up their tabernacles for 2 Cor. 5.1 We know that if the carthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens when the Sons of God the heires of promise shall no more have moveable dwellings but abiding mansions and that in their Fathers house John 14.2 3. In my Fathers house saith Christ to his Disciples comforting of them are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many mansions I goe to prepare a place for you that where I am there ye may be also Lastly the word is also expounded to be delivered Liberari So Beza maketh it the same in signification with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death or from this mortal body Or as Diodate paraphraseth upon that Text O that I were but out of this animal and terrestrial life during which sin doth dwell in me and through it I am yet under the necessity of dying and that I were transported into the liberty of the glory of Gods children in the life of happiness St. Paul saw a law in his members warring against the law of his mind and leading him captive unto the law of sin and death in the foregoing verse under which bondage he groaned for deliverance and for the obtaining of it looked upon death as the only means conducible The Saints are subject to sin while they are in he body because sin receiveth its power from the corruption of nature not wholly mortified in this life therefore called the law in the members and the deeds of the body Rom. 8.13 Our members that are upon earth Col. 3.5 And the lusts of the flesh Gal 5.24 But the death of the Saints is the death of their sins whereby they put off the whole body of sin O happy death that brings the old man of sin to his grave and the new man in grace to his glory and perfection when the Soul shall be no more tempted unto sin no more troubled with sin but perfectly freed from all motions lusts and inclinations to that which is evil by departing hence unto Christ Secondly What is it to be with Christ unto whom the Saints are brought by their departing hence by death That none of the Fathers and Saints of the Old Testament were in heaven before Christs Ascension is but a Popish fiction and delusion contrary to the plain sence and express doctrine of the Scriptures as may appear to name no more in those two remarkable instances of Enoch and Elijah Gen. 5.24 And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him And of Elijah 2 Kings 2.11 And Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind But the question may be made which I shall briefly answer how these Patriarchs and Saints could be with Christ when Christ was not yet incarnate neither ascended into heaven For the Solution of this question I shall only assert and briefly prove that though Christ was not in heaven before his incarnation in his humane nature yet he was there with the Godly departed and they with him in his Divine nature For the Divine nature of Christ being one with the Godhead of the Father and the Spirit as it was coessential so it was coeternal In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God John 1.1 And when Christ was on earch he speaketh of himself as being at the same time also in Heaven which must be understood of his Divine nature John 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosome of the Father hath declared him So also John 3.13 No man hath of cended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of man which is in Heaven And when he was to leave the world in his prayer for himself his Disciples and all believers he thus petitioneth his Father John 17.5 And now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was But in what manner the Divine nature of Christ did put off its glory during the time of his exinanition and humiliation upon earth I shall not take upon me to inquire much less to clear so great a Mystery when being equal with God he took upon him the form of a servant having laid by his glory as to the use of it in the mystery of our salvation as learned Beza noteth * Hâ autem gloriâ quod ad usum illius ottinet in salutis no strae mysterio quodam modo sese abdicaverat filius in servi formâ durante suae illius exinonitionis spatio Beza in Johan 17. verse 5. But being out of all question that Christ is now in Heaven in his divine and humane nature and in both glorified I return to shew you the Saints priviledge of being with Christ and what it is to be with him at the terminus ad quem of the Souls motion in the state of Separation First to be with Christ is to be in the place where Christ is or to be locally present with Christ And that Christ is personally and locally in Heaven I will not seem to suspect your faith by being numerous in Scripture quotations Acts. 1.11 The Angels say to the Disciples Ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into Heaven this same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him goe up into Heaven And Peter telleth the Jews Acts 3. 21. That the Heavens must receive him until the time of the restitution of all things Stephen saw him in Heaven when he was suffering for him Acts 7.56 Behold I see the Heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God And the Apostle Paul layeth it down as an infallible truth to all beleivers Col. 3.1 If ye be risen with Christ seek the things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Now Christ hath told us that where he is there we shall be also John 14.2 And if any man will serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be John 12.26 Now is it not a desirable as well as a peculiar priviledge to be with Christ Christian wast thou ne're affected in reading the Evangelical story of Christ with the singular priviledge which the Disciples of our Lord had in their immediate attendance upon him and continuance with him to hear and see what they saw and heard and to be his bosom friends and familiar companions and didst thou not wish in thy heart that it might have been thy happy lot to have been one of them How much more comfortable and glorious will it be to be with him in Heaven The presence of Christ on earth was a joyful presence to the Disciples for while the Bridegroome was with
