was at Jerusalem it was where Paul should have learnt to know better things for there the Apostles were and taught the Doctrine of Christ and of Christianity Sixthly If you consider the extent of Pauls malice saith he When they were put to death I gave my voice against them Pauls vote was against the Christians to put them to death Seventhly Pauls rage did goe against their soules as well as their bodies for saith he I did compell them to blaspheme Christ he laboured to damn their souls as well as destroy their bodies Eighthly saith he I was exceeding mad against them he was even mad with rage and exceeding mad with rage Ninthly He drove them from house to house I drove them into strange Cities And then Tenthly which was worst of all he did through their sides strike at the honour of Jesus Christ for why did Paul doe this to the Saints saith he I thought with myself to doe many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth there was the person he aymed at yet Paul a man forgiven for all this for he saith when he aggravates his sin in 1 Tim. 1. 11 12 13. According to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithfull putting me into the Ministery who was before a blasphemer and a persecuter and injurious But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly its unbelief Thus I have done with the Doctrinal part of my Text laying down to you an induction of instances I am the larger in this because I know perplexed consciences in trouble of mind are apt but to greaten their own sins but can you aggravate it worse then David Paul or Peter could do yet behold those sinnes and those aggravated sinnes were forgiven by Jesus Christ I have four words to say in this Sermon by way of Application there may be in such an Assembly as this is whom God might suffer either before conversion or after conversion to be unclean with David to deny Christ with Peter it may be to swear to a lye to swear to a falshood nay it may be to engage to a lye to a falshood O take heed of false Oathes it may be to persecute the Saints of Christ with Paul Four Consolations First O know it for thy comfort O thou disconsolate heart let thy sin be never so great yet the mercies of God are greater A learned Interpreter gives to my hand which is his instance Lord my fault is great but thy mercies are greater Beloved I may say to you though thy sin be great yet the mercy of God is greater then thy sin and thou canst not have so many circumstances to greaten thy sin as can be produced in God to greaten his own mercy you shall read what he saith himselfe in Isa 44. 22. I have blotted ouâ— as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins return unto me for I have redeemed thee Suppose thy sin be not onely a little cloud but suppose it be a great cloud a thick cloud saith God I doe not only blot sins out like a little cloud but I will blot ouâ— transgressions that are like a thick cloud great sins as well as small doth the mercies of God cover The Sea can as well cover great rocks as little peble stones high mountaines as well as mole-hills Gods mercy is an Ocean that can cover great enormities as well as lesser infirmities The glorious body of the Sun in the Heavens can scatter the greatest mist as well as the thinnest vapours great sins as well as small are pardoned by infinite mercy It is worthy your notice what Moses speaks of the Mercy-seat It covered the whole Ark wherein the Law was kept To note saith a Divine though thou art a man or a woman guilty of all the Lawes breach not onely of one command but of all the commands yet the Mercy-Seat covered all the commands to teach you this that the mercy of God can pardon the greatest violation of the Law therefore that wherein the Law was kept was all covered by the Mercy-Seat 2. Take this for thy comfort O thou perplexed Conscience it may be when thou art in a corner none but God and thine own soule together thou dost aggravate thy sin and thinkest no mans sin so grievous as thine then take this for thy comfort let thy sin be never so great yet the satisfaction and sufferings of Christ are far greater The blood of Christ saith the Apostle cleanseth us from all sin the Red Sea did with as much ease drown Pharaoh and all his hoast as it could doe a single man the red Sea of Christs blood can drown a whole hoast and a huge multitude of sins as well as a small lust Though thou hast need to shed more teares for sin in a way of contriâ—ion yet Christ need not shed more blood for sin in a way of redemption for he hath saved them to the utmost that come unto God by him the Apostle triumphing in the 5. of the Romans he meanes there that there is not so much evil in sin to damn us as there is good in the gift in Christ for to save because thy sin is he guilt of a creature and Christs satisfaction is the satisfaction of a God thy sin the sin of a finite creature and his sufferings the sufferings of an infinite Mediator Third Consolation is this to you that are perplexed in conscience that you have committed hainous and aggravated sinfulnesse yet that Jesus Christ doth wipe away the infamy and the ignominy of thy most horrid and scandalous sins committed before conversion Suppose thou hast been a notorious infamous creature yet Christ takes off the ignominy and the infamy of thy sin when he justifies thy person and doth sanctifie thy nature It is observable of Mary Magdalen as is conceived she was a notorious whore every one that saw her knew she was a common harlot there was a woman that was a sinner the meaning was she was an infamous notorious harlot What is done when Christ converted this woman Luk. 7. 