there be daies in the Year of the Sun was translated from Earth to Heaven next after Adams death seven Patriarchs remaining Witnesses of his Translation Elijah Elijah a strong Lord as the word signifies called also Elias who in prayer Jam. 5.17 18. 2 King 2.11 12. prayed so the Greek that it might not rain and it did not rain that it might rain and it did rain This Elijah had his Rapture and his Rapture was a Type of Christ's Ascension He went up by a whirlwind into Heaven Elisha seeing it cryed my Father my Father the Chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof All that do live shall die or be changed Behold I shew you a mystery we shall not all sleep That is 1 Cor. 15.51 52. we shall not all die Now that by sleep he means Death the whole Discourse of that Chapter makes evident What shall become of us then This is answered in the words following but we shall be changed There shall be a corporeal and numerical Resurrection if Job may be credited Though worms destroy his body Job 19.26 27. yet in the flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another though my reins be consumed within me Every man shall have a Resurection out of his own Dust The dead in Christ 1 Thes 4.16 1 Câ—â—â—5 53 54. shall rise first These shall be raised into a state of Incorruption This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality Now those then living having Christ for their Life shall not die but be changed into the same state of Incorruption Col. 3.4 and Immortality of those that shall have a numerical Resurrection given them by the power of God and the God of power SECT IV. Why Natural or Corporal Death is the Circumference of the Vniverse THat Man is Mortal and not a match for Death hath appeared why Man is mortal and not a match for Death will appear by these following Reasons Reasons Man hath sinned therefore man is mortal and must die Sin is that wretched womb wherein Death lay Rom. 6.23 The wages of sin is death All sorts and kinds of Death whether violent natural spiritual or eternal they are the stipend of sin Sin is the most mischievous thing in the world for it begins in turning the Heart from God and ends in turning God from the Heart Psal 9.17 now is not this man like to be turned into Hell Sin is that unhappy womb that have been productive of all the penal Judgments that have been in the world the first and the second Death Fire and Famine Poverty and Prison Plague and Pestilence the Rack and the Stake binding and banishing bleeding and burning they are the products of sin Oh my soul Nil nisi peccata timeo Chrysostom So Anselm all thy cares and crosses all thy fears and frowns all thy sorrows and sufferings all thy tears and troubles all thy tryals and travels they are the monstrous and prodigious Births and Effects of sin Wonder not that one said I fear nothing but sin Sin is the Mother Death is the Daughter Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men in whom all have sinned Sin is like Pandora's box which being opened was full of all evils filling the Earth with Diseases and all other Calamities What is said of War Bellum est malum complexum may be said of Sin it is a complex and complicated Evil. Sin is Evil only Evil all Evil alway Evil altogether Evil. We cannot speak worse of Sin than it is nor of Man being a Sinner than he is As God is that Good in whom is all Good Bonum in quo omnia sunt bona and no Evil so Sin is that Evil wherein is all Evil and no Good Death is the product of Sin Let the great Doctor of the Gentiles speak who had a great command of Oratory 1 Cor. 15.21 Vorstius By Man Adam the first came death That is by the Sin of Man came the Death of man by the Sin of man came the first and the second death upon man By man came death Not only Mortality as one saith but also eternal Death When the Jews are under a severe stroke they say This is part of the Golden-Calf That is this suffering is for our sin The Mother of Nero concerning him and from our sin Is it not pity that any man should say of his sin as she did of her Son Let me die so He may live Dost thou say let my sin live though I die and be damned then I say thou seemest to me to be within a step of Death within a step of Damnation Dost thou say to thy sin as God did to Joshua I will not fail Thee Josh 1.5 nor forsake thee Then I say thou art in danger of Hell fire and it is mercy to a wonder yea mercy above wonder that thou art out of Hell All men that live must die and all that die are bound for the grave that is the next stage When sin came into the world and that came in by cating Death came in with it Well may we cry Ah Sin Sin Sin thou hast digged all the graves and made all the funerals that have been in the world It was once said of the goodly Buildings of Rome that the sins of the Germans meaning the money got by the Popes Factors for sin-pardons granted the Germans have built these Thus when we see those goodly Buildings the bodies of men cast unto the ground yea cast into the ground we may truly say the sins of men have unbuilt have pulled down their Bodies Man Reas 2. is formed out of the dust therefore man is mortal and must die As our Bodies dwell in houses of clay Job 4.19 the foundations whereof are laid in the dust so our Bodies are but Clay-builts and they cannot stand long We were reared at first our of the dust and we are making to our Center every moment Bodies are but Clay-builts though some be painted and decked and beautified more than others yet all are dust and that makes to its Center Soul as thy Original was so shall thy Conclusion be as thy beginning was so shall thy endiâ— be Though Man now seem to be somewhaâ— better than dust yet to dust shall he return Bodie alive are but living dust Man is dust while he lives returns to the Dust when he dies and 〈◊〉 turned into dust after Death It was said to Adam and in him to all Mankind not only as a curse but also as a command Gen. 3.19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread until thou returnest to the ground that is until thou diest for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return Phil. 3.21 As thy Alpha was so shall thy Omega
