in his own Breast will inflame others but if there be no Spark of Celestial Fire in the Minister's Brest if he does not value the Consequence of Divine Truths he speaks of them without a deep concernment and a cold Preacher makes a careless Hearer and the Sermon is lost in the Air between the Lips of the one and the Ears of the other 2. The Matter of their Sermons must be the Doctrine of the Gospel revealed from Heaven to reduce Men to their Duty and restore them to Felicity This is the Tenor of the Commission given by our Saviour to his Apostles Go teach all Nations to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you The preaching unrevealed or trivial things impertinent to the Salvation and Perfection of Souls is directly contrary to the end of their Office The wisest Method of recovering lost Sinners is to unfold the two Covenants and represent the two Worlds to them The first Covenant was with Man created in natural Righteousness and Holiness but was of a short continuance For by his rebellious Sin he made a deadly forfeiture of the Image and Favour of God of Communion with him the Fountain of our Felicity He is cut off from that blessed Life and must remain in the state of Corruption and Death for ever without redeeming Mercy 'T is a necessary preparative for the Conversion and Recovery of Sinners to convince them of the guilt pollution and dominion of Sin and the everlasting Hell that follows it that they may be roused out of their Security to fly from the Wrath to come The Terrors of the Lord make the first Breach into the Hearts of Men and Grace victoriously enters and subdues the reluctant Will After the Conviction of Sin 't is seasonable to convince them of the all-sufficient Righteousness of Christ that he is the Tree of Life for the reviving dead Sinners that he is Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption a universal Remedy for all the Evils that lie upon Man in his fallen State And 't is requisite to open the Terms upon which God offers his Mercy the Law of Faith in the Gospel that consists of Commands and Promises both to check Presumption that flatters so many into Hell and to prevent Despair that works as dangerously though not so frequently to the Ruin of Souls That men may not from corrupt minds and carnal Affections misinterpret the Gospel to live at ease in their Sins a faithful Minister must shew them that the Promises of Pardon and Salvation are made only to a certain order of Sinners the repenting and reforming Sinners that rely upon Christ alone for their acceptance that he is a King as well as a Priest and none can regularly depend upon his Sacrifice without Subjection to his Scepter In short the soveraign Balm of his Blood is to be applied only to those whose Hearts are broken for their Sins and from them And to raise and encourage drooping Spirits that feel the intolerable Burthen of Sin and both from their Guilt and Unworthiness and their Impotency to perform the Conditions of the Gospel are apt to be hopeless of obtaining Salvation the Gospel assures us that God is rich in Mercy ready to receive humble contrite Suppliants That although Sins are of different degrees of Guilt and accordingly Conscience should be affected and the Springs of Godly Sorrow be opened yet God can as easily forgive ten thousand Talents as a few pence that the Blood of Christ cleanses from all Sins those that are of a Crimson dy as well as from those of a lighter Tincture That the Promise of Pardon is without limitation to all penitent Believers And although in the fallen State Man is destitute of Spiritual Strength no Man can come to Christ except the Father draw him though Carnal Lusts have fetter'd Nature and captivated the Will that Men cannot rescue themselves from the Bondage of Sin yet Divine Grace is offered in the Gospel to enable us to do what is impossible without it and the Holy Spirit is promised to all that sincerely ask it who is stiled the Spirit of Love and Power and a sound Mind with respect to his Heavenly Operations in the Hearts of Men. Therefore as it would be Folly in a Scholar that is invited to the School of a learned Master to discourage himself from going because he wants Learning For that is to be obtained there and only his Desire and Capacity of Instruction is requisite for his Admission so 't is unreasonable for those who have a humble sense of their Sins and Misery to be discouraged from coming to our Saviour for he is most willing to reconcile God to them by his prevailing Mediation and to communicate Divine Grace that they may perform that Obedience which God will graciously accept This is to imitate the Apostles of whom 't is said We preach not our selves but Christ Jesus the Lord. 