plunge the Soul in remediless intolerable Misery 2 Be sure that you quit your own Righteousness giving diligence to see the Insufficiency of it to Life and Salvation Such is the Corruption of our Nature that though the Covenant of Works be violated and the Condition thereof unperformable to Man lapsed Yet still we would Trade for Heaven in a way of working building our Hope for eternaâ— Life upon the sandy Foundation of a Self-opiniative Righteousness If at any time Men are startled by the powerful Impressions of a Soul-searching Ministry and begin to feel the Sting of Sin in their Consciences you may presently see them have recourse not to Christ but to Moses not to the Righteousness which is of God by Faith but to the Righteousness which is of the Law placing their whole Affiance in the supposed Worth and Merit of their own good Works as if these could save them But know you must that those who put Confidence in their own Righteousness will as surely fall short of Heaven and Glory as those who make no Conscience of Righteousness at all Good Works when rested in and made the Matter of our justification before God are as infallibly Damning as evil Works when never Repented of (p) Gal. 3.10 For as many as be of the Works of the Law trusting in and expecting Salvation by them are under the Curse The Law at first was an easie way to Righteousness and from thence to Salvation But now every step thereof sinks as low as Hell It 's written within and without with Curses which way soever a Man stirs he finds nothing but Death before him One Man's way by the Civility of his Education the Ingenuity of his Disposition the Engagement of other ends or Relations may seem more smooth and plausible than anothers but by Nature they all run into Hell as all Rivers though never so different in other Circumstances run into the Sea And the Reason of all this the Apostle hath subjoyned in the following words taken from that everlasting Inability that we lie under to fulfil all Righteousness which the Law in its utmost rigour and latitude doth require at our Hands as pronouncing all those Accursed that continue not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law (q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 M. Eremita to do them So then though Sin and Death go together as Work and Wageâ— yet eternal Life must never be expected as the Purchase of our own good Works but as the free Gift of God in Christ Jesus The Ways of Sin (r) Rom. 6.23 is Death saith the Apostle But the Gift of God saith he purposely changing the manner of his Speech is eternal Life Say therefore the Papists what they will of their Merit of Condignity proportionate in worth and excellency to eternal Glory Yet would you not for ever be shut out of Heaven and fall short of Glory you must Renounce all Opinion of your own Merit laying hold on eternal Life as the free Gift of God For can we rationally think that our imperfect Obedience should justly deserve with God the Reward of eternal Glory Do we fail coming short in every Duty and shall we yet look for Heaven and not of Debt and not of Mercy If the (s) Rom. 8.18 Sufferings of this present Life are not worthy to be compared with the (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecum in loc Glory that shall be revealed in us what little reason can we have to think by any inferior act of Obedience to merit such a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Philip. Homil. 11. The Reward of eternal Life is the gift of God and therefore not to be sought by Works of Righteousness as infinitely exceeding in Worth and Dignity all our performances how glorious soever Misinterpret me not as if I were declaiming against the necessity of inherent Righteousness when indeed the meritoriousness and condignity thereof proportionate to eternal Life is all that we here deny We do not cry down Obedience and good Works as they stand in subordination to â—â—ace and are the genuine Fruits of Sanctification as they of the Romish Faction have maliciously traduced the Reformation But only as they stand in opposition to the free Grace of God in our Justification and are made by Pharisaical self-justitiaries the Foundation whereupon to bottom their hopes for eternal Life We of the Church of England do maintain the necessity of good Works pressing earnestly to the practise of them as antecedaneous to Life Eternal without which no Man can be saved But that wherein we dissent from the Church of Rome is about the causality of good Words with whom we dare not affirm (a) Si propriè appellentur ea quae decimus nostra merita Spei quidem Seminaria sunt charitatis Incentiva occultae praedestinationis Judicia futurae foelicitatis Praesagia Via regni non causa regnandi Bern. lib. de Grat. liber Arbitr but deny them to be meritorious of Eternal Life as if a Man should be saved for them We do allow them with Bernard to be the preservatives of