make a difference between dying for and dying in the Lord as if that belonged onely to Martyrs this to all true Professors Martyres hic intelligi concedimus solos vero negamus Gorhan But the substance is That when Gods children have done their work they go to bed their Lusts die in them and they themselves die in the Lord as Children in their Fathers arms Secondly As we have the work so likewise we have the wages or rather reward of Christians And that 1. Generally They are said to be blessed Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord They are blessed in Hope while they live and blessed in Possession when they die As a Christian cannot be fully happy before death so he cannot at all be miserable after death 2. Particularly and Punctually And that 1. Negatively Because they rest from their Labors their labors in suffering their labors under sin the labors of their Callings and subjection unto Temptations The World was their Tempestuous Sea Heaven is their Port and Harbor the Earth was the place of their working Heaven the place of their resting In portu navigunt quare sopor fessis 2. Positively and their works do follow them Though they leave the world yet they leave not their works behinde them The authority and warrant of all this is premised This Oracle is not the Invention of man but the voice of God It is the Spirit of God who knows the minde of God that saith so Thus saith the Spirit Quaery Why is it said from henceforth Were not those that dyed in the Lord before happy Answer Some say the Emphasis on this Particle henceforth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 q. d. Times will now be troublesome and as it was their blessedness that lived to the Lord at any time to die for the Lord so especially it is their Blessedness to die then It is some mercy to die before times of Judgement as it is a mercy for some to die in times of judgment Secondly Others refer it to their Blessedness immediately after their death that is their Souls sleep not in their Bodies till the Resurrection as some dreamingly affirm they are immaterial and immortal and â—o sooner do they go out of their earthly Tabernacles but presently they ascend to Heaven It is probable that the Spirit hereby would also presignifie by way of contradiction the Opinion of the Papists about Purgatory as if the souls of good men did take that stage in their way to Glory No saith the Spirit their Purgatory is in this world here they are purified and immediately upon the dissolution of the union between their souls and Bodies as their Bodies are blessed in the hope of a Resurrection so their Souls are presently blessed in possession those that die in the Lord are thenceforth or immediately blessed But I principally on this solemn occasion pitch on the last clause And their works do follow them First for the Explication then for the Application 1. For the Explication here are two Quaeries to be answered Quaerie 1. What is meant by works Answ There are 1. Evil works as there are evil workers The works of the flesh are manifest uncleanness idolatry strife and contentions Gal. 5.19 20. At death the sins of the godly leave them and their Graces onely follow them there sins shall be cast not into a shallow river where they may appear and swim up aloft upon the waters but into a deep Sea of Oblivion We must remember our evil works and God will forget them we must forget our good works and God will remember them 2. There are also good works or as the Apostle phraseth it fruits such as are gentleness and joy temperance and meekness Gal. 5.22 23. And these are those works that follow those that die in the Lord. 1. Specially works of Charity as they say of Oswald King of Denmark that in regard of his liberallity to the poor his right hand though he was dead withered not Works of Charity are in Scripture in a peculiar maner called good works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of principality and eminency above many other works that yet are good in regard of the influence they have for to produce and give a lustre to all good works 2. More largely Though works of charity be good works and necessary to salvation yet there are many good works besides works of charity Faith is the work of God and a good work repentance is the work of God and a good work Charity is a Caelestial Orb but not large enough for all the stars of good works to shine and move in Therefore when the Apostle speaks here of good works we are thereby to understand in general all works that are good not onely a single Work not onely their Charity but their Faith their Repentance their Holiness they all do follow them Quaerie 2. What is meant by their works A. 1. Here is noted propriety Their own works follow them not the works of other men which Criticism suggesteth to us 1. The Absurdity of the Papist who maintains that a man may be so righteous as that he may not onely merit Heaven for himself but for others also It was an arrogant saying of a Romish Pharisee That he had done all for his own Salvation many years ago and staid in the world after that onely to gather treasure for others