discover and act all manner of vexation fretfulness reluctancy and opposition under the anguish of its hopeless condition And this may be demonstrated if one consider the nature of a carnal heart and spirit and the tendency thereof which doth naturally end in this degree of sin 1. There is a natural enmity in every carnal soul against God which remaineth for ever in it where grace doth not subdue and mortifie it The carnal mind is enmity to God Rom. 8.7 And it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be So that this enmity is discovered in this life by acts of sin and wicked workes done by carnal men against the holy and righteous will of God and consequently abiding in the soul after death it will in like manner manifest it self to eternity the Soul being wholly void of all sanctifying and renewing grace Secondly This enmity will more fully act after dissolution by the total withdrawing of the spirit of God whereby in this life it was limited and restrained God setteth bounds to carnal men in this life to keep the world in some degree of peace for the more quiet habitation of his people without which their lives on earth would be altogether disquiet and uncomfortable through the rage and fury of the wicked But in hell there is not so much as restraining grace to dam up the fountain of corruption from breaking out and flowing forth in its full strength and liberty Thirdly the greatest sufferings whatsoever have no power to suppress or destroy corruption and carnal enmity as in themselves considered It is a sanctified affliction through the love of God that purgeth and taketh away sin from his children who by his chastisements are made partakers of his holiness But the torments of hell are the execution of the fierce wrath of God wherein there is not the mixture of one dram of love God intending the destruction and not the salvation of the soul in taking vengeance upon it So that the sinful habits and habitual enmity of the soul are increased and blown up to the highest degree of malice by despair under eternal punishment Fourthly To this we may also add that to be given up to sin is one of the greatest Judgements of God and therefore may be a part of or at least an adjunct to the torments of the damned God sometimes punisheth sin with sin by hardning the heart for its hardness and searing the conscience for its senselessness and giving up to believe a lye for not receiving the love of the truth as also he gave up those Idolaters who imprisoned the natural light and knowledge of God to uncleanness vile affections and a reprobate mind Rom. 1. Now the highest degree of sin God giveth up a carnal man unto in this life is the sin against the holy Ghost which is to sin with malice and to doe despight unto the spirit of grace Heb. 10.29 When a reprobate heart shall grow to that hardness in sin as to sin under conviction and to revenge it self upon God and the spirit of God by committing sin upon the account of sin or because it is sin otherwise it cannot be a wilful sinning after receiving of the knowledge of the truth This being the highest degree of sin upon earth the formality whereof is malice and revenge we may easily be perswaded to believe that hell is full thereof where this malice is more stirred up by despair under these torments then it can be in this life and where the souls of the wicked vent their malice against God by blaspheming and cursing him to his face which is the proper discovery of it as desperate malefactors sometimes in their torments curse both Judge and Executioner And foâ— the proof of this I shall only argue thâ— the case from two or three Scripture instances First of Job whom Satan supposed to be but a hypocrite and temptâ—… God to afflict him with this confidence that he should curse him to his face Joâ— 1.11 The Devil well knew what over whelming afflictions would work upon carnal and sinful heart even to curse Goâ— to his face and had not Jobs sinceritâ— through the power of God upheld anâ— preserved him the Devil had had his design and Job had cursed God as well aâ— the day of his birth Another is of thosâ— wicked ones of whom the Prophet â—…saiah speaketh Isai 8.21 And thâ—â— shall pass through it hardly bestead anâ— hungry and it shall come to pass that wheâ—… they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse their King and their God anâ— look upward Whence it appeareth thaâ— when God upon earth punisheth a people for their wickedness with some extream calamity under which they despair looking upwards and seeing no help the wickedness of their hearts will through madness and malice break out into cursing of their King and their God whether true of false Which appeareth yet more clearly in the prophesie of the powring forth of the vials of the wrath of God upon the Antichristian party in several plagues and punishments for their final ruine and overthrow Rev. 16.9 