Hope the Incentives of Charity the marks of hidden Predestination the Presages of future Happiness the Way that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven but not the meritorious causes of our reigning with Christ there Take heed then that you think not of your own Righteousness above what you ought to think 'T is your duty to fulfil all Righteousness but will certainly be your undoing if you trust in any Beware therefore oh Man of this sugared Poyson within thee let there be no depending upon thy good Heart thy good Life thy good Performances But remember the proud Pharisee who stands upon his own bottom as well as ungodâ—â— Sinners whose lives are notoriously infamous for all manner of abominable impieties will fall short of Heaven Whoever thinks to find Life in his own Righteousness and Glory in his own Graces will be sunk through such carnal Confidence to lose Life and Eternal Glory for ever Oh then let not any Man be found cloathed in his own Righteousness that would ever be cloathed upon with the Garments of Salvation For Men to despair in themselves counting all their Righteousness but loss for the excellency of Heaven This is the best way to obtain the reward of Eternal Glory in the Kingdom of Heaven He that here cries out as a Man lost and undone in himself will hereafter be found in Christ to the saving of his Soul Never did any Man yet get to Heaven by trusting in his own Righteousness Nor shall any Man fall short of Heaven who renouncing his own Righteousness trusteth wholly to the Mercy of God in Christ Jesus 3 GET renewed Natures making sure of a principle of Grace within (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Macar Hom. 30. A Wicked Man in his unregeneracy is no more capable of an
Water to refresh the Thirsty and an eternal Sabbath of Rest for all that are now weary This Reward is Manna cujuslibet suporis like the Manna prepared for God's People in the Wilderness which they say had that very tast and relish in every Man's Mouth that pleased him best Here if one thing suite well with your Desires yet another goes cross or if one thing answer your Expectations yet in some other Mercy or Comfort you are often disappointed Oh but the Reward of heavenly Glory this will answer your Desires this will answer all your Wants your Grievances your sorrowful Sighs and careful Groans accommodating it self most exactly to your longing Expectations in all things Every poor Soul in this Life is a very Compound of manifold Miseries Wants and heart-breaking Distresses But as it is said of Mony that answers all things so this Reward it answers them all and removes them all What is it poor Child of God that thou standest in most need of What are thy Wounds that most pain thee thy Troubles that most oppress thee and what are thy daily Burdens that lie most heavy upon thy Spirit to grieve and afflict thee What is it after which thy Heart doth so pant and breath so impatiently long for Oh it may be thou art now upon the Rack sorely distressed But this Reward it will give thee a Writ of Ease from all thy Pain not suffering thee to groan under them any longer It may be with Zion thou sittest with Tears upon thy Cheeks weeping bitterly in the Night Oh but this Reward it will bring in fulness (b) Isaiah 35.10 of Comfort wiping away all Tears from thy Eyes Thou may'st possibly go mourning and be bowed down by reason of great Affliction Oh but this Reward it will give thee the Oyl of Gladness and make thee lift up thy Head with everlasting rejoycing Possibly thy Sins thy Unbelief thy Unfruitfulness thy hardness of Heart thy want of love to God and our dear Lord Jesus these trouble and afflict thy Spirit Oh but this Reward it destroys all our Sins turns faith into open Vision Hope into full Fruition crowning all our Graces how weak soever here with fullness and everlasting Perfection If thou groan because thy Pilgrimage is prolonged and thou dwellest as it were in the Tents of Kedar Oh remember this Reward it will bring thee home to thy Father's House it will gather thee to the Spirits of just Men made perfect it will change thy Sodom into a Zion it will turn the Brick-kilns of Egypt into Canaan's Golden Mines and the barren Wilderness of this World wherein thou now wandrest up and down like a poor distressed Pilgrim this Reward will change it into the Garden of God into the heavenly Paradise into a spiritual Eden full of purest Delights and divine Contentments Now peradventure thou hast Sorrow to remember thy Sins thy former Miscarriages thy daily Troubles thy absence from the Lord who alone is thy Hope thy Life thy Comfort thy Hearts desire oh but dear Christian this Reward it will make thee to forget (c) John 16.20 22. the days of thy Mourning it will put thee into the Bosom of thy dearest Lord it will turn thy Sorrow into Joy that shall never be taken from thee On Christians there is that suitableness in his Reward