at the Being of God Sin would not only un-saint a Saint Psa 137.7 but also unchrist a Christ if it were possible Remember Oh Lord the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem who said rase it rase it even to the Foundation thereof As it is true in a Physical so in a Metaphysical sense what would not Sinners do against the Fabrick and the Foundation too against the Christian and Christ too Sin would un-god a God if it were possible Is not this the Dialect of Sinners Cause the holy one of Israel to cease from before us Isa 30.11 If now we would prepare for death we must then imbitter Sin and if we would imbitter Sin we must then look upon Sin as a cursed Inmate and as a cursed Makebate Would ye imbitter Sin Look then upon Sin as a cursed Inmate Rom. 7.17 20. Reliquiae peccati Though Sin had not a Being from God yet it hath a Being in Man But Sin that dwelleth in me Though Sin for a Believer be perfectly covered yet Sin in a Believer is not perfectly cured there are still the remainders of Sin within which must be mourned over and turned from Would ye imbitter Sin Look also upon Sin as a cursed Makebate It is so between God and Man between Man and Man between Man and Himself Sin is a Makebate between God and Man God and Man at first were One but Sin hath made these Two Sin hath set God at an infinite distance from Man and Man at an infinite distance from God Isa 59.2 Your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear Sin is a Makebate between Man and Man There was War between Jeroboam and Rehoboam all their daies From whence come all those animosities differences discords and distances among Men come they not from their Sin As Sin is the Makebate between the Men of the World Benhadad and Ahab were two 1 Kings 20.1 2. 1 Joh. 3.12 And as Sin is the Makebate between the Wicked and the Righteous Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous So Sin is the Makebate between the righteous themselves From whence come Wars and fightings among you Jam. 4.1 come they not hence even of your lusts which war in your members Sin is a Makebate between Man and Himself None can Sin at a cheap rate How dear do the dead who died out of Christ pay for Sin The damned pay dear for Sin How dear have Sin cost the living Yea those who had Christ for their Life witness Bilney Glover and Spira who for a time upon Earth were like living men in Hell Psal 6.6 Margent May David though dead speak I am weary of my groaning all the night or every night make I my bed to swim I water my couch with my teares Oh the fears and tears that Sin hath cost Psal 38.3 I have no soundness in my flesh why because of thine anger neither have I any peace for my bones why because of my Sin Oh the sorrows and sufferings the Tryals and Troubles that Sin hath cost Oh the wearisome Daies and Nights the Pains of Body and Pangs of Soul that Sin hath cost If now we would prepare for death we must imbitter this Sin which is such an Inmate and Makebate Would ye prepare for Death Endear then Grace and Glory Eternal life is made up of Grace and Glory but to these distinctly Endear through Christ Grace Grace is not a Pebble but a Pearl Oh set a greater Estimate upon Grace Lay up and lock up this Pearl in thy Cabinet for it is of great price The Toyaz of Ethiopia and the Riches of both the Indies are but a Pebble to this Pearl Grace in God Yea Grace from God is a Pearl Grace entitles Glory Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Heb. 12.14 Joh. 4.14 Grace entails Glory The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life One dram of Grace is worth a world a thousand worlds tenthousand worlds if there were so many Grace is of such worth as that it cannot be valued to its worth Grace will go into Glory when Time goes into Eternity and is not this to be endeared If there be any Discourse in Heaven as there is upon Earth it is a discourse of free-grace not of free-will The two Poles will as soon meet as free-will and free-grace in the justification of a Sinner before God Grace is so pure that there is no sin in it As there is no Grace in Sin so there is no Sin in Grace The Heart that is the Soil Grace 1 Pet. 1.23 that is the Seed and this is incorruptible And as Grace from God is so pure that there is no Sin in it so Grace in God is so precious that the stress of salvation is laid upon it By grace ye are saved Is not this a blessed Parenthesis without which we cannot be blessed The whole Alphabet of Salvation from the Alpha to the Omega thereof is legible in free-grace By grace ye are saved The bottom-stone Gratia nòn est gratia ullo modo nisi sit gratuita omni modo Aug. 1 Cor. 15.10 coner-stone and top-stone of Salvation they are all laid in free-grace It is Grace saith one no way unless free every way Every step in Salvation from the Cell of Nature to the Chair in Glory is of free-grace now shall not this grace be endeared By the grace of God I am that I am By Sin I was what I was but by Grace I am that I am I am what I am May it not now be the wonder of the world if those who are gracious should not be found endearing of Grace Endear through Christ Glory As the more ye endear Grace so the more ye endear Glory the more ye prepare for Death The Life of Glory is the grace of Life Greenham There is saith one a huge and heavy weight of Glory Glory from God is the Object of Hope and Glory with God is the Object of Hope Tit. 1.2 In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began As the Person of Christ is the Object of Faith Rom. 3.26 Col. 1.4 That he might be just and the justifier of him that believ thin Jesus And as persons in Christ are the Objects of Love Since we heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the Saints Rom. 5.2 So Heaven is the Object of Hope And rejoyce in hope of the Glory of God In hope of eternal life now eternal life is made up of Grace and Glory Life would be little better than Hell were it not for the hopes of Heaven I had rather saith one enjoy Christ in a Chimney-corner Bernard than to be in
