from us if it may stand with Gods good pleasure to whose holy will we must alwaies submit our desires for if it be not his will to deliver us it will be his will to comfort us if we do patiently attend his appointed time This is holy Davids counsel h Ps 27. 14 wait on the Lord saith he be of good courage and he shall strengthen thy heart wait I say on the Lord. And again he saith i Ps 34 8. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him If we thus wait on the Lord he will also wait to do us good for thus the Prophet expresseth the wonderful goodnesse of God to his people k Is 30. 18 And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you What can more strongly move us to wait patiently the Lords time when he will be pleased to send us comfort in our sorrows and deliverance out of them l Psa 50. 15 God hath also commanded us to call upon him in our troubles and he hath promised to deliver us and as he hath commanded the one so he will never fail to perform the other But when the Lord giveth this cup to the wicked m Ier. 25. 25. 28. it is the wine cup of his fury to them for their destruction and though they refuse to take it yet they shall certainly drink it Sometimes the Lord maketh his own people drink very deep of this cup for thus the Prophet bewaileth the sorrows and afflictions of Ierusalem n Isa 51. 17. Awake awake stand up O Jerusalem which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury thou hast drunkâ—n the dregs of the cup of trembling and wruâ—g them out But the Lord their God will take a time to plead their causes when they repent and forsake their sinnes and turn unto him o Is 51. 22 23. Behold saith the Lord I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling even the dregs of the cup of my sury thou shalt no more drink it again but I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee If God be angry with his servants it will be but for a night joy will come in the morning if he doth suffer the wicked to afflict them it will be for a short time and then he will give them a double measure of consolation for their sorrows and at length will pour out his fury in full measure upon their enemies Though it was the will of God that Christ in his humane nature should drink this cup and the very dregs of it which brought him so low in his own apprehension as if God had forsaken him yet his divine nature did so uphold him that he was able to bear it whereby he hath made that cup milde and gentle to us for all that belong unto him must tast of this cup in this life And as Peter saith If judgement first begins at the house of God what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God and if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear If God gave this cup of trembling to his own dear Sonne who was full of all good surely then he will not spare us that naturally are dry barren and fruitles Wherefore look narrowly to thy wayes and walk circumspectly before thy God for if thy sins and iniquities breaks upon thee and thou continuest in them without repentance God will put his cup of fury in thy hand and thou must certainly drink it which will make thy heart to quake and tremble when thou doest tast it p â—an 5. 5 6. King Belshazzars countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joynts of his loynes were loosed and his knees smote one against another when he did but see the hand-writing that was upon the wall against him how much then wilt thou tremble that must drink the dregs of this cup if thou goest on still in a rebellious way against God without repentance But if thou wilt seek the Lord betimes and meet him by faith in Christ and with a penitent heart he will be found of thee and this cup shall either passe from thee or else it shall be tempered to thy strength that thou maiest drink it with comfort If we look upon our Saviours bloody sweat we shall see the anguish of his soul and with what violence the devil did assault him thus terrible was his Agony because the great Dragon that old serpent the devil did set upon him with all his power and cast his venomous and poysoned darts to wound his very soul if it had been possible and to sting him unto death Though the devil and his wicked instruments were suffered at last to take away his life yet the venome of their malice could not hurt him for as he lived an innocent Lamb without any spot or stain of sinne so he died a sacrifice without blemish holy and acceptable to God and by his death he did vanquish sinne which was the sting of death and by his resurrection he did vanquish the devil who had the power of death and also he subdued all the power of wicked men and perfectly finished the whole work of mans redemption In this Agony Christ found the burden of sinne so heavy upon him and the power of the devil so strong against him that his soul was heavy even to the death What could be wanting to add sorrow to his soul when the great dragon of hell was unchained and let loose upon him yet by the power of his Deity he overcame him though he were forced to a bloody sweat If the beginning of our Saviours Passion was thus bitter and painful to him when he was in his full strength of body how terrible was it afterwards when his body was faint and weak and his spirits almost spent If the devil by his own power did thus afflict his soul how was he afflicted when his soul and body were tortured and tormented by the devil and his cruel instruments in his greatest weakness Wherefore if he did sweat drops of blood for our sakes it is a shame for us to take no pains in his service for the advancement of his Name and to suffer nothing for his glory We can sweat abundantly about our pleasure and profit and about our affaires in this world but we can feel no warmth of holy zeal in our affection toward him neither will we take any pains about the affairs of the Kingdome of heaven We will not suffer our own name or credit to be blemished but we hear the sacred Name of our blessed Redeemer dishonoured and blasphemed we are not moved at it but we can suffer it well enough Also we can professe his Name when there is no opposition against it but if clouds or stormes of affliction and persecution do arise upon us for his sake we are ready quickly to shrink from