'T is of excellent use also for Preachers often to represent to Men the two Worlds so vastly different in the Qualities the Degrees and Duration of the Good and Evil Things that are enjoyed or suffered in them that they may discover the Errors of their Ways before they come to their End and Death opens their Eyes to see and lament what is lost and never to be recover'd All the admired Things in the sensible World are perishing Vanities like an inchanted Feast that feeds the Eye without real Nourishment But in the Coelestial World all is substantial satisfying and eternal All the Evils the Calamities the Injuries and Troubles suffer'd here are no more to the Plagues prepared by revenging Justice for impenitent Sinners than the slight razing of the Skin is to a deadly Wound in the Heart Now the fundamental Delusion of Men is in valuing the present state of Things above what is Future and infinitely better or worse They think and call them only Happy who live in Pomp and flow in Riches and Pleasures but as vainly as the Heathens dignified their Idols with the Titles of Coelestial Deities They count them only miserable that are in Poverty Sickness and Afflictions here And as 't is observed by the great Physician that if a delirous Person proposes his incohoerent Fancies seriously as the Product of Consideration his Case is more dangerous and hardly curable So the solemn Folly of Men that think it reasonable to esteem what is present and sensible above what is future and spiritual and accordingly to choose the present as the real substantial Good and neglect the future as a matter of Fancy and Conceit is hardly cured Their Minds and Affections their Aims and Desires center in the Earth their Fears Anxieties Sorrows terminate there And 't is one necessary part of the Minister's Work to devest the World of its Masquing Habit that appears so rich and glittering in the Night by Torch-light to strip it naked as it shall burn in the consuming Fire at the last Day And to unvail the
the pure Possibility of Being without the giving actual Being to us The natural Law that shines in the Minds of Men in the Knowledg of what is just and good and in the Conscience of what is evil binds them with the deepest Humility to acknowledg the Greatness and Goodness of our Creator and in the sense of this first and fundamental Benefit to consecrate our selves for ever to his Service 2. We are his Servants not only upon the general Title of Creation but in a more peculiar manner by Redemption Man by his Disobedience was fallen into a woful Bondage his Guilt subjected him to the threatning that contained two Deaths in one Sentence the temporal and present of the Body and the eternal of the Soul The righteous Judg of the the World whose Law was broken required an honourable Reparation of it the most costly Sacrifices of Beasts a Sea of Blood could never atone his Displeasure Nay the Obedience and Sufferings of Men and Angels were of no value to satisfy his injured Justice Thus Mankind was desperately lost our Ruines if I may so speak were sowed with Salt we were concluded under his most righteous and fearful Wrath If the Love and Wisdom of God had not accorded to find out that astonishing expedient of uniting the eternal Son of God with the human Nature in one Person that as Man he might voluntarily submit to bloody Sufferings and as God give an infinite Merit and Value to them and thereby purchase our Redemption This is accomplished by Jesus Christ The Lord laid on him the Iniquity of us all he gave his Life a ransom for us From hence a new Right springs of his Dominion over us as the Apostle invincibly argues Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your Bodies and in your Spirit which are God's The naked representing of this to the serious Mind must awaken a dear Sense of our Obligations to our Saviour but if we solemnly and deliberately contemplate this amazing Benefit out of what Rock is the Heart framed that is not soften'd and melted in Love and Obedience to our Blessed Redeemer To heighten the Sense of our Obligations Consider 1. A more excellent Goodness is visible in the redeeming Man than in creating the Angels upon the account of the distance of the Terms and the Difficulty of the way to effect it In the Creation of Angels Goodness was rich indeed there being no Possibility of desert in pure nothing but it was simply free whereas in our Salvation it is merciful beyond all Imagination for by our Rebellion we were justly fallen under the Wrath of God Their Creation was without the least strain of his Power He spake and it was done But there was a legal Bar against our Restitution To remove it his Son endured the Curse of the Law for us and bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree Divine Love in our Redemption not only exceeds what was shewed in the Creation of Angels but is admirably illustrated by a higher comparison For the Father seemed to love us above his only begotten Son whom he spared not but delivered him up for us all and the Son loved us above his Life which he laid down for us 2. By the way of our Redemption he has