47. Wherefore I say unto thee her sins which are many are forgâ—ven for she loved much Christ did delight to wipe away the ignominy of her harlotry in her after-life It is worthy observation that four women are reckoned in the Genealogy of Christ what women were they they were women that were infamous the best of them did fill into much scandal and gave much offence there you find mention of Thamar Rachab Ruth and Bathsheba no more in the Genealogy but these what were all these women Begin with Thamar she committed uncleannesse with her Father in Law an infamous woman as you have the story in Gen. 38. 18. And he said What pledge shall I give thee and she said thy Signet and the Bracelets and thy Staffe that is in thine hand and be
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
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
THE Penitent Pardoned A TREATISE Wherein is handled the duty of confession of Sin and the priviledge of the pardon of Sin Together with a Discourse Of Christs Ascension into Heaven and of his coming again from Heaven Wherein The opinion of the Chiliasts is considered and solidly confuted Being the sum and substance of several Sermons preached by that faithful servant of Christ Mr Christopher Love late Minister of the Gospel at Lawrence Jury LONDON 1 John 1. 19. If we confesse our sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse Heb. 9. 28. Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation Qui dat peccanti poenitentiam dat poenitenti veniam Veniet judicaturus qui venit judicandus London Printed for John Rothwell at the Bear and Fountain in Cheapside and for Nathanael Brooks at the Angel in Cornhil 1657. To the Christian Reader THE extraordinary acceptance which Mr Love's books have found with sober and solid Christians as it hath occasioned the publishing of more treatises of his then was at first intended so it hath imboldned some without our knowledge and consent to thrust forth some imperfect Copies under Mr Love's name concerning which we will only say that the want of our attestation to whose care the publishing of his sermons were intrusted is ground enough to render them as suspected and suppositious to the serious and deliberate Reader Amongst some other Sermons of Mr Love 's which have been printed by imperfect Copies These two Treatises had the unhappinesse to be very hastily and unhandsomely published being never perused by any of us or compared with his own Notes Now that these two very useful tracts may be fit to be joined with the rest of Mr Love's works the Reader is desired to know that they have been diligently compared with the Notes written with Mr Love 's own hand and have been corrected from very many faults with which the former Edition abounded and most of them materiall We will add no more but this that in the Polemicall part of these discourses as we approve the authors judgement to be sound and orthodox so we beleeve that had he lived to publish his own labours this and other books had come forth more answerable to the learning piety and vigorous parts of the Author We commend thee to God and the word of his Grace which is able to build thee up and to give thee an inheritance amongst those that are sanctified London April 27. 1657. Edmund Calamy Simeon Ashe William Tailor William Whitaker The Table AFflicted people fit to confesse sin pag. 9 10 Aggravation of sin 16 Antinomians confuted 24 Aggravation of sin by circumstances 85. 109 Austins confession and aggravation of sin ibid. Godly afflicted for sin 94 95 Antinomians confuted 96 All sins not alike 108 Christ ascended into Heaven 116 117 Time of Christs Ascension 126 What we gain by Christs Ascension 134 B. BEnummed conscience 55 Boldnesse in sin 57 Christs body in Heaven and why 119 120 Hereticks confuted that denied Christs body to be in Heaven 121 Believers went to heaven before the incarnation of Christ 131 132 Bodies of Saints shall go to Heaven 197 Endowments of a glorified body 199 Of sin against the body 208 C. God loves to have his people confesse their sins 7 Confesse our bosome sin to God 12 Small sins must be confessed 14 We must confesse sin to God 19 We must confesse our sins to God 20 35. and our particular