for it I conceive the latter word faithful may be explicative of the former Epithet good the Goodness and Excellency of a Servant chiefly consisting in his Fidelity to his Master The things wherein he had been faithful are call'd few in comparison of what should be intrusted with him and bestow'd upon him The most that we receive from Christ at present is very little compared with what we shall receive from him hereafter There is a vast disproportion between what we have in hand and what we have in hope I may say of the Enjoyments as the Apostle doth of the Sufferings of the present time that they are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be reveal'd in us Rom. 8.18 God will deal more bountifully with his own Children when they come to Heaven than he ever doth while they remain upon Earth 2. The Happiness to which he adjudges him I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. We must not be solicitous to accommodate every word in a Parable to that spiritual Truth that is taught us by it I will not determine whether these words I will make thee Ruler over many things do purely serve for the setting off the Parabolical Narration or are to be taken in a spiritual sense According to the former Notion they are expressive of a kind Master's treatment of a faithful Servant having experienc'd his Fidelity in smaller matters he entrusts him with greater and advances him to a higher Station According to the latter Notion they are expressive of that great Felicity which Christ will confer upon his faithful Servants in another World This is further held forth in the following words Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord whereby is certainly intended the Glory and Blessedness of the Heavenly State This is exprest by Joy because the fruition of it will produce a triumphant and unspeakable Joy in those that enter into it Thus Psal 16.11 In thy Presence is fulness of Joy and at thy right-hand are Pleasures for evermore 'T is call'd the Joy of his Lord and that probably on a double account 1. Because in the Vision and Enjoyment of Christ the greatest part of their Felicity will consist Tho there be many Jewels in that never fading Crown of Glory which shall be set upon the Heads of Believers in another World this is the brightest and most sparkling When our Lord prays for the final Happiness of his People he thus expresses himself Father I will that they be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me Joh. 17.24 The Apostle therefore desir'd to depart that he might be with Christ Phil. 1.23 2. Because his Glory in Heaven is the Exemplar and Pattern of that which his People shall enjoy They shall enter into that Joy which he as their Forerunner is already enter'd into Not that they shall possess the same Glory in all respects that Christ hath for his personal Glory as the Son of God and as Mediator are incommunicable but they shall partake of his Glory according to their Capacity We are told that they shall reign with him 2 Tim. 2.12 and that when he shall appear they shall be like him 1 Joh. 3.2 Their Souls shall be perfectly conform'd to his human Soul in Purity and Felicity and their Bodies shall be fashion'd into the likeness of his glorious Body An entering into this Joy may denote the plenitude and abundance of it Here Joy enters into us but hereafter we shall enter into Joy we shall be swallow'd up in a fathomless Ocean of pure and unallay'd Pleasures I proceed 4thly To consider the Time when this Speech was deliver'd If we look back into the 19th Verse we shall find it was when the Lord came to reckon with his Servants Hereby our Lord's second Coming in visible Glory to judg both Quick and Dead is evidently intended Of this we have a particular account in the latter part of the Chapter The Heavens must contain our ascended Lord till the times of the restitution of all things and then he shall descend from thence in the Glory of his Father with all his holy Angels to convene the whole Race of Adam before his Judgment-seat to call them to an account for the Deeds done in the Body and to pass a definitive Sentence upon them according to their Works 'T is true there is a particular Judgment which immediately follows after Death When the Soul is separated from the Body it appears before the Bar of the supreme Judg to give an account of its Stewardship and then receives an irreversible Sentence of Condemnation or Absolution But I conceive our Lord chiefly respects the General Judgment when the Trial will be public the Sentence pronounc'd with the most awful Solemnity and the Happiness or Misery of every Man compleated Having gone thro the words by way of Explication I might raise several Observations from them But that I may comply with my time I shall only speak to this Proposition Doct. That they who are faithful Servants of Christ in this Life shall be possest of a very joyful and happy State in the next In prosecuting this Point I shall I. Describe the faithful Servants of Christ II. Give an account of that joyful and happy State of which they shall be hereafter possest III. Show the certain Connexion between serving Christ faithfully in this Life and the Possession of that blissful State in the next IV. Make some Application I. I am to