that it 's the very Plaister for your Sore the very Balm for your Wound the very Voice of Joy to your Spirits in heaviness the very Harbour of Rest and Happiness after all your Storms that have so grievously tossed you That variety of Expression made use of by the holy Ghost to shadow out the transcendent Excellency of this Reward doth most clearly evince the suitableness of it to all the Wants Indigences and desires of an immortal Soul If the Soul be dislodged from its earthly Tabernacle this Reward (d) 2 Cor. 5.1 provides Mansions of Glory for the comfortable Entertainment thereof in another World If a Man be hungry it 's a pot of hidden Manna to feast him If sorrowful (e) Rev. 2.17 it s the Joy of the Lord to comfort him If any Man be thirsty (f) Mat. 25.21 it's Rivers of Pleasure at God's right Hand for evermore to cool and refresh him If any Man walk in darkness (g) Psal 16. and have no light in him (h) Col. 1.12 it is the Inheritance of the Saints in Light If any Man walk in the valley of the shadow of Death it 's a Crown of Life (i) James like a Death-bed-cordial to revive him If any Man suffer Nakedness for Righteousness sake it 's the Garments of Salvation to cloath him it 's the white Robes of Glory to hide the Shame of his Nakedness If any Man lose Houses or Lands for Christ it 's an Inheritance incorruptible Undefiled (k) 1 Pet. 1. and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for him To the weary Soul that hath long been troubled through the Malice of an ungrateful World (l) Rev. 14.13 it 's a resting from his Labours To be short if any Man endure Afflictions it 's a far more exceeding and eternal weight of (m) 2 Cor. 4.17 Glory Oh then how suitable is this Reward that a poor Soul cannot be in any Distress nor labour under any Wants but this Reward will afford supply of Comfort giving ease to all that are now in pain the Garment of Praise to all that are now in heaviness and to all that are now labouring and weary and heavy laden the sweet enchearing Bosom of God himself for their eternal easeful Repose 4 THE Reward whereunto God allows his People a Respect in all their Obedience it 's a sure Reward So you may find it called by Sâ—lomon a Man in whose Breast all the Lines of Wisdom met as in their proper Center (n) Prov. 11.18 The Wicked worketh a deceitful Work but to him that soweth Righteousness shall be a sure Reward Both the Righteous and the Wicked are Men of active Spirits only the Works of the Wicked they prove abortive promising all good but exposing to Misery and so deceive Expectation But the Righteous he never meets with any such sad Disappointment but as the Harvest naturally follows the Seed-time so after a short Seed-time of Grace there will spring up as the never failing sure Reward of such a Person a full crop of eternal Glory So (o) Gal. 6.8 that you see the Text though but short doth yet carry in it both Blessing and Cursing both Life and Death both Heaven and Hell Blessing Life and Heaven to Crown the Righteous Cursing Death and Hell as that which must inevitably be the Portion of all the Ungodly The Wicked he worketh the work of a Lie that is a sinful Work every Sin being a Lie and such a Work that albeit it tells us a fair tale yet it will miserably deceive us at last betraying us into the Hands of Wrath Hell and
a Land all whose Rivers run heavenly Nectar and all whose Trees are ever laden with the sweet delicious Grapes of Paradise (o) Si tanta nobis tribuis in careere quid dabis in patria Aug. de civit Dei If here in the Land of your Pilgrimage so much of Heavens Glory be revealed to you what Tongue of Man or Angel can tell the Happiness the Glory to be revealed in you when at home in your own Country The Crown of Life if now so bright and orient to an Eye of Faith beholding it Oh then what a far more excâ—â—ding and Eternal Weight os Glory will be found in it when a glorious Christ shall set it upon your Head with his own remunerative Hands 12 AND lastly a due respect had to this glorious Reward will bring you safe to it never leaving you till your Souls be crowned with fulness of Glory The Loadstone will draw Iron to itself when intra Spheram activitatis suae within the reach of its own attractive influence Thus the Reward of Eternal Life as an heavenly Loadstone hath that magnetick Virtue in it that if you put yourselves by a due respect had thereto under it it will draw you home to itself The wise Men keeping their Eye upon the Star which went before them were at length brought to Christ Thus keeping your Eye Christians upon this Eternal Reward as a glorious Star it will bring you at length to Christ in Glory whom fully to enjoy is our Life our Comfort our Happiness yea the Heaven of Heavens 'T is true Christians we must be uncloathed of this Body of Death before we can enter into the Joy of our Lord and be cloathed upon with the white Robes of Blessed Immortality Death must break