But as a wicked man shall perish by the hand of his own unbelief so the Just shall live by his own faith not the Prayers and Performances not the duties and doings of others but their own works follow them 2. The formal interest of a Believer in his works They are his works not because he is the fountain but because he is the subject of his Graces Sin otherwise is most of all things ours yet in a favorable sense as nothing is so much our own before we work as our will so nothing is so much our own as our works when they are done they cleave to us whether as fomentations to nourish us or as Corrasives to gnaw upon us that lies in the nature of the work but ours they are and cling to us our Work seem to be more ours then our Faith is ours our Works are ours as we have done them our Faith ours as we have received it Faith is ours as our Goods are ours Works are ours as our Children are ours Certè nos operamur sed Deus operatur in nobis ut operemur Querie 3. What is meant by this that our Works are said to follow us A. Though the acts of Grace be transient yet their vertue is everlasting They follow us Notes 1. Their company to glory As a Christian follows his work on earth so his works shall follow or accompany him to heaven he goes not out of the world naked and void of grace as he came into the world but he carries the garments of salvation the extrinsick and Red coat of Justification the intrinsick and internal
WORK REWARD OR THE TESTIMONIAL OF A BELIEVER FOR HIS Entrance into GLORY Examined and approved In a SERMON at the Interment of the Vertuous LADY Margaret St. John Wife to the Right Worshipful Sir Alexander St. John Septem the 3. 1656. By Francis Raworth Teacher to the Church at Shore-ditch London Printed by T. Maxey for John Rothwell at the Fountain in Goldsmiths-Row in Cheap-side 1656. To his Honored Friend The Right Worshipful Sir Alexander Saint John Honored Sir THe great Design of God in this World is to exercise man and the greatest interest of man is to glorifie God who hath provided the Touch-stone of his Word to try our hearts by and the Balance of his works to weigh our Lives in So much strength as we have in a day of temptation so strong we are and since Temptation is for our Probation we have as much cause to bless God for our support under Tryals as for our deliverance from tryals It is true Satan hath his Sieve and his aim is to seperate the Wheat from the Chaff to give life to our sins by the death of our Graces but God hath his Fan in his hand and his design is to seperate the Chaff from the Wheat to give life to our Graces by the death of our sins I must acknowledge That God hath lately put into your hands a bitter Cup to drink off in the decease of your Vertuous and Beloved Consort onely this I presume doth support you That your eyes are opened to see that it was of your Fathers mingling This affliction is a sharp Arrow but it is shot out of a sweet hand amara sagitta ex dulci manu Dei as the Father speaks How excellent a thing is it when Gods Rod is upon our backs to have our hands upon our mouthes and not to murmur While unbelief commenceth an Action against and complains of the heavy hand of God to the World for us to complain rather of our own evil hearts to God Your experience Sir I trust in Gods School hath acquainted you with the Equity of his Discipline and Pedagogy Oh! What an advantage have we over Satan when we understand the intent and and possess the fruit of every Cross when we can see our Lashes to be our Lessons our Corrections to be our Instructions our Crosses to be the Executioners of our Corruptions It was an Heavenly Prayer of him that said Lord I do not desire that the Burthen should be taken off but that I might have stronger shoulders to bear it And an Heroick Experience of him that said If any man would ride post to Heaven let him get up upon the Cross The truth is every affliction is Gods Messenger and every one of his Messengers have their Errand to deliver The Rod must be heard or the Word will never be felt Though all that are corrected are not Gods children yet all that are Gods children are corrected Afflictions are favors and therefore when God threatens that he will shew mercy no more he threatens that he will afflict no more Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Lord rather let every gracious heart say let thine hand be laid on me then that I should be cast out of thy hand rather frown on me then that thou shouldst turn thy Face from and not look on me But the great Advantage of our tryal is to come here the Language of the rod is easie and plain but the Dialect of that Language is hard and difficult to be known conformity and self-denyal are indisputably the meaning of every blow but we are disposed to misconter Providence in Particular what God intends onely for our exercise we pretend is done out of his anger And therefore where the Text is obscure we must be wary in writing Cōmentaries we must take heed of turning his Reubarb into Ratsbane by reading wrath where God never wrote it There will come a time when God will interpret his own minde and satisfie us not onely