sins 22 Of auricular confession 19 24 In what cases we must confesse our sins to men 21 23 Cofession of sin must be affectionate 36 We must confesse all sin 39 Confession must be free 37. and voluntary 38 Confession is not needlesse as to God 41 Conscience checking for sin 53 54 Of a sensless sleeping Conscience 56 Comfort against the fear of death 123 Comfort from the consideration of Christs comming to judgement 137 Manner of Christs second comming 173 of Communion with Christ it Heaven 210 D. DEfects in our confession 33 Greatnesse of Davids sin 65 We must not feare Death 196 E. SOul eased by confession 6 Extenuation of sin 87 F. FEar of the godly to sin 24 47 Christs comming the dread and fear of wicked men 180 G. GOD pardons great sins 61 62 Of grosse and heinous sins 80 Directions to great and heinous sinners 82 Great sins great humiliation 86 How God makes the sinnes of his people turn to their good 92 93 Christ ascended to give the Holy Ghost 123 The glory of Christs second comming 176 177 H. HOpe of pardon 17 Humbled sinner amiable to God 40 Christ in Heaven his Heart on Earth 125 The Godly die and go to Heaven 188 I. IUstified persons must confesse sin 5 Impenitency exempts from pardon 89 Infants and grown people not under the same necessity of repentance 101 Christ will come to judge the world 137 L. LAw of God discovers sin 37. of little sins 73 74 Love of God to penitent sinners 87 88 Limbus Patrum confuted 129 Of Christs comming at the last day and not before 151 M. WE must confess our Master-sin 34 Mortification of sin 46 50 51 52 Infinite mercy in God 70. merit in Christ 71 72 Meditation of Christ 123 Millenaries confuted 150. unto 172 VVhat scriptures those Millenaries urge 160 166 169 O. OLd sins 18 Gods children have fallen into the same sin oftner then once though this is not usuall 102 103 104 Comfort against Oppression 141 P. PUblick sins publick confessions 22 Of good and wicked purposes 32 of pardon of sin 33 Pardoned sinners love God 45. and they forgive aâ—â—thers ibid Pardon and repentance joined ibid VVhat a pardoned sinner shuns 61 62 Peters sin aggravated in denying Christ 67 Aggravation of Pauls sin 68 69 God pardons and yet punisheth 96 Pardon not before faith and repentance 97 98 99 Saints justified must pray for pardon 107 Prophesies of Christs ascension 117 Christ prepares heaven for believers 127 VVe should prepare for heaven 133 Comfort against persecution 140 Paradice a type of Heaven 189 R. AFter reproof for sin we must confess sin 11 Remorse of conscience 20 Of those that are angry at reproof 36 Remembrance of sin 38 Remission of sin and renovation of the heart join'd together 44 Relapses into sin dangerous 105 Of the reproches of ChristiaÌ„s coÌ„fort against theÌ„ 140 Resurrection of the body proved 204 S. Confession works sorrow for sin â— Sorrow for sin T. 17 49 5â— T. TYpes of Christs ascension 11â— Christ triumph over our enemies 10â— Transubstantiation confuted 128 Time of Christs comming unknown 148 W. Witnesses of Christs ascension 11â— SERMON 1. Text PSALM 32. latter part of Vers 5. I said I will confesse my transgressions to the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin THis Psalme treats of the blessednesse of a justified of a pardoned sinner touching which
sinnes in the light of thy countenance Psal 19. 12. Who can understand his errors cleanse thou me from secret faults David did not onely confesse his murder of Vriah his adultery with Bethsheba but he confest smaller sins Davids heart smote him for cutting off the lap of Sauls garment it was onely the appearance of revenge he had his knife neere his throte that which had the appearance of a sin Davids heart smote him for Conscientions men do not onely bewail and confesse open and grosser evils but the secret and the smallest corruptions of the heart they bewaile to God they confesse their secret pride their secret worldlinesse and secret murmurings against God they confesse their secret and smaller evils Indeed wicked men fall short of this wicked men confesse their Grosse and their open sins but do dot take notice of their lesser and secret evils there are two instances for this one is in Cain Cain confest his murder his was greater then it could be forgiven speaking of the murder of his brother Abel Gen. 4. 13. And Cain said unto unto the Lord My punishment is greater then I can bear He did not confesse his emnity that made him murder his brother he confest his grosse sin but did not confesse more slie and secret evils Thus you read likewise of Judas Judas confest his betraying of Christ a grosse sin but he never confest his covetousnesse a secret sin that made him betrry Jesus Christ saith he I have sinned in betraying innocent blood he that did bewaile and confesse his murder in betraying Christ did not confesse and bewail his covetousnesse and hypocrisie that were more lurking and secret evils That is a second Rule make conscience to confesse small and secret evils as well as open and grosser sins Rule 3 Third Rule touching confession of sin unto God is this When you confesse and acknowledge secretly your sins unto God labour to greaten your sins with all the heinous circumstances and heart-humbling aggravations you can imagin Thus the servants of God used to do when they confest sin unto God they would confesse sin with all the heinous circumstances 1 Kings 8. 