Apostle himself who tells his Corinthians 2 Cor. 1.8 that by the trouble which hapned to him in Asia he was pressed out of measure beyond strength 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so falleth it out sometimes with other of the Saints There is a great disproportion betwixt their burden and their strength the one great the other small Now how shall a Christian be able to bear up in such a case so to fortifie and strengthen his spirit as that he may not faint in the day of Adversity A. A great and difficult work I confesse A. Some soveraign Cordials prescribed yet through the help of Grace attainable To help you therein let me prescribe unto you some Soveraign Cordials some spiritual Consolations which may be and being taken into the soul will be very usefull for this purpose for the supporting and bearing up the spirit under whatever affliction this poor life of ours upon earth is subject to These Consolations are many as also our Afflictions are I shall single out some of the choisest Which I shall desire you carefully to lay up Happily at the present you may have no great need of them but how soon you may you know not And therefore lay them up in the Closet of your hearts They are not like the Apothecaries Drugs some of which being long kept lose their vertue The day may come when some one of them may requite all your care and pains In the First place then look at Afflictions themselves Direct 1 Loâ—k at Afflictions themselves wherein consider The Israelites in the Wildernesse were cured of the stinging of the Serpents by looking upon the Serpent And so may a Christian by looking upon Afflictions strengthen his heart against them The Hony of the Bee is a medicine for the Sting Afflictions though never so bitter yet will afford somewhat that may serve to allay that bitternesse In them cast we an eye upon 4 or 5 particulars which may be usefull this way The Quality Quantity Continuance Commonnesse Issue of them 1. Consid 1 The Quality of them Here we shall finde that in themselves they are a Curse The Quality of them as qualified by Christ Such are all Afflictions all fruits and consequents of sin and punishments of it every one being an Appendix to that first Curse The day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death surely die Gen. 2.17 that is be subject to manifold evils as in soul so in body tending to death to the destruction of both But by through Christ their nature is now altered the Curse is taken away That was one and the chief of those Ingredients which was put into this Cup which was given to Christ to drink and which he did drink upon the Crosse He being there made subject to that accursed death that he might free us from the Curse of death and of all its retinue Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 So that what the Apostle saith of Death it self 1 Cor. 15.55 O Death where is thy sting We may say the same of whatever afflictions and crosses can befall the children of God upon earth their Sting is gone Surely the bitternesse of death is past saith Agag having as he thought armed himself against the fear of it which is the greatest part of Deaths bitternesse 1 Sam. 15.32 And the like may all true Believers say concerning all their Afflictions and sufferings The bitternesse of them is past as to them the Curse being taken away from them by Christ which is indeed the chief part of their bitternesse Even as Moses altered the quality of those waters of Marah took away the bitternesse of them by casting into them that Tree which the Lord had shewed him so hath Christ taken away the bitternesse of all the waters of Affliction by the Tree of his Crosse to which he was designed by his Father The bitternesse of Afflictions as I said was the Curse going along with them they being in themselves all tokens of wrath But now that bitternesse that Curse is taken away So as to true Believers they are no longer tokens of wrath but rather Love-tokens Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth Prov. 3.12 chasteneth Heb. 12.6 Yea Pledges of Adoption So it there followeth Heb. 12.6 7. He scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth If ye endure chastenings God dealeth with you as with Sons Not to know what Chastisements mean it is no good sign If ye be without Chastisement whereof all all Gods children are partakers then are ye bastards and not sons so it there followeth v. 8. For God to exercise his Children with afflictions it is a sign that he owns them for his Children and a demonstration of his fatherly love to them and care of them Thus do these Cups which Gods people drink of they come from the hand of a Father not of a Judge being to them not satisfactory but castigatory punishments Not properly punishments but Chastisements Not tokens of wrath but Love-tokens A usefull and comfortable meditation for the soul of a Believer to feed upon in the midst of whatever distresse What is it that maketh these Cups so bitter unto the soul Why when it looketh upon them as they are in themselves as Cups of divine wrath and fury Now no wonder if it shake and tremble at the drinking of them So long as a man apprehends these Arrowes which he feeleth to stick fast in him to be poysoned Arrowes shot at him by the hand of a revenging God now no wonder if the soul have no peace no quiet But look upon them as they are changed and altered by Christ having the Curse taken away and as they are tokens and pledges of Adoption which being sanctified they certainly are the soul being perswaded of this this will be as a soveraign Cordial to it to keep it from fainting Q. Q. Yea but you will say how shall a man know this How Chastisements may be known from Punishments that they are so to him that they are only Chastisements and not Punishments and that they are tokens of love and pledges of Adoption When as they are tokens of wrath to some how shall I know that they are not so to me A. A. To this I have in part hinted an Answere already Take it a little more fully yet briefly 1. How do you drink this Cup how doe ye suffer these afflictions Doe you quietly patiently By the manner of suffering them contentedly submit to the hand of God in them If so now hear what the Apostle saith to you in that Text even now cited Heb. 12.7 If ye indure chastning God dealeth with you as with Sons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not if you suffer afflictions for so do the worst of men But if ye endure chastening receive Afflictions from the hands of God as Chastisements kissing the Rod humbling your selves under the hand of God as dutifull Children under
