not Dispair looks on things through black Spectacles and gives all for lost Hope doth the contrary Q How is it possible to hope against Hope Answ 1. Because of the Power of Christ upon which the Soul doth in great Straits rowl it self Whatever Lets and Impediments do arise between the Promise and the fulfilling of it though they be as high as Mountains and as the Gates of Hell yet the Believer can by Faith look upon them all but as Difficulties which cannot check the Power of Christ but only Magnifie it For as jealous Thoughts of the Divine Arm or fear that it may be encountred with some insuperable opposition makes the Hope of Promised Good to be weak and uncertain so the faithful and serious consideration of Gods Power a resting upon it produceth Hope against Hope it turns every Valley of Achor into a door of Hope administers Manna in the Wilderness and draws water out of the Rock brings light out of darkness comfort out of every Tryal Thus Miconius wrote to Calvin upon view of the Churches Enemies reflecting upon the Power of Christ Gaudeo quod Christus Dominus est alioquin totus Desperassem I am Glad that Christ Reigns otherwise I should utterly despair So the Believer in the midst of Straits rejoyceth in the Power of Christ who lives and Reigns for ever and ever 2. The Spirit of Christ inwardly works and nourisheth some Sparks of Hope always in the Hearts of his people Thus it was with Job David Paul and a vast number of other faithful Souls who sparkling with the lightning Rays of Hope have lift up their Palms in the midst of Hazzards and Gain'd Heaven by Violence still laying the degrees of their Honour in the depth of suffering This like an Anchor holds the Ship of the Soul in her greatest Storms and like an Helmet keeps off the Blows of the Sword or Arrows from entring 1 Thessal 5.8 Let us who are of the day be sober putting on the Breast-Plate of Faith and Love and for an Helmet the Hope of Salvation In time of publick Calamities the Righteous have Hope Joel 3.16 The Lord will roar out of Zion the Heaven and Earth shall shake but the Lord will be the Hope of his People So that if all outward hope be taken away their hope in God is not taken away Upon this account it was that the Jews being Prisoners in Babylon are called Prisoners of Hope Zech. 9.10 If Heaven and Earth be ready to come together yet through the strength of the Divine Spirit working in their Hearts Believers have Hope which as a Bow in the Heavens all furnished with Emeralds never loseth it force 3. Their former Experiences are a Foundation of Hope against Hope Rom. 5.4 And Experience Hope Hos 2.5 I will give the Valley of Achor for a door of Hope This Valley of Achor so called from Achans Sacriledge to deter men from Sin some think to be the same with Engeddi mentioned so often in the Canticles however both are neer to Jericho and in it they tasted the first Fruits of Canaan as an earnest of the rest in it they saw abundance of Plenty and were Delighted and Refreshed therewith all that the Lord did then for his People and now saith he will give it to the Church for a door of Hope A Believer brings in a Catalogue of Experiences Psal 119.65 Thou hast dealt well with thy Servant In how many Cases hath he had Experience of God when Sin and Temptation have been strong he hath come in with Auxiliary Forces and his Grace hath proved sufficient When the poor Soul hath been even sinking under Fear God hath recovered him out of the Quick-Sands and lifted his head above the deep Water Psal 33. O Lord thou art my Glory and the lifter up of my Head When David was in the Mouth of Danger the Lord delivered him I was pluckt out of the Mouth of the Lyon so Saint Paul The Believer hath many Experiences and these beget Hope Thou hast and wilt Deliver saith Experimental David 4. By looking on things not as they are at present or in their own power but as they shall be by the Lords promise Surely saith the poor Believer He is faithful that hath promised As he is able to fulfil the least Iota of whatever he hath spoken so he is infallible in what he promiseth As no impediment can arise to hinder his Power so no contingency can fall out to alter his Will all his Promises being in Christ Jesus yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 These and such like Meditations serve to uphold and keep Believers from being injurious to God or themselves and to believe in Hope against Hope Vse 2. This Doctrine administers incomparable Comfort whosoever is Christs is enabled to believe in Hope against Hope When Comfort can neither be seen felt nor apprehended when Fears and Distresses are on every side and all hope of safety is taken away when nature affords no ground of Hope or encouragement to expect the fulfilling of a Promise but suggesting many posing arguments to impede and gainsay the Truths of it and to make Faith as feeble as their Bodies when old and Crazy then to hope against Hope 1. That the Church shall be raised and preserved from so many Enemies is against Hope 2 Chron. 