infinitely honoured our Nature that was so vilified by the Fall Man whose Soul was an immortal Spirit stamped with the lively Image of God capable of everlasting Communion with him in Glory was sold for nought Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be very desolate That Man who had the two great Lights of Natural Reason and Divine Faith should prefer the pleasing an irregular Appetite before the Favour of God and for a vain Fancy lose the most substantial Happiness Thus Man being in Honour and understood not became like the Beasts that perish nay viler than the Earth And all the Children of Adam sin according to the Similitude of his first Transgression O the cheap Damnation of Sinners For transient Pleasures and mean Profits they venture upon eternal Death This guilty and woful Folly not only defiles but debases Men to Hell Now the Lord of Life and Glory by suffering an ignominious Death for us has with the clearest evidence discovered the true Worth of Souls That they are precious beyond comparison since the whole World is not a valuable Compensation for them We are not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without spot and blemish That sacred Treasure of Heaven that was laid down for us exceedingly increases our Obligations to the Blessed Redeemer 3. By giving himself for us he has not only freed us from the Wrath of God but restored us to his dearest Favour We are translated from the fearful State of being God's Enemies into the amiable joyful State of his Children And consequently our Redeemer has purchased for us not only Salvation from Hell but eternal Glory a Life more divine and durable than the natural Life in Paradise How can we seriously think of this transcendent Benefit without a rapture of Affection He infinitely deserves our Love and Service who has bought us with so dear a price and purchased for us a glorious and incorruptible Inheritance 3. We are his Servants by his Deliverance of us from our Spiritual Enemies Satan Sin and Death Since the Devil obtained a woful Victory over us in the Fall of Adam great was the Triumph of Hell And though he be an Usurper of God's Right which could never be extinguished yet by our Overthrow he has a kind of a Title to us and keeps us as the Spoils of his Victory And having revolted from God we are justly though miserably under the Powers of Darkness We are chained in the lowest and the vilest Bondage The Soul and Body are under his tyrannous Dominion and suffer the deepest Wounds of Infamy and Cruelty He fetters our Minds with dangerous Delusions our Wills with divers Lusts and Passions and leads Men Captives in the ways of Sin till they fall into Hell the Centre of Misery Now as in redeeming a Captive there must be the paying the Ransom and the breaking his Chains that he may be restored to Liberty So besides the Price that was payed to God the Supreme Judg for our Discharge our Saviour has broken our Chains he by the sanctifying Spirit dispels the Darkness of our Minds softens the Hardness of our Hearts subdues the Rebellion of our Wills rectifies the Disorder of our Affections that we may be freed from the Domion of Sin as well as from the Obligation and Terrors of the Law He has broken the Powers of Darkness that conspired to keep us fast in the Intanglements of our Iniquities he has freed us from the spiritual Pharaoh and his cruel Task-Masters the imperious violent Lusts that are seated in the Heart and restores us to the glorious
Will and any Reservation of our own Lusts and Appetites He has told us No Man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other The Commands of Christ and Satan are absolutely inconsistent Obedience to the one is direct Rebellion against the other We may not capitulate with him and think by some good Works to compound for our Exorbitancies and that strictness in some Duties will excuse our Indulgence of some Sins He will not accept of bankrupt Obedience but strictly requires the payment of sincere Obedience to all his Commands The Apostle expresses our universal Duty in active and passive Obedience to Christ None of us liveth to himself no Man dyeth to himself for whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we dye we dye unto the Lord whether therefore we live or dye we are the Lords That is our Lives must be employed in his Service and our Deaths be at his Order and Disposal Is the external acknowledging of him and a specious Homage worthy his most precious Sufferings Can his Death excuse our Disobedience Can his Sufferings that purchas'd his Dominion to Rule us procure a Licence for us to rebel against his Commands Such a Thought is Blasphemy And our Consent must be entire that is we must serve him with all the freedom and force of our internal Faculties with all the diligence of our outward Members with all possible industry to advance his Glory 'T is not the empty Title of Lord nor the performing some slight