is free from his Master so Job describes the state of the dead Job 3.17 18 19. Thus doth God our heavenly Father make use of this as his Handkerchief to wipe away all tears from the eyes of his Children as we have it Rev. 7. last After death there shall be to them no more death nor crying neither shall there be any more pain as that other Text hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ae chylus Rev. 21.4 Death lets out the Christian as it doth all men from the sense and fear of all temporall Evils 2. Yea it freeth him from what is far worse from Spiritual Evils Spirituall giving a Quietus est as to the Body so to the Soul Freeing him 1. From Sin He that is dead is freed from sin Rom. From sin 6.7 So it is indeed with a mortified soul a regenerate person that is spiritually dead dead to sin which the Apostle there chiefly aymeth at he is freed from it viz. from the guilt and power of it But this is but a partiall freedome which is compleated and perfected in and by naturall death by which the Believer obtaineth a perfect freedome Being hereby so freed from sin as in this life he cannot be Freed from the committing of it From the inbeing of it From the beholding of it From the committing of it 1. From the committing of it which while he is here he is not cannot be However as the Apostle hath it in the verse there foregoing Rom. 6.6 the old man being crucified with Christ the Body of sin is so far destroyed that henceforth the regenerate person doth not serve sin he having thus suffered in the flesh ceaseth from sin as St. Peter hath it 1 Pet. 4.1 Corruption being in measure mortified he doth not now sin as before he did so as to make a custome and practise of it yet through weaknesse he doth commit some acts of sin and that daily There is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not Eccl. 7.20 But Death giveth the Believer a perfect discharge so as thenceforth he sinneth no more He that hath entred into his rest saith the Apostle he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his Heb. 4.10 God upon the seventh day kept a Sabbath resting from his works of Creation such as he had wrought upon the six dayes before So doth the Believer in death he entereth into his rest that Eternall Sabbatisme where he ceaseth from his own works such works as he here wrought in the flesh specially from the works of the flesh sinfull works Opera nostra vocantur labores curas vocationis nostrae tùm opera carnis noturae vitiosae peccatae quae vere sunt nestra quia â nobis fiunt nec probantur Dec c. Pareus Com. ad loc which as Pareus there noteth upon it may most properly be called a mans own works inasmuch as he doth them of himself without any approbation or allowance from God From these works the Godly man after death wholly ceaseth Which the wicked man doth not who being in Hell ceaseth not to blaspheme God Like as the followers of the Beast are said to doe upon the powring out of the Vials They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains c. Rev. 16.9 11 21. so doe the damned in hell because of their torments they blaspheme God and commit other sins such as that their state is capable of Which whether they be formally and properly sins in them not lying under a Law as here they did I shall not dispute but Materially I am sure they are being the same sinfull acts which here they committed But from such acts shall the believer now cease so as never more to commit any sin Noe nor yet to be in any possibility of committing it Such a state doth death bring Gods Children to a state in this respect far more happy then that wherein our first Parents were in Paradise There they were free from sin but not from a possibility of sinning which the event shewed But Gods Saints by death are freed from this being hereby put into an impeccable state and so confirmed as that they shall never more have any will or inclination to that which is evill Thus are they freed from the acting the Committing of sin 2. From the inbeing of it And so Secondly from the Inbeing the Indwelling of it So it is that the best of Saints while they are here they have sin dwelling in them It is no more I that do it saith Paul but sin that dwelleth in me Rom. 7.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereby meaning Innolita illa pridem peccandi consuetndo Grot. Annot. ad loc not that Habit and Custome of sin which is in an unregenerate person as Grotius expounds it but that Naturall Corruption which still cleaveth to the Regenerate This he found still dwelling in him And so it will in the most sanctyfied soul upon earth And there dwelling it will also be warring seeming sometimes to Conquer So also that Apostle there out of his own experience complaines v. 23. I find another Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members Such a conflict there is and will be in the best of Saints Corruption striving against Grace Yea and sometimes prevailing against it Even as a strong tide carrieth the ship against the stroke of the Rowers Which cannot but create a great deal of trouble to the Soul So it did to that blessed Apostle who upon this account looked upon himself as a miserable man crying out in the next verse verse 24. O wretched man that I am who shal deliver me from the Body of this death That Body of sin as he elswere calleth it Rom. 6.6 which he found living in him was to him a Body of death making his life miserable to him So would it be to a Child-bearing woman to have the Child lye dead within her rotting and putrifying in her womb whereof notwithstanding all indeavours used she cannot be delivered Or to a living man to be tyed to a dead karkesse Even so is it with a regenerate person whilest he is here the living and the dead are tyed together Grace and Gorruption And so tyed together as nothing can part them but death Like as it was with that fretting leprosie of which we read Lev. 14.45 which having eaten into the Wals there was no cure for it but by pulling down the house Even so is it with this Leprosie of sin having seized upon the soul and eaten into all the powers and faculties of Soul and Body there is no way to be freed from it but by death And this will do it The house being pulled down the Leprosie ceased And so doth sin in death The dissolution of the Body is the Absolution of the Soul freeing it from this
impetuous inmate which otherwise will not out whatever warnings are given it The death of nature is the death of sin making that true Filia devoravit matrem The daughter devours the Mother Sin which at the first brought forth death is destroyed by it And were there no other Argument Noe perfect freedome from sin but by death how should this work upon the soul of a Christian to make him not averse to the drinking of this Cup it being the only Remedy for the perfect cure of this Malady We see how it is in bodily diseases having been long and painful and all meanes having been tryed for cure but proving ineffectuall this continuall conflict maketh the sick man weary of his life so long for death and to be glad when he can find the grave as Job describeth his condition Job 3.21 22. And such is sin to the Soul an inveterate an uncurable malady being an hereditary disease which man brought into the world with him and use what meanes he may yet he cannot be freed from it a continuall Affliction And so it will be so long as life it self continueth How willing then should this make a Christian to imbrace death So did this Consideration work upon the Apostle who upon this account cryeth out as even now you heard O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me As if he had said O that I were out of this miserable mortall life during which doe what I can sin will still dwell in me and from the molestation whereof I cannot be freed but by death So