down the Prison Walls of a Mortal Body before our Souls can ever come to the glorious Liberty of God's Children (a) 2 Cor. 5.1 Till our earthly Tabernacle be dissolved there is no having of a Building of God an House not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens And why should we not be willing that God should pull down these Cottages of Clay who hath promised to raise us up a more glorious Temple The Loadstone cannot draw Iron as some say whilst the Diamond is in Presence Doubtless were it not for a Body of Death that is still present with us an Eye fixed upon Heaven's Glory would immediately draw us into Heaven For besides the interposition of an earthly gross Body together with those corruptions whose Foundation is in that Dust there is nothing as one well observes that hinders a Christian from the full enjoyment of God in Glory So that Death's peculiar Office is to break down this Wall of separation that the Soul may the better come to her God her beloved Redeemer her Eternal Habitation in the Kingdom of Heaven The Soul when once loosed from this dying Body then she hath the Crown of Life set upon her Head then she sees God no longer through a Glass darkly but Face to Face then she is ravished with the unconceivable sweetness of the beatifical Vision (b) Mori plane timeat sed qui ex aqua spiritu non renatus Gehennae ignibus mancipatur mori timeat qui non Christi cruce passione censetur mori timeat qui ad secundam mortem de hac morte transibit quem de seculo recedentem perennibus poenis aeterna torquebit flamma Cyp. de Mortalit pag. 344. Let those therefore tremble at the knocking and approaches of Death who know not what will become of their immortal Souls who not being born again from above are every moment liable to infernal Flames who have no interest in the Glory purchased by Christ who must pass from Death to Death from short momentany Pleasures to everlasting hellish Torments Death to the Wicked is the Trap-door that opening lets them fall down irrecoverably into the dark vault of Eternal Misery But to the Gracious Soul there is no cause of Terrour in Death no Fear in the Grave no Sting to perplex in a bodily dissolution as that which only ushers in her everlastingly Blessed and Glorious Coronation Death comes to a Man dying the recompence of Reward like Moses to the Israelites to deliver him as the Angel to Peter in Prison to set him free as God's fiery Chariot to carry him like Elias into heavenly Glory And are you Christians afraid of entring upon your own Blessedness are you afraid to be cloathed upon with your House from Heaven Get a right notion of Death which as Bernard calls it is nothing but the Gate of Life the Portal of eternal security Though Death look upon thee with a grim Countenance yet it comes upon a good errand to God's People to fetch them out of their Wilderness-condition and to bring them to an everlasting estate of Happiness By Death we go from Earth to Heaven from conversing with Sinful Men to converse with Millions of glorious Angels and what makes us so loath to remove Who would not leave a Cottage to gain a Kingdom Who would not leave an Egypt to inherit Canaan Who would not leave gladly an oppressive Babylon to be made a Citizen of Sion of the heavenly Jerusalem OUR greatest Misery lies not in Death but in Life 'T is the Veil of Flesh that keeps us from entring into the holiest of all c Death gives us a pasport from corruptible Joys to an incorruptible Crown from a Mortal Life to a Life of blessed Immortality from a troublesome condition to a State of perfect tranquillity So that the name of Death should not offend us But the Happiness and Glory to which it leads should delight us The Moon never comes to the full til after her change Thus through the change of Death a Christian comes to all fulness of Joy and hath the white Robes of Glory given him Now the Bridegroom comes to meet the Soul in Happiness now all Tears are wiped away and Heaven Gates are set wide open to give her everlasting glorious entertainment Now the Reward of life everlasting now the Joy of Eternal Salvation now the full possession of the heavenly Paradise comes Now heavenly Mansions instead of earthly Tabernacles now greatest Glory instead of small and Eternal Happiness instead of poor temporal enjoyments are bestowed upon every Child of God What Man that is well in his Wits woâ—ld not part with Life and bid Death welcome upon terms of such everlasting blessed and glorious advantage (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost ad pop Ant. hom 7. Death in the true notion (c) Mors haec transitus universorum est transitur à corruptione ad incorruptionem à mortalitate ad immortalitatem à perturbatione ad tranquillitatem Non igitur nomen mortis te offendat sed boni transitûs beneficia delectent Ambros lib. de Bono mort cap. 4. Proemium vitae gaudium salutis aeternae perpetua laetitia possessio Paradisi