Christian are steps towards Heaven all the holy Duties which he performs seriously do mightily advance him in his way thither his holy and heavenly Meditations Desires and Affections do strangely speed him towards home The Christian growes in Grace and so becomes riper for Glory he adds to his faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness c. and these things being in him and abounding an abundant entrance is administred to him into the everlasting Kingdom 2 Pet. 1. 4. It will not be long ere the Christian be arrived safe in his Country Hark to the Apostle Heb. 10. 37. Yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry This Earthly house of Believers Tabernacle cannot stand long and assoon as ever it is dissolved they have a building of God an house not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5. 1. The Believers time of Warfare is short and then he is discharged but his Triumph will be Eternal He has a short cut to a long nay an Eternal but a Blessed home Application Vse I. Of Reproof to the Ungodly whose time is as short as the time of Believers and yet they live as if they were to live here alwaies How many Covetous and Voluptuous Ones are there who are so eager after Wealth and Pleasures that they could hardly be more earnest suppose their Wealth and Pleasures could be enjoyed to Eternity It was a just complaint of Seneca lib. de Brevitate vitae cap. 4. Tanquam semper victuri vivitis nunquam vobis fragilitas vestra succurrit non observatis quantum temporis transierit velut ex pleno abundanti perditis Omnia tanquam mortales timetis omnia tanquam immortalis concupiscitis You live as if you were to live alwaies you make no good use of your own frailty you observe not how much time is past already but still lose more as out of a full Stock and as if all would never be done and your desires are eager after Earthly things as if your selves were Immortal and were never to be parted from them Let those who professe Christianity blush and mend when they hear an Heathen talk at such a rate Let sinners learn the art of Holy Arithmetick and so number their dayes as to apply their hearts unto Wisdom Satan is the great Cheat who endeavours to make you lose your time he has cheated you of much already if he gets all he will get you and all for after Death their is no getting out of his snare Vse II. Since wicked men are to live but a short time as well as Believers surely their good things cannot be enjoyed long The Rich man in the Gospel was clothed in Purple and fine linnen and fared sumptuously every day while he lived But death stript him of his gay clothing took him away from his well-spread Table and 't was said to him Son remember thou in thy life-time no longer than Life-time receivedst thy good things and Lazarus evil things but now he is Comforted and thou art tormented Luk. 16. 25. 'T was true in general that Zophar spake though he made a wrong Application of it to Job who was more righteous then himself Job 20. 4 5. Knowest thou not this of old since man was placed upon Earth that the Triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the Hypocrite but for a moment How should it terrifie wicked men to consider that their pleasures can be but for a season but their pains and torment will be endless Their Honour is fading but their Contempt and Shame will be everlasting Dan. 12. 2. their gains are inconsiderable and will quickly be gone but their loss will be of no less then of their Souls and Heaven and can never be repaired Vse III. Since a Christians time is a time of sojourning it may comfort him that as himself is not so neither can his troubles be very long lived Afflictions are therefore the lighter because they are but for a moment 2 Cor. 4. 17. Now Believers are in their minority and consequently under the Discipline of the Rod but after Death they will be perfect and then correction will be needless Now they are assaulted with Satans Temptations he is liberall of his fiery darts and they have much ado with the Shield of Faith and the Armour of God to defend themselves but within a little while they shall be quite out of his reach and a man may as easily with an Arrow shoot and hit the Sun in the Firmament as the Devil with any Dart hit a Saint in the third Heaven Now Believers groan because of a body of sin and death that they carry about with them but when they put of their earthly Tabernacle this body of sin shall be put off for ever and through the natural body shall be raised a spiritual one yet the body of sin shall never have resurrection Within a little while God shall wipe away all tears from his Peoples Eyes which implies that both sin and suffering which are the causes of sorrow will be at an end The Believer when he dies he dies in the Lord and Christ who has the Key of Hell keeps that shut against him as for Purgatory he did before believe and he now finds to be a meer fiction for the spirit sayth that from thenceforth they rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14. 13. Vse IV. Of Counsel unto all Since your time is but as a time of sojourning let my advice in these Scripture-particulars be acceptable 1. You that have Wives be as though you had none 1 Cor. 7. 29. and by a parity of reason you that have Husbands be as though ye had none and you that have Children be as if you had them not Sit loose from your very Relations Love them indeed you ought and especially to their souls express your love but remember your happiness does not lye in the enjoyment of them but in the enjoyment of God who loves infinitely better then the tenderest relations can and who lives infinitely longer 2. You that weep be as though you wept not 1 Cor. 7. 30. let not your tears run waste If you spend them upon sin God has a bottle to put them in but if you mourn immoderately for losses crosses and afflictions as common water they are spilt upon the Ground That which you so lament the loss of be it Friend Estate or any other outward comfort it could not have been enjoyed long because Life it self is but a time of sojourning How vain are those things we are so fond of while we have them and when by their being taken away they further discover their vanity why should our eyes be so full of tears and our hearts ready to break with sorrow at parting 3. You that rejoyce be as though ye rejoyced not The absence of the creature should not cast you