long as a Christian carrieth this mortall Body about with him he shall never be freed from this Body of sin O how willing should this make us to lay down the one that we might be rid of the other Which the believe shall be by death Hereby he shall be freed as from the acting so from the indwelling of sin 3. From the beâ—â—lding of it Yea in the third place from the Beholding of it As he shall henceforth have no more experimenatll knowledge of it in himself so he shall be no longer a be holder of it in others Which is no small eye sore to a sanctyfied soul So it was to righteous Lot of whom St. Peter tels us 2 Pet. 2.7 That being a just person he was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked viz. Of those wicked Sodomites among whom he lived So the next verse explaines it For that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his Soul from day to day with their unlawfull deeds To see God so highly dishoured his Lawes so shamefully violated as by all kinds of abhominations they were this was a continuall corrasive and heart-breaking unto him And so was it to David who was in like manner affected with the sins of the times wherein he lived as he sets it forth Psal 119. v. 136. Rivers of waters run down mine eys because they keep not thy Law And again verse 158. I beheld the transgressours and was grieved because they kept not thy word And it cannot be otherwise with a gratious spirit to see the Abhominations of the times and places wherein he liveth to hear the name of his God blasphemed to see his Ordinances profaned his worship sleighted his messengers scorned his truths affronted his waies evil spoken of c. this cannot but affect it This it was that made David crye out in his Banishment as he doth Psal 120.5 Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesheck that I dwell in the tents of Kedar that is amongst a savage and barbarous people who had no knowledge nor fear of God whose lives and conversations were wicked and abominable And truly such is this world in a great measure wherein a Christian shall meet with two many of this rank The consideration whereof should make him the more willing to leave it to embrace Death when it cometh which is Gods Fan whereby he severeth his Wheat from the Worlds Chaffe the precious from the vile his own people from others so as they shall no longer be in danger of being seduced by evill doers or yet be infested by them The Goats being separated from the Sheep they shall be no longer an annoyance to them as here by the stinch of their unclean and filthy conversation they were In that New Jerusalem into which Death letteth all true Believers there shall in no wise enter any thing that defileth neither whatever worketh abomination Rev. 21. last Thus doth Death free them from this worst of Evils sin both from the committing and inbeing and beholding of it To which may be added that it freeth them also from the Temptations and molestations of Satan Death freeth the Believer from Satanicall temptations Which in this life the best of Saints are subject to Paul complains of the buffetings of Satan which himself felt 2 Cor. 12.7 And who but hath experience of his assaults some way or other He being an unwearied Adversary making it his work to goe to and fro in the earth and to walk up and down in it as himself giveth account of it to God Job 1.7 As a roaring Lyon walking about seeking whom he may devour as St. Peter hath it 1 Pet. 5.8 So as none can be secure from his attempts He that spared not to set upon our Saviour as he did in the Wildernesse plying him with Temptations one after another will not spare to do the like to his Disciples Simon Simon saith our Saviour to Peter behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as Wheat Luk. 22.31 to shake him and the rest by tempting or troubling them seeking by all possible wayes and means to subvert and destroy them in their bodies or souls And the like he doth to the best of Saints having a speciall evill eye upon them being ambitious to cast them down whom he seeth standing He maketh it his work either to draw them into evill or to draw evill upon them either to turn them out of the wayes of God or to make them as rough and troublesome to them as he may But Death sets the Believer out of his reach The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly saith Paul to his Romans Rom. 16.20 This God doth partly in this life sometimes giving unto his people great victories over this their enemy but he will do it fully in Death By which they shall be carryed in their Souls where Satan cometh not This Old Serpent being once cast out of heaven shall never enter there again Thirdly as it freeth them from Satanicall Also from divine tentations so also from divine temptations such as God is pleased sometimes to exercise his people with those Soul-conflicts of which I spake before where God hiding his face from his people and letting in some apprehensions of wrath into their souls maketh their condition for the present very sad and uncomfortable Now from all these shall
see all in him see all things after another manner then here it doth When that which is perfect is come then that which is imperfect shall be done away 1 Cor. 13.10 And as perfect knowledge so perfect Love Love Seeing God as he is it cannot be but the soul must be inflamed with Love to him And so perfect Holinesse This Christians are here called upon to endeavour after Holinesse Having therefore these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holynesse in the fear of God so the Apostle exhorts 2 Cor. 7.1 But this while we are here we shall never attain unto But comming to see God now shall we be like him holy as he is holy being perfectly restored to that Image of God wherein man at the first was created consisting in Knowledge Holinesse and Righteousnesse Such is the perfection of Grace which the soul attaines by this beatificall vision 2. And as Grace so of Glory Like as silver or gold being set against the Sun Of glory by the beames thereof cast upon it it becommeth radiant and shining So shall it be with the soul by beholding the glory of God it shall it self be made glorious Such a glory had Moses put upon his face when he beheld the glory of the Lord having so near a communion with him upon Mount Sina the skin of his face did shine saith the story so as Aaron and the rest of the Children of Israel were not able to behold him Exod. 34.29.30 Such shall be the glory of the glorified soul having communion with God in Heaven and there beholding his glory it shall be made glorious This office doth death perform unto the believer it letteth in his soul into the presence of God whereby it becommeth perfect with perfection of Grace and Glory 2. The believer by death brought into the presence of Jesus Christ to have a full communion with him To this add It brings him also into the presence of Jesus Christ from whom while he is here he is absent While we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord. 2 Cor. 5.6 But now death brings the soul into his presence to have a sweet communion with him A consideration which made the Apostle not only averse to death but desirous of it I desire to depart