hateful sin was in the sight of God also the devil knew that such was the rigour and strictnesse of the justice of God that he would not spare his own natural Son if he found him clothed with sinful and polluted garments But the devil was much deceived in Christ for though he had sinne up-him yet he had no sinne in him he had no sin of his own but our iniquities were laid upon him because he did stand between the justice of God and us to shelter us from the anger and wrath of God which was our due for all our transgressions and also to suffer whatsoever was due to us by the Law to free us from the curse of the Law but Christ was no longer under the severity of Gods displeasure than until his justice was satisfied our redemption perfectly finished and our atonement made with God Notwithstanding the devil out of meer malice to mankind doth labour to the uttermost of his power to hinder this great work of our salvation which Christ was now about to effect by seeking to destroy our blessed Saviour From hence we may learn to be afraid of sinne because the justice of God will spare none if the guilt of sinne be upon them and if they are not washed and made clean with the blood of Christ by faith but do sleep in their sinne without repentance Also we may observe the cunning and the malice of the devil against the children of God for he will then soonest assault them with his temptations when they are under Gods visitation or when he doth hide the light of his countenance from them because he thinks then to prevail and that they are then least able to resist him whereas God doth usually give his servants most grace when crosses or afflictins are upon them But this is our comfort that the devil can prevail no more against us than he did against our gracious Saviour for Christ will restrain his power in regard of our weakness and he will hide himself no longer from us than until we are truly humbled for our sinnes and that our hearts are clensed by faith and sound repentance Lastly though the devil did what he could against Christ to hinder us of our salvation yet he was not able to compass his wicked design for Christ did confound him and did fully finish his great work which he had undertaken although it were exceeding bitter to his humane nature thus will Christ confound all the enemies that seek the ruin of our souls Now did Christ feel the burden of our sins presse so hard upon him that his very soul was heavy even to the death now did God begin to pour out his wrath upon him and to let loose the principalities and powers of darkness to torment his innocent soul and now did God offer his beloved Son a cup of trembling and wrung out the very dregs which he did willingly drink because his Father gave it him for thus he said unto Peter a Joh. 81. 11. The cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it b Luk. 22. 44. His Agony in the garden was but a tast of this cup and yet it was so strong and so bitter to him that his sweat was like great drops of bloud trickling down to the ground so that an Angel was sent from heaven to strengthen him and to comfort him in the assurance of his Fathers love For the sorrow of his heart and the anguish of his soul was so great c Mat. 26. 39. that he prayed three several times to his heavenly Father if it were possible to let that cup passe from him which was that he might in himself expresse unto us a true Passion of humane weakness for our comfort and consolation when our weak flesh fainteth under the pressure of grief or calamity d Mat. 26. 41 for the spirit may be willing and ready to suffer though the flesh be weak There were many bitter ingredients in this cup of our Saviours passion which he was to drink for our sakes for every scorn and contumely that was put upon him every blasphemous word that was spoken against him every stripe of the whip every thorne that pierced his tender temples and every nail that fastned him to his Crosss were exceeding sharp and bitter to him because it was for sinne and they were all venomed with the malice of the devil and the wrath of God went along with him in all his Passion until he had suffered so much as the justice of God required but chiefly the fear of death did most perplex his humane nature by reason of the sting that was now in it wherby he did manifest the truth of his humanity which was not exempted from humane passions though it was alwayes free from the infection of sinne If Christ had not dyed for us we had reaped no benefit by his life for our justification the lothsome diseases of our souls had not been cured but e Eph. 2. 