And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God which hath power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory And verse 11. They blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their paines and their sores and repented not of their deeds Likewise verse the last They blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail for the plague thereof was exceeding great Much more will a sinful soul blaspheme in hell where despair is the torment of those torments Which Christ himself seemeth to put out of all question speaking of the sufferings of hell when he saith There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Math. 8.12 and 13.42 50. That is against God through fretfulness and malice for so the phrase of gnashing the teeth is taken in other Scriptures Psal 37.12 The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth So the Jews did upon Stephen Acts. 7.54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth So that as the Saints in heaven bless God with Praises and Hallelujahs so the damned in hell howl under pain and curse him and thus in hell sin shall be perfected as well as grace in heaven every wicked and graceless soul shall sin under suffering while it is suffering for sin Lastly Hereupon the wrath of God is further provoked and heightned by the actual sin of a wicked and desperate soul under its torments So that to make this everlasting punishment of a damned soul in hell unspeakable miserable the sufferings thereof are not only eternal as they are the just reward of sin committed in this life against an infinite God whose justice can never be fully satisfied but by the eternity of the punishment but they are also for ever increased and renewed by enraging provocations of malice and
peace Balaam 's wish strongly confirmeth it Numb 23.10 Let me die the death of the righteous and let my latter end be like his And to add no more quotations in so plain a case Paul in my Text appropriateth this priviledge to himself and such as he was real Christians true Saints and unfeigned believers I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ and to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain Therefore look what we are living such we are dying Death is but the term of life and changeth not the state of the person but the degree of that state Grace must be wrought here but perfected hereafter in glory which is grace consummate and if no grace here no glory hereafter for as the tree falleth so it lieth But if I should draw the curtaines that are about these dying Saints and consider how they die that come to Christ by death I would propose it unto you briefly in two or three expressions for the discovery of it and your information in it according to the Scripture The Godly die in the faith of Christ believing in him and all the promises of God which in him are yea and amen Heb. 11.13 These all died in faith not having received the promises they die in the interest of Christ and they are Christs in death as well as life Rom. 14.8 Whether we live we live to the Lord and whether we dye we dye to the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords Yea they die in union with Christ Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord Rev. 14.13 This is that death and the death of such as these are is that departure whereof Paul speaketh in my Text and how desirable it is beyond this present life it self will further appear by the several and sutable acceptations of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original which we translate to depart in which word as an alablaster box the Apostle hath inclosed precious spikenard to annoint the Saints against their funeral by which we shall understand the gainful advantage of death to the godly as it looketh back to this present life as the terminus a quo or the bounds from which they depart First the word is used to loosen the cables of a ship solvere rudentes a metaphor taken from mariners who sail from one Banke or Port unto another it importeth a flitting or sailing from the state of this present life to our heavenly country Afflictions in the Scriptures are compared to waters and the world is a troublesome sea to the Saints over which they sail through many stormes till they come to shore For through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 Many are the afflictions of the righteous and in the world ye shall have tribulation saith Christ to his Disciples John 16. last And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus saith Paul shall suffer persecution 2 Tim. 3.12 But the death of the Saints is the end of their sorrowes and if we suffer with Christ we shall be glorified together Rom. 8.18 Then all tears shall be wiped from their eyes and sorrow and mourning shall flee away when they shall arrive at the land of promise the Cape of good hope Heaven is the Saints fair haven it is called the bosome of Abraham Luk. 16.23 Which Gregory Nyssen expounds to be like a bay or bosome of the Sea into which a godly man sayling from hence putteth in his soul as a haven free from danger and tempest where it shall receive the fulness of all good things Secondly The word is translated reverti to return Believers are sent forth to labour in this world and they are Christs factors upon earth for the advancement of his glory and kingdom and the heavenly gain of their own eternal happiness They trade for heaven by which their conversations are said to be in heaven Phil. 3.