47. Saying We have sinned and have done perversly we have committed wickedness Saith Lorinus Mark what a heap of words a heart-humbled soul will lay together in confessing of sin We have sinned there is one word We have done wickedly there is a second and we have done perversly there is a third A notable instance you have of Paul in Act. 26. 10 11. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem and many of the Saints did I shut up in prison having received authority from the chief Priests and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them And I punished them oft in every Synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even unto strange Cities Here Paul comes to aggravate his sin there are eight aggravations that here Paul doth lay down of his sinne wherby he would greaten sin unto himself that he might be the more humble First of all they were not ordinary men that he cast into prison but they were Saints and to wrong them is a sacriledge the Saints have I cast into prison Secondly To cast a man into prison for debt is no injustice if the man be able to pay but many have I cast into prison why for professing the name of Jesus of Nazareth meerly for professing Christ Thirdly If it had been but one or two Saints it were not much but they were a greater number Many of the Saints did I cast into prison Fourthly he aggravates his sin further to cast them into prison and give them in prison liberty is not much but he shut them up in prison and kept them close prisoners Fifthly If he had rested there it had not been much but he gave his voyce against them to put them to death Nay Sixthly He goeth higher for he did wrong to their souls too for he compelled them to blaspheme God Seventhly To aggravate it further he was mad against them and I was exceedingly mad against them hee was mad with rage and with passion and with fury against the Saints of God Eighthly I did persecute them to strange Cities them I did not kill I made them leave their Wives and Children and made them run and shift for their lives into strange corners This is the nature of a true penitent not to confesse sin slightly and carelesly but in confession of sin to cloath his sins with all aggravations that can be In confession of sin we should aggravate it that we have sinned against mercies correction warnings resolutions checks of conscience motions of the Spirit c. and this is a good Rule if you will follow it You have the like instance in the book of Daniel chap. 9. v. 5. We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgements Vers 6. vers 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the Prophets which spake in thy name to our Kings our Princes and our Fathers and to all the people of the Land There are seven circumstances that Daniel useth in confessing of his sin to aggravate his sin how doth Daniel cloath his confession First We have sinned there is one Secondly We have committed iniquity Thirdly We have done wickedly Fourthly We have rebelled against thee Fifthly We have departed from thy precepts Sixthly We have not hearkned unto thy servants Seventhly Nor we nor our Princes nor all the people of the Land There are seven aggravations which Daniel reckoned up to his confession Thus David when he would beg pardon prayed for thy names sake pardon my iniquity for it is great that is a third Rule about confession Rule 4 A fourth Rule in confession of sin is this In your confessions look not discouragingly on God as an angry Judge but hopefully as on a displeased Father to confesse sin to God as an angry Judge is to make you but condemned Malefactors in your confessions therefore make confession to God only as a displeased Father converted men do confesse sin to God as a Father whilest you have an eye of sorrow upon sin you are to have an eye of hope upon pardon thus Gods people did in their confessions To confesse sin to God as a Judge is to howl like dogs because you shall be beaten but to confesse sin to God as an angry Father is child-like with a fiducial confidence of pardon Dan. 9. 9. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses though we have rebelled against him And thus Shechaniah confesseth sin unto God Ezra 10. 2. And Shechaniah the Son of Jehiel one of the Sons of Ellam answered and said unto Ezra We have trespassed against our God c. And thus the Prodigall in Luke 18. 18. I will arise and goe to my Father
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