describe the faithful Servants of Christ who they are that shall be own'd as such by the Supreme Lord when he comes to Judgment They may be described 1. From their State 2. From their Actions The former is necessarily presuppos'd to their serving Christ with Faithfulness and Acceptance The Service which they do for Christ consists in the latter 1. Their State may be describ'd â—n two Particulars 1. They are justified by the Righteousness of Christ 'T is impossible that any good Fruit should be brought forth by a Person till he be ingrafted into Christ as is plainly taught us by our Lord himself Joh. 15.4 5. Now being found in Christ and â—aving on his Righteousness are conjoin'd because they are inseparable Phil. 3.9 They who are mystically one with Christ must â—eeds be interested in his Mediatory Righteousness and so perfectly justified in the sight of God Tho according to the Tenor of the Covenant of Works the Servant was to be first accepted and then the Person on that account yet according to the Tenor of the Covenant of Grace the Person must be first accepted and then the Service Nothing short of an Investiture with Christ's perfect Righteousness can render our Persons acceptable to the most High and till they become so our most splendid Services will be abominable in his sight 2. They are renew'd and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ Every acceptable Service flows from a
A Funeral Sermon ON MORDECAI ABBOTT Esq Preach'd at Lorimers Hall April the 7th 1700. By THOMAS HARRISON Psal 89.48 What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death Shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of the Grave Mat. 24.46 Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing LONDON Printed for D. Brown at the Black Swan and Bible without Temple-bar and A. Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil 1700. ERRATA PAge 7. line antepenult put the Comma after little P. 15. l. ult for Servant read Service P. 18. l. ult r. they may both themselve acknowledg P. 19. l. 2. for but r. and. To the Sorrowful Widow of Mordecai Abbott Esq MADAM THO I readily comply'd with Your desire in preaching the following Sermon I could not without some reluctancy consent to the printing of it But my great Obligations both to Your deceas'd Husband and Your self gave Your Request the force of a Command I rather chose to have my Prudence censur'd than my Gratitude I am sensible that I studied it under a great disadvantage both by reason of my bodily Indisposition and those necessary Affairs that lay upon my hands which made me the more unwilling to publish it But if God who is a Soveraign Agent shall be pleas'd to make it useful to any that read it I shall find no reason to repent its being brought upon the public Stage I hope Madam when you seriously consider how sutable those VVords wâ—â—ch I preach'd upon are to the Character of your departed Relative it may be a means to support You under that severe Stroke which separated Him from You. He was a good and a faithful Servant and I question not but he is now enter'd into the Joy of his Lord. His Conversation upon Earth gives You solid ground to hope that he is advanc'd to Heaven where he is possest of a compleat Felicity And that sweet Savour he has left behind him perfumes his Family now his Body is cloth'd with Corruption 'T is an honour to You that You had such a Husband to Your Children that they had such a Father That the Lord would supply this Loss by the more eminent Vouchsafement of his Gracious Presence to You that he would adopt Your Fatherless Children into his own Family that the choicest of his Blessings may constantly descend upon You and Yours is the unfeigned desire of Madam Your humble Servant THO. HARRISON April 15th 1700. Matth. xxv 21. His Lord said unto him Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. THE great Apostle of our Profession during the publick exercise of his Ministry upon Earth spoke very much in Parables according to the stile and manner of the Jewish Nation Hereby spiritual things were brought down to the Capacities of his Hearers being represented by those earthly ones which were most familiar to their Understandings We have two Parables in this Chapter my Text is a part of the latter which begins with the 14th and ends with the 30th Verse The Scope of this Parable was to perswade Men to diligence in the Service of God and to a faithful improvement of the Benefits which they receive from him In order to the Explication of my Text I shall consider four things 1st The Speaker 2dly The Person spoken to 3dly The Speech it self 4thly The time when it was deliver'd An account of these things will give you further light into the whole Parable 1st The Speaker His Lord. Hereby our Lord intends himself who was ready to travel into a far Country to ascend to the Emperial Heaven which is at a vast local distance from this lowly Earth wherein he then sojourned He hath a double Lordship over all Countries viz. Essential and Primitive as the second Person in the Trinity and Derivative and Dispensatory as Mediator Tho many of the human Race refuse to serve and obey him they are all his rightful Servants and Subjects His Dominion over them is not founded upon their Consent he is