discerning Christians were both True and great Except but his humble self I challenge all that read me to name that competent judg of him who ever thought him either no Saint or no Excelling one His dear Yokefellow tells me that she was inform'd by himself that 's Conversion was wrought in Oxford Blessed Soul to whom the Holy Ghost the Author and special In-worker of all Gifts 1 Cor. 12. gave Art and Grace Divine and Humane Learning in the same place The Vigilant Masters of the Literate Societies there do sadly know how very many come away from them without bringing either Sarah or Hagar Grace I mean or Learning with them and how many more that get the Handmaid of Philosophy obtain not more than the Shadow or Shape of the Mistress Divinity Thrice-Blessed our dear Brother to whom Free Grace vouchsafed Capacitating Nature Polishing Art and Accomplishing Grace now it self Accomplished in Glory Thirdly His Ministerial Labors and Painfulness in the Lord's work were extraordinary He did not only more than others do Do but more than he himself could Do with his health consulted for The Devil knows to his wo how unweariedly he labour'd to get Souls out of his hands and how many he got too No doubt but the hundreds made partakers of his Pains give the Lord thousands and ten-thousands of Praises with thanksgiving for them Lions in the way of duty seem'd no Lions to him Though wisely Zealous he was daringly Good I had almost said Desperately For even then would he Labour when he had no hope of avoiding the weakning consequents of it to his feeble Consumptive body Oh that they were not able to forbear Imitating his holy industry who will not be able to forbear Praising it Ay and it may be coveting the Praise of it too Now to you my Brethren to whom his painfulness was so well known by you of any Souls let it not be unimitated God my God perswade you to be such as he perswaded you to be and to Labour in the Word and Practice of it as he laboured in the Word and Doctrine and joynt-practice of it Let not his Counsels or Example dye with him The Jews have a saying that No day hath in it any so good a Man dying but it hath as good a one born on it I pray God it may prove true of the day of our Blessed Brother's death Recall recall I charge you before God and the elect Angels recall his heavenly Instructions Beg beg on bended knees the Holy Ghost to bring to your Remembrance those Teachings that he sent you by him Shall I give you some particular Hints which the Lord 's good Providence hath enabled me to do by a sight of some Notes kindly communicated by his Widow hear I beseech you and with Solemn attentiveness 1. Excellently he taught you the Vanity and Nothingness and less than nothing of all that can be taught besides the knowledg of Jesus Not to use his own words the Carnal the Historical or General knowledg of Christ but the spiritual particular heart and Life-reforming and transforming knowledg He shew'd you 't was in Jesus that all the Attributes of God did Shine that 't was to Jesus all the Types Ceremonies Legal washings c. of old and all the Prophecies and Promises ever given of God pointed that Life-eternal in the End the excellent End whereof knowledg of Christ is the excellent and only means that this knowledg of Christ is 1. Revealed 2. Certain and 3. Sweet Savory knowledg He rows'd you to the Trial by heart-search whether you had this knowledg And directed you to try by a Consideracy of the Causes and Effects All this from that text 1. Cor. 2.2 2dly He shew'd you likewise what you are till you come to the foresaid knowledg of Christ Even Children of wrath and Alienated and Enemies to God in your minds by wicked works both from Ephes 2.3 and Col. 1.2 He told you and proved that you and all the world no man save God-man excepted are by Natural Propagation sinful Sinful not by imitation only though very much but 1. by nature and 2. universally all men and in all of man He shew'd how 1. Fruitful of sin and misery this sin of Nature is How 2. Powerful it self a Law Rom 7.23 and making your Souls Lawless 3. How Fierce and Furious 4. How Vnavoidable 5. How yet Voluntary Inherent in the Will and making men Wilfully to sell themselves to sin and Satan He made it plain to you that unsanctified men are Gods Enemies Haters of God as 't is Rom. 1.30 They Enemies to God and God an Enemy to them He shew'd you wherein mens Enmity to God appeareth In their Opposition to his Will 2. Their hatred and Opposition to his Saints and Servants and Friends 3 And their Friendship with Gods Enemies to wit Devil World and Sin Also 1. How unreasonable this Enmity is how 2. Vnprofitable and 3. how Destructive 3dly He set forth the blessed Doctrine the Soul of the Gospel of Christs being Peace-maker 'twixt God and Man And that 1. by Perchase bearing the Chastisement of our Peace as Isai 53. 