20.12 O our God wilt thou not judg us for we have no Might against this great Company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon thee 2. That a Wound shall be Healed It is against Hope Prov. 18.14 A Wounded Spirit who can bear 3. That many and strong Lusts shall be vanquished and subdued Rom. 7.24 O Wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Sin and Death 4. That an impure Soul shall be prepared for and received into Heaven it is against hope yet see Isa 1.18 Come let us reason together saith the Lord though your Sins be as Red as Crimson I will make them white as Snow To day shalt thou be with me in Paradice Oh strive for this Heavenly Hope Q. How may it be Attained A. As other Graces are wrought so is this It is the work of God wherefore he is called The God of all Grace 1 Pet. 5.10 He is the first Planter the Promoter and Finisher of Grace God is called the Father of Lights and he must light up this Candle in your Souls More particularly it is obtained 1. By Experience Rom. 5.4 as David argued 1 Sam. 17.37 And Holy Paul 2 Cor. 1.20 Experience breeds Confidence Thou hast thou shalt is the ordinary argument used by the Psalmist And so the Church comforted her self and Nourisheth her Hope Lament 3.21,24 This I Recalled to mind therefore I hope in thee And The Lord is my Portion saith my Soul therefore will I Hope in him The observation of Gods Merciful Acts of Providence to his Church in general as to any of his People in
Ordain some of his Creatures to Punishment and Damnation without Fault and Desert Answ Divine Purposes are very unsearcheable they lye wrapt up in everlasting Darkness and are covered in a deep Abyss none can Fathome the Bottom Yet to this Objector I say it is most false and a Calumny usually cast upon the Doctrine of Predest nation and which the Rhetorick of our Adversaries is wont to blow up to the highest pitch of Aggravation even to the Impeaching of Gods Justice which is most Blasphemous But to the Answer 1. God Created man for his own Glory Vltimately and if any Miscarry through their own Default as it will be found they do God will be glorified in them as well as in others The Howlings of them which perish shall render forth his Praise as well as the Hallelujahs of them that are Saved They both sing unto the Glorious Attributes of the Blessed Trinity an everlasting Canticle Only in this great Consort of the Intelligent Creation the designedly Conspiring Voices are as differing as the Condition of the respective Singers Hell's Darkness shall as well contribute to Gods Glory as Heavens eternal Splendours As shadows Judiciously placed do no less praise the Painter than do the livelier and better Colours 2. In Ordaining he is to be Considered as a Lord not as a Judge Election and Reprobation being Acts of Power and Prerogative so that in these the matter of Right and Wrong are not concerned Gods Volitions and Decrees are not depending on any temporal Objects as Motives thereunto but determine without any Respect to any Disposition in the Creature and what Injustice can be therein The clay should not dispute with the Potter None should argue against Divine Prerogative Ratio quosdam elegit quosdam reprobat non habet rationem nisi Divinam Voluntatem Aqu. 1 part 4. 23. Art 5. 3. He doth punish none without fault nor condemn any without Desert God who is pure Justice inferreth no prejudice upon the Creature but as provoked by some Criminal miscarriage though it be certain that the Reprobate shall dye yet Sin not the Decree is the cause of Death Rom. 5.12 By Sin Death entred into the World To crown or to damn is an Act of judiciary Power and proceeds according to the Tenour of the Revealed Gospel The Eternal Decree of the Damnation of the very Devils was never determined to be Executed otherways than for their own Misdeeds 2. It is objected The Author of Sin cannot be just Ergo. Answ Innocency it self cannot be protected from Imputations though the Reproach will stick no faster than a Bur that is cast against a Cristal fot it will easily appear that God is neither Autho or Actor Peccati He makes Sin no more than the Sun makes the Night Though Bellarmin labour to impose this Blasphemy on Calvin Beza and Zuinglius as their opinions Yet the Dominicans and some of his own Society clear him as saying 1. That he willeth Sin permissively otherwise it could not be Miro inâ—ffabili modo non fit praeter ejus voluntatem quod etiam fit contra ejus voluntatem Quia non fieret nisi sinerit nec utique nolens sinit sed volens As Aug. Enchirid. And again Non sinerit bonus fieri male nisi Omnipotens etiam de malo posset facere bonum Ibid. The Lord thought it better to do good with evil than not to permit it And it is acknowledged that Sin the worst thing that is but the Existence of Sin is not Evil otherwise saith Aug. God would not permit it 2. God