1. we had still remained dead in our trespasses and sinnes for nothing could kill the power of sinne in us but the death of the eternal Son of God and nothing could quicken us up in a spiritual life but his resurrection from the dead and nothing moved him to dye for us but his tender love and compassion to us When Christ was in the flesh he had a share in all our miseries even from his infancy and when he was to dye he suffered more than any heart is able to conceive whereby he hath sweetned the bitterness of our miseries and hath opened a ready way for us to find comfort in our sufferings if we can make our title good in him by a true faith God doth keep this cup in his own hand to give to whom he pleaseth f Ps 75. â— and if he giveth it to us that are his servants that we must drink of this bitter cup of affliction and sorrow though the wine be red and it be full of mixture yet we shall not wring out the dregs thereof and drink them for they are reserved for the wicked Christ our blessed Redeemer hath drunk the dregs of this cup for us and hath made it a cup of salvation and a cup of consolation healthful and profitable for us in the end though it be bitter and uncomfortable in the tast We need not then be dejected in our spirits when we are under the Cross if we consider that our sufferings come from the hand of the loving and tender Father g Ier. 10. 24 to correct us with judgement not in his anger to refine the dross and to purge away the corruption that is in us but not to consume and destroy us If we conceive through humane frailty or through the weaknesse of our faith that this cup is to strong for us and that we are not able to bear it we may pray and that earnestly and often to have it removed and to passe
and he will not suffer us to be tempted above the strength of our Faith but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that we may be able to bear it i Psal 37. 244 Though we fall we shall not be utterly cast down For our Lord Christ holdeth us with his hand and he will raise us up again by true repentance as he did Peter If the floud-gates of sorrows are set open upon us if the fear of troubles or the fear of death doth surprize us Christ will stop those sloud-gates and will comfort us at the hour of death or else he will give us an eye of Faith not to look upon them with a sad and heavie heart but to look up above them to that coelestial happiness which he hath prepared for us which no eye hath seen no tongue can express and no heart can conceive and to wait patientlie for it until Christ our ever blessed Redeemer shall reveal it to us which will be but in part in this life by Faith but fullie and perfectlie in the life to come according to everie mans capacitie Also if the Devil doth aggravate our sins and sers them before us in a multiplying Glass to the breaking of our hearts with godlie sorrow and to the anguish of our Souls which will make us shed many bitter tears for them as Peter did then Christ will look graciouslie upon us and will give us a double measure of true consolation by the assurance of the pardon and forgiveness of them We may further learn Instructions by Peters fall that if we give way to any sin the Devil will easily draw us unto higher degrees of sinning as he did Peter For at the first he did but simply deny Christ then he denied him with an oath k Mat. 26. 74. And at last he began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man and therefore we must be very careful to nip sin in the bud lest it lay us open to the Devils tyranny or stop the current of grace to our hearts whereby we shall not be able to recover our selves but rather we shall fall away more and more from God Sin is a spiritual gangrene to the soul which will eate into all the faculties of it if it be not in time cut off and killed by faith in the death of Christ and by true Repentance There is so much of the unregenerate part in the best of Gods servants as that they sin daily and the Devil is ready to take advantage upon every sin but he cannot easily fasten his sting upon their sins because they are not glued so fast to their hearts but that they may easily remove them wheras his sting will soon take hold of any sin that is rooted in us either by custome or by delight to wound our souls even to the death If we sleight the least sin it will bring us on to greater and if we be careless of small sins they will bring us to a custom of sinning which will quickly beget an habit of sin in us which is a fit ground for the Devil to work upon to keep us from returning unto God and to plunge us deep into the gulf of sin unless Christ in his abundant mercy doth touch our hearts with his Spirit to let us see from whence we are fallen and doth also give us grace to repent and return to the Lord and then we shall keep a more diligent watch over our selves for the time to come If we look upon our selves in Peter we shall see that we also are subject to the like delusions of the Devil we are as ready to deny Christ and to fall away from God as he was and the fear of trouble persecution or danger for Christ will prevail as much with us as it did with him to make us renounce our Profession and the Truth of the Gospel and to bring us to the brink of perdition but Christ will not suffer us to fall into that bottomless pit but will look upon us in mercy as he did upon Peter The Devil did delude Peter with vain hope that by this means he should escape the trouble and danger that might come upon him if it were known that he was a Disciple of Christ for thus he brought him into the ready way to lose the grace and favour of his Lord and Master Jesus Christ and into the way that leadeth to eternal destruction Thus also doth the Devil delude us if we trust him