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our City life or commerce or our conversation is in heaven whence we look for the Lord Jesus Christ to come They are citizens of heaven but they trade from home in a far countrey as merchants seeking the pearl of great price Mat. 13.44 Which having found they returned home richly laden with the treasure of the Gospel Death is the souls return to God Eccles 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it Job saith he shall return thither Job 1.21 Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Greek Scholies expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto God How joyful is the return of the Saints to their heavenly home and their happy rest after their laborious travail and restless pains in the works of their salvation attended with all the fruits of holiness and righteousness as an evidence of their faith and testimony of their obedience Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord even so saith the spirit for they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Rev. 14.13 As the wagons which Joseph sent for his Father Jacob and his houshold brought them to the land of Goshen and to the full plenty of Joseph's provision so death bringeth the Saints to their joyful rest and to Christ their heavenly Joseph Death is the unharnessing of the Saints at their final return to their full peace and everlasting inheritance * Solvunti◠sarcina vincula Thirdly the word is applyed sometimes to the loosing of the cords of a tent * Solvere sunos tobernaculorum Beleivers in this life and while they are in the body dwell as in tents and tabernacles in an unsetled and changeable estate as pilgrims and strangers having no continuing City and therefore often remove their tents like the Patriarchs of old Heb 11.9 10. Where the Apostle speaking of Abraham saith that by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange countrey dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise for he looked for a City which had foundations whose builder and maker is God Al the faithful are heirs of eternal promises how mean and contemptible soever they seem in the eyes of the world as a gazing-stock unto them among whom they sojourn for a time As they are not of the world so they have little favour and respect from it for therefore the world hateth them John 15.19 No wonder therefore the people of God have alwayes accounted themselves strangers here Psal 119.19 I am a stranger in the earth saith David hide not thy commandements from me And Peter writing to the Jews 1 Pet. 2.11 I beseech you saith he as pilgrims and strangers abstain from fleshly lusts which warre against the Soul How welcome then is that dissolution that looseneth the cords of those tents and pulleth
soul It is dreadful to consider what a mass and mountainous bigness the sins of a poor carnal wretch arise unto if we lay them together his original sin actual sins sins of omission and commission his secret sins and open and scandalous sins his whole life hath been a trade of sin and whatsoever proceedeth from him is sin the ploughing of the wicked is sin and his prayer is turned into sin And to his own sins personally committed we may add his other mens sins either occasioned countenanced or allowed Now multiply these by their particulars and individuals and measure all by their sinful circumstances and then judge of the guilt of every sinful ma that dieth in unbelief and without pardoning grace through the bloud of Christ Secondly The conscience of every wicked man is awakened immediately after death and dissolution to a continual sense of the guilt of all his sins Natural conscience in carnal men is for the most part peaceable silent in this present life delight custome in sin hardning the heart and searing the conscience which they labour to keep asleep by diverting the thoughts to worldly objects or to satisfie by a formal profession attended with some outward performances But as soon as ever the soul of an unregenerate person is separate from the body this lyon awaketh sleepeth no more the faculties of the soul being alwayes in act and exercise in a separate state whereby his sins shall be alwayes before him and set in order before his eyes upon which his conscience shall reflect continually without diversion or intermission Then the sins you have laboured to forget and cast out of mind shall be brought to remembrance and ye shall ever behold them for which conscience shall charge and accuse you and in the fresh remembrance of them you shall lye down self-condemned for ever This is the worm that never dieth Mark 9 48. But shall gnaw your hearts to eternity Thirdly Hereupon the soul of a wicked man shall tremble at the sight and presence of God That the soul of every man and consequently of the wicked shall see and approach the powerful and immediate presence of God in his Divine nature and essence upon their dissolution is apparent in that the spirit of man is said to go upward Eccles 3.21 And to return to God who gave it Chap. 12.7 As also by the particular judgement immediately consequent upon death whereby God appearing to conscience decideth and determineth the eternal state and condition of every soul preparative to the last and glorious appearing of Christ at the great and terrible day who shall then judge the whole world and the soul and body together For it is appointed unto men once to ye and after this the judgement Heb. 9.27 Which may include this particular judgement after death whereof we are speaking as well as the last and general judgement