bodies of men that were beheaded and they reigned with Christ but he dâ—d in a vision see the Souls of them that were beheaded now to say they must come to reigne on the Earth for a thousand yeares it were a great inconveniency to them it is said I saw the soules of them The thousand yeares cannot bee applied to Christs Personall Reigne For so Jesus Christ hath an eternall Kingdome he doth not reigne a thousand yeares on Earth or in Heaven but everlastingly Kingdomes and States of this world have lasted a thousand yeares and to make Christs Kingdome to last no longer it is to give Christs Kingdome too narrow a confine I have consulted with many Authors and I finde the current of Interpreters generally runne this way though some doe fancy that Text speakes of the binding of the Devill for a thousand years and during this time the Saints should live and reigne with Christ a thousand yeares The sense and scope of this place is this The period of time when this time began that the Devill was bound Interpreters doe unanimously give this Opinion that it began in the reigne of Constantine the Great hee being the first Christian Emperour in the World hee coming after 300 yeares Persecution by the Roman Emperours who made great massacre and havock in the Church of God in so much that in the booke of Martyrs wee reade that there may bee for every day in the yeare five thousand Christians slaine this is a dreadfull Persecution and the Devill raged and stirred much Now upon Constantines reigne the Devill was bound up that is the Roman Emperours who were acted by the Devill to all this cruelty when Constantine a Christian Emperour came to reigne hee gvae out imperiall Edicts and Lawes for establishment of the Christian Religion and that put an end to the Persecution of the Roman Emperours and to this Opinion many Interpreters give in their consent Brightman Napier Gerard and these thousand yeares when the Devill was bound did end 300 yeares ago and more and this is given to be the scope and sense of the Scripture Object I but then you will say though the Devill was bound how comes the Devill to be loose againe Answ They answered this that in the yeare 1300 the Turkish Emperour began to beare sway Gog and Magog called the Turke prevailed and hath gotten the greatest part of the world within his power and hee was the Gog and Magog that did persecute the Saints and did spread almost over all the Earth and truly comparing Scripture and story together this seemes to be the neerest and the truest sense of this place and this interpreters doe generally concurre in Two Objections by those who plead for a thousand yeares First is this we read in the Century of the Church that the Church of God was pestered by Valens the Emperour after these 300 yeares and of Julian the Apostate that did greatly persecute the Christians and how can this be true when we read of so much persecution after the Devil was bound up Answer that when it is said the Devil is bound up it is not meant simply that there should bee no temptation to sinne for that there should bee Valens the Emperour did establish Arrianisme and troubled the Church of God One answereth it was nothing like the persecution of the Roman Emperours it was nothing so long nor so tedious as the persecution under the Roman Emperours for for every day in the year 5000 Christians were put to death In Dioclesians reigne there were 17000 Christians killed in one Moneth there was some sprinkling persecution in the time of Valens and Iulian the Apostate but it was nothing to that of the Roman Emperours Object Another Objection is this I but the Scripture saith that this is the first Resurrection that the Saints living and reigning with Christ a thousand yeares this is the first Resurrection how can it bee said that after
when men shall bee eating and drinking possessing and adding muck to muck when men are secure and never thinke of Christs coming to burn all with fire then the powers of Heaven shall be shaken and the world be set on fire Hence it is that you read in Scripture in five or six places Christs coming it shall be as a Thiefe in the night a Thiefe will come in the dead time of the Night as Christ said to his Disciples in Luke 21. 34. The coming of Christ it is an unexpected coming thus you have six Particulars of Christs coming Use Now a word of Application Having shewed you how this Doctrine of Christs coming it is a Doctrine of comfort I shall finish this point in shewing you how this Doctrine of Christs coming is a Doctrine of terrour and of dread and to whom It is observeable that the word is not compared onely to Milke and Honey but the word is compared also to Salt which also hath an efficacy to make smart Beloved you have heard the Hony of this Doctrine what great comfort it will afford to Godly men but remember the word is Salt also and it is of a smart efficacy to terrifie and fret the conscience Now the Doctrine of Christs coming it is a terrible Doctrine in these four things To all wicked men Christs coming again it is a terrible Doctrine because first al the secretst sins that ever a wicked man hath committed in this world they shal be made manifest to all I confesse it is a contest among learned men whether the sinnes of good men as well as bad shall not be known and there are strong arguments that all shall be made known but the Scripture is full in this that at the day of Judgement the sinnes that a wicked man hath done in this world shall bee published to all the Saints and Angels in Heaven and all the men that were on Earth It may bee thou goest for an honest man amongst thy Neighbours yet thou lovest thy Neighbours wife and goest in unto her if thou hast been so or thou hast deceived in thy Trade why for all thy secresie here yet then all the world shall know thy deceit and uncleannes it is built upon that Text Luk. 8. 