nevertheless their Lord tho they will not own him to be so In short they that slight his Authority now will find it exercis'd hereafter in the infliction of a deserved and severe Punishment upon them The unprofitable Servant shall be cast into outer Darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth as you may see in the 30th Verse of this Chapter 2dly The Person spoken to His Lord said unto Him We have an account of the Person in the preceding Verse and that with respect to two things viz. his Receipt and his Improvement 1. His Receipt This Servant had receiv'd five Talents from his Master All the Blessings that the Children of Men enjoy flow from Jesus Christ Temporal good things are dispensed by him as the Governor of the World and spiritual as the Head of the Church His Favours are not communicated to all in an equal measure We read of one Servant that receiv'd but one Talent of another that receiv'd two Talents but this Servant was intrusted with five The supreme Lord makes a considerable difference between one and another by the distribution of his Favours One hath no more than Food and Raiment just enough to supply the Necessities of Nature another abounds in Wealth his Cup is so full that it runs over one lives obscurely and makes no figure in the World another is in an exalted Station one is very weak in his Intellectuals another is furnish'd with a considerable stock of Parts and Learning And surely the Proprietor of Heaven and Earth may dispose of his own as he pleases They that enjoy the least have more than they deserve they that enjoy the most must acknowledg that it is not their Worthiness but the soveraign Goodness of their Lord that hath made them to differ from others 2. His Improvement He gained besides them five Talents more he did not hide his five Talents as his fellow Servant did his one Talent but laid them out and improv'd them He gain'd more by his five Talents than the other Man did by his two his Improvement was proportionable to his Receipt To whomsoever much is given of him shall much he requir'd Luke 12.48 The more God hath done for us and bestow'd upon us the more will he expect from us All that we have receiv'd from him should be laid out in his Service for the advancement of his Honour I proceed 3dly To the Speech it self Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful in a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. Herein we have his Lord's Commendation of him and the Happiness to which he adjudges him 1. His Lord's Commendation of him Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful in a few things He approves of his Service and commends him
divorc'd from their Bodies In short when millions of millions of Ages are run out in the fruition of Heavenly Pleasures their Happiness will be no nearer to its Period than at the first moment of their admission into the Regions of Glory 2. 'T is undecaying As they shall not cease to rejoice so their Joy will never be impair'd or diminish'd There shall be no Clouds to obscure the Splendor of that Eternal Day Our Happiness will be always the same and our Perception of it equal throughout an endless Eternity The long Enjoyment of Celestial Pleasures will not make us to grow weary of them There is an infinite variety in God and whatever is truly desirable is eminently injoy'd in him An infinite Good produces always the same pure equal compleat Joy because it arises from its intrinsic Perfection that wants no foil to commend it In a word this Joy is no ravishing Rapture but a constant height of Affection Thus I dismiss the second General Head I must but touch upon the III. To show the certain Connexion between serving Christ faithfully in this Life and the possession of that blissful State in the next There is no Connexion by way of Merit between the one and the other Eternal Life is the free Gift of God and therefore not the proper Reward of our Services Since we owe a perfect Obedience to our Lord could we yield that it would not entitle us to the Glory of Heaven But there being many flaws and defects in our Obedience 't is very absurd to claim so great a Felicity on that account Tho the Word of God assures us that the possession of Heaven shall certainly follow upon the faithful serving of Christ on Earth I might produce several Texts to this purpose but two shall suffice We are assur'd that Christ will render eternal Life to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality Rom. 2.6 7. He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting Gal. 6.8 This glorious Judg will at the grand Assize pronounce a Sentence upon every one sutable to the kind and nature tho not to the desert of his Works Then shall Men return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Since all Christ's faithful Servants are justified and sanctified they shall certainly be glorified They who have a right to Heaven and a meetness for it shall infallibly enter into that delectable Habitation There is such Connexion between the Fruits of electing Love that they who have receiv'd any one shall certainly receive all the rest I proceed IV. To make some Application 1. How highly doth it concern us to enquire whether we are the faithful Servants of Christ or not Since this is a matter