yet some restrain it to the particular only But in what manner the soul of a wicked man shall see God take in a few words Death being the unclothing and putting off off the earthly house of the body the soul remaineth naked in respect of that clothing which nakedness of the separate souls of the Saints is covered and clothed upon with the glory of their house in heaven 2 Cor. 5.3 In which state of nakedness wherein the souls of the wicked abide the soul must needs be quickly and powerfully apprehensive of God and of any impression and influence of God upon it as the body being naked of its clothing is tenderly sensible of heat or cold and any thing that approacheth unto it For the foul being separate from the body receiveth its object no more through the senses of the body but in an immediate way of discovery of them We know also that the Lord doth sometimes immediately wound the spirit of man while it is in the body by letting fall the drops of wrath upon it and thereby tormenteth it which David calleth the rebukes of God Ps 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct a man for iniquity thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth Moreover if the soul being a spirit and separate from the body can converse with spirits as the Saints with Angels and the damned with Devils much more with God the Father of spirits who can discover himself unto them as he pleaseth But take heed of mistaking here for though a gracious and and sanctified soul reconciled unto God hath to do with him as a father in the apprehension of his love through which it hath comfort and joy in communion with him yet it is not so with the sinful soul of that than that dieth in his sins which apprehendeth God only as he appeareth to it in wrath and displeasure for without holiness no man shall see the Lord that is with peace and comfort Heb. 12.14 Now consider ye that forget God can ye see and behold the wrath of his countenance doe ye not tremble in your very thoughts of him Surely the presence of an angry God will make every guilty soul to fear and tremble at his feet when they shall be brought before him by his Serjeant Death The apprehension of guilt and of God together made Adam and Eve to run behind the Trees for fear when they heard the voice of God in the garden Gen. 3.8 Moses though a Favourite yet when he saw the appearance of God in the thundrings and lightnings and earthquakes the smoke and fire heard the sound of the trumpet upon Mount Sinai he said I exceedingly fear â—nd quake Heb. 12.21 When Elijah apprehended God was in the still small voice he wrapped his face in his mantle â—nd went out and stood in the entring of the â—ave 1 Kings 19.13 When Job came to see God with his eyes he abhorred himself in dust and ashes Job 42.6 The judgements of God made holy Davids flesh to tremble Psal 119.120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee I am afraid of thy judgements The glorious vision which Isaiah saw how did it work upon that holy Prophet Isaiah 6.5 When he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne and cryed woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King â—he Lord of Hosts And if these Saints so eminent for grace and holiness have trembled at the presence of God manifested unto them in love and mercy how shall the unner and ungodly stand in his sight Doest thou beleive there is a God If not thou shalt see and beleive but remember that the Devils beleive and tremble Fourthly The soul of a wicked man thus trembling before God the holiness of God breaketh forth in wrath upon the soul to punish torment it For the soul appearing before God in the guilt of all its sins which are the greatest contrariety opposition against the holy nature of God who
blasphemy whereby the soul requoi leth a-against God through anguish thereof By this we may conceive how exquisite the torments of the wicked will be hereafter the soul eternally sinning and continually adding fresh oyl to the flames of wrath for sin kindleth wrath and wrath kindleth hell and hell kindleth sin and sin again wrath and so for ever This is the work and action between an infinite God and a poor unhappy soul to eternity God punishing the soul sinning and the soul sinning God punishing in which torments the body shall partake with the soulafter its resurrection being united again made so far capable to endure its torments as not to be dissolved or destroyed by the extremity and eternity of them Thus sinful and wretched man shall be ever dying weeping yelling howling and sinning under the intollerable pangs of the second death Rev. 21.8 The fearful and unbeleiving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Repent therefore and beleive the Gospel turn from your sins and forsake your wayes that ye may escape this judgement of God for now is the day of salvation through the forbearance of God who would have have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth From this Text and Doctrine we may be again informed upon what grounds the people of God may desire their dissolution How desireable a priviledge the departure of the Saints is hath been already opened but for further direction in it I shall here make up the banks to keep these desires in their right channel which otherwise are ready to break out into unlimited and unlawfull currents Therefore to satisfie this case of conscience concerning the desire of death let every precious soul consider these following Propositions First It is altogether unwarrantable for beleivers to