for he will promise all worldly wealth and earthly pleasures and will give to some a large portion of them in part of payment but in the end he will pay them with wormwood and gall which will be more bitter to them than Peters tears were unto him When we think our selves most strong then we are soonest overcome and when we presume most upon our own strength then we give the Devil the greatest advantage against us In prosperity we think our selves so strong that we cannot be shaken we are then secure and able to stand unmoveable against any opposition l 1 Cor. 10 22. but let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall For alas we know not the wiles of Satan we cannot conceive how many wayes he hath to deceive us What way shall we then take to escape these wiles and deceits whereof the world is full by his means There is a deceitful tongue against which David thus prayeth m Psal 120. 1. Deliver my soul O Lord from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue There is also a bag of deceitful weights which is alwayes seconded with a false tongue as the Lord speaketh by his Prophet n Mic. 6. 11 12. Shall I account them pure with the wicked ballances and with the bag of deceitful weights For the rich men thereof are full of violence and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies and their tonguâ— is deceitful in their mouth The wise man telleth us o Prov. 14. 36. of a deceitful Witness p Prov. 23. 6. and that the dainties at a rich mans table are deceitful meat because they will easily intice us to gluttony Also q Prov. 27. 6. that the kisses of an enemy are dâ—ceiâ—ful for they proceed from a false heart Who can discover the deceitfulness of his own heart or the delusions of his own fancy Every sinful lust and evil concupiscence doth delude us the world is full of deceit to beguile us wicked men have their wiles to vex the godly and such as are simple in heart r Num 25. 18. as the Midianites vexed the Children of Israel with their wiles whâ—rewith they beguilâ—d them in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Câ—zby If we will be well fenced from these delusions which come from the Devil Å¿ Eph. 6 11. we must put on the whole Armour of God â—nd then we shall be able to stand against them all This holy Armour will
do we hope for no greater felicity than what we now injoy We hâ—ve no abiding place here but we are subject to changes every moment and upon every small occasion o 1 Chro. 29 15. We are strangers and sojourners here our dayes on earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding our mansion house where we must dwell for ever is in heaven which Christ our Saviour hath prepared for us to draw our mindes from all earthly delights which are fading and transitory and alwayes mixed and imbittered with some sorrowes and vexations that our hearts and affections may be inflamed to injoy that celestial happinesse where we shall be stablished and confirmed in perfect holinesse for ever and where we shall injoy the perfection of all blessedness for evermore Wherefore p Heb. 12. 2. look unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the crosse despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God q 2 Tim. 2. i2 If we suffer with Christ we shall also reign with him if we dye with him we shall also live with him if we are buried with him we shall rise with him and if we partake with him in his humiliation we shall also partake with him in his exaltation for the members must be made conformable to the Head Of the Resurrection of CHRIST VVE come now to the Exaltation of our blessed Redeemer for though he suffered his enemies to tyrannize over him at their pleasure and to put him to a most cruell and shamefull death upon the crosse because it was his heavenly Fathers will it should be so yet he rose again the third day by the Almighty Power of his Deity and cloathed himself with the glorious robes of immortality triumphing over all his enemies both spirituall and temporall The truth of his Resurrection a Luk. 24. did first appear by the testimony of two Angels to the Woman that came the third day to his Sepulchre to imbalm his body b John 20. then he appeard to Mary and to his Disciples at several times also to five hundred brethren at once and he conversed with his Disciples fourty dayes upon earth before he ascended up into heaven Many Saints that slept were raised out of their graves with him who also appeared to many in the holy City and probably ascended up with him into heaven so that we may safely build our faith upon the truth of his Resurrection which is an Article of faith that we must believe for the well grounding of our hope that our bodies shal also rise again from the dead with songs of rejoicing and triumph Here is matter of exceeding great comfort to our souls for our hearts to Meditate upon if we do stedfastly believe that Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour is risen from the dead First we may be truly perswaded hereby that he hath fully satisfied the justice of God for all our sins and that the guilt of sin is taken away from our souls and nailed to his Crosse so that if God looks upon our sins there he will also see the precious blood of his dear Son that was spilt for them Secondly we may firmly believe that Christ by his Resurrection hath gotten the victory and conquest over sin death hell and the Devill c John 10. 