A Funeral SERMON Occasioned by the death of Mr. GEORGE BAKER First Preached And then Published at the earnest desire of his Relations By Nathanael Vincent M. A. Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed for Thomas Parkhurst at the Three Bibles and Crown at the lower end of Cheapside 1679. A Funeral Sermon 1 Pet. 1. 17. latter part Pass the time of your Sojourning here in Fear THE Persons to whom this Epistle was written are stiled Strangers and Strangers they were both in regard of their present Dispersion being scattered up and down the Kingdoms of the Gentiles and also in regard of their Spiritual Condition being Pilgrims and Sojourners in the World The Apostle in this Chapter does both comfort them with the hope of what they were to enjoy hereafter and counsel them how they should carry themselves during their abode here First He comforts them with the hope of what they were to enjoy hereafter He tells them that being begotten again to a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead they were the Heirs of God to an Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that will never fade away reserved in Heaven for them and assures them that they shall be kept by the Power of God through faith unto salvation Notwithstanding therefore all their trials and temptations which were apt to occasion heaviness they had reason to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of Glory Secondly He Counsels them how they ought to carry themselves during their abode here They must not fashion themselves according to the former lusts in their ignorance As He that called them is Holy so must they be Holy in all manner of Conversation They must call on the Father giving themselves to prayer They must never be unmindful of the day of Judgment which will be strict without respect of persons and according to every mans work and they must be sure to pass the time of their sojourning here in fear In the words we have I. A Direction how to pass our Time and that is in Fear II. The Reason which is twofold 1. 'T is a time of Sojourning not of any long continuance 2. 'T is a time of sojourning here in the World which is a place full of Sin and Snares and Enemies and therefore the greater fear and care is requisite I raise from the Text three Doctrines First While we are here in this world Time is afforded us Secondly A Christians Time is but a time of Sojourning Thirdly Our time of sojourning is to be past in Fear Doct. I. I begin with the first of these While we are here in this world Time is afforded us In the handling of this Doctrine I shall first tell you how the Scripture describes that Time which is afforded and then inform you to what end it is afforded and then make some Application In the first place I am to give you a Description of Time 1. The time that is afforded us is very short 1 Cor. 7. 29. But this Isay Brethren the time is short The life of him that lived longest that we read of reaching almost to a Thousand years what was it if compared with Eternity But alas now our days are much shorter then the days of those who lived quickly after Adam had lost his Immortality 'T is a startling question what is your life Jam. 4. 14. intimating that life is not to be reckoned upon as durable so far from that that 't is a vapour that appears for a little while and then vanishes away Holy Job does ransack both earth and Sea and air for simi-Litudes to get forth the brevity of humane life The Post that rides in great hast on earth the Ship in the Sea under Sail that hath both Wind and Tide the Eagle in the air especially when hungry and flying towards a prey all these are very swift And yet notwithstanding Job sayes his Dayes were swifter Job 9. 25 26. 2dly This time that is afforded us is Day time Death is called Night and life Day which goes before John 9. 4. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work The shining light of the Sun makes the natural day And the time we have is truly termed a day in a Spiritual sence because the Sun of Righteousness is risen and the light of the Gospel shines so clearly How plainly and fully in this our day are the things of our peace made known to us The day of grace did break about four thousand years before the Son of God was actually manifested in the flesh Some Revelation of the Second Adam was made unto the first Adam and still it grew lighter and lighter till at length the Word was made flesh and his glory was beheld the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth Joh. 1. 14. Under the new Testament dispensation there is a fuller discovery of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent the mystery of Redemption and Salvation is made plain that was hid from ages and generations There was a vail upon the face of Moses to signifie the laws obscurity But now in Christ the vail is taken away and with open face if we willfully shut not our own eyes we may behold the glory of the Lord and be changed into the same Image 2 Cor. 3. 17 18. And as there is a light which shines during this day so 't is designed for working not the unfruitfull works of darkness but the work of God and Righteousness Why stand ye here all the day idle Mat. 20. 6. Idleness in the Market-place and in the day time is inexcusable especially since the calls are so loud to come and labour in the Vineyard 'T is unreasonable to be sleeping to be sinning when we should be praying watching and working out our own Salvation 3ly The time that is afforded us is an accepted time 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold now is the accepted time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here may be an allusion unto the year of Jubilee which was very acceptable and welcome because the servants then went out free and the inheritances returned to them from whom they had been alienated Liberty now is proclaimed in the Gospel unto the Captives Christ hath abolished death and hath brought to light life and immortality which though lost by sin may yet be recovered by those who by patient continuance in well doing seek for it Rom. 2. 7. Nune sunt molissima fandi Tempora Now is the time to pray the Lord looks down from Heaven upon the Children of men to see if there be any that do understand and see God Psal 14. 2. And he is very near to them who call upon him in truth Now he will regard cryes now he will bottle tears but when this accepted time is gone cryes in Hell will be loud and tears will be shed to Eternity but no merey or compassion will be shewn Well