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
is why should wee bee as children to looke on death as a Bugheare but looke upon death as being a passage unto thy fathers house as being a Trap-doore to let thee in where Jesus Christ is Gen. 45. 25 27. And they went up out of Egypt and came into the Land of Canaan unto Jacob their father and they told him all the words of Joseph which hee had said unto them and when hee saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him the spirit of Jacob their father revived Did Jacob rejoyce to see a waggon or a chariot that would carry him into Aegypt to see his Son Ioseph and wilt not thou rejoyce to think that death is a chariot to carry thee to Jesus Christ to carry thee to heaven O therefore let not thy heart bee troubled to dye because death is but a chariot to carry thee to heaven Is Christ gone into heaven Then secondly labour thou whilest thou livest on the earth to ascend to Christ in divine and holy Ejaculations and Meditations Is Christ in heaven then why should not thy heart be where thy head is why shouldest thou bee grovelling on the earth seeing thy Christ is now in heaven It is a speech of Christ Canticles 3. 6. Who is this that cometh out of the wildernesse like Pillars of smoke perfumed with Myrrhe and Frankincense with all powders of the Merchant Thou shouldest ascend up to Christ though thou beest in trouble in the Wildernesse of this world O ascend up to Christ in Holy Meditations this use the Apostle makes of it Colos 3. 1. If yee then bee risen with Christ seeke those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right Hand of God The argument is where Christ sits at the right Hand of God set your affections there and so in Phil. 3. 20. For our conversation is in heaven from whence also wee look for the Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ Christ is in heaven thereâ—ore our conversation must bee where our head is It is a notable Text Mat. 24. 28. For wheresoever the Carkase is there will the Eagles be gathered together That Christ is in heaven it should make you ascend in your hearts heavenward It is true there are some that wrest these words and give this sense of them that they make the carkase to be the Jewes and the Eagles to be the Romans because the Romans did use the Eagle in their Banner and Ensigne of War therefore they say where the Jewes were the Romans should come though this was a truth yet not the scope of the Text it is generally overthrown by most Interpreters but Gerrard doth chiefly referre these words to the day of judgement where the carkase is thither will the Eagles resort that is where Jesus Christ is in heaven as the Eagles doe follow after the carkase to feed upon that so the people of God shall be gathered about Jesus Christ and this I doe confesse is the chiefe scope of the place and doe beleeve it is the chiefe intendment of the holy Ghost but Gerrard hee makes another use of it too and referres it to the power and efficacy of the Gospell in this life Christ is now in heaven saith Gerrard and the Gospel shal be so powerful on men in the world that it shal make men as eager to come after Christ into heaven as the Eagle is after the prey Thirdly I inferre hence that before you presume to apply the benefits and the comforts of Christs ascension into heaven labour to feele in your own hearts the efficacy of Christs Death and ascension every man applies the benefit of Christs Death and Resurrection and Christs ascension before they find the efficacy of his Death the efficacy of his resurrection It is the Apostles word saith he I labor to find the power of his resurrction so do you labor to find the power of his Death and the power of his ascension before you find the comfort of it It is to make thee lesse Earthly-minded more passionately eager and importunatly earnest after the Lord Iesus Christ dost thou feele the power of the ascension to make thee more heavenly minded and lesse earthly minded O labour to feele the efficacy and power of it else I might say to you as Iacob said to his mother in Genesis 28. 12. My father peradveuture will feele mee and I shall seeme to him as a deceiver and I shall bring a curse and not a blessing Nay without peradventure God will feele and try whether you are the men or no that have right to the blessing that shall have any reall advantage and benefit by Christs Death by Christs ascension God will try whether you doe not seek to deceive your Souls and deceive God himselfe if so you will rather have a curse then a blessing if you seeke to apply the comfort of Christs ascension before you feele the efficacy of it on your own hearts Ques How did Christ ascend Answ 1 First Christ went to heaven visibly in Act. 1. It was no transient glance of the Eye but they stedfastly beheld Jesus Christ they saw him when he went away Again Secondly Christ went to heaven bodily therefore those doe erre that hold that