18 for as he had power to lay down his life so he had power to take it up again Christ hath likewise taken away the strength of sin and hath pulled out the sting of death in that he hath fulfilled all righteousnesse and fully satisfied the penalty of the Law d 1 Cor. 15. 56. for the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law Wherefore we may now draw vertue and grace from Christ to overpower all the corruptions of our nature e Eph. 2. 1. and though we are dead in trespasses and sins yet by the power of his Resurrection he will quicken us and raise us up out of the grave of sin and will give us a spirituall life to live the life of grace to him here that we may live the life of glory with him hereafter for ever Why then should we fear death that hath no sting to wound us Why should we not smile upon it seing Christ hath sanctified it to us Why should we fear the Devill with a servile fear seing Christ hath redeemed us out of his bondage His malice may molest and trouble us if we be not well armed with faith but Christ hath weakened his power below our strength When our bodieslye in the dust our souls will be out of the devils reach for Christ will take them up to himself into the Paradise of God where the devil cannot come for he is cast down into utter darknesse he may be permitted to tempt or afflict us while we are in the flesh but Christ whom we serve will not suffer him to prevail against us Thirdly seeing Christ our head is risen from the dead we also that are his members must rise again at the last day for the Head will draw all the members of the body with it Christ hath redeemed our bodies from the grave as well as our souls from death if therefore we be not raised again out of the grave our redemption is not perfectly wrought Also if there shall be no resurrection of our bodies and if death hath power to keep them still in the grave then our union with Christ is not firm and our faith is not able to keep us close unto him and our hope is not stedfast but death hath not this power the graves will open and deliver up their dead and our bodies shall rise again to injoy that unconceivable happinesse with our souls of the beatificall vision of God and to be for ever with Christ our Redeemer because Christ our Head is risen Lastly our chief comfort dependeth upon our resurrection to glory for in this life we finde nothing but labour and travell sorrow and trouble vexation and anguish of spirit our hope of future rest and peace of joy and comfort happinesse and glory doth sweeten all our afflictions here and makes us bear them contentedly and chearfully for as David saith f Psal 58. 11. Verily there is a reward for the righteous and this reward is in heaven Now if there be no resurrection from the dead our hope is vain our comfort will deceive us and our life is most miserable of all men according to this of Paul g 1 Cor. 15. 15. If in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable for we shall never injoy this reward which God hath promised but our faith is grounded upon the sure promises of God which cannot deceive us concerning the resurrection of our bodies unto glory which will yield us unspeakable consolation when we seriously Meditate upon it Wherefore now raise
as rebels to him but he takes us for his own people and as his servants d Ier. 31. 33. according to his promise in the new Covenant and also as his children by adoption in Christ which makes the Meditations of our hearts sweet and comfortable to our souls It is a great honour to be servants to an earthly Prince but it is a far higher title of honour to be servants to the King of heaven The holy Patriarchs and Prophets all the Apostles and Saints of God did account it their highest honour to be the servants of God and they did much glory in this honourable title Thus saith that Kingly Prophet David e Psal 116. 16. O Lord truely I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid thou hast loosed my bonds David useth this as a strong motive to God to hear his prayers and to grant his requests f Psal 86. 2 4 16. O thou my God save thy servant that trusteth in thee Rejoyce the soul of thy servant fâ—r unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul O turn unto me and have mercy upon me give thy strength unto thy servant and save the son of thine handmaid God gave this title of honour to his choisest servants as to Abraham to Jacob to Moses to David Job Zorâ—babâ—l and to CHRIST himself as he was man For thus he saith by his Prophet g Zech. 3. 8. Behold I will bring forth my servant the Branch This honour have all they that truly believe in Christ because he hath reconciled them to God his Father and hath made them his servants by grace Wherefore now if we have any clear evidence to our consciences that we are the servants of God by vertue of this atonement if we do serve and obey him with faithfull hearts in sincerity and in truth we may then cheerfully fix our Meditations upon God which will be acceptable in his sight and comfortable to our own souls For by this sweet relation that we have unto God through faith in Christ our duties and services to him will be accepted though they be imperfectly performed by us if we shew our best care to please him from an upright heart as his faithfull servants ought to do Also we may apply our selves by holy supplications to our heavenly Lord as being his servants to protect us from our enemies to provide for us in our necessities to succour us in our tribulations and to countenance us as his servants in all our temptations that our faith may not fail us and that our spirits may not sink under the burden of them Whatsoever we