2. by the Tendring of puâ—chased Peace to poor Souls and 3. by Conquering the Enmity of the heart and making Souls willing to be Reconciled to God 4ly Incitingly and Invitingly to your Reconciliation unto God he sâ—ew'd you 1. That Reconciliation unto God is a mercy highly to be valued much to be desired and endeavoured after And 2. that taking hold of God in Christ is the only and certain means of Reconciliation with God And 3. to such laying hold on God are required 1. Conviction of the unableness of all beside Jesus to satisfie Gods Justice 2. Sense of your inability to save your selves and to lay hold on Christ offered 3. Faith of Christ's All-sufficiency 5. Letting go of your hold of all other things which may hinder resting on him 6. Speedy laying hold on him as offered in the Gospel and 7. Union with him Spiritual Union by Faith He told you you had 1. Gods word yea 2. Gods Oath for your peace on these terms This on Isai 27.5 5ly Hereupon God directed him to tell you that as he made it his work it is the work of Ministers to perswade sinners to accept of Christ as their Husband And that whereas unto Marriage there 's requir'd Consent of Parents and consent of Parties God the only Parents willing Christ the one Partie's willing the query is whether the Sinner be willing He told you you must consent 1. Vnderstandingly 2. Freely 3. Presently 4. Vniversally and Perpetually And come unto a 1. Real a 2. Spiritual and 3. Total Union with Jesus and 4. an Indissoluble one one never to be broke off by any threatning or bribing Temptation To Conclude he further shewed you Christ is the only way to Justification and Sanctification and Glory and excellently displaid before you how altogether Lovely his beloved now fully enjoyed Jesus is Of the which though I can Hint no more I pray God bring much more to your Remembrance Consideration Practice and Delight I am most certain if the good Spirit of Grace shall Powerfully set home these Instructions and Counsels Dead hearts among you shall live and they that have spiritual Life shall have it more abundantly and the Jewish maxim aforesaid will be verisied and more even exceeded Not one only but many shall be born to God and made to encrease with the encreases of God and fitted as our Blessed Dear Brother for an entrance into the Kingdom of God Amen and Amen FINIS
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christians earnest Expectation anâ— Longing for the glorious Appearing oâ— the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Set forth in a DISCOURSE Occasioned by the Decease of that Excellent Christian and Minister of Christ Mr. NOAH WEBB Lately of Sandhurst in the County of Berks. By Daniel Burgess Minister of the Gospel The Prophets do they live for ever Zech. 1.5 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judg shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto them also that love his Appearing 2 Tim. 4.7 8. Printed for O.C. 1675. To the Lady Martha Merryn Wife of the right Worshipful Sr. Audley Merryn Mrs. Hester Whitfield Wife of my Honoured Uncle Henry Whitfield Esq and Mrs. Elizabeth Briscoe my justly Honoured Dear Mother-in-law My Excellent and very Dear Friends OTher Readers probably will mistake But I pray do not you Here 's no Epistle Dedicatory I prefix your Names here for nothing else but to make me place to shew you that I Forget you not nor my great Obligations to you I and mine do commemorate often in England your goodness to us in Ireland And being you see on what Occasion now prevail'd with to appear in publick it liked me thus to have our Gratitude appear too You will look on the following Pages for the Author's sake And you will prize them for the Subjects sake I beseech you set your selves to the Duty they commend for God and your Souls sake I believe I shall never see you more till Jesus comes Oh! may we then meet him and each other with joy And in the mean time all our Days keep providing for that great and if not provided for Terrible one T is Death in your Thoughts must put Life into your Actions said Blessed Vines And Mr. Baxter himself could say of Heaven in Vines his Elegy Sin doth not only keep me thence But makes me loth to go from hence Look well to your selves My Invaluable dear Friends You have sundry excelent Monitors by you Singularly my thrice dearest Dr. T. H. whose life and labours the Lord continue to Dubâ—in I commend you and all your dearest Ones to divine Tuition and Grace it 's most incorruptly that I profess my self Your most Affectionate Remembrancer to the Lord Dan. Burgess From my House in Bayden neer Malbrough Wilts Aug. 30. 