in the Regularity and justice of his Rods but in the Reason and suitableness of them why we are almost burned and consumed while others were but singed why he drew so much blood from us more then from others that seemed more exorbitant God loves not to be stinging like the Bee he exhibits honey freely but he stings upon provocation his wisdom and our necessity weigh and prescribe every drop of gall that is put into our Cups and every lash of the Rod that is laid on our backs A Cordial is fitter for this man a Corrasive fitter for another Such a Christian will be wakned by the light of a Candle another stands in need of a Clap of Thunder How sweet is it to justifie God when he condemns us At last day we shall say The Lord knew our distemper and he let us blood in the principal Vein if we had not perished we had perished His Sun-shine melted us his Hammer brake us Blessed affliction that made us see more uglinesse and emptinesse in the Creature and more excellency in God that weaned our affections from the world and occasioned our more serious thoughts of Eternity It may satisfie us That God dealeth with his as the Persians I take it do with the offending children of their Princes they correct their Royal Garments in publick but let their Persons go free our Bodies are beaten and our Souls are bettered Here we must be polished by Tryals and hewn by Hammers and hereafter we shall be laid into Gods Building Nunc foris per flagella tundimur ut intus in Templum Domini disponamur Afflictions are the fruit of his Wisdom Repentance our fruit of his Afflictions The Lord grant that all our storms may drive us nigher to our Harbor I should humbly crave excuse for this freedom but that I know your Ingenuity and that your condition requireth support and as remembring that words spoken in season are like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver I am sorry of so sad an occasion of presenting this yet so seasonable a subject to you I request your acceptance of it the advantage whereof is the desire of Your worships much obliged to serve in the Lord F. R. From my Sudy in Shoreditch Decem. 20. 1656. Revel 14.13 And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them IN these Words we have two things The Work and the Reward of a Christian In the work of a Christian we have 1. Something Implyed It is supposed That those that die in the Lord do first live to the Lord For as it is impossible for one that lives well to die ill so it is impossible for one that lives ill to die well for on that to the last lives to the Divel to die to the Lord. 2. Something Expressed They are such as die in the Lord Some
acquittance Men said he speak evil of me but they are evil men that do so and an argument for us from an adversary is not to be neglected though wicked men curse the Saints while they live yet they shall bless and justifie them in the day of Visitation as the Apostle speaks 1. Either when pangs of conscience seize on them Or Secondly When they come to die as one said O that I might be Craesus living and Socrates dying Or as the Proverb is Let me live in Italy but let me die in Spain So Balaam though he lived the life of the wicked yet he loved the death of the righteous though men live Hypocrites yet they would die sincere though many live by a form of godliness yet they would fain die by the power Or Thirdly They shal respect and honor them at the Judgement-day Oh will Pharaoh say then that I were Moses Wil Cain say that I had been but suffering Abel Who would be a Rake-hell or a Ranter then when many of those that have been Judges shall be judged and the judged many of them I mean shall be Judges when Paul that once stood at the Bar shall sit on the Bench for the Apostle telleth us That the Saints shall judge the world That time is a coming though now the world judgeth the Saints and one Saint judgeth another that is shall be q. d. Coassessors with Christ at the last day consenting to and applauding of his Judgement of the world when the Judge shall say to the Cursers Go ye cursed the Saints shall say Amen Lord when Rabshekah shall be thrown down to Hell and Hezekiah taken up to Heaven Who would rise in that estate of wrath he was born lived and dyed in Those that now accuse the godly for dissemblers and Hypocrites will then publikely confess their sincerity Christians Be not discouraged in your more strict profession of Christianity it is no matter what now they say of you behinde your backs but what they shall be forced to speak of you to your faces at that day Fifthly Even the Spirit of God will bear a testimony to his works What though all men and Angels should condemn us now God himself will not condemn but acquit us as he hath a bottle for our tears so he hath a file for our Prayers and a Book for our Works Wicked men look on the infirmities of Gods people their mole-hills as mountains their motes as beams as sins of the greatest magnitude and on their own mountains and beams as mole-hills and motes Men are merciless in their censures but God hath more equitable scales and can give Grains of allowance to his Gold Even as God seemed to