Observances that will please Christ. The Commands of the Gospel frequently urge us to be fervent in our Heavenly Calling First seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof Strive to enter in at the strait Gate Take the Kingdom of Heaven by Violence Work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling Abound in the Work of the Lord Be rich in good Works Add to Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledg and every Grace in degrees of Eminence Give all Diligence to make your Calling and Election sure We must walk circumspectly and exactly becoming the Dignity and Purity of our high and holy Calling We have many Duties to perform many Sins to subdue and mortify many Graces to perfect and the most intent application of Mind the most zealous industry is requisite for such great Ends. By Diligence and Culture our Souls will be as fruitful Gardens abounding in the Fruits of Righteousness but if we are remiss and careless they will be barren as the Sands of Africa We should with as much Zeal and Vigour serve Christ as ever we served our Lusts those imperious Exactors of our Time and Strength and Affections 'T is the Proportion St. Paul enforces As you have yielded your Members Servants and Weapons to Vncleanness so yield your Members Weapons and Servants of Righteousness But how many that have made a Trade of Sin are as careless in Religion as if it were a slight Recreation How many please themselves with a Mediocrity in Religion and pretend if they be but saved they are content They do not aspire to excellent degrees of Glory nor to higher degrees in the favour of God and are luke-warm and remiss in his Service presuming what they do will be sufficient to secure their Souls But was ever any Person so deserted of Reason that in Worldly Trade when he might gain a hundred Pounds he is contented with ten Besides this Disposition and Language is of one that principally desires Heaven to escape Hell and all that he does Religiously is the effect of servile Fear which is no Saving Grace For were it not for the terrible Punishment such a Person would securely commit the Sin Briefly as the Lord Christ has sav'd us to the uttermost we should serve him to the uttermost We should with such Alacrity and Diligence with such willing Hearts and Earnestness serve him on Earth as he is served in Heaven If we had the Powers of the Angels yet our Service would be short of our Obligations 3. Our Service of Christ must be upon firm Principles and permanent Reasons to our Lives end Sometimes there are Desires and Resolutions kindled in the Breast and the Carnal Passions blow so violently as to quench them Like some Cursed Women that by violent Potions destroy the living Conception in their Bowels Others in the Sunshine of Prosperity will adhere in Profession to Christ but when Storms arise they withdraw themselves Others begin in the Spirit run well for a time but end in the Flesh. Our Saviour has spoke the doom of all such No Man having put his Hand to the Plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God He is not worthy the Honour of being Christ's Servant and he will quickly find the fearful Consequences of Christ's Rejection in the next World We read of Shimei that upon Solomon's confining him to Jerusalem with the threatning of Death if he went forth And Shimei said to the King The Saying is good As my Lord the King hath said thy Servant will do What an easy Confinement was it to remain in the Holy City where all the Tribes came twice a Year and when they returned left their Hearts behind them It seems to be a Priviledg and Favour rather than a Punishment Yet a petty Interest drew him out and for the Violation of his Promise he lost his Life This is a representation of those who for Temporal Respects desert the Service of Christ violate their Promises to him and leave the New Jerusalem the City of the Living God Our Saviour will accept of none into his Service but upon his own Terms Whoever will be my Disciple let him take up his Cross and follow me Who would not be ambitious to be the Copy of such a Divine Original We should rejoyce if call'd forth to sharp Tryals for his Name as having an occasion to give the clearest Testimony of our Superlative Love and intire Fidelity to our Blessed Lord. To conclude the Argument Let us be persuaded to dedicate our selves wholly to the Service of Christ and to live according to our Dedication This should be the early act of the reasonable Creature for is it equal to put him off with the Reliques of the World to whom the First-Fruits the best of all we are and have is due But if we have been careless of our Duty let us not any longer defer to make a voluntary Consecration of our Lives to his Glory Remember that Life is but a Spans breadth our opportunity of serving Christ is short and the omission of it is irreparable What is there to recommend a Service to us but is to be found in the Service of Christ 'T is the most honourable Service whether we consider the Divine Majesty of our Master who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords The Quality of our Fellow-Servants the Angels of Light and