concurs ad Actum Determinationem voluntatis in particulari non ad obliquitatem Actus God doth concur to the Action and sustains the Agent For 't is sain by him all things consist Coloss 1.17 and Acts 17.28 In him we live and move c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are acted by him So that the bare Action is good and the fault wholly remains with the Creature Obj. But he that doth not hinder Sin when he may is guilty So a wicked Mâ—rcian asketh why the Loâ—d who foresaw the event did suffer Eve and the Devil to confer and if â—e were able why did he not hinder Sin to be Answ Thus men presuming upon certain Aâ—ioms of Crooked and Distorted Reason will undâ—rtake to pass Sentence upon God The Rule will hold true in Respect of men qui non vetat peccare cum possit jubet but not in Respect of God who is bound to no Law neither did he suffer Sin unreproved or unpunished Prosper and Hilarius both with Austin make answer to this Question why God did not hinder Sin the cause may be unknown it cannot be unjust 3. It is Objected God doth Distribute unequally evil things to good men and good things to evil men Answ This is a bad and common Charge The seeming Disregard and Inequality of Providence hath caused some to charge God foolishly Among Heathens of old we find Brutus an able Assertor of Divine Providence such as he knew when finally vanquished by Antonius and saw such bad Success in so good a Cause as he thought his to be disclaimed all Vertue and derided all Endeavours of living well as vain and bootless And Pompey when discomfited by Caesar blamed Providence as if there were a Mist over it But both blamed the Sun because of their own sore eyes And these well-tempered Heathens were not alone but men of other make have stumbled at the same Stone It was Davids Case Psal 73.2.3 As for me my Step were almost gone my Feet had well nigh slipt for I was envious at the Foolish c. and the Prophet Jeremiah Chap. 12.1 Why doth the way of the Wicked prosper c. Which is as though he had said Why shall such Weeds as Cumber the Ground be watered so plentifully and grow so exceedingly when good Coâ—n is so thin and Lean Why shall the Lyon and Raven those unclean Creatures be spared when the innocent Lamb and Dove are Sacrificed The wiâ—ked flourish like a Bay-tree and enjoy a Constant Spring and Summer though without Fruit when the Saints like good Apple-trees have their Autumn and Winter This hath touched good men to the quick sore eyes could not behold the gloâ—ious Sun-shine of wicked mens Prosperity without much pain But however God is just Therefore to answer the Objection I say he that doth so finally is unjust Differt nunc Dâ—us non Determinat God will have men to be known Some serve him only for a Livery dayes of Adversity are Gods fans or Furnace non Approbat facta Impiorum he approves not the ungodly in their wayes though at Gods Connivance and present Immunity of their Hellish Practices they make damnable Inferences of his approving them Because they have no Changes they fear not God Object 4. Suppose two persons for natural Disposition Equal the one is taken and effectually called the other left is not here Respect of Persons Answ Here is more
Soveraign Omnipotency The SAINT's SECURITY IN Evil Days Discoursed and Concluded From Rom. IV. xvii xviii By WILLIAM CROMPTON Exod. 14.13 Stand still and see the salvation of God 2 Chron. 20.12 O our God wilt Thou not judge them for we have no might against this great Company that cometh against us neither know we what to do but our Eyes are upon thee London Printed for Benj. Alsop at the Angel and Bible in the Poultrey and are to be sold by James Cowsey Bookseller in Exeter 1682. Dignissimo Amicissimoque Affini nostro GEORGIO YONG Creditonensium In Agro Devoniensi Armigero Nec-non GEORGIO LAPTHORN Plymidensium Mercatori Celeberrimo Nomine Virtutis non mihi solum noto Vtrisque Sacrarum Literarum Patronis Candidissimis Conciones sequentes tum Potentiae Divinae summe efficacis aeque ac Justitiae illius omnimodo incontaminabilis Doctrinans Dilucidantes D. D. D. Faustaque iisdem omnia non minus calido voto quam ipsimet in hoc scripto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comprecatur Guliel Crompton Soveraign Omnipotency THE SAINTS SECURITY In Evil Days ROM iv 17 18. Even God who quickneth the dead and calleth those things that are not as though they were THis part of the Chapter contains an Illustrious Commendation of Renowned Abraham and that Faith whereby he received the Promise to be the Father of many Nations and is described three ways viz. 1. By the nature of it which he discovers to be sincere not only outwardly profest though that was necessary but inwardly rooted It was Faith before God and found Access into the Divine Presence 2. By the extent of the Relation between Abraham and the Faithful and so it is defined to be Vniversal as God is Father of all Jews and Gentiles without distinction