and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 This it was that made him so confident and resolute as he was not to regard life or fear death as he there telleth his Corinthians 2 Cor. 5 6.8 Therefore we are alwaies confident knowing that whilest we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord. We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord Which elswhere he concludes to be far better for him then to live here Phil 1.23 To see Christ to be with him to injoy him to have a full communion with him what happinesse shall this be to the soul And this doth death bring the believer to 3. As also to Communion and Fellowship with blessed Saints and Angels Also to Communion with Saints and Angels With them the believer hath Vnion whilest here upon earth Ye are come unto mount Sion saith the Apostle to his believing Hebâ—ews and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the generall Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.22 23. Being true believers they were now made members of the Mystical body the Church whereof the one part is upon earth the other in heaven they had union with Saints and Angels being united to them by faith and Love which all Believers are But now by death they come to have a full Communion with them to see them to injoy them to have converse and society with them joyning with that heavenly Quire in singing Halelujahs to him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb for Ever and Ever Here is now the good which death bringeth the believer to and putteth him in possession of The thought whereof being seriously set on upon the soul it cannot but work it to a willing receiving and imbracing of such a messenger as bringeth tidings of so great good unto it Anticonsiderations or Objections answered I but it may be said though it be thus with the Soul yet in the mean time what becomes of the poor Body Obj. 1 Though the soul gain by death yet the body looseth Though the soul he a gainer by death yet the Body is a looser by it Though that return to God that gave it yet this goeth to the grave where it is subject to Corruption Which maketh our Saviours case and ours far different As for him he knew that though his Body being severed from his Soul for a time should lye under the power of death yet it should not see corruption So David had foretold it Psal 16.10 Where personating of Christ as Peter expounds it Act. 2.31 He foretelleth what manner of death his should be Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thine Holy one to see corruption And this our Saviour himself well knew who foretold his Disciples how though he were killed yet he should rise again the third day Mat. 16.21 And upon this account he might be more willing to dye But it is otherwise with other of the sons of men That which Paul saith of David that he saw Corruption Act. 13.36 is noe less true of others Be their Bodies never so richly embalmed yet will not that preserve them from putrefaction So much the Psalmist willeth the great men of the world to take notice of Psal 49.6 7. They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches None of them saith he can by any meanes redeeme his brother and so not themselves that he should still live for ever and not see corruption Such is the common fate None but must expect to have their bodies lye rotting in the grave in that land of forgetfulnesse as the Psalmist calleth it Psal 88.12 Where as they forget all that was done upon earth so they are forgotten by those they leave behind them Being laid up in the earth there the worm feedeth sweetly on them and they shall be no more remembred as Job faith of the cruell Oppressours Job 24.20 Now this is a thing which flesh and bloud cannot but look upon with great reluctancy the thought whereof may well make it loath to lay down the body upon such tearms To return an answer to this and some other Anticonsiderations or Objections of like nature which men are ready to take up and make use of in this way as discouragements hindring them that they cannot so willingly drink this Cup submit to the stroake of death as
peace Luk. 2.29 And the like do we in a spirituall sense receive we the Lord Jesus being held forth unto us in the promise of the Gospell and take hold upon him clasping and imbracing him in the armes of our faith receiving him as our Saviour and Lord. As our Saviour believing on him for the pardon and remission of all our sins As our Lord yielding up our selves to be guided and governed by him by his word and Spirit Which whilest we do now shall we have no just cause to fear this Enemy which is by this Captain of our Salvation conquered and disarmed so as now it cannot hurt any of those that are his O then let every of us make sure our interest in him Upon which depends all our hope and comfort both in life and death Christ being once ours now we may hear the Apostle telling us that all things are ours 1 Cor. 3.21 All things among which he reckons Life and Death with things present and things to come All ours so is Life even temporall life so as it shall be continued to us whilest it is expedient And so is Death which when it comes shall not be hurtful but advantagious and beneficial To me to live is Christ and to dye is gain Phil. 1.21 So are things present the concernments of this present life as Crosses so Comforts both serving for our good And things to come Eternal glory and happinesse Which whilest a Christian is assured of why should not he be as willing to dye as live 3. Only in the third place look out also for the seal of the Spirit Look out for the seal of the Spirit Thus are Assurances made among men by setting seals to writings to bonds and bils and other conveyances And such Assurance labour we for to get the promises sealed unto us and that by this seal the seal of the Spirit which the Apostle calleth the earnest of our inheritance Eph. 1.13 14. An earnest confirms the bargain and assures the payment of the whole summe And so doth the earnest of the Spirit as he elswhere calleth it 2 Cor. 1.22 the work of Regeneration and Sanctification begun in the soul this is as Gods seal which confirmeth his promises to his people and giveth them assurance of their heavenly inheritance Which being assured off what should make them unwilling to depart hence when God calleth for them Having now another house to receive them when they are turned out of this and that infinitely better as the Apostle telleth them 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building not made with hands eternal in the heavens Now what man would be unwilling to leave a poor ruinous Cottage which he holdeth only at the pleasure of the Land-lord being subject to be turned out of it every day when as he may have posession of a Royal palace whereof also he shal have the fee-simple estate And such is that heavenly house that celestial glory and happinesse which Christ having purchased for those that are his is gone before to take posession of and to prepare for them I go to prepare a place for you Joh. 14.2 it infinitely excelleth all earthly glory far more then the most princely palace doth the meanest cottage O labour we but to make sure this our Inheritance