THE WAY TO THE Highest Honour A FUNERAL SERMON On JOHN xii 26. Preach'd upon the Decease of the R nd THO. JACOMB D.D. April 3. 1687. By William Bates D.D. LONDON Printed for J. Robinson at the Golden Lion in S. Pauls Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII TO THE Right Honourable ELIZABETH Countess-Dowager OF EXCETER Madam I Present a Sermon to your view that drew forth your Tears in the Hearing and is like to be a revival of your Sorrow in Reading but I could not without Indecence decline the inscribing it to your Name 'T is design'd to the precious Memory of one whose Piety and Prudence had render'd most worthily and affectionately respected by you One who for Forty Years faithfully served you in the Affairs of your Soul and in that long space there was a continual Circulation of Favours on your Part and Observance on his As his Presence and Counsel and Example in your Family was an excellent Blessing and dearly prized by you so in proportion your afflicting Grief rises for the loss of him But you are instructed to be content with the Divine Disposal And our Gracious God by withdrawing intermediate Comforts calls you to more intimate and Heavenly Communion with Himself I might here take a just occasion to speak of your eminent Vertues and of your serious Religion that crowns the rest For then Praise-worthy Excellencies may be duely and safely represented when he that Commends is not in danger of falling into Flattery and the Person Commended is not in danger of being swell'd with Pride And such is your excellent and conspicuous Goodness that it reflects a Lustre upon your Nobility and is above Verbal Encomiums and your rare Humility is most relucent amongst your other shining Graces But 't is needless to illustrate that Worth that is so visible to all I shall only observe that as you have been so happy as to find Wisdom the true Spiritual Wisdom that directs us to our Last and Blessed End the Wisdom that excells Rubies and by an incomparable Comparison all the admired Things in the World So the promised Reward of Wisdom has been your Portion Length of Days are in her right Hand and in her left Hand Wisdom and Honour You are now come to Old Age and are apt to complain such is your zealous Piety that your Strength being spent you are useless and with Impatience desire a Dismission from hence But as a Servant that stands and waits upon his Master's Pleasure as truly serves him as he that is most industrious in his Business so by an humble patient waiting upon your Heavenly Lord till he shall call you to the Blessed State Above you as truly please and glorifie him as when your active powers were fresh and lively and you went about doing good Be encouraged Good Madam with unfainting Perseverance to expect the final Reward For your Salvation is nearer than when you first believed Let the Love of Christ always reign in your Heart and the Crown of Glory be always in your Eye that you may finish your course with joy These are the most unfeigned Desires of him who is Madam Your very humble and faithful Servant William Bates ADVERTISEMENTS A Short Description of the Blessed Place and State of the Saints Above In a Discourse on the Words of our Saviour Joh. 14.2 Preached on occasion of the Death of Mr. David Clarkson By W. Bates D. D. A Plain Representation of Transubstantiation as it is received in the Church of Rome with the Sandy Foundations it is built upon and the Arguments that clearly evert and overturn it ERRATA PAg. 29. in the Margent for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 P. 102. l. 6. for ruines r. ruin'd P. 104. l. 11. dele our selves St. JOHN xii 26. If any Man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my Servant be If any Man serve me him will my Father honour IF it so pleased the wise and soveraign Disposer of all Things how much rather would I be an attentive Hearer of that blessed Servant of God who is now above than preach his Funeral Sermon at this Time That my sad Voice should be reserved for this mournful Service is both contrary to my Desire and Expectation O frail and faithless Life of Man Who would have thought that Dr. Jacomb whose natural vigour and firm Complexion promised a longer continuance here should have a period put to his Days and that I should survive whose Life has been preserved for many Years like the weak light of a Lamp in the open Air But he has finish'd his Work and was more fit for Heaven The last Lord's Day he entred into everlasting Rest And I with you are still upon the Earth that we may make a better Preparation for the Divine Presence in Heaven and that Holy Assembly that serves him who sits upon the Throne without Imperfection or