of Nation Sex and Condition Spiritual before him whom he believed not Carnal nor apprehended by men without a Revelation 1 Cor. 2.14 The Natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them for they are Spiritually discern'd 3. From the ground of both which is the Soveraignty and Almighty power of God set forth by two things viz. Quickning the Dead and callâ—ng things that are not as though they were This supported Ahrahams Faith against all seeming Impossibilities and iâ— the inâ—ended subject of this Discourse In the Prosecution of which I shâ—ll labour first to break the Shell by explâ—ining the words as they sh ll fall under consideration and then offer you the Kernel contained in it First I shall endeavour to unlock the Cabinet and then shew you the rich Jewels laid up in it which you will find to be of great worth and use in these Cloudy days wherein the Divine Providence hath cast us For the former Branch 1. Gods quickning the Dead A Short Sentence and diversly understood by divers Divines I conceive the Resurrection is hereby meant present in Soul future of Body with some special Limitation to Abraham As 1. A raising of such a Seed out of his dead Body Rom. 4.19 And being not weak in Faith he considered not his own Body now dead when he was about an hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarahs Womb. i. e. Destitute of all natural power to conceive and quicken Yet Abraham could set his Seal to it by Faith as being within the Limits of Gods power 2. A recovering of that Seed alive from the dead Heb. 11.19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the Dead from whence also he received him in a Figure which to nature and humane apprehension was impossible Yet this Abraham believed because of the Lords All-sufficiency 3. A reviving of the Body out of the Dust at the last Day which Abraham believed the Lord was able and would certainly do it The whole commends two things to our Learning First To quicken the Dead is the Lords priviledge an effect of his Almighty Power Secondly That this Divine Priviledge should be to us a Ground of Fai h. For the former See it promised Isa chap. 26. ver 19. Thy Dead Men shall Live together with my Dead Body shall they Arise To be understood either in a Physical or Moral Sense with the Concurrent Consent of the Ancient and Learned Modern Expositors who observe that there is nothing more usual for the Church and Holy Men therein to Support their Hearts above all Incumbent Afflictions and to Secure themselves of the Comfort of promised Deliverance notwithstanding all the seeming Improbability thereof by the General Doctrine of the Resurrection And so John 5,21,28 The Father raiseth up the Dead and Quickneth them even so the Son quickneth whom he will On which Acâ—ount Christ is declared to be the Son of God by the Resurrection from the Dead R m. 1.4 First Raising others as he did the Rulers Daughter to the Astonishment of all Beholders present at her Funeral and the Widow's Son of Naim who was carried without the City to his Grave Christ stops the sad Train and Restoreth Life to the Young Man and somewhat more Dear than Life to his Mother And the more Signally to Triumph over Death he Pursued it to its Fort the Obscurity of the Grave Lazarus was buried for four Daies his Carkass was Corrupt but Christ called him from the Bottom of his Tomb with that Powerful Voice that Created the World The Dead Answers and comes forth to the Amazement of all that saw the Glory of God so Clearly Manifested In all he Testified his Godhead and the Truth of his Calling and Doctrine Thus he raised Moses and Elias and made them known to his Disciples by extraordinary Revelation to Evince his Doctrine not to be new but the same in Substance with that Recorded in the Law and the Prophets both being represented by Moses and Elias who though they were raised before him yet it was not without him but by the Fellowship of his Resurrection As though Light Riseth before the Sun yet it Riseth not but by the Sun and the Mace goeth before the Magistrate but it doth so only to attend upon him Secondly Raising himself John 10,18 I have laid down my Life that I might take it again no Man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have Power to lay it down and I have Power to Raise it up again Here is a glorious Manifestation of his Power that the Tomb could not Confine him nor the Grave-Stone stay him But throwing off those Clogs as Sampson did his Wit hs he shewed himself a while to his Beloved Ones and so took his Joyous Ascent to the Right hand of the Father As Love â—id Christ in the Grave so Power Raised him from the Grave Love Rockt him a Sleep and Power Awaked him again He broke through all Bars Beat down all Opposition and Sprang forth of his yeilding Dust as a Triumphant Conqueror over Death and Devils If it be objected That Christ rose from