17. For nothing is secret that shall not bee made manifest neither any thing hid that shall not be knowne and come abroad Here a thousand things are hid that men do not know here thou carriest it fairly and squarely in the world that men cannot say black is thine Eye but then they may say shame to thy Face this is dreadfull Secondly Christs coming it shall bee dreadfull in regard of thy Separation from all the Elect of God In Mat. 25. 32. 33. And before him shal be gathered all Nations and hee shall separate them one from another as a Shepherd divideth his sheepe from the Goates And hee shall set the sheep on his right hand but the Goates on the left Here thou art mingled it may bee thou livest in the same house with a godly man and lyest in the same bed with a godly man but remember a parting time is coming that as the Shepherd parteth the Sheepe from the Goats so doth Christ part the wicked from the godly Thirdly Christs coming againe it is dreadfull to wicked men in regard it shall be the time of the promulgation of thy Sentence A Thiefe in Newgate is a miserable creature a Thiefe at Bar is in a sad condition but a Thiefe when the Sentence of death is past upon him then hee is in a hopelesse condition O thou wicked man at thy dying day thou art a Malefactor but at thy Sentence giving thou art an undone man thou art in a hopelesse condition Fourthly Christs coming it is the time of the reuniting of thy body and soule together and of thy taking possession of Hell when thy body and soule that have been so many hundred yeares parted shall come to meet together and your meeting to bee but a going into Infernall torments this makes the coming of Christ to be a dreadfull coming I but you will say it is true indeed A Felix may tremble when Paul shall Preach to him of Judgement to come but have wee Christians cause of feare Yes you that are Christians in case you bee found under these particulars that I am now naming to you the day of Judgement will be dreadfull to you Christs coming againe to judge the world is not onely a dreadfull Doctrine to a Felix but may make thee a Christian to tremble in these cases First The Doctrine of Christs coming may make men tremble who are guilty of Acts of Oppression and Violence in Courts of Judicature Eccle. 3. 16 17. And moreover I saw under the Sun the place of Judgement that wickednesse was there and the place of righteousness that iniquity was there I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time for every purpose and every worke That is to judge every purpose and every worke When God shall come to places of Judgement and places of Judicature and shall say wickednesse is there and shall say bribery is there and the deferring of the cause of the poor is there woe bee to all Oppressions of the poore and grinding their Faces in Courts of Judicature many whereof are Seats of violence and not Courts of Judicature Christ shall come to judge things that men will not judge men will not judge Adulterers but whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Men will not judge men for Heresie but God will judge them Christs coming is dreadfull to all men that live by Oppression and Violence in Courts of judicature Secondly Christs coming to judgement is dreadfull to all them who to save their worldly advantage are ashamed to professe the Gospell of Christ O! Christs coming is a dreadfull time to these In Mark 8. 38. Whosoever therefore shall bee ashamed of mee and of my words in this Adulterous and sinfull Generation of him also shall the Son of man bee ashamed when hee cometh in the glory of his Father with the Holy Angels I pray you marke here are two answers to an Objection in these words First men might say why blessed Jesus who would bee ashamed of thee if Christ were on the Earth wee would never bee ashamed of Christ Therefore Christ addes whosoever is ashamed of mee and of my words though you might not bee ashamed of Christs person yet you might bee ashamed of his words Then men may Object and say why truly if it were a peaceable time a safe time to professe Christ but what when wee live in a wicked place and among a wicked people will not Christ bear with us to hold down our heads a little and to sleep in a whole Skin no saith Christ whosoever shall be ashamed of mee and of my words in this Adulterous and sinfull Generation of him also shall the Sonne of man c.