Intermission for ever In order to this end I have chosen the present Subject of my Discourse In the Verse our Saviour gives a most important Command and indispensably obligatory to all Christians If any Man serves me let him follow me If he assumes the Title and enters into the sacred Engagement of being my Servant let his Carriage be answerable to his Condition let him follow the Divine Example I have set before him And since the way is narrow and be-set with Thorns our Coelestial Leader who by the Cross ascended to the Throne assures us of a blessed Retribution that shall infinitely out-weigh all the numerous and heavy Troubles to which we are expos'd in his Service all our grievous Sufferings shall end in Eternal Joys Where I am there shall my Servant be And he is at God's right Hand where there is fulness of Joy and Rivers of Pleasure for ever And all the Clouds of Disgrace and Contempt that darken our present State shall be dispell'd and overcome by unfading Glory If any Man serve me him will my Father honour Joy and Glory are the bright Sum of Heaven The compleat Felicity that a stedfast Faith in our Saviour's Promises opposes to the greatest Evils all the Ignominy and Reproaches all the Pains and Miseries that can afflict Life or imbitter Death The lively hope of it inspires his Servants with an invincible Courage and Patience to sustain what ever Evils for his Sake I shall confine my Discourse to the last part of the Verse If any Man serve me him will my Father honour Having upon the like occasion treated of the Joy that shall recompence all the Sorrows and Labours of the Saints The Proposition I shall insist on is this God will crown the Fidelity and Constancy of Christ's Servants with the highest Honour In the managing of the Point I will consider First What the Service of Christ implies Secondly Upon what accounts 't is due to him Thirdly The final Reward that shall certainly attend it Lastly Bring it home to our own Bosoms by Application First
the Glorified Saints who are the Princes of his Court and the Heavenly Nobility And the nature of the Work that is sublime and excellent becoming an Intellectual Soul that is Spiritual by Nature and Divine by Grace 'T is the most sweet and easy Service This will seem incredible to those who judg of the Delights of the Spirit by the Principles of the Flesh. In this Sense also the Carnal Man understands not the things of the Spirit Who can discover the Pleasure of Musick to one that was born Deaf or describe the Light of the Sun to one that was ever Blind who can see a Taste The Truth is the Life of Carnal Men has the appearance of Joy but not the reality And the Life of the Saints has a gloomy Melancholly appearance but has an inward cordial Joy incomparably above all the vain flashy Delights of the World A Carnal Man that serves divers Lusts and Pleasures is sometimes rack'd and vex'd betwixt contrary Passions Every Lust has a secret Sting with its Honey And as the corrupt Heart is its own Tempter so the guilty Conscience is its own Tormenter Besides the fearful apprehension of what shall follow in the next World when the revenging Justice of God and the cruel Malice of Satan shall concur to make the Sinner miserable is sufficient to poyson the sweetest Pleasures of Sin But the Life of a Saint is regulated by a Law that is always at Union in its Precepts He has Divine Assistance to enable him to perform it His gracious Master will pardon his Infirmities The Content of Conscience the Joy of the Holy Ghost that rewards our Duty here far exceeds all the Severity and Difficulty that the Carnal Nature complains of in obeying the Divine Law The Yoke of Christ is truly easy and his Burthen truly light His Service is the most profitable He will protect maintain and everlastingly reward his Servants Is there any Master so rich so liberal so faithful as Christ How often do the Slaves of the World complain that they have spent themselves in vain As Jacob reproached Laban Thou hast deceived me and changed my Wages ten times so may the Worldlings say whose Hopes have been often charm'd with the specious Promises of the World and deluded in the end Dear bought Experience at last convinces them of their woful Folly in seeking for Happiness where it was not to be found and neglecting to seek it where it was But the Servants of Christ have at the present their Fruit unto Holiness and in the end everlasting Life The Service of Christ here is Freedom Victory Empire and hereafter a triumphant Felicity I shall now address my self to the present Occasion which is to pay our last solemn Respects to the Memory of the Reverend Dr. Thomas Jacomb who was so universally known esteem'd and beloved in this City that his Name is a noble and lasting Elogy I shall not give an account of the time he spent in Cambridg where he was Fellow of Trinity Colledg and worthily esteemed in that flourishing Society But confine my