the Dead by the Glory of the Father and that the Father raised him It is easily answered This was not by way of supplement to make up any defect of power in Christ but only by way of consent to Christs own Power and Action that so men might Honour the Son and the Father John 5.19,26 Or else by the Glory of the Father we may understand that Glorious Power which the Father gave unto the Son in the Flesh to have life from himself because that holy Spirit which immediatly quickned him was both his and the Fathers and so the Action was common to both Thus like the Pâ—…enix he goeth out of the Sâ—pulcher in the day of his Triumphs al lighted and environ'd with Flames of Triumphant Glory 3. Assuring others by his lights and sâ—…en or that they shall rise again 1. Cor. 6.14 He is called the first Fruits of them that Sleep The Triumphant Resurrection of our Lord is the Root and Hope of ours with this he sweetens the acerbities of our present life and replenisheth Hearts with the Antipast of their Immortality for he arose not barely in a Personal but Publick Capacity and though it were a Damnable Heresy of Hymeneus to say That the Resurrection was past already Yet it is a truth to say that it is begun He first and we at his coming 1 Cor. 15.25 By what is past in the head we are assured of what is expected in his Members for his Resurrection is a Pledge and Earnest of theirs He having paid our Debt Death cannot detain us in Prison for it Yea it is a beginning of ours as before is noted he being raised who is the Head the Body must also follow If the Elder Brother be sprung out of the Dust the Younger Brethren shall not stay there The Vine-Plant being in Heaven there the Branches must receive their Eternal Flourish Object 1. Is it not said 1. Cor. 15.2 By man came the Resurrection of the Dead A. It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such a man as is God also from whose Will this large Soul of Nature had its motion and who therein commandeth so universally as he seems to hold the Heaven and Elements under here to be instruments of his Wonders it is he that lighted Stars at his Birth and Eclipsed the Ancient Sun at his Death and walked on the waters as on a Pavement of Marble It is he that causeth the Earth to cast out her Dead Object 2. Have not men done it Answer 1. Stories of Men Raised by Men are either Lies and Illusions as the Pythonist of Endor raised the Devil in Samuels Shape and the Church of Rome maintain many Idle Stories of Dead men Raised to Walk and Live after Death Otherwayes Dead Men neither walk nor appear in Body or Soul after Death Or if there are any such They are extraordinary Permissions for Secret Ends only known to him that Permits them 2. The Prophets and Apostles have done it but in the Quality of Ministers So Elisha raised the Shunamites Son 2. Kings 4.34 And Peter raised Dorcas Acts 9.40 But not by their own Power It only belongs to Christ to do this work with an Original Power which hath its Fountain in his Bosom with an Absolute Command which receives no Modification in all Nature with a Simple Will which needs no other Instrument It was by Divine Influence and Assistance in those Prophets and Apostles to confirm their Doctrine and to draw the Church sooner to believe 3. It is the Divine Nature that is the Fountain of Life he gives takes restores to whom when and how he pleaseth As it is with the Sea for water and the Sun for light in the former all the waters are gathered together into an Ocean where they grow into swelling heaps and are the source of all the Streams that refresh the Earth and in the latter that great Luminarie is the Vessel wherein the Lord hath gathered all light which before was sattered in the Heavens but is now united in that bright Lamp which running like a fiery Chariot might rule the day and illustrate the earth making it fruitful Thus it is with the Deity for life John 6.63 The Spirit quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing The words that I speak unto you are Spirit and Life And by this power he quickneth the Dead So that it 's clear the work is his who is Lord of nature and holds the Keys of life and death in his own hands His light only can dispel the darkness and his voice only can break the silence of the Grave The second Doctrine comes now to hand viz. Doct. 2. That this Divine Priviledge should be to us a ground of Faith Gen. 17.1 I am God all-sufficient walk before me c. Walk before me who am all-sufficient self-sufficient Original Universal Good the Pillar of Abrahams Faith And the Apostle speaks by way of wonder that any should not believe it Acts. 26.8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you That God should raise the Dead Therefore it is that the Sacred Scripture doth frequently mind us of his power to help our incredulitie Numb 23.19 God is not as man that he should lie nor the Son of man that he should repent hath he said it and shall he not do it or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good