shall return to God who gave it Marke here are two things Here is the end of Godly men the body shall goe to the dust and the soule to God Then the time when it shal be is when that man goeth to his long home when the keepers of the house shall tremble that is the hands and armes and the strong men shall bow themselves that is the feet and the thighs and the grinders shall cease that is the teeth and they that looke out at the windowes shall bee darkened that is the eyes when nature decayes and the body perisheth by Diseases and dyes then shall the body go to the dust and the Spirit to God that gave it Thirdly I shall prove it to you from expresse passages in the Scripture that doe confirme this that the soules of the Elect after death before Christs coming are received into heaven for this I will give foure or five expresse Scriptures The first is in Iohn 6. 40. And this is the will of him that sent mee that every one that seeth the Sonne and beleeveth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day Here are two distinct promises First a promise of everlasting life Secondly a promise of raising up at the last day First a promise of everlasting life is made distinct from the other Divines say that before the raising up at the last day there is an everlasting life that his soule shall live before the last day and his body shall be raised up at the last day Another Text is in Luke 16. 9. And I say unto you make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousnesse that when yee faile they may receive you into everlasting habitations Chemnitius makes great use of this Text to prove what I am now arguing for that immediately after death the soule of an Elect man is received into Heaven Marke make you friends of the Mammon of unrighteousnesse that is of your wealth called so either because it is unrighteously gotten or unrighteously kept use your wealth well that when you die you may bee received into everlasting habitations It is questionable whether it bee referred to Angels or to the poor which shall pray for us that wee bee received into Heaven but saith Chemnitius use your wealth well that you may bee received into everlasting habitations upon your failing upon dying the Lord receives the Elect into everlasting habitations This Chemnitius doth build on that the soule doth goe to Heaven immediately after Death A third Scripture is in Phil. 3. 23. For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to bee with Christ which is far better The Apostle doth Conjoyne these two conclusions a departing out of the world out of this life and a desire to be with Jesus Christ he mentions no middle place for a good soul to goe to he mentions no Purgatory nor Limbus Patrum And so likewise a fourth Text you have in 2 Cor. 6. 8 9. Therefore wee are alwaies confident knowing that whilst wee are at home in the body wee are absent from the Lord. Wee are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the body and to bee present with the Lord wherefore wee labour that whether present or absent wee may be accepted of him Marke the Apostle desires to be absent from the body and to bee present with the Lord so that the soule is present with the Lord whilest absent from the body Then againe that Prayer of Stephen proves it likewise in Acts 7. 59. And they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit It had been uncomfortable for him to have thought that he should have been stoned for Jesus Christ and it must have been above 1600 yeares before Christ should have received his soule but hee prayed Lord Jesus Christ receive my soule which hee would not have done if hee had not beleeved that his soul would have been received by Jesus Christ immediately after death And thus I leave those Scriptures to confirme you in this that the soule doth not sleep in the body but at the departure from the body it doth immediately go to Heaven Fourthly I prove it to you by shewing those grosse absurdities and inconveniencies that will arise in case it should bee denyed that God doth not receive the soule of any Elect man till he doth come to judge the world First it will follow that the godly will bee in a worse condition after they are dead then they were in when they were alive for when they were alive to live is Christ Christ dwelt in their hearts by Faith Now if the soule doth sleep with the body and perish with the body then Christ doth not live in them Christ doth not dwell there by Faith so that this would be uncomfortable that a beleever after death should bee in a worse condition then during this life for here hee lives in Christ by Faith Secondly then it wil follow that God the Father would be more cruell to his people then he would have other men be to their servants which have done their worke Marke that Text Levit. 19. 13. Thou shalt not defraud thy Neighbour neither rob him the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night untill the morning That the Master was not to keep the hire of the Labourer long from him that the Master should not keep the servants wages long from him Now will the great God keep from you who are his servants that have served him here in this world and have done him faithfull service any reward till his last coming No but when you have ended your life and done your worke you receive your wages when your worke is done you have your reward Thirdly observe this if this should bee true that the soules of the Elect men doe not goe to Heaven after death then it will follow that the soules of wicked men doe not goe to Hell after death and how repugnant this is to the Scripture you well know when the Scripture saith in the Epistle of Jude That the men of Sodome and Gomorâ—ha suffered the vengeance of eternall fire And of Judas Acts 25. That hee may take part of this ministery and Apostle-ship from which Judas by transgression fell that hee might goe to his owne place I could give you a multitude of instances where it is shewn the wicked are in Hell 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. By which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison Which sometimes were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waiting in the daies of Noah while the Arke was a preparing wherein few that is eight soules were saved by water To say that a godly man doth not goe to Heaven immediately after death it will follow that a wicked man doth not goe to Hell immediately after death Fourthly it would follow that there should be onely Angels in Heaven and no saints