1675. Vpon the much Lamented Decease of Mr. Noah Webb who Died Aug. 14. in the 42d. year of his Age A. D. 1675. Blest God! OH Turn the glorious lamp of Heaven the Sun To darkest Darkness Let his Course be done Nor let the Queen of Heav'n the Moon take 's Light And with it colour any future Night Black thou the Milkie way Blow out the Stars No more to twinkle signs of Peace of Wars Our Waters turn to Blood to Lice our Dust The World to Ashes if 't bee thy righteous Lust For Pitie's sake thus Curse us Righteous Lord Rather than Take the Teachers of thy Word From thy afflicted Church Church dare I say 'T is Hell not Church without such Lights as they Much rather had we Jesus strait should come Then let the World more Aggravate their Doom Did there ten thousand Worlds to ruin fall One God could Save one Christ Redeem them all Well sang Orinda Grace who doubts divine One Spirit could infufe and all Refine Thou could'st Oh Blessed Trinity without One of the Ministers thou sendest out Convert Build up Confirm and make t' Increase Thy Church in Faith in Purity and Peace But oh thy Will 's thy Law Teachers we know Must be Co-workers ' cause thy Will is so And seeing Faith by Hearing them must come The day of their Loss must b' a day of Doom Thrice direful Doom The World may better sparâ— The Elements Mat. 5.13 14. Rev. 2.1 Heb. 13.7 2 Cor. 5.20 1 Cor. 4.1 1 Cor. 3.9 1 Cor. 4.15 Joh. 21.15 1 Cor. 3.10 Heb. 13.17 and Isai 52.8 2 Kings 13 14. than the Church spare them that aâ— Her Lights Salt Angels Rulers Legates and Stewards of thy both Heav'nly house and land Husbandmen Fathers Shepheards Builders and The Watch which for thy Flocks Oh Jesu stand Horsemen and Chariots of thy Israel In whom her Safeties and her Glories dwell Oh then allow us Lord to Sigh and Groan Under the Loss of this Excelling One Smite smite the Rocks too that insensate be Of its portending great Calamity The stop of Noah's preaching did of yore Portend a Judgment th' in-dwelt World o're Thy snatching our deer No'h into thine Ark Affrights us all and chiefly such as mark How fast our Alleines Janeways and our Blakes Our Barrets and our Webbs thy Hand up takes And do observe what Sin and Strife be brewing For England's Europe's yea the World 's undoing Next unto Sin Oh God! that 's Strife with thee Our mutual Strifes speak imminent Misery They both in Gath and Ascalon are known One hath the bitter last thus sweetly shewn The Cross must now against the Cross be spread Beaumont in Psych Blush oh ye Heavens at this and they who are Under the King of Peace all Marshalled Be Barbarized by a mutual War Tearing the precious gentle Legacie Their Lord bequeathed to their Custodie They who by Mystick Union are knit Under one Head no other Foes do seek But their Fraternal members and forget That whilst on them their savage spight they wreak The tender Head feels every Wound and will Score up each drop which of his Blood they spill Weep all good eyes which see this dreadful Shame Os Christians digging Christian 's bowels up Sure streams of Blood deserve your briny stream Weep then and let your Bottels never stop Till you have wash'd away this purple stain ' Gainst which all Powers without your Tears are vain Had but the thousandth part of this dear blood Adventur'd to be broach'd in Palestine Quite overwhelm'd by its exuberant flood Had Mahomet's wide spred Contagion bin And woful Greece had not enslaved lain Under the bondage of a Pagan chain Or had that Power of Policy and Wrath Of Arms of Horse of Men of stronger Gold Which in our self-destroying Brittain hath Of late bin lavish'd out when England sold Her peace to misery with provident And pious Zeal in Syria been spent Our guilty Swords had not now Blushed in Fraternal blood nor had our Palms and Bays With any English curse deflowred bin But Salem her sad Head had 'gan to raise Fleeing from her long pressed Neck the yoke Of Ottamanick Barbarism broke Oh Thou who when thou didst ascend on High God in Christ hath committed to us the Word of Reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 Didst give thine own Peace-teaching Ministry A Gift whereof thy Church doth humbly Boast As greatest next the Gift of th' Holy Ghost Thy Church fill with those Teachers and
's worse as 't is a Pest-house without one Room or part of it but hugely full of Noisom fumes and without any one Person in it but infected and infectious and without possibility of being lived in for the infection any longer than you use strong Antidotes and high Cordials Were you lock'd into such an house and could not get out you and your dearest ones till some good Freind came home would you not say Amen! to his speedy coming Sirs Sin is the Plague of Plagues The World 's a Pest-house of it Where 's that spot of ground on it but the Flesh Devil and Devilish men will be infecting one with it Nay where 's the man in it that is not infected himself with it and apt of Wickedness or weakness to infect one with it and tempt one into it Can you live sinless a minute without Gods preservatives Without Gods Antidotes can you keep out Disobedience or without his cordials keep off Distrust Saints are Souls that know the defiling damning nature of Sin and know the deceitfulness of their own hearts the bewitchingness of the Worlds favors and frowns and customs as also the Devils devices snares wiles darts depths and find so much ado to keep a flood of Hell out and a spark of Heaven in them that they can't forbear longing for Christ to come and carry them into Heaven and put them up above the Gunshot of Hell and hellish men and lusts They know Davids and Peters and Pauls can no longer stand than they Fight in this world and they know Jehovah-Jesus when he comes will find them a place where the weary are at rest and