in that other world this will make us not unwilling to leave this Here is a first Direction Seek after Assurance that we have an interest in God and Jesus Christ and so a right to eternal life And being thus assured of Life Dir. 2 now Prepare for death Prepare for death by dying daily So did the blessed Apostle who tels his Corinthians that he dyed daily 1 Cor. 15.31 I protest by your rejoycing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord I dye daily Apprehending death continually hanging over his head he was daily preparing for it And the like do we that we may be willing to dye once when God calleth us to it dye daily Q. But how shall we do this A. Take the answer in three or four particulars 1. Dye daily to sin This the Apostle telleth us Christ once did for us To sin In that he dyed he dyed unto sin once Rom. 6.10 This he did not for himself for he knew no sin but for us for the expiating of our sins the taking away the guilt of them And what he did once doe we daily daily dye to sin for the taking away the power of it in our selves A work which will not be done at once as that of our Saviour was True the Apostle speaking of believers saith they are dead to sin Rom. 6.2.11 in as much as they are not now under the power of it as sometimes they were But this is but an imperfect work not done at once Though sin hath received its mortal wound in them yet it is stil alive Though they be dead to it yet it liveth in them And therefore they must make this their daily their continual work to be dying to it mortifying the body of sin that it may dye before them The life of sin is the life of death So long as a man liveth in any one sin he will never be willing to dye And therefore set we upon the mortification of all our sinful Lusts Specially our beloved Lusts those which have been most near and dear to us most strong and prevalent in us Never resting until we find our hearts brought to an utter abhorrence and detestation of them and of all other sinful waies and courses so as we can say with the Psalmist that we hate every false way Psa 119.104 Thus Sin being dead death will not be so terrible As we get ground of the one we shal get strength against the other Secondly Dye daily to the world To the world So did the Apostle who telleth us of himself that he was crucified to the world and the world to him Gal. 6.14 He had as little affection to the world as the world had to him he was dead to that and that to him And it is the counsel which he giveth to others 1 Cor. 7.31 that they should so use this world as not abusing it Not doting upon any thing here below whether riches oâ— pleasures or honours Not setting the heart upon them If riches increase set not your hearts upon them Psal 62.10 And so for the rest Not being inordinately affected with any contentments which this world can afford but looking overly upon them so using them as if they used them not So run those foregoing directions of the Apostle there 1 Cor. 7.29 30. This I say brethren the time is short It remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not And this let every of us strive to
denominated from his Divine nature God shed his blood that is that Person who was ruely God as well as Man shed his blood not as God but as Man Deus sed non qua Deus God but not as God Deus sed non Deitas God in the Concrete not the Godhead in the Abstract The Lord of glory was crucifyed the Author of life was killed that Person who was so in respect of his divine nature was crucified killed in his humane nature That which is proper to one nature is attributed to the person So is it with man in whom soul and body are united that which is proper to one of these is attributed to the Person As when the Body is sick wounded buryed we say the man is so So in the sufferings of Christ it was his Manhood which suffered not the Godhead yet it is attributed to the person Which is as I say sometimes denominated from the one nature sometimes from the other It was the humane nature of Christ or the Person of Christ in and according to his humane nature which properly suffered And this he did in his whole man Christ suffering in his whole man In his Body both in his Body and Soul 1. In his Body This it was which was bound scourged spit upon Crowned with thorns which first bare the Crosse and then was born of it which was pierced by the Nayls and the Spear which shed its blood Thus did he bear our sins in his own body on the Tree as St. Peter hath it 1 Pet. 2.4 And we are said to be sanctified that is freed from the guilt of sin and consecrated to the service of God through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ Heb. 10.10 2. But not his Body only but his Soul also In his Soul That also did bear a part in this suffering which it did not only by way of sympathy with the Body but immediately in and by it self So it did in that Agony of his in the Garden where he made that sad complaint to his Disciples My soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death Matth. 26.38 And afterwards upon the Crosse where being under a sad Eclipse the light of his Fathers countenance being hid from him by that black Cloud the sins of the World in that conflict he cryeth out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matth. 27.46 Thus did he then suffer in soul His soul being made an offering for sin as well as his Body as the Prophet Isai hath it Isa 53.10 Thus did he suffer in his humane nature in his whole man both Body and soul Q. But it may be said what then did not the Godhead also act a part in this Tragedy Was that only a Spectator a Looker on whilest the Manhood suffered A. The Godhead acting in the suffering of the Manhood Not so the Godhead at this time was not idle though it did not bear yet it acted a part in this Passion Though it did not suffer with the humane nature yet it concurred with it in sufsuffering Which it did in divers particulars Take we notice of Four or Five of them 1. Voluit It willed that suffering Christ as God willed that his suffering as Man Willing that it should suffer So much he intimates unto his Disciples Joh. 10.17 18. where he tells them I lay down my life that I may take it again No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self He layed down his life how why by the same power by which he took it up again by the power of his divine nature according to which he is properly called the Prince or Author of life Act. 3.15 By this power it was that he raised up his body from the death and by this power it was that he gave it up to death It was not the power of his humane nature that could doe this to lay down his life and take it up again at pleasure This was an act of his divine nature as well as his humane 2. Quievit As the Godhead willed that the Manhood should suffer Resting that it 〈…〉 suffer so it rested that it might suffer The divine nature was not withdrawn and severed from the humane in the time of its passion the union betwixt them being indissoluble but it rested not putting forth its power in any way of resistance which if it had done it was not all the Powers of Hell all the Men and Devils in the World that could have brought him to the Crosse The Godhead rested slept as it were even as Sampson did whilest his locks were cut off which it did for those three dayes during which time Christ seemed to be wholly left in the hands under the power of those his bloudy enemies for them to execute their rage and malice upon him Thus the Godhead though as I said not separated from the Manhood which it never was even then when Soul and Body were separated the one from the other the Godhead was severed from neither yet it rested Even as when a man is asleep his soul is not departed from his body yet it seemeth to have left it inasmuch as it doth not exercise those operations which before it did not looking out by the Eye not speaking by the Tongue not working by the Hand c. So was it here The Godhead being still with the Manhood dwelling in it and that as the soul doth in the body Bodily In ipso inâ—â—hitat plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter quià in Templo habitaverat umbâ—aliteâ— Grot. Annâ—t ex August in loc that is Pauls word Col. 2.