of everlasting importance how strict should we be in the examination of our selves that we may come to a due result in our own Minds about it Let us seriously consider whether the Character that hath been given of such Persons agrees to us We have a great deal of Work to do are we diligent in it Some Talents are intrusted with us all do we carefully improve them If we loiter and are unfaithful we cannot conceal our Infidelity from our Omniscient Lord tho our fellow Servants may be unacquainted with it Deceitful Pleas and Excuses will not avail us when we stand before that Judg whose Eyes are as a flame of Fire 2. How sad will the Condition of unfaithful Servants be in the awful day of Account If they that are faithful shall enter into the Joy of their Lord then they that are unfaithful shall be doom'd to eternal Sorrow As there is a vast difference between their State and their Actions at present so their Condition will be vastly different hereafter They that spend all their time in the Service of Sin and Satan will receive dreadful Wages even everlasting Death at the end of it The Talents which are now intrusted with them will inflame their Reckoning when they stand at their Lord's Tribunal Since they have sown to the Flesh they shall of the Flesh reap Corruption Think of this O Sinners before it be too late That Time those Estates those Opportunities those natural and acquir'd Parts which you now profusely squander away must e'er long be accounted for In a short time Christ will say to every one of you Give an account of thy Stewardship for thou mayst be no longer Steward And how sad an Account will you give if taken out of the World in your present state Think what Horror will seize you if not extremely stupid when Death shall sit upon your quivering Lips and your Souls shall be just ready to take their flight into an eternal World How dreadful will the thoughts of appearing before the Lord be to you when sensibly approaching his Judgment-Seat Think of that awful Day when Christ shall be reveal'd from Heaven in flaming Fire to take Vengeance upon them that know not God and obey not the Gospel How dreadful a Spectacle will the Supreme Judg be to you who have slighted and contemned him when he shall appear in a pompous manner arm'd with Almighty Power and attended with a numerous Train to pronounce an irreversible Sentence of Condemnation upon you Can you bear to dwell in blackness of Darkness and to lie in unquenchable Flames with Legions of Devils Tho you have highly offended your Lord 't is not yet too late to find Mercy He now sits upon a Throne of Grace and extends his Golden Scepter to the greatest Criminals Come to Christ by Faith that you may be interested in his Righteousness which will free you from the Guilt of your former Infidelity and receive that Grace from him which will capacitate you to serve him faithfully the remainder of your days Know that many who were once in the same case with your selves are now reigning in Life thro Jesus Christ their Lord. 3. What Encouragement have Believers to fidelity in the Service of their Lord That assurance which you have of a future Felicity should encourage you to lay out your selves to the utmost in the Service of Christ at present The Improvement which the Apostle makes of the Doctrine of the Resurrection 1 Cor. 15. ult is a natural Improvement of this Doctrine Therefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. Since Christ will bestow such an unspeakable Happiness upon you hereafter how willing should you be to do your utmost to serve him here The Joy that is set before you should carry you chearfully thro all the fatigues and difficulties of your present State 4. This may comfort us under the loss of our Godly Friends and Relations 'T is true the better they were the greater loss we sustain'd by their removal But the Consideration of
Principle of spiritual Life A corrupt Tree cannot bring forth good Fruit Mat. 7.18 We may as well suppose that Grapes should be the Product of Thorns oâ— Figs of Thistles as that an unsanctified Person should bring forth Fruit unto God They that are in the Flesh cannot please God Rom. 8.8 Their Persons cannot therefore their Actions cannot because they are the Products of a Nature at variance with him a Nature that is not nor cannot be subject to his Law The faithful Servants of Christ are conform'd to his Image The Law of God is first written in their Hearts and then copied out in their Lives 2. I shall describe them from their Actions Only I would premise this we are not to suppose that they are altogether free from Sin The most faithful Servants of Christ offend in many things their Errors are so many and so great that they cannot fully understand them Their best Performances are imperfect being tinctur'd with the remaining Corruption of their Natures Should God be strict to mark the Iniquities of their holy things they could not stand before him But 1. They design the Honour of Christ in that Service which they do for him Many carnal Persons do several things that are agreeable to the Reveal'd Will of this glorious Lord and have a proper tendency to serve his Interest but they have no eye to his Glory in any of these Actions they only aim at the advancement of their own