onely his soule did go to heaven and his body perished as other do Thirdly hee went to heaven locally hee ascended locally there are some men that hold that every place is heaven where God is that is a truth but heaven is a distinct place from the Earth and Hell Christ had a mutation of place from the Earth to the third Heaven therefore saith hee the earth shall hold me no more Fourthly hee did ascend into heaven powerfully Indeed other men went to heaven bodily not by their own strength but it was by a borrowed strength Elias had a fiery chariot to carry him to heaven but Christ had none for he went to heaven by his own strength Lastly Christ went to heaven eminently and singly There are three bodies in heaven there is the bodie of Enoch the body of Elias and the body of Christ all else in heaven are onely Saints and Angels Enoch went to heaven bodily as a type of Christs ascension before the Law and Elias unde the Law and Christ under the Gospell Divines say that this shewes there was salvation by Christ before the Law and salvation by Christ under the Law and salvation by Christ in the time of the Gospell but there is difference between their going to heaven First Enoch and Elias went to heaven but they did not die and rise from the dead and then ascend into heaven but first Christ dyed and then Christ was raised out of the Grave and then within forty daies hee did ascend into heaven there was one difference Again they did not ascend to heaven by their own strength but by the power of God they did ascend into heaven but we have got no good by their ascension no benefit nor merit accrues unto us by
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
to make entrance into the fourth Fundamentall Doctrine in these words And receive you to my selfe These words containe in them that great Fundamentall point touching the Resurrection of mans Body that not onely the Soule shall goe to Heaven but also the bodies of the godly men shall goe to Heaven Christ shal come out of heaven for this end to receive the bodies as well as the Soules unto himselfe I will come again and receive you unto my selfe There is some difference betweene a few Interpreters touching the sense of these words one carrieth it this way that here the promise of Christs coming made a little before hee was to die referreth not to the last coming but they referre it to that forty daies that hee was upon the Earth after his resurrection to the Ascension they say that this promise was accomplished when Christ after his resurrection did come to his Disciples and did eate a broyled Fish with them and stayed forty daies with them Why what comfort would this bee to the Disciples to thinke of Christs going away and coming againe and stay but forty daies and then bee seen no more this would have made them the more sorrowfull that they should never have seen him more Here are two or three reasons from the Text why that cannot bee the sense of the place because here was a promise before that hee was going to his Fathers House to receive them there Now that living upon the Earth forty daies after his Resurrection cannot bee his Fathers House this cannot therefore bee meant of Christs coming againe at that time to them Againe that it is said where hee was to goe hee was to prepare a place for them now if his meaning had been that hee would come againe at forty daies it should have been an Earthly place that hee had prepared for them But the current of Interpreters seeing the weaknesse of that gives many consequent reasons why it must necessarily be referred to Christs last coming and everlasting receiving of them when the Body shall bee raised and at that coming he hath promised the Elect that hee will receive them unto himselfe as if hee should have said though I leave your bodies behind mee in the world for a season though they may bee mangled and massacred by cruell persecutors and though you may bee without my bodily presence for a while yet I doe not goe to Heaven to stay there for ever but I promise you I will come againe and then I will take you into Heaven with mee They would faine have had Christ to have received them into Heaven and that they might have gone with him The Disciples when they heard Christ speake of going to his Fathers house they were all on fire to go with Christ into Heaven O no saith Christ I will come againe to judge the world and then I will receive your very bodies into Heaven with mee that as my body is in Heaven so your bodies shall bee there also with me The Observation is this that it is one great end of Christs coming again for to receive the bodies of all the Elect unto himselfe into Heaven with him I come again and receive you unto my selfe I shall not follow the common place in handling the Resurrection of the body I shall onely handle this point practically in shewing you what the happinesse of the Elect of God is in their bodies as well as their