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non umbraliter as Augustine explains it not in the shadow as it dwelt in the Temple but Corporaliter Bodily that is Personally substantially yet it rested for a time not shewing it self not exercising its wonted operations The Godhead rested that the humane nature might suffer 3. Sustentavit Though the Godhead thus rested that it might suffer Supporting it in suffering yet it secretly supported and bare it up in suffering inabling it to drink this Cup to suffer that which otherwise of it self it could never have been able to have done viz. the wrath of God due unto the sins of the World An insupportable burden Such is the least drop of it Who knoweth the power of thine anger Psal 90.11 What is then such a full Viall of it as was poured out upon Christ in his sufferings This could his humane nature of it self never have borne But it was secretly supported by the divine nature As it is in Man where as the Wise man hath it Prov. 18.14 his spirit sustaineth his infirmities the soul being of a cheerfull temper beareth him up under his bodily ailments So here that Eternall spirit which dwelt in the humane nature of Christ sustained and bore it up under those otherwise unsufferable sufferings 4. And not only bare it up under those sufferings And making
off from it For this a threefold Reason may be assigned Answ This he did upon a threefold ground 1. Reas 1 The first and principal whereof is that which we meet with in the Text. His obedience to his Father His Father had given this Cup to him to drink and therefore he will drink it The Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it God his Father had decreed willed that he should suffer and dye and this his will he had made known unto him And therefore in obedience to his command he thus willingly yieldeth hereunto I lay down my life of my self saith he but wherefore Why This Commandement I have received from my Father so himself there giveth the Reason of it Joh. 10.18 Even as Isaac herein a type of him in obedience to his Father yields himself to be bound and layed upon the Wood to be sacrificed Gen. 22. which he did willingly without the least reluctancy or resistance that we read of So did the Lord Jesus in obedience to his Father he willingly yielded up himself to the death He humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Crosse Phil. 2.8 Such an absolute and universal complyance there was betwixt Christ and his Father What his Father willed that he willed So himself declares it Joh. 5.30 I seek not mine own will but the will of him that sent me And again in the Chapter following v. 38. I came down from heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me Thus did he as God perfectly comply with the will of his Father Being one God with him there was but one will betwixt them What the Father willed the Son willed And as Man he was in every thing subordinate to him Not doing his own will I seek not myne own will As Man if it had been consistent with the will of God his Father he could have wished that this Cup might have passed from him which he doth Matth. 26.39 Father if it be possible let this Cup passe from me There was the will of his humane iâ—firmity Nature being desirous to preserve it self which it might doe without sin But this will he submits and resolves into the will of his Father Neverthelesse not as I will but as thou wilt so he there limits his desire And again vers 42. O my Father if this Cup may not passe from me except I drink it thy will be done Thus was there a perfect conformity of his will as God and subordination as Man to the will of his Father And from hence flowed this willing submission of his in drinking of this Cup. This he did in obedience to his Father Which I shall God willing make some Application of hereafter for the present passing it by 2. Reas 2 As herein he had an eye to his Father willing this so also to his Elect people needing it His good wil to his Elect people Their redemption their salvation depended upon it As for what he had already done in his Active Obedience in fulfilling the Law this alone could have been no wayes available unto them The Justice of God required further satisfaction even the suffering of death This was that which the Law had threatned In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye saith the Lord to Adam Gen. 2.17 thou shalt die the death be subject and bound over unto death not only temporall but eternall And under this sentence do all the Sons of Adam by nature lye being bound over unto death not only in their Bodies but in their Souls bound over unto eternall death Now this Law must be satisfied before the Elect of God could be redeemed And how should this be without shedding of blood Without shedding of blood there is no Remission Heb. 9.22 And upon this account again it was that our blessed Saviour was so willing to drink this Cup to subject himself to this accursed death not only to a naturall but to that which was equivalent to an eternall death to suffer the wrath of God due unto the sins of the World that so he might free his Elect people from that Curse Which he did out of an unspeakable love to them This it was that induced God the Father to give this Gup to his Son God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. Joh. 3.16 And this it was which also induced him so willingly to drink it in this way to give himself for them Who loved me and gave himself for me saith Paul Gal. 2.20 Christ hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God Eph. 5.2 Christ loved his Church and gave himself for it v. 25. This it was which next to the will of God his Father put him forward upon this service with such resolution and willingnesse even that ardent affection which he bare to his Elect people This will love doe The power of intense Love It beareth all things as the Apostle saith of it 1 Cor. 13.7 Where it is intense it will make a heavy burden light Jacob loving Rachel he served a Seven-years Apprentiship for her And saith the Text they seemed to him but a few dayes for the love he had to her Gen. 29.20 And thus would men serve their God did they but love him as they ought though