want we may have it of God and whatsoever we fear may come upon us he will prevent it or fit us for it or else he will sanctifie it for our good that we may find comfort in it Wherefore we need not be afraid to contemplate his greatnesse for his goodnesse will sweeten that fear we need not fear death in a servile way for it hath no sting to hurt us and we need not be terrified at the Majesty of the great Judge of quick and dead nor at the rigour and severity of his justice at the day of judgement for Christ Jesus shall be then our Judge who is now our Saviour and Redeemer We cannot then but shew our duty to God and our love to Christ by our willing and ready obedience to the commands of God and by our thankfull remembrance of our Redemption wrought by Christ by ruminating on his Word and by contemplating his wonderfull works our thoughts will be continually upon him our delight will be to Meditate on him and the affections of our hearts will be alwayes towards him Consider further what Christ hath done for us that we may the more comfortably Meditate on God he hath not onely redeemed us out of the servitude of sin and Satan and made us the servants of God by grace but also h Iohn 1. 12 he hath given power to as many as believe on his Name to become the sons of God which priviledge and honour we have onely by faith i Gal. 4. 5 6. who hath redeemed us that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons And because we are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his son into our hearts crying Abba Ftther How comfortable then will our Meditations be to our souls when we ruminate upon God as he is our Father what can deject our spirits or make us afraid if we have a sure confidence that God is our Father Can we be brought to a lower degree of misery than k Luk. 15. 18 19. the poor prodigall in the Gospel was and yet when he remembred his Father he was comforted and refreshed Can any poor soul be deeper plunged in sin or lead a more vicious life than this prodigall did and yet his Father did not cast him off but upon his true submission he received him again as his son Why then should we despair of mercy though our sins are many and very great Why should we fear the terrours of death if we be well perswaded of our adoption for l Gal. 4. 7. we are heirs of God through Christ and we go to possesse that inheritance which belongeth to us as sons and why should the thought of the day of judgement be terrible to us seeing Christ our Redeemer will make up our accounts for us and will perfect with his own righteousnesse whatsoever is wanting on our parts Do we think that Christ will redeem us out of the bondage of Satan and will free us from the strictnesse of the Law the dominion of sin from the sting of death and at last will leave us to our selves to answer the rigour of Gods justice for whatsoever we have done here in the flesh Surely no for then the Work of our Redemption had not been perfectly finished but Christ will be then our hiding place he will cover all our sins under the Robe of his own Righteousnesse and will shelter us from the fierceness of Gods wrath and from the severity of Gods justice We have now much matter for Divine and Heavenly Meditations to comfort and refresh our languishing souls when they are any way perplexed with sorrowes feares or doubtings if we ruminate upon our happy condition by being in grace and favour with God for we have the honour and dignity to be the servants of the great King of heaven and earth by the right of purchase and so are none but such onely whom Christ hath bought with his own blood Also if we Meditate upon our Adoption it wil be very comfortable to us and exceeding sweet to our spirituall taste for Christ hath given us hereby all the priviledges of sons both in what we are freed from and in what we have right unto for we are freed from all evill of sin and from all evill of punishment sin hath no power to condemn us though it
Prophesies were then fulfilled that were spoken of him in his life e Luk. 23. 46. Then he commended his Spirit into the hands of his Father and gave up the Ghost As this Lamb of God lived in perfect innocency so he dyed in perfect meeknesse Then presently after f Joh. 19. 34 one of the souldiers pierced his side with a spear to his very heart and forthwith câ—me thereout bloud and water that the Scripture might be fulfilled g Zech. 12 10. They shal look on him whom they pierced This was also done that we might faithfully believe the truth of his death This is a speciall Article of our Faith which we must stedfastly believe if we will have comfort in the assurance of our redemption for if Christ had not truly dyed the justice of God had not been fully satisfied for our sins we could have had no power to dye unto sin or to mortifie our corruptions and sinfull lusts and death would be most bitter fearfull and terrible to us If Christ had not dyed and rose again how could death have been destroyed How could the sting of death be taken out Who should have sanctified death unto us And how could we be willing to imbrace it Wherefore if we do truly believe the death of Christ and that he dyed for us it will minister much matter of exceeding great consolation to our souls at the hour of our dissolution From the former considerations we may draw much comfortable matter for our hearts to meditate upon First it doth evidently appear that our Saviour Christ did assume to his Deity our whole nature soul and body which did still retain all the properties of humane nature unconfounded with his Deity h Heb. 2. 