the wicked Devils men Objects and Lusts cease from troubling as Job speaks Job 2.17 M. 3. Saints Sins are yet the sharpest goades in their sides and quickening motives in their hearts to pray for Christ's coming Patience will make Troubles and divine Valour makes Temptations Tolerable though not Pleasant But for Sin Oh what can a holy heart say or do Other mens sins the World's the Kingdom 's wherein he lives the Town 's Congregation's the Family's Oh how do all join in with his own to cut his Soul in meditation His own weakness of Grace strength of Corruption Frequency of offending and grieving God the Holy Ghost to the gratifying of damn'd Devils what daggers are these in a gracious heart Saints consider further before Conversion that they do nothing but sin that after it they do nothing without sin that if they should also live a thousand years yet more still sin against God they should more or less as long as their pulses beat And this makes heart-ake and Soul-smart this is a Scorpion Look into your Bibles Brethren yea look into Houses where Saints are to be seen You shall learn in the History of former ones and so in the Observation of the living ones this day that sin is no such Flea-bite to them as Formalists imagin They know 't is a Renouncing of the Blessed God yea a striking at him as far as Sinners can reach and as the Schools say well a murdering of God his Essence Soveraignty Perfections Laws all together virtually They know sin 's as evil Objectively as God is Good and therefore infinitely evil They know that it hath effected dismal things in Heaven Earth and Hell that it turn'd Angels into Devils that it even one sin damn'd the whole World brought Gods wrath and curse on Mankind and all the Creatures for our sakes that it founded Hell kindled and set flaming all the Fire there that to expiate it it cost the Eternal God's becoming man the Blessed God's being made a Curse the Lord of Life's enduring Death the Prince of Glory 's lying under Shame with a load of his Fathers wrath upon it hotter and heavier than ten thousand mountains of melted scalding Lead And the sight of this cursed Quality this evil of evils sin the sight of it daily in themselves their hearts and their Lives this overwhelms and but for a great God Mediator a Jehovah's righteousness would sink into distracting raving despair Especially considering as I know not what kind of Saints they be that do not consider that there still cleaveth a Body of Sin a heavy Noisome stinking carcass of it and there dwelleth still within a busie stirring active Rebel-sin never in this Life to be quite expel'd But is it thus may some say with very Saints I say read Rom. 7th Ch. and judg Ask the Godliest Souls alive and hear what they say †Observe on Saints do also know that except but the sin against the Holy Ghost there 's no sin but they may and being left by God to themselves they are most ready to fall into even the foulest ones that very graceless Moralists themselves would abhor They know and shake in their thoughts Aaron himself fell into foul Idolatry David into Adultery and Murder Joseph's Brethren the Patriarches were in a sense Murderers of him Sampson so sinful that had not God numbred him among Saints men might justly have doubted his being one Peter Lied Sware Cursed not Christ indeed I judg but himself he cursed most dreadfully The Original word 's such that makes it as if he said in the late dialect of Hell God Damn him or God Curse his Soul Saints I say know this and stand justly affected with Sollicitousness and Care lest their feet slide even so far away and lest their sins in dwelling like Snakes lurking in the holes of a dunghil when 't is cold should crawl out and come into Act upon the gloom of Temptation Shall I add Satan and their own hearts rise up sometimes and suggest that they are from eternity Reprobates be now but Hypocrites and one time or another before they dye will prove Apostates and poor gracious hearts frighted first into a discomposure and disability to make a judgment reasonably of themselves by and by faint under the doubt nay sometimes fall to stark raving in the dread that 't is indeed and 't will be so with them †These things my Brethren and what wonder stimulate and provoke Saints many of your selves I hope to abound in hearty Amens to the speedy coming of the great God and our Saviour of him I say who when he appears will make his Saints like himself 1 John 3.2 and set them far above and out of the reach of Sorrow Temptation and sin and sinful Doubts and Fears Yea will also satisfie them with his likeness Psal 17.15 Ult. make them joint possessors of Grace and Glory with himself Rom. 8.17 and for ever hold them in an undisturbed Possession M. 4. Saints innocent yea gracious earnest Covetousness of the best things adds to all their foresaid incitements and incentives to say Amen to their Lords coming †As they are heart-weary of Troubles Temptations and sins so are they heart-sick for better things Could you look through their breasts and to the pit of their hearts you would see there 1.