it were for many years their service would not be tedious unto them So was it here with our blessed Saviour Loving his Elect people with such an intense affection as he did he thinks nothing too much that either he could doe or suffer for them Applic. Where before we passe any further Applic. This Love of Christ to be admited make we a stand a little suffering our thoughts to be taken up with an holy Contemplation and high admiration of this matchlesse love which our blessed Saviour doth herein expresse in shewing himself so willing to drink this Cup. A Bitter Cup So he had found it already Yet behold he not only submits to the drinking of it but will not indure that it should be taken from his mouth till he had drunk it off The Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it As if he had thirsted after it no lesse then a thirsty man doth after a Cup of drink to quench his thirst withall Thus was he carryed on to this his Passion with an earnest desire Even as he was to the drinking of that mystical Cup concerning which he tells his Disciples Luk. 22.15 With desire I have desired that is Earnestly desired to eat this Passeover with you before I suffer meaning the Sacrament of the Lords Supper so was he to the drinking of this metaphoricall Cup whereof that was a forerunner and a sign his Death and Passion this was a thing which he was carryed to with the like earnest desire This is that which he tells his Disciples Luk. 12.50 I have a
Curse which in it own nature it is being the issue and wages of sin and the very Gate of Hell But look we upon it in the glasse of the Gospell that we shall find representing it unto the believer under another shape as being much changed and alterd by Christ Newe names put upon Death Whereupon it puts new names upon it Calling it sometimes a sleep Our friend Lazarus sleepeth Joh. 11.11 Them which sleep in Jesus 1 Thes 4.14 Such is the grave to the true believer Not a Prison but a Bed sor the Body to rest in for a time They shall rest in their beds Isai 57.2 Elsewhere we find it called a Departure Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace saith old Simeon Luke Vid-Leigh Critica Saâ—ra 2.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dimittiâ— thou loosest dismissâ—st me lettest me out of Prison So the Syriack there renders the word Now thou openest the Prison And so we find it properly used Act 5.40 Where it is said that the Councell let the Apostles goe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. out of prison Such is this life to the believer noe better then a Prison death is his dismission A like word is that which we find used by the Apostle Phil. 1.23 Where expressing his willingnesse to dye I desire saith he to be dissolved or to depart as the new translation hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to return home So the same word is used in his proper sense Luk 12.36 Where servants are said to wait for their Lord till he return to his home 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such is this World to gods people a strange Country where they live as strangers and pilgrims being from home Ad remigrationem Beza Now death is to them a Remigratio as Beza there renders the word a removing a returning to their own Country their home The Soul leaving the Body where it lodged for a time returns to God that gave it Eccles 12.7 Elsewhere the same Apostle calls it the dissolving of a Tabernacle If our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved 2 Cor. 5.1 Not destroyed So is a house when it is pulled down the materials of it being so broken as they can never be put together again But not so a Tabernacle or Tent where the parts are only taken asunder for a time but afterwards put together and set up in another place Such is death only a dissolution of the parts whereof man is composed a severing of the soul and Body for a time which shall afterwards be reunited And so St Peter making use of the same Allusion he calleth it a putting off or laying down of a Tabernacle 2 Pet. 1.14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 depositio tabernaculi mei as the vulgar Latine renders it properly The laying down of my Tabernacle is at hand Such is the Body to the Soul like a Tent to him that carrieth it about with him a burden which being layed down he is eased And so is the Soul by the deposition the laying down of the Body in death Which in the next verse that Apostle there sets forth under another name calling it his Exodus after my decease v. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Exodus A word with the sound whereof you have been well acquainted it being the Title given to the second book of Moses which is so called from the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt which is there fully described Such an Exodus is death to the believer a Translation of him from an Egypt an house of bondage into the Celestial Canaan the glorious liberty of the Sons of God Thus hath death now new names put upon it The Gospell representing it after another manner with another face then the Law holdeth it forth And well may it have new names The nature of death changed by Christ when as the Nature of it is so changed and altered as by Christ it is Who hath taken away the maliguity of it that which was hurtfull in it Having pulled the sting out of this Serpent O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory so the Apostle triumpheth over this conquered Enemy 1 Cor. 15.55 Bot the sting and strength of it are now gone The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law but thanks be to God who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ so the Apostle there goeth on This hath Christ done for all that are in him having made satisfaction for sin and fulfilled the Law So as now though death may threaten as the Serpent having lost the sting may hiss yet it cannot hurt And why then should we fear a conquered enemy Which is not only disarmed but lyeth as it were dead before us lâ—ke that Philistine when his head was off In Christi morte mors obiit In Christs death Death died Being thereby abolished as the Apostle hath it 2 Tim. 1.10 Who hath abolished death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made it of none effect So is naturall death the fear and sting of it being taken away it is now as a shadow without a substance Thus is Death now qualified by Christ as to all true Believers Which being seriously considered will be of speciall use to free them from the inordinate fear of it and make them not unwilling to submit to God in the suffering of it To passe on In the Fourth place thus looking upon death Look beyond Death look beyond it Even as the timorous Passenger in ferrying over a River where the water is rough by fixing his eye on the bank of the other side settles his brain which otherwise might be troubled thus let the timorous Christian whose nature inclines him to fear death look beyond it look to the issues the fruits and consequents of it Here taking notice of two things The Evils which it freeth the Believer from and the Good which it bringeth him to Considering 1 1. The Evils which it freeth him from Which are of two sorts The Evils which it freeth the Believer from Temporall and Spirituall 1. Temporall which I have touched upon already Such are bodily Infirmities sicknesses Temporall some of them very dolorous and painfull and such are losses and Crosses in Estate with Reproaches and Ignominies and many Vexations and Disquietments with wearisome labours and Imployments All these is the life of a Christian here infested with this world being to him as I said a troublesome Sea But Death is the Havens mouth which letteth him into a quiet Harbour where he is at rest from all these Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord c. that they may rest from their labours Rev. 14.13 There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest There the Prisoneâ—s rest together they hear not the voice of the Oppressor The small and great are there and there the servant