And again Is there any thing too hard for God So Math. 19.27 With God all things are possible A main prop to an humble Suppliant That seeing his own vileness and the Divine Excellencies which are warming and enlightning cryeth out Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean as it is recorded Math. 8. â— 2. This is the Rock on which the weak Anchor of a Christians Faith may firmly fix You know Sampsons Riddle Out of the Eater cometh forth Sweet The reason why Christians should consider the power of God out of this strong comes forth sweetness In the application hereof may be found Vse 1. Matter of Correction and that of two sorts First of such that make it too hard denying the Resurrection in opinion As Pearls are dissolved in Vinegar so is Truth in hearts made bitter with Corruption Thus we find many wicked and irregular Spirits who having renounced the blessings of the other life against the voice of nature in the order of the World wherein we have the New Birth of Stars days Seasons Plants and Birds who make a perpetual Image of the Resurrection in the World nay against the touch of God and impressions of verity on the very Gentiles who have professed the happiness of the Soul in the other life and the Resurrection even on their Tombs to deny the Resurrection So the Saduces of old Acts 23.8 Hymeneus and Philetus 2 Tim. 18. which you may easily perceive is not only to crack the eye of a reasonable judgment but also to pull out the eye of Faith all pure and caelestial as it is Or in practice Let us eat
and drink for to morrow we shall die 1 Cor. 15.32 Of those I mean who drown their Souls in their Bodies and would have no time to live longer than they have to sin and when there is an end of sinning wish there would be an end of living And well it would be for them if living like Beasts they might be annihilated like Beasts Thus men do err not knowing the power of God That God who out of nothing Created all things can certainly reduce many things into one When the Body is gone into a thousand substances he can easily make an abstraction and bring that Body together again as a Chymist out of several Metals mingled together can abstract one from the other the Silver from the Gold and the Alchimy from the Silver and reduce every Metal to its own kind Thus should we much more believe of God that he is able to extract and reinvest every Soul with its own Body though they are mingled and confounded with many other Substances The Persecutors of the Primitive Christians burnt their Bodies into Ashes and cast them into the River and all ad tollendam spem Resurrectionis but all in vain for even they also shall arise to a better Resurrection for at the Shrill Voice of the last Trumpet the greatest Jaylors shall surrrender up all their Prisoners all the scatter'd Dust of Adams Seed shall ride upon Windy Wings till it meet together in a collected Body All the Creatures in the world that have made their Meat of mans flesh shall finde that they have eaten Morsels too hard for the digestion of their weak Stomach Isa 26.19 The earth shall cast forth her Dead as a woman doth an untimely Birth the Grave shall be in travel with the Dead and shall be delivered of them Secondly Such as make this work too easie saying they can quicken themselves against all sense and common reason It is to maintain a proposition ridiculous to all humane understanding Can any thing make it self neither can any reasonable Creature raise it self to an higher rank of being than it is A Stone cannot make it self a Tree to have growth and life nor can a Tree make it self a Beast to have sense nor a Beast make it self a man to have Reason nor a Rational man make himself a Saint Or else ascribe it to the Ordinary course of Nature depriving the Lord of his Royal Prerogative Vse 2. Here is matter offered of strong consolation and encouragement to the holy seed of Abraham you believe in him who can quicken the dead For your sakes let me take leave a little to open this Cabinet that you may view the excellency of this powerful God in whom you believe and be sure the prospect will be very pleasing Death and so the Dead may be considered three ways 1. Politice There is a Death of Kingdomes and States as there is a rising and flourishing so there is a decaying and dying they spring flourish and dye the goodliest and stateliest Politick Bodies that ever the earth bore though animated with the searching Spirit of the most profound Policie strengthned with the resolution and valour of the most Unconquer'd sighted with Eagles eyes of largest depths and comprehensions of States and Crowns adorned with never so many prosperities and Triumphs yet like the natural Body of a man they have their revolutions and decays Most apparent in the ruines of the Roman Empire once a glorious Body and the once splendor of the Turkish Monarchie and the Venetian Aristocracy which sprang from the most contemptible beginning