was a time of great Debauchery when it is said Will ye steal murder commit Adultery Jer. 7.9 10. swear falsly burn incense unto Baal and walk after other gods whom ye knew not And come and stand before me in this house whereupon my Name is called and say We are delivered to do these abominations Was it so then it is so now Is it not then a time of need and do not those who are Christs stand in need of fresh and full supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God The reason is evident for as these are to be good at all times in all places and among all persons so they are to be best in the worst of times in the worst of places and with the worst of persons A time of Tribulation is a time of Need. Christ was not without the Cross and shall the Church be the Christian be The Messiah was not without the Cross and shall the Minister be the Member be Ought not Christ to have suffered these things Luke 24.26 and to enter into his Glory Shall not the Soldier go where the Captain goes but this way the Captain went Heb. 2.10 The Captain of their salvation made perfect thorough suffering Did Christ suffer and not sin Shall we sin and not suffer Acts 14.22 We must thorough much Tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God The wilderness is the way to Canaan the Cross is the way to the Crown I John Rev. 1.9 who also am your Brother and Companion in Tribulation Is not this also a time of Need and do not those who are Christs stand in need of supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Temptation is a time of Need. God had one and but one Son without sin and yet this Son was not without Temptation Mat. 4.1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil Christ was made like unto man that he might be tempted and man is tempted that he may be made like unto Christ Our whole Life saith One is but a Temptation Augustine There is no Christian without Temptation Saul gave Michal to David but to what end That she might be a snare unto him and that the hands of the Philistines might be upon him Now Temptations are from without or within From without Thus sometimes from Satan they are Eve was not long in the Garden before she was laid under Temptation Gen. 3.13 The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat And sometimes from Fellow-Creatures Thus Joseph's Mistress tempted him unto whom he said How can I do this great wickedness Gen. 39.9 and sin against God From within A man is then tempted when he is drawn away of his own hearts lust Jam. 1.14 and enticed Temptations could never hurt us if Corruptions did not join issue Were there not in us tinder as there is in Satan fire were not the heart the Mother of Corruption as Satan is the Father of Temptation how insignificant would his sollicitations and suggestions be But where is the Garden without weeds where is the Gold without dross where is the House that is without rubbish where is the Heart that is without leaven where is the Man or the Woman that is without sin Is not a time of Temptation then a time of need and do not those who are Christs stand in need of supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Declension is a time of Need. The Prophet saith Mic. 3.6 Night shall be unto you from a vision and it shall be dark unto you from divining and the Sun shall go down over the Prophets and the day shall be dark over them Was it so and is it not so Is not the Sun greatly gone down over the People and the Prophets too Over Members and Ministers too Where is that zeal for God and his Glory that formerly was in thee and in me Is there that affection Jer. 2.2 and action that care and conscience now in thee and in me as was in the day of our first espousals Is there now that desire and delight that frequency and fervency in duty that was in thee Rev. 2.4 and in me under our first conversions But I against thee so the Greek because thou hast left thy first Love Where is that curious and critical observance of the Lord's Day and of the Lords Commands that formerly was in thee and in me Oh that it were with thee and with me as it formerly was when that discourse was a lost discourse if we did not speak of a Christ and that Duty a lost Duty if we did not speak with a Christ Is there a decaying and declining in Grace and Gifts Certainly then it is a time of need and those who are Christs stand now in need of fresh and full supplies from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Death is a time of Need. All things make to their center Man Gen. 3.19 makes to his center every moment Dust thou art and unto Dust shalt thou return Death is the way of all men the way of all flesh the way of all the world Your Fathers Zech. 1.5 where are they and the Prophets do they live for ever we know not what it is to shoot this Gulf when many come in sight of it they cry out Lord we cannot dye Lord we will not dye Lord we dare not dye Is not then a time of Death a time of Need and do not those who are Christs then stand in need of supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Danger is a time of Need. Are there not wrought as it were so many miracles as we are preserved moments Ah! how obnoxious to contagion of Soul and Body and how obnoxious to casuaity of Body and Basket hath Sin left us 1 Cor. 15.30 Why stand we in jeopardy every hour These days look like the last days and in the last days perilous times shall come The Apostle gives us a Narrative of his dangers In perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils of mine own countrey-men 2 Cor. 11.26 in perils of the heathen in perils in the city in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren Now Soul art in danger at Sea in danger at Land in danger of Soul and Substance in danger of Body and Basket then this time of Danger is a time of Need and those who are Christs stand now in need of supply from the God of Grace of the Grace of God A time of Dissertion is a time of Need. Dissertion is the lowest dreg of a Christians cup. To lose sight of Christ who is so taking a Beauty is a loss indeed For we are in the wilderness and have at most but a pisgah-sight of the Holy-land It was not enough to