our Saviour here did 1. Suppose this to be the condition of the body The Soul the kernell the Body but the shell that it suffereth after this manner in and by death yet what of that so long as it reacheth not unto the Soul So long as the kernell is safe what matters it what becomes of the Shell So long as the soul the better part is a gainer by death so great a gainer as you have heard what matters it what becometh of the Body being so vile as it is That is the Epithite which St. Paul giveth it Phil. 3.21 Our vile Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Body of vilenesse Corpus humilitatis nostrae saith the vulgar Latin he Body of our humbling And it is noe other then it deserveth The Body being no other but a Lump of clay which is little worth and carrying that in it or about with it which may serve to humble the owner of it and make him not to dote upon it as the greatest part do Now being so vile as it is why should men be so affected with what befalleth it 2. But Secondly the Body shall not ever continue in this estate The bodies of Gods Saints shal be changed Whilest it lyeth in the grave it is but a grain of Corn sowen in the earth as our Saviour maketh the comparison Joh. 12.24 As also the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.36 Which though it lye rotting there for a time yet after a few months it springs forth And so shall the Body in due time it shal arise and then it shal come forth after another manner then when it was laid down It is sown in corruption it is raysed in incorruption it is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory c. so the Apostle describeth the resurrection of the Bodies of Gods Saints at the Last day 1 Cor. 15.42 c Thus shall the Body also be a gainer by death as well as the Soul 3. In the mean time consider that inseparable union that is between Christ and the Believer The union betwixt Christ and the Bodies of his Saints Death may separate his Soul and Body the one from the other but separate either from Christ that it cannot As it was with Christ himself when his Body lay in the grave it was separated from his Soul but stil the God-head was united to both Such is the union betwixt Christ and the believer an indissoluble union death doth not dissolve it That Body which was a member of Christ whilest living which the Bodies of all Gods Saints are Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6 15 it still retaineth the same relation when dead And being thus united unto Christ it shal by his power be preserved and by his vertue raised up again at the last day Even as the branches of a tree which seem to be dead in the winter yet having union with the root by a vertue springing from it they revive in the spring time So shal it be with the bodies of Gods Saints Though they be uncloathed by death as the tree is of his leaves by the winters cold yet shall they be cloathed upon having a vest a Robe of eternall glory also put upon them being changed by Christ and made like unto his glorious body as the Apostle tels us Col. 3.21 Thus is that first Objection readily answered And so may most of the rest which are made use of to this purpose Of which let me take notice of those which are most considerable As for those carnall ones which sway much with the men of this World viz their parting with their Riches Carnal allegations not worth the answering their Pleasures their Honours and such other contentments as this world affords which maketh them so loath to leave it I look upon them as not worth the answering all these being but shadows the substance whereof is to be found in that other world to which death bringeth the soul that is weaned from this The Considerations which I shall take notice of shall be only such as may lay hold upon a sanctyfied soul all which we shall find the text in hand meeting with Such is that of parting with near and dear Relations Wife Children Friends Obj. 2 Parting with near and dear Relations and leaving them in an unsetled condition Loath I am may one say to leave them behind me specially to leave them in such a condition as I am like to do not well knowing how they shal subsist when I am gone But was it not so with our blessed Saviour here When he was to leave the world So did our blessed Saviour his Disciples and mother did he not leave his beloved Disciples and dear Mother and left them in a low and unsetled estate therein not unlike himself scarse having a house of their own to hide their heads in As for his dear Mother the story tels us how when he was hanging upon the Crosse he committed her to the care and custody of his beloved Disciple Saint John Joh. 19.27 not having of his own any subsistance to leave her And for his Apostles he well knew in what condition he was to leave them even as Sheep among Wolves as he told them when he sent them forth Matth. 10.16 in a wretched World where they should meet with Tribulation enough of which he had forewarned them Joh. 16. Last Yet doth not the thought hereof take him off from this act of obedience to his Father in being willing to dye when he will have him Repl Repl. I but may some say his case was herein different from ours But he did not leave them Comfortlesse Though he did thus leave his Relations yet he did not leave them comfortlesse That is his promise to his Disciples when he had told them of his leaving them I will not leave you comfortlesse Joh. 14.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Greek I will not leave you Orphanes Noe he promiseth that himself would have a care of them and that after a time he would come to them so it there followeth I will come to you Which he made good after his Resurrection And though himself were gone yet he sent his Proxie the Comforter to them according as he promised them Joh. 16.7 If I depart I will send him unto you viz. the Comforter the Holy Ghost who as he assures them should abide with them for ever Joh. 14.16 performing all needful offices unto them as the 26 verse there hath it But so cannot we do may some say to our Relations if we be gone all is gone with them What all gone Is your God gone too A. Surely not so Being your God he will be theirs God a Comforter to the Widow and Fatherless I will be thy God and the God of thy seed Gen. 17.7 And being so a God in Covenant with them he both can and will take care of them Many are