Discourse to his Ministry in London Here the Divine Providence disposed him into the Family of a Right Honourable Person to whom he was deservedly very acceptable and whose real and most noble Favours conferred upon him were only to be equalled by his grateful and high Respects and his constant Care to promote serious Religion in her Family He was a Servant of Christ in the most peculiar and sacred Relation And he was true to his Title both in his Doctrine and in his Life He was an excellent Preacher of the Gospel and had a happy Art of conveying Saving-Truths into the Minds and Hearts of Men. He did not entertain his Hearers with Curiosities but with Spiritual Food He dispens'd the Bread of Life whose vital Sweetness and nourishing Vertue is both productive and preservative of the Life of Souls He preach'd Christ Crucified our only Wisdom and Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption His great design was to convince Sinners of their absolute want of Christ that with flaming Affections they might come to him and from his Fulness receive Divine Grace This is to water the Tree at the Root whereby it becomes flourishing and fruitful whereas the laying down of Moral Rules for the exercise of Vertue and subduing vicious Affections without directing Men to derive Spiritual Strength by Prayer and in the use of Divine Ordinances from the Mediator the Fountain of all Grace and without representing his Love as the most powerful motive and Obligation to Obedience is but pure Philosophy and the highest effect of it is but unregenerate Morality In short his Sermons were clear and solid and affectionate He dipp'd his Words in his Soul in warm Affections and breath'd a Holy Fire into the Breasts of his Hearers Of this many serious and judicious Persons can give Testimony who so long attended upon his Ministry with delight and profit His constant Diligence in the Service of Christ was becoming his Zeal for the Glory of his Master and his Love to the Souls of Men. He preach'd thrice a Week whilst he had Opportunity and Strength He esteemed his labour in his sacred Office both his highest Honour and his Pleasure At the first appearance of an Ulcer in his Mouth which he was told to be Cancerous he was observed to be not much concerned about it than as it was likely to hinder his Preaching that was his delightful Work and when he enjoyed Ease and after wasting Sickness was restor'd to some degrees of Strength he joyfully return'd to his Duty Nay when his Pains were tolerable Preaching was his best Anodyne when others fail'd And after his Preaching the reflection upon the Divine Goodness that enabled him for the discharge of the Service was a great relief of his Pains His Life was suitable to his Holy Profession His Sermons were Printed in a fair and lively Character in his Conversation He was an Example to Believers in Word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity He was of a staid Mind and temperate Passions and moderate in Counsels In the managing of Affairs of Concernment he was not vehement and confident not imposing and over-bearing but was receptive of Advice and yielding to Reason His compassionate Charity and Beneficence was very conspicuous amongst his other Graces His Heart was given to God and his relieving beneficent Hand to the living Images of God whose pressing wants he resented with tender Affections and was very instrumental for their Supplies And as his Life so his Death adorn'd the Gospel which was so exemplary to others and so gracious and comfortable to himself The Words of Men leaving the World make usually the deepest Impressions being spoken most feelingly and with least Affectation Death reveals the Secrets of Mens Hearts And the Testimony that dying Saints give how gracious a Master they have served how sweet his Service has been to their Souls has a
mighty Influence upon those about them Now the Deportment and Expressions of this Servant of Christ in his long languishing Condition were so holy and heavenly that though his Life has been very useful yet he more glorified God dying than living When he was summoned by painful Sickness his first Work was to yield himself with resigned Submission to the Will of God When a dear Friend of his first visited him he said I am in the use of Means but I think my appointed time is come that I must dye If my Life might be serviceable to convert or build up one Soul I should be content to live but if God hath no work for me to do here I am let him do with me as he pleaseth But to be with Christ is best of all Another time he told the same Person That now it was visible it was a determined case God would not hear the Prayer to bless the means of his Recovery therefore desired his Friend to be willing to resign him to God saying It will not be long before we meet in Heaven never to part more and there we shall be perfectly happy there neither your Doubts and Fears nor my