desire dissolution out of meer passion under the forest trouble affliction or tryal It is usual for carnal men upon discontent to wish they might dye who also under the burthensomness of corporal distempers often desire a release from their present paines not knowing or considering that thereby they shall immediately fall from their beds into hell This also is incident to the Godly through infirmity whose passions in this case are not excusable Thus it was with that holy Prophet Elijah when he was forc'd to flee from the rage and persecution of Jezebel who threatned to take away his life 1 Kings 19.34 And when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba and left his servant there but he himself went a dayes journey into the wilderness and came and sate down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am no better then my Fathers Elijah's passion under this persecution being now alone tired and weary probably with his journey as well as assaulted and troubled with slavish fear was the ground of this his request and supplication Now if we compare with this story the expression of S. James presenting Elias as an example of the prevalency of prayer we may judge that this passion was an infirmity in this Prophet James 5.17 Elias was a man subject to passion as we are and he prayed c. The like instance we have of Job who through passion gratified Satan so far under his temptation as to curse the day of his birth and also through vexation of spirit under his afflictions to wish and long for his grave Job 3.20 21 22. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul which long for death and it cometh not and dig for it more then for hid treasures which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave Take also the Prophet Jonah for an example hereof who after he had preached destruction to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord and saw not the execution thereof according to his prophecy was discontent at the patience and repentings of God towards that City and besought the Lord he might dye Jonah 4.3 Therefore now O Lord take I beseech thee my life from me for it is better for me to dye then to live for which the Lord checketh him in the next verse dost thou well to be angry And in the 9 and 10. verses When the Gourd was withered and the Wind and Sun beat upon him that he fainted he wished he might dye again and passionately replies to Gods second rebuke of him I do well to be angry even unto the death Secondly Every Christian looking upon death as a priviledge and means to bring him to Christ ought no further to desireit then with submission to the will of God and a willing subjection to his work and service in his generation To hasten death by unlawful meanes is no less then self murther as hath been already proved and hereby the desire thereof is in some measure limited preservation of life by all lawful means being a duty incumbent upon all Our times and seasons life and death are in the hands only of God the wise disposer of all things for the good of them that love him between whose will and ours there ought to be a perfect conformity in relation to all changes and dispensations Christ escaped from the Jews when they often sought to kill him because his hour was not yet come but then he refused not but accepted that bitter cup which his Father gave him to drink When Job had recovered himself from under the power of his passion he besought the Lord to appoint him a set time and he would wait Job 14.14 All the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change come We must not run home before we have done our worke but mind our worke as well as our reward God hath appointed a particular service for every beleiver in his generation which he should labour to finish with David before he falleth asleep Acts 13.16 For David after he had served his own generation by the will of God fell asleep Saint Paul declaring to Timothy the near approach of his dissolution and departure forgetteth not to mention the finishing of his work in the Gospel 2 Tim. 4.6 7. I am now ready to be offered up and my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith But till it was finished he was willing to abide in the flesh notwithstanding his great desire to depart and to be with Christ as in the words following my Text. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you And having this confidence I know I shall abide and continue with you for your furtherance and joy of faith Thirdly This being minded it is lawful and warrantable for a
and unworthy wretches who disdain and slight such reports of mercy and the rich mystery of Gods good will towards men in Christ which the Angels admiring bow themselves and stoop down to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 Hearken O ye unbeleivers Is it not a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world to save sinners whereof ye are the chief What is the meaning of so many publique Assemblies every Lords day and our occasional comings together upon this or any other providential call what is the meaning that so many are set apart and make it their study and labour to preach unto you whom ye openly see in their Pulpits spreading their hands and hear them with so much zeal and fervency crying aloud spending their very strength and hazarding their healths and life it self in their unwearied paines Is it not Christ whom we preach and in whom ye say that ye beleive How can ye beleive that wallow in the mire of your unclean and polluted