with the Spanish State which once appear'd like a Comet threatning destruction anâ— giving Laws to all the Nations round about her The Beams and Rasâ—ors of a State may be so linkâ— together so tenton'd and set into one another as might embolden a bare Politician to determine it an indissoluble Constitution But God undermines all with the Breath of his Mouth And Politicians have observed that the longest liv'd State on Earth suffers great alterations and Periods within the compass of four or five hundred years This decay is 1. In matters Ecclesiastical concerning Religion As the Church prays Psalm 80.18 Quicken us we call upon thee And the power of Christ Shines marvellously in the great Empire of his Church which the Father hath put into his hands to build raise and cement with his Blood illuminate with his Light and nourish with his Body To confirm which the Historian hath observ'd how the Doctrine of the Albigensâ—s was preserved notwithstanding all enemies and he hids all the Privy Counsellours of Nature who can tell where the Swallows lie all the Winter and how at the Spring they have a Resurrection from their seeming deadness Let them sâ—iâ—h he also inform uâ— in what invisible Sanctuary this Doctrine did lurk in spice of â—ll opposition and Persecution and how it reviv'd out of its Ashes at the coming of Luther And withal he observes that in those parts of France where the Albigenses were most cruelly handled now the Protestants the Heirs of most of their Tenents most Flourish 2. In matters Civil touching the Law and matter of Government as the Lord promised Isa 26.19 Thy Dead Body shall live c. Before they complained of very hard labour and that they brought forth nothing but Wind now thy Dead Body shall Live Which some refer to the Babylonâ—sh Captivity wherein they were as Dead Bones in the Grave without any Strength Wisdom or visible hope of being delivered yet though they seemed so very much decayed as if they were quite withered and Consumed with Calamity and Death he promised to raise them again and Cloâ—h them with Beauty and Glory Thus the Lord quickens the Dead If he burn his Phenix out of the very Ashes he will raise another 2. Physice And that is the Death of the Body of which we have spoken already The Eâ—rth shâ—ll cast forth her Dead This is easie to God to whom Miracles are as easie as natural operations A Miracle being nothing else but a new Creation 3. Ethice Which is the Death of the Soul Two fold First Temporary either by the absence of Grace or Divine Discretion when Man is indeed Dead or as a dead thing in his own apprehension the Lord quickneth You who were Dead he quickneth Man is Impotent and weak like a dead Member in the Body he is in himself without Strength And as the Organs can make no sound unless Breath be caused to enter into them so neither can a dead Soul make any Harmony till God breathe into it by his Blessed Spirit Secondly Eternal when the person is actually cut off from all hope and irrecoverably shut up in the eternal Abyss So the Lord doth not he will not quicken Luke 16.26 There is a great Gulf a Diamond Wall between Hell and Paradice so that they who pass from earth to Hell cannot return c. Tali privatione non Datur Progressus That Gulf being
Imprisoned in a Cloud shall be set in a Clear Skie The Bright Diamond of your Souls now soiled with Corruption shall be cleansed all the Black Spots now fixt there shall be changed into radiant Lights of Heaven Comfort one another with these words Vse 4. Lastly We are hence instructed in some few Duties viz. 1. To shun inward Sins Hypocrisie Pride Vain-Glory Infidelity as carefully as outward and more visible Sins God is Omniscient and views the sins of the heart as well as the sins of the Life the under Roots as well as the upper Boughs He sees Faults where men see none Nay that which shines to mans eye like a Diamond is in Gods Ballance a Contemptible Worm It was a wise practice therefore of that Arabian we read of who to prevent sin represented to himself over his head an Eye which perpetually enlightned him an Ear which heard him and an Hand which measured out all his Deportments and Demeanours Verily the due consideration of Gods Eye will blunt a thousand and a thousand Arrows shot against the heart of a resolute Christian If the exercise thereof were as familiar to us as it is effectual how powerful a motive would it be to cleanse all the impurities of our Intentions and affections and give us leave to arrive to the top of Perfection 2. To seek to him for Knowledg Ignorance is no Branch of his Image who is Omniscient Let it be the Mother of Popish Devotion suffer it not so much to be with the Profession of Christs Religion He giveth wisdom liberally He descended into the Country of Darkness to scatter Knowledg by his brightness and ceaseth not to give light and kindle in our hearts many Inspirations which are like so many Stars to conduct us to the Fountain