Reputation the promotion of some Secular Interest or the quieting of their own Consciences But they who sincerely serve the Blessed Jesus fix upon his Glory as their ultimate end and what Good they do is propos'd by them as a means subservient to it The grand reason of their practical Holiness and Obedience is that they themselves may not only acknowledg the Glory of their great Master but likewise proclaim it to others 2. They have a regard to all his Commandments The Character which Christ gives of his Friends Joh. 15.14 agrees to his faithful Servants they do whatsoever he commands them They do not slight any Precept on which they can discern the stamp of his Authority They make conscience both of first and second Table Duties of those that are Personal and those that are Relative of the least as well as the greatest of the most difficult as well as the most easy They will not say of any Divine Command This is a hard saying who can bear it They are ready to do any sort of Work their Master sets them about however toilsom and laborious however mean and contemptible in the eyes of the World however costly or hazardous They mind the Duties of every place and station wherein the Providence of God hath set them whether Civil Domestic or Ecclesiastical They discharge their Duty towards their Country their Families and the Church to which they are related with Integrity and Diligence And this they do not by constraint but willingly 1. They lay out all the Talents with which they are intrusted in his Service As they are Stewards they improve what he hath put into their hands to those Ends and Purposes for which they receiv'd it Have they a plentiful Estate they do not spend it in making provision for the Flesh nor do they covetously hoard it up but imploy a considerable part of it in supporting the Worship of God propagating the Gospel of Christ and relieving those that are in distress They honour God with their Substance and with the first-fruits of their Increase Are they advanc'd to any Station wherein they are capable of serving Christ or his People with their Interest they improve it to the utmost for such a purpose They serve the Lord with those Parts and Abilities with those Gifts and Graces which he hath bestow'd upon them II. I proceed to give you an account of that joyful and happy State whereof those faithful Servants shall be hereafter possest And since it is exprest by Joy in my Text I shall mention some things which render that State very joyful or excite a triumphant Joy in those that enter into it and then give you the Properties of that Joy which results from these Fruitions 1st I shall mention some things which render that State very joyful or excite a triumphant Joy in those that enter into it 1. A freedom from those Infelicities which attend a mortal State As the privation of Good is cause of Sorrow so a deliverance from Evil gives a natural rise to Joy Will not a Prisoner rejoice when reliev'd from that Dungeon to which he was confin'd and freed from those Fetters wherewith he was shackled How joyful is a Man when recover'd from a languishing Sickness and eas'd of racking Pain Surely our Mouths will be filled with Laughter and our Tongues with singing when we shall be perfectly freed from that mighty train of Evils which Adam's Fall brought into this lower World How will our Spirits exult when we shall be set at a vast distance from those things which often made us sigh groan and weep When we enter into the other World we shall be freed from all sorrowful and from all sinful Evils 1. From all sorrowful Evils There is no more Death nor Sorrow nor shall there be any more Pain for former things are past away Rev. 21.4 There is no Infirmity of Body no Poverty no Disgrace no Treachery of pretended Friends no Persecution of open Enemies there are no perplexing Cares or tormenting Fears no Temptations from within or without no Divine Withdrawings How will the Soul rejoice when it can say I felt abundance of Pain by reason of the disorder of my Body but now I enjoy perfect Ease I was rack'd and tortur'd with many Cares and Fears but now they are all chas'd away as the Shadows of the Evening by the rising Sun I was violently buffeted by the wicked one but he is now bruised under my Feet I have obtain'd a compleat and final Victory over him I am got out of the reach of his fiery Darts and malignant Suggestions 2. From all sinful Evils These are most grievous to a renewed Soul when in a right frame no Pressure so heavy as that Body of Death which he continually carries about with him Of this the Apostle Paul made a very doleful Complaint Rom. 7.34 And from the fountain of indwelling Sin many actual Sins do frequently stream But all vitious Habits are entirely rooted out of Believers when translated into another World No unclean thing can enter into the holy place above The rags of mortal Defilement drop from them as Elijah's Mantle did from him when mounting up to that lofty Region And none of those Sons that are brought to Glory ever wander from God's Commandments There is no more disconformity to the Divine Will in their Actions than there is in their Hearts And how will the holy Soul exult when freed from those Fetters of Corruption which so often kept it at a distance