stand Neuter for a time while there was a dispute held between Job and his Friends concerning his integrity at length God steps from behinde the curtain and pleads his cause Who saith my servant Job is an Hypocrite you charge desperately on my servant but you have not spoke of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath done Job 42.7 Gods people oft in their temptations speak that against themselves that God never spake we are but Hypocrites we are cast out of Gods presence these miscarriages of ours have dissolved the Covenant between God and us are inconsistent with integrity or true Grace but God Revel 2.2 knows their works their patience their labors of love their gold notwithstanding some dross their sincerity amidst many failings and will make them known to themselves all the World at the last day the Lord will say concerning this and that man I know them to be cleansed by the blood of my Son however men have cast dust on them Others have surveyed their lives and seen some spots which they themselves have lamented and I know them to be Holy and to have feared my Name Now if God shall justifie who shall condemn at that day Fifthly and lastly Their works shall follow them in respect of a guerdon and reward In Scripture the word Work signifieth three things 1. The very act of Labor so Solomon tells us that in the Grave there is no wisdom no work that is no working for Heaven Eccles 9.10 2. For the effect of labor that which is wrought we call his work as well as the act of his labor thus the fire will try every mans work 1 Cor. 3.13 3. For the reward of a Christians Labor Work is taken for wages it is usual to put Prayer for the thing prayed for or for the thing obtained by Prayer so Hannah 1 Sa. 1.27 The Lord hath given me my petition that is The childe for which I did Petition It is usual to put sin for the reward or punishment of sin Gen. 4.13 My sin that is my punishment for sin is greater then I can bear so also its usual to put the work as for the reward of the work and that 1. In malo as Jer. 4.18 Thy way hath procured this unto thee this is thy wickedness that is this is the reward of thy wickedness 2. In bono as in my Text their works followed them that is the reward of their works they had done their work and now God rewards them through Grace Their works die not with them as Hortensius his labors did A cup of cold water shall be produced Matth. 25. They forget their good works When saw we thee an hungry or naked But Christ remembers them inasmuch as you did it to one of these little ones you did it unto me those that have done well shall have a well done those that have sown to the Spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life Glory and Honor and Peace shall be to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile if in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable as in Adam all dyed so in Christ shall all be made alive as sure as we are gracious so sure shall we be glorious as sure as Heaven enters into a man in this world so sure shall that man enter into Heaven in the world to come To be brief in this as certainly as now the Crown of immortality and Glory shines in the eyes of Gods people so certainly shall it one day sit gloriously on their heads It s easier to tell what Heaven is not then what it is We may talk of the greatness of our future reward but we shall never know the weight of that Crown till we have it on our heads the worth of that Livery till we have it on our backs the greatness of that Glory till it rest in and shine into our hearts The reward of good works shall be great Q. But why doth the Gospel chiefly mention or more apparantly note the reward of works of mercy pity and charity at the last day A. Upon four accompts 1. Because good works are the fruits of Faith There may be charity without Faith but there can
and unprofitableness under the means of Grace and that for ever Remember Christians that Death that is a Trap door to let some down into hell shall be a Portal or Gate to let you into heaven That that stroke of the King of terrors that shall separate your souls from your bodies shall separate sin likewise from you souls Your sorrowes now are mixt with your joyes your darknesse with your light you have indeed some rest while you labour how full then will your rest be when you shall rest from your labours and work no more this is your day of working hereafter is your day of rewarding this is your seed-time hereafter is your harvest Si Deus tam bonus sequentibus quam bonus fuerit consequentibus though here you sigh and mourn yet hereafter you shall sing and rejoyce though here you are as Pearles hid in and besmeared with durt yet hereafter you shall shine as the Sun Then you shall see the fruit of the travels of your souls then you shall not repent of your mortification and repentance Then finally will it appear that that man is happier that hath had Saint Pauls Coat with his heavenly graces then the Purple Robes of Princes with all their Kingdomes Fifthly By way of Advice to all That they may so carry themselves while they live that their works may gloriously