17 He was like unto us in all things i Heb 4. 25. sin onely excepted His soul was sensible of grief and sorrow his body did feel the smart of pain he was subject to all our naturall passions and infirmities which may be without sin he was sensible of hunger thirst wearinesse and the like he was also subject to mortality though not to corruption for k Psal 16. 10 God would not suffer his holy One to see corruption because he had no spot or stain of sin in him and there was a true dissolution of his soul from his body when he dyed If Christ had not assumed our whole nature he could not have perfectly saved and redeemed us soul and body and then the work which God sent him to do had not been finished but we had still remained in our sins Heb. 10. 10 But the whole work of our Redemption was fully wrought by that which he suffered both in his soul and in his body to give us an holy assurance that we are freed from the guilt of sin here and saved from the condemning power of sin hereafter Secondly we may learn from thence this instruction so to regulate our thirsty desires that they may be for the glory of God and not for own sinfull ends If we thirst after the things of this world for any other end than for the honour of God our thirst is sinful and it will be satisfied with vinegar or gal and if we thirst after blood rapine or revenge the end of these and the like thirsty desires will be the death of our souls But if our thirst be holy and heavenly we shall then have thirsty desires and holy endeavours m Isal 613. how to injoy God and to do his will how to preserve our neighbours safety and how to keep our selves undefiled and if we can say as David did n Psal 143. 6. My soul thirsteth after thee O Lord as a thirsty land then our thirst shall be quenched and our souls shall be refreshed with the sweet comforts of God Also if we thirst after Christ Jesus who is the chief honour of a Christian and after grace and godlinesse which are the true riches of the soul then Christ will be a fountain of living water to us which onely can quench our spirituall o Joh. 4. 10. thirst and refresh our panting souls and it shall spring up in us to everlasting life Christ calleth every one to drink of this water p John 7. 37 Is any man thirst let him come unto me and drink Thus saith the Prophet q Isa 55. 1. Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and ye that have no silver come buy and eat come I say buy wine and milk without silver and without money Here Christ offereth himself and his graces freely But to whom It is onely to such as have a spiritual thirst after him Wherefore if this be the thirst of our souls to injoy Christ and him crucified we shall see such a Fountain of water of life flow out of his blessed fide as will purifie our hearts from all sin and cleanse our consciences from all iniquity whereby our thirsty souls will be more comforted and refreshed than our bodies can be by any Fountain of Water in our naturall thirst r Psal 42. This holy thirst made Davids soul pant more after God than the Hart panteth after the water-brooks Thirdly from this consideration that Christ had vinegar given him in a spunge we may learn this profitable Doctrine that there is no content nor stability in any earthly thing for though we should injoy all the contentment that the world can give us yet it will not satisfie our desires something will be wanting and we shall still thirst after more and we shall finde soureness and bitternesse in the best of earthly things Also that which we do possesse we have it but in a spunge a sudden casualty by fire or water a word spoken against King or State will wring it out a little pain or sickness a little trouble or sorrow will soon blaste the comfort of of it and make it like vinegar to our taste If we should meet with nothing to imbitter or blast our earthly joyes yet in their own nature they are transitory and unstable Å¿ Eccl. 12. 1. and when old age cometh we shall take no pleasure in them and death will quite bereave us of them all Now then if we put our trust in these vain things they will deceive and will give us no solide comfort except we do injoy them in Christ for without him the best of all earthly blessings are but vanity and vexation of Spirit Wherefore let this be our greatest care our chiefest joy and the desire of our souls to injoy Christ to be joyned unto him with the bond of faith and love and then whatsoever our estate or condition be we shall finde comfort in it we shall injoy it with a good conscience we shall glorifie God with it and if we do casually lose it we shall lose nothing by it for we shall still injoy Christ who will abundantly recompense our earthly losses with spirituall comforts here and with an eternall