of our Happiness Hear him promising All thy Children shall be taught of God It is his Prerogative to teach Hearts The Sun enlightens the World and Christ enlightens Souls Make it your Prayer Lord breathe upon us breathe thy Spirit into thy Word You may read the Bible and hear Sermons over and over but to no purpose till the Spirit of Christ Shine in your Hearts and the more Commerce you have with the Divine Essence the more splendour you shall enjoy And having obtained use all to his Glory from whom you receive all Be faithful Stewards Like as small Rivers which pay their Tribute and acknowledgments to the great Ocean whence they came 3. Prize the Lord Jesus Christ set an high esteem upon him why do we Reverence Learned men among our selves as those eminent Doctors Reynolds both former and latter Perkins Bolton Luther Melancthon Musculus Beza Calvin Zanchis Chamier Camero and others Among our Adversaries Lumbard Aquinas Durand Hales c. Among the Gentiles Aristotle Plutarch Homer c. With other brave Fellows separated from us by many Lands and Seas yea by Death and all for their Knowledg because we have seen a Ray of their wits upon Paper Beams of their Knowledg which was but a drop of his Ocean and a Spark of his Light who Enlightneth every one that cometh into the World this made them admired If Alexander could say That he was more bound to Aristotle his Schoolmaster than to his Natural Parent how much more are we bound unto and should we Prize and Praise our Omniscient Jesus Secondly we have here offer'd to our Consideration The Omnipotency of our God in whom we Believe He calleth i. e. he Causeth things not only to appear but also to be in time as they were willed and seen before time This Power is either Absolute whereof sacred writings say but little and about which we are not to enquire or Actual as Limited by his Will and Ordered by his Wisdom to give being and dispose his Creatures by means to their several ends Of which we are now to discourse giving us two Observations viz. 1. That our God in whom Abraham believed and we should belilve is Omnipotent 2. That the Omnipotency of our God in whom we should believe is a firm ground of Faith For the former Our God is Omnipotent He can do all things that imply not Imperfection as to Sin and deny himself to Sin is against his Supremacy he hath no Superiour against whom he might offend It is against his Natural Sanctity and Omnipotency Or that imply not a Contradiction as to be and not to be at the same time in the same Respect because that is Repugnant to Entity Thiâ— is true of all the Persons 1. Of the Father none ever Acknowledging a God denying it So we have it in the Apostles Creed I believe in God the Father Almighty Where Almighty is applyed to the Father Inclusively as Lord or Dominion is appropriated to the Son not excluding the Father or the Holy Spirit Hence it is that Hereticks have appropriated all the Attributes of Eternity Omnisciency Omnipotency to the Father alone 2. It is true of the Son John 1.3 All things were made by him and without him was nothing made Which latter Clause is added for â—…e more Certainty it being usual with the Hebrews thus by Negation to Confirm what before they have affirmed where they would assure that the thing is so indeed He is therefore stiled The first and the last Revel 1.17 It is a verity that is written with the Rays of a vast number of Divine Witnesses 3. It is true of the Holy Spirit Gen. 1.2 The Spirit moved on the Face of the Waters i. e. he sustained them by the Power of his Sublimity However Interpreters have varied hereabout yet all conclude it to be the Spirit of God nothing distinct from the Deity or Infinite Active Power of God So the Psalmist 95 Psalm which our Apostle takes notice of as spoken not by but of the Holy Spirit Hebr. 3.7 The Grounds whereof are twofold 1. The Unity of Nature doth imply equality of Power we say we believe there are three Subsistences in the Divine Essence and that each of those Persons is truely and properly God and we find such Attributes and works ascribed to the whole Nature of the Deity to the several Persons Subsisting in that Divine Nature as do evince their Power to be the same 2. This Manifestation of power is opus ad extra and therefore common According to that constant Rule of Credit among all Divines Opera Trinitatis ad extrâ— sunt indivisa But especially Attributed to the Second Person here and in most places because that is most beneficial to the Church and is most opPosed by Enemies Gen. 17.1 I am God Almighty Elshaddai signifying either Sufficiency because he is sufficient of himself as Psalm 16.2 My Goodness extendeth not to thee c. He is Infinitely above Creatures Infinite in Essence and Goodness comprehending within himself all good and anticipating it to all Eternity with an incomparable Eminency Or else it signifieth Omnipotency for the word will bear both all things yielding to him both for