conversations How can ye beleive that commit iniquity with greediness and blush not at your open sins and profaneness How can ye beleive that make the world your God and prefer the trrash of the earth before the treasures of heaven How can ye beleive that seek the honour and praise and favour of men more then the honour that is of God that ye may be great upon earth and get a name which shall be written in the earth Is it not true that all men have not faith ye say ye beleive and ye have faith can your faith save you can a dead faith a feigned faith a fruitless and a workless faith save you Can ye prove or shew a true faith without workes Give me leave to try your faith in regard of the object of it Doe ye beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ Doe ye beleive in that Christ who from the beginning was promised to the sore-fathers who saw his day and rejoyced who in the fulness of time appeared in our flesh made of a woman and under the law and took upon him the form of a servant who suffered so much shame and reproach by the contradiction of sinners and at last an accursed death the death of the cross for the satisfaction of divine justice and appeasing of the wrath of God so highly provoked by the sins of men who arose from the grave having overcome and broken the bands of death to assure unto us our justification who lastly ascended into the highest heavens and is there interceeding for his people and ruling and reigning till he overcome all his enemies whence he shall come again and appear the second time without sin unto the final judgement of the world and the full salvation of all that beleive in him Why then do ye say in your selves or is it not the language of our unbeleiving hearts who shall ascend into heaven to bring Christ from above and who shall descend in to the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead What strange fancies have ye in your mindes of Christ and beleiving in Christ Is not your faith a fancy O that the word of faith were nigh unto you even in your hearts the word of faith which we preach And that ye would beleive our report when we preach Christ and him crucified as we have evidently set him forth crucâ—fied among you Besides if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed it would soon manifest its self by the growth of it and the fruits that proceed from it It would be a Christ prizing faith a heart purifying faith a world conquering and crucifying faith it would be a Saint loving and a soul humbling faith it would work in you the fear of God and the fear of sin a love to the truth and to every ordinance of Christ it would make conscience tender and the heart sincere and upright with God yea it would render holiness beautiful and lovely and all the wayes and commands of the Lord delightful and easie besides it would make future things present and present things absent and as if they were not and yet the beleiving soul inherits all things and possesseth all things The exercise of faith is a pleasant joyful and glorious act through the transcendent and unspeakable excellency of Christ the object thereof Now if these things be a mystery unto you and your hearts wholly strangers unto them look into the Gospel more seriously and acquaint your selves further with the riches of the mystery of Christ even the riches of mercy and the unsearchable treasures of Christ and be no more faithless but beleive If ye were but sensible of the wants of your souls as ye are of the straights and necessities of your bodies it would not be so hard to perswade you to come to Christ the great treasury of all supplies who hath gold for the poor and eye-salve for the blind and white rayment for the naked Rev. 3.13 Now are not ye thus poor and blind and naked and consequently wretched and miserable And how freely doth Christ offer himself to become all fulness unto you who is made of God unto all that beleive wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 what sure foundation can ye build upon if Christ be not the corner stone and rock of your trust and confidence and to whom will ye goe for eternal life if ye refuse him and reject the counsell of God by persisting in unbeleif and impenitency I can assure you from the word of God that other foundations can no man lay then is laid by Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Acts 4.12 To day therefore whilst it is called to day harden not your hearts refuse not him that speaketh from heaven lest you perish in your unbeleife but lay hold upon this strength of God that ye may make peace with him ye shall make peace Isai 27.5 For he is our peace by whom we have access with boldness unto the throne of grace and he is able to save unto the uttermost all those that come unto God by him Heb 7.25 O sinners beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ and ye shall be saved every soul of you your sins shall be blotted out and your iniquity shall be remembred no more and receive him who is ready to receive you and to bless you with all spiritual blessings that ye may be the children of God and heires of the promises and of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven Secondly The exhortation is also to all Christians for to such my text hath a more special relation even to those who with their hearts beleive and love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity who though peradventure they cannot so freely with Saint Paul desire to depart yet in case of departing unfeignedly desire to be with him And because