Soules Now because this Text is made use of to pervert many Scriptures I shall handle this practicall Question before I come to handle the Doctrine Quest The Question is this that seeing Jesus Christ doth only promise that hee will receive the Elect unto himselfe at his coming againe Then what becomes of all the godly immediately after death before Christs coming againe to judgement Those that hold for the sleeping of the Soule on this Text doe ground that there is no receiving neither one or other the one to life the other to death the wicked are not tormented till then nor the godly glorified till then Therefore it is needfull that seeing Christ doth here speake of receiving them unto himselfe not till his coming to shew what becomes of the Souls of dead Men before the coming of Christ Answ Before I give you the Answer take this distinction There is a twofold receiving First There is a partiall and incompleat receiving and this is done immediately after death that when the soule doth depart from the body the soule is received by Jesus Christ into Heaven and that is the reason of those Speeches in Acts 7. There is a receiving them before Christs coming and this is called a partiall and incompleat reception it is only a receiving of the spirit and not of the body Secondly there is a totall and compleat reception both of the body and soule into glory and it is this that the Text here speakes of though it is true there is not a totall reception of a beleever till Christs coming to judgement yet there is a partiall reception I doe not now speak to those that say the soul is mortall and that it shall never live after the death of the body but to those that say the soule shall sleep and the soul doth perish with the body untill the Resurrection Now against these that plead for the sleeping of the soule till Christs coming againe take these four waies how to strengthen you First there are pregnant instances in Scripture that after the godly die their souls are received into heaven before Christ comes Secondly there are generall expressions in the Scripture as well as particular instances to prove this Thirdly there are expresse passages in the Scripture to confirme this Fourthly there are absurd inconsequences that will arise in case it should be denied First there are Pregnant instances or examples in the Scripture to prove that after death the soule is received into Heaven Take three instances First that knowne Text Luke 23. 43. And Jesus said unto him verily I say unto thee To day thou shall bee with mee in Paradise That day Christ dyed that day Christ went to Heaven therefore that day the soul of that converted thiefe did go to Heaven Now beloved there are two Evasions that those who plead for the soules cessation for the soules sleeping make to avoide this Text and take off this Instance First is by altering the comma or stop in the Text and read it thus I say unto thee this day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise that to day they doe not refer it that the Thiefe should be in Paradise Peter Martyr doth give two answers to this Evasion First saith hee it is not safe to alter a comma or stop in Scripture for so you may pervert the Scripture and make it speake what it never meant if men at their pleasure disagreeing from all Copies alter comma's in the translation Another Answer that it appeares this cannot bee the sense of it to referre to
day to the time that Christ spake and not the time that the thiefe should bee in Heaven for saith Gerrard marke the thiefs prayer in ver 42. And hee said unto Jesus Lord remember mee when thou comest into thy Kingdome Marke there is the thiefs when that when Christ should come to Heaven Christ should remember him Christs Hodie must answer to his Quando or else hee did not answer his prayer Christs to day must answer the thiefs when that when Christ came to Heaven then to remember the thiefe And Jesus said unto him verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Thirdly it is needlesse for Christ to say to day to tell him the time when hee spake hee knew Christ spake to him then but to speak of the time when the thiefe should bee in Heaven it was needfull I say to thee this day thou shalt be with me in Heaven The second Evasion is this It is true Christ promised thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise but Christ doth not say thou shalt be with me in Heaven There are three answers to confute this Evasion First that those that will not by Paradise understand Heaven by this Text they then fall in with the Papists either for Purgatory or a Limbus Patrum Secondly take this answer that in other Scriptures when Paradise is mentioned it is to be understood Heaven and so the Apostle doth expound it 2 Cor. 12. 