going before to judgement and some mens follow after Zophar also saith thus of the wicked q Job 20. 11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth which shall lye down with him in the dust Consider also that Christ through his own death hath destroyed the Divell r Heb. 2. 14 that had the power of death so that now the Divel is most weak against the servants of God at the time of their death whereas to the wicked he is a strong enemy and will not be beaten from their beds-feet until he hath gotten their souls which are given him for a prey Å¿ Luk. 10. 22 But God hath appointed his holy Angels to attend upon his children when they depart out of this life and to receive their souls from the hand of death to carry them up into Abraham's bosome This is a great comfort and benefit to them when they are to leave this world and it is such a Gain as no naturall and unregenerate man can expect Wherefore t 2 Pet. 1. 10 we ought to use all care and diligence to make our calling and election sure and to make sure our union with Christ by faith that so we may live a sanctified life to the Lord and then let Death come how or when it will we shall undoubtedly dye in the Lord for death may come in an hour or in a moment when we look not for it it may break in upon us like a theefe in the night and take away our souls at unawares but this need not trouble us for if our life hath been holy and upright towards God our death cannot be but sanctified to us in Christ who wil keep our souls out of the power of the divel For if we have no other power to preserve them from destruction but what nature or common grace can afford us we are not able to encounter with death to make any advantage by it for the strength of nature will decay in us and common grace can give us no antidote against the sting of death it is onely faith in Christ which is the true Antidote against the terrours of death and against the power of the Divell nature can give us no balm to heal the wounds and putrid sores that sin hath made in our souls which must be cured before we go hence or else death will deliver them up in such a loathsome condition as that God will not accept them u Jer. 46. 11 But if we go up to Mount Gilead we shall finde balme there which will cure us of all our spiritual diseases For in vain we shall use many medicines if we neglect this balm which is the blood of Christ Jer. â— 22. There is balm in Gilead there is a Physician even Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer that can recover the health of our souls and can rescue them out of the jawes of death and from the power of the Divel Now let the Meditations of thy heart be continually how to injoy Christ in thy life that thy soul may injoy him at thy death and how to make the true gain of thy time here that when death shall bereave thee of all time Christ may be then thy gain for ever If thou wilt have any hope of a comfortable death thou must labour to live an holy life unto God for a vicious and sinfull life can give thee no assurance of a blessed death and if Christ be not thy Redeemer in thy life he will not be thy Saviour at thy death to save thy soul from destruction and to bring it to eternall blisse Also if thou desirest to injoy heavenly felicity with the Saints of God thou must so live in the true fear of God that thou mayest dye in his favour and then death will open the door and give thy soul free passage to injoy it All the good that Christ hath procured for us by his death cannot be fully injoyed in this life but is reserved for us in heaven which we must come to possesse by death and therefore Christ will so prepare us for it with his sanctifying grace and will also prepare death for us that it shall not hinder us of these great benefits but be a speciall means to bring us to the full possession of them If we do well consider and faithfully believe that we shall have this gain by Christ in our death how will it strengthen us against the fears and terrours of death How will it confirm us in a stedfast hope of a joyful resurrection How will it stir up our hearts and affections to live as becometh the children of God that death may deliver up our souls unto him and how willingly shall we part with this world if we have an holy assurance to injoy a far better Inheritance in the world to come But Christ is no gain to unregenerate men in their death for as they would not know him in their life so he will not know them when they dye but will leave them to the power of death to binde them over unto judgement Death will bereave them of all their wealth and possessions it will strip them of all their rich jewels and precious ornaments it will lay their honours in the dust it will take away all their beauty strength and comelinesse which was their pride and it will leave them nothing but their winding-sheet neither will it give them any recompence for all their losses but shame and confusion pain and torment which never shall have end x Luk. 16. Thus it was with the rich man in the Gospel for death took him away from all that he had and left him not so much as a little water to cool his tongue when he was in the tormenting flames and thus it is with all rich men if they are not rich in faith and in grace But some are not willing to dye through humane frailty and weaknesse though they be in the state of grace y Mat. 26. 41. for the spirit may be ready though the flesh be weak Others have no assurance of a better life and therefore they would willingly keep this which they now injoy Some again have their hearts and affections so glewed to earthly things that the very thoughts of death is bitter to them Others also are loath to dye because they cannot provide for wife and children and they have none to take care of them Though God requires this Christian care of them yet we must not distrust the goodnesse of God whose eye of providence is upon all his creatures then much more upon those that belong unto him But when we have done our best endeavor in an honest calling to provide for them yet must leave them scant of means for their subsistance then God will have a special care of such Widows fatherles children therefore he hath given many strict commands concerning them and he hath made many promises of protection help and comfort to