the World and the things of the World he draws them away from God and intices them into the way which leads to Hell When he Tempted the Captain of our Salvation he hoped that all the Kingdoms of the World and all the Glory of them would be lookt upon as a considerable offer Mat. 4. And though our Lord disdained the World and commanded the God of it to get behind him yet the offer of the World is taking with the most and therefore our fear and jealousie should be raised The World is apt to seize upon our time and thoughts and love And truly many give the World their whole time they slight Spiritual things as imaginary which yet are most real and pursue after the World all their days and though in old Age they have one foot as it were in the Grave yet their covetousness after it does not abate but is rather augmented When we are prone to lavish out our time upon the World that Scripture should check us 1 John 2. 15 17. Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him The world passeth away and the lusts thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever 4. Fear may relate unto our selves Our spirits are treacherous therefore we should fear lest they deal deceitfully with God and with us Our Souls are of great worth therefore we should fear continually while we are in this World lest any wrong be done to them and especially lest they be lost and miscarry for ever If we are sensible of the worth of our own Souls and fear their being injured surely we shall be sensible of the worth of time too and take care that it be improved to the Souls advantage 5. Fear may relate unto our Time We should fear lest it be all gone before our great work is done Oh how fast doth it post away Our glass has been running ever since we were born and 't is nearer and nearer being out every moment and when once 't is out the glass will be taken down and never turned or set up any more Time is painted with wings and is bald behinde should we not fear and catch Time by the forelock The Country-man that saw the River run so fast concluded unreasonably that the water would quickly be all gone then he might go over dryshod But when we behold time running away 't is reasonable to conclude 't will quickly be all gone and therefore should fear dallying and delaying as to that great business for which our time was given us Time is hastening to an end oh let us fear and hasten our escape from the windy Storm and Tempest Let us hasten to the Lord Jesus that we may be reconciled healed and saved let us make hast and not delay to keep Gods commandments Psal 119. 60. It is called to day and to day may be the last call and therefore harden not your hearts any longer Heb. 3. 7 8. In the second place I am to give you the Reasons why our Time should be past in fear 1. This fear will make us watchful and to stand upon our guard and thus to do is for our Interest considering we are militant are engaged in a war with enemies which are powerfull and unwearied and exceeding watchfull to take all advantages against us The great Captain gives this Word Watch unto all the Saints and Souldiers Mar. 13. ult What I say unto you I say unto all Watch. 2. This fear should make us Pray And to how good an account does that Time turn which is spent in the duty of prayer The Devil dreads Prayer God is delighted with it and how is the soul both pleased and profited He that gives himself to prayer gives himself unto God and what will God deny to such an one 3. This fear will make Time to be redeemed former negligence will be lamented and diligence for the future doubled 4. This fear will cause us to work out our own Salvation and to depend on God to work in us both to will and to do and then we shall will sincerely then we shall work to purpose Phil. 2. 12 13. Vse I. Of reproof to wicked men who insteed of passing their Time in fear are most sottishly and securely prodigal of it If an house be lost by fire if a ship be lost by Sea if an Estate be lost by fraud or if an husband wife or childe be lost by death how passionately are these losses talked off But the loss of Time who laments Secure souls look upon this loss as not worth taking notice of Consider O transgressours and shew your selves men Is it reasonable for you to squander away your Time still who have not one sin pardoned who have not set one step in heavens way who have not done the least work for God and who have not made any the least provision for Eternity Vse II. It serves to inform us of the wisdom as well as happeness of those who fear always Prov. 28. 14. Happy is the man that feareth alwayes but he that hardneth his heart shall fall into mischief They are indeed the fools who were not afraid that sin and the world should have their time and Hell and the Devil their Souls but they are truly wise that fear God and employ their time in keeping his commandments for this is the whole of man Vse III. Of Exhortation Let me perswade all to pass the time of your sojourning here in fear Let the time past of your life suffice to have made provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it and be prevailed with to live the rest of your time in the flesh not to the lusts of men but unto the will of God 1 Pet. 4. 2 3. I. Consider when you are tempted fearlessly to mispend time what apprehensions others have of time 1. Some perhaps are upon a sick bed their consciences awakened and in a raging manner reproaching them with their folly in counting time no more precious they are upon the brink of despair and ready to conclude that the day of grace is past and the mercy of the Lord clean gone for ever Oh mihi praeteritos referat si Jupiter annos they wish they had their dayes to live over again that God and Christ their souls and heaven might have more of their time and pains and labour 2. How many serious Christians may be upon their knees when thou art triâ—ling thy time away they are spending theirs in prayer and supplication with strong crying and tears they lament their sin they wrestle earnestly for pardon and grace oh with what violence do they cry to be delivered from the bondage of corruption and from eternal condemnation they do not put the evil day far from them but take care to use all the time well before it comes that it may not come upon them as a snare at unawares Luk.