2 4 I knew a man in Christ above fourteene yeares agoe whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell God knoweth such an one caught up to the third Heaven How that hee was caught up into Paradise and beard unspeakable words which it is not lawfull for a man to utter So that the Apostle by Paradise doth meane Heaven Revel 2. 7. Hee that hath an eare let him heare what the Spirit saith unto the Churches To him that overcometh will I give to eate of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God That is he shall enjoy Jesus Christ Christ in Heaven is the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God Thirdly it cannot be any Earthly Paradise as the Paradise Adam was in before his fall for the Earthly Paradise was destroyed by the Flood therfore of necessity when Christ tells the thiefe To day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise it must referre to the thiefes going to Heaven at that day with Jesus Christ A second instance it is in Luke 16. 22. And it came to passe that the Begger dyed and was carried by the Angels into Ahrahams bosom the rich man also dyed and was buried This is another instance that the souls of the elect after death they goe to Heaven There are two Evasions made upon this Text. First they say that this Text it is a parable and not an Historicall Narration To this I answer though some men doe say it is a Parable yet many say it is a History Jerome and many following him doth give many arguments to prove that it was a History and not a parable And Tertullian is confident that this is an exact History of what was really done And Peter Martyr doth quote Tertullian saith hee Tertullian is so confident that this is a History that hee undertakes to tell you who were the men saith hee the Rich man was Herod and the Beggar was John the Baptist But Suppose it be a parable and not a History yet parables doe carry the resemblance of truth parables take their Foundations from truth that there are some men in Hell some men in Heaven that in Hell there is torment and in heaven there is joy that as the beggar went to Heaven after death so shall the godly and as the rich man went to Hell so shall all the wicked The other Evasion is this that this beggar is said to be carried into Abrahams bosome I answer First it is more then probable that Abrahams bosome is Heaven now Abraham being in heaven all his children are in Heaven that are in his bosome that is the answer that Gerrard gives Againe it is said that they are carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome therefore Abrahams bosom must be in Heaven certainly the good Angels carry a good soule into Heaven and the wicked Angels carry a damned soule into Hell and thus you have two instances that immediately after death the soules of the Elect go to Heaven A third instance is in Mat. 22. 31 32. But as touching the Resurrection of the dead have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but of the living I argue from that instance that therfore Abraham Isaac and Jacob were living at that time though not in their bodies if you marke the reason of that Text it was not to prove a Resurrection of the body only which the Sadduces deny but also to prove the immortality of the soule The Sadduces deny Spirits and Angels too Acts 23. 8. For the Sadduces say that there is no Resurrection neither Angell nor Spirit but the Pharisees confesse both Christ doth prove that there shall bee a Resurrection of the body and hee likewises proves that the soule doth not dye when the body dyeth Indeed there is a quotation that I have read of a learned man that doth make use of this instance Gen. 25. 8. Then Abraham gave up the ghost and dyed in a good old age an old man and full of yeares and was gathered to his people Abraham was not gathered to his Fathers nor to be gathered in the grave where his fore-fathers were how then can this be true that the Scripture saith Abraham was gathered unto his Fathers Divines say it must be in his soule that Abraham went to heaven as his godly fore-fathers went that is the meaning of that phrase his soule was to be bound up in the bundle of Life to go to Heaven as their fore-fathers did And thus much for particular instances The second way to prove that the soules of the Elect men goe to Heaven immediately after death It is by generall expressions in Scripture Two generall passages one is in Heb. 12. 23. To the generall Assembly and Church of the first borne which are writen in Heaven and to God the judge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect thence I argue that Apostle makes mention and proves that there were the Spirits of just men made perfect Now if their Soules did perish with their bodies then the Apostle should say that their Spirits are annihilated with the body but it is the spirits of just men made perfect The Scripture takes notice in generall expressions that just men have their Soules made perfect And then in Eccle. 12. 7. Then shall the dust returne to the Earth as it was and the Spirit
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