follow them when they die To which purpose First Bee importunate at the Throne of Grace that ye may be made the workmanship of God which you must be before you can do the work of God Fiamus opus Dei ut facimus opus Dei your natures must be renewed before you can doe new actions A bad man can never Theologically do good works morally he may but he that doth a moral work only shall have a moral reward only as the wheele turns round not to the end it may be made round But on the contrary as the stemms must first be grafted on the stock before they can bring forth fruit so we must be Branches in Christ united to and made one with him before we can be fruitful in good works The Church in the Canticles is described no where by the beauty of her hands or fingers though oft by the beauty of other parts of her body because a Christian should abound in good works and yet in silence without boasting Or Secondly because it is Christ alone that works all our works in us and Grace is not our Creature but the manufacture of Christ Bona opera non praecedunt Justificandum sed sequntur Justificatum Secondly If you would have your good works to follow you send them before you Now Repent now Believe and hereafter you shall have the reward of your Repentance and of your Faith and as for Charity part with that you cannot keep that you may obtain that you cannot lose When the world shall leave you your good works shall follow you your gracious actions your good works are an inexhaustible fountain that shall never be dryed up a durable spring that shall never fail they are acts of time short in performance yet eternal in their recompence Non transeunt opera nostra sicut transire videntur sed velut aeternitatis semina jaciuntur Though they are sown in this world they shall spring in the next that which you lay out for Christ on earth you lay up for your selves in Heaven the hand of the poor is the Treasury the Gazophylacium of Christ and by charity in a Gospel sense you make your Maker your Debter and surely if thou be the Creditor of the Almighty it will not be long ere he come out of thy Books How foolish are they that fear to lose their wealth by giving it and fear not to lose themselves by keeping it He that lays up his Gold may be a good Jailor but he that lays it out is a good steward Merchants traffick thither with a commodity where 't is precious in regard of scarcity We do not buy Wines in England to carry them to France Spices in France to carry them to the Indies so for labor and work repentance and mortification there is none of them in Heaven there is Peace and Glory and the favor of God indeed Their works in my Text go with them they dare not go without their fraught A Merchant without his Commodity hath but a sorry wellcome God will ask men that arrive at Heaven Gates ubi opera Rev. 22.12 His reward shall be according to our works Thou hast riches here and here be objects that need thy riches the poor in Heaven there are riches enough but no poor therefore by faith in Christ make over to them thy monies in this world that by Bill of Exchange thou mayest receive it in the world to come that onely you carry with you which you send before you Do good while it is in your power relieve the oppressed succor the fatherless while your Estates are your own when you are dead your riches belong to others one light carryed before a man is more serviceable then twenty carryed after him In your compassion to the distressed or for pious uses let your hands be your Executors and your eyes your Overseers and that I may not be mistaken let your Charity have these two Qualifications 1. Let your works be done in Faith as without works we cannot profit men so without Faith we cannot please God we must be marryed to Christ or our children are not Legitimate our works are not right All our surviving out of the Ark will not save us from the deluge of Gods wrath As Isaac said to Abraham Father here is the Altar and the wood but where is the sacrifice so at last day when you shall knock at Gods door and seek to enter and hold up your Lamps and cry Lord we are Virgins we are Christians we were hospitable and charitable according to thy command let our neighbors be witnesses of our good works but will the Lord reply True here are your duties and your works but where is my grace of Faith Are these a satisfaction to my Justice where is my Benjamin the righteousness of my Son to plead for you My Beloved There seems to be less glory in Faith then in any other Grace it seemed but a sorry Grace a Grace of no great vertue Holiness is acceptable because it honors God Charity is noble because it profits men Thankfulness is melodious because its the tune of Angels Other works seem to make God a Debter to give as it were something to God but ad quid fides What is Faith good for Yes it is good for every good purpose it s the root of all the Graces it s the richest Grace because its the inriching Grace if Faith go before Works will follow Vbi Christus non est boni operis fundamentum ibi nullum est bonum aedificium 2. As works of Charity must be qualified with Faith or else our haec ego