Pains and Sorrows shall follow us nor our Sins which is best of all After a long continuance in his languishing Condition without any sensible Alteration being asked how he did he replied I lie here but get no ground for Heaven or Earth Upon which one said Yes in your Preparations for Heaven O yes said he there I sensibly get ground I bless God An humble Submission to the Divine Pleasure was the habitual Frame of his Soul Like a Dye that thrown high or low always falls upon its Square thus whethe hope of his Recovery were raised or sunk he was content in every Dispensation of Providence His Patience under sharp and continuing Pains was admirable The most difficult part of a Christian's Duty the sublimest degree of Holiness upon Earth is to bear tormenting Pains with a meek and quiet Spirit Then Faith is made perfect in Works and this was eminently verified in his long Trial. His Pains were very severe proceeding from a cancerous Humour that spread it self in his Joynts and preyed upon the tenderest Membranes the most sensible Parts yet his Patience was invincible How many restless Nights did he pass through without the least murmuring or Reluctancy of Spirit He patiently suffered very grievous things through Christ that strengthned him and in his most afflicted Condition was thankful But what Disease or Death could disturb the blessed Composure of his Soul which was kept by the Peace of God that passes all Vnderstanding Such was the Divine Mercy he had no Anxieties about his future State but a comfortable Assurance of the favour of God and his Title to the Eternal Inheritance He had a substantial double Joy in the reflection upon his Life spent in the faithful Service of Christ and the Prospect of a blessed Eternity ready to receive him This made him long to be above He said with some Regret Death flies from me I make no haste to my Father's House But the wise and gracious God having tried his faithful Servant gave him the Crown of Life which he hath promised to those that love him His Body that poor Relick of Frailty is committed in trust to the Grave His Soul sees the Face of God in Righteousness and is satisfied with his Likeness The Hope of this should allay the Sorrows of his dearest Friends When the Persons we love and have lived with are to be absent a few Months it is grievous but at the last lamenting Separation all the Springs of our tender Affections are opened and Sorrows are ready to overwhelm us But the stedfast Belief of the Divine World and that our Friends are safely arrived thither is able to support our fainting Spirits and refresh all our Sorrows The truth is we have reason to lay to heart the Displeasure of God and our own Loss when his faithful Ministers are taken away When the Holy Lights of Heaven are Eclips'd it portends sad Things When the Saints are removed from Earth to Heaven their Souls freed from the interposition of their dark Bodies they truly live but we that remain dye being deprived of their Holy Lives their Examples that are a preservative from the Contagion of the World A due Sense of God's afflicting Providence is becoming us But always allayed with hope of our being shortly reunited with our dearest Friends for ever in the better World O that our serious Preparations our lively Hopes and the Presence of the great Comforter in our Souls may encourage us most willingly to leave this lower World so full of Temptations and Trouble to ascend into the World Above where perfect Peace full Joy and the most excellent Glory are in Conjunction for ever FINIS Rom. 12.11 Luke 1.74 75. Et si adhuc viliorum materiarum obtulisses fecisset quod ex illa fieri optimum possit Sic sapiens virtutem si licebit in divitiis explicabit si minus in exilio Quamcunque fortunam acceperit aliquid ex illa memorabile efficiet Senec. Ep. 78. Tit. 2. Rom. 13. Acts 26.18 Col. 1.12 Rom. 1. Phil. 1. 2 Tim. 2.14 Mat. 13.52 Mat. 24.45 1 Tim. 4.14 15. Cui ideo reor veteres pagani tam speciosae appellationis titulum dederunt ut quia in eo non erat numen vel nomen esset Et quia non habebat aliquam ex potestate virtutem haberet saltem ex vocabulo divinitatem Salv. de Provid l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippoc. Aphor. Lib. 6. 2 Tim. 4.1 2. Col. 1.28 Acts 20.24 Miser ego semper aeger caloribus impatientiae Confiteor ad Dominum Deum satis temere me si non etiam impudenter de patientia componere ausum cui praestandae idoneus omnino non sim. Esa. 44.12 Psal. 103. Dan. 9. Psal. 118.181 Idoneus sui operis aestimator magno pretio nos redemit Arnob. Luke 11.21 Acts 18.5 1 Pet. 3.12 Rev. 3.21 Deut. 7.8 Col. 3. Nam ut mens per diem veris visionibus avocatur ne dormiat ita falsis nocte ne excitetur Lactant. de Opific Dei c. 18. Quae in ipsis visceribus medicaments epotis Originem futuri hominis extinguunt paricidium faciant antequam pariant Minus Fel. 1 King 2.38 Jussisti Domino sic est ut poena sit sibi omnis inordinatus animus Aug.