death Thus 2 Cor. 7.10 But the sorrow of the world worketh death A Sorrow proper to the MEN of the World as was in in Cain and Saul in Achitophel and Judas c. But Sorrow of Heart without Change of Heart is the Portion of Sinners for ever Evangelical As there is a Repentance unto DEATH so there is a Repentance unto LIFE Thus Acts 11.18 Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life Unto life that they may live so Vatablus and Cornelius a Lapide Now Evangelical Sorrow is a Gift of God wrought by the Spirit and Word of God in the Heart and Life of a Sinner confisting in a confessing of Sin in a sorrowing for Sin and in a turning from sin Is not that person happy who is concerned in a Call Cause and Cross not to be repented off Now that Repentance solely is not to be repented off which is a Repentance after a godly manuer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or according to God so the Greek Which is a Repentance unto Salvation 2 Cor. 7.9 10. As it is true the God of Gods and Good of Goods the Being of Beings and Blessing of Blessings hath a BAG for the sins of a beleiving Penitent it is as true this God and Good Being and Blessing hath a BOOK for the Prayers and a BOTTLE for the Tears of a penitent Beleiver Are not Tears potent Orators Doth not God read our Hearts in those Lines which Tears draw on our Faces Are not Tears the truest Rhetorick of a troubled Spirit Have not these a prevailing winning SWADA with God and Man beyond the lowdest and the quaintest Oratory One of the antient Philosophers hath adjudged Weeping unworthy a MAN and tells us that 't is only for Women and Children to weep But as there are TEARS of effeminate and childish Pusillanimity so there are Tears of Heroical and Spiritual Importunity To weep to Man for Fear of Passion from Man is indeed below a MAN in CHRIST But to weep to God when we suffer under the hand of God or Man doth well become the Sons of Men even the Best of them Was not David a Man of Men a good as wel as a great Man Who more if so couragious as He not fearing the Lyon nor the Bear nor the Philistine Who feared not an Host encamping against him Who feared not though he walked in the Valley of the Shadow of Death yet he wept egregiously wept so wept as if he would have drowned himself in his own Tears Thus Psa 6.6 I am weary with my groaning all the night make I my bed to swim I water my couch with my tears I faint with my sighing I make my bed to swim in every night I water my Bed-stead with my tears so Ainsworth Iagangti be-anchati ascheh becol-lailah mittati bedimgnati gnarsi amseh I am wearied in my sighing I wil cause to swim in all the night my bed with my tears my couch I wil dissolve so the HEBREW There are very many things necessary but a sorrowing according to God is of an indispensable Necessity Thus Luke 13.3.5 Except ye repent ye shal all likewise perish Here were some whose blood was mingled with their sacrifices v. 1. And others upon whom a tower fel who were not greater Sinners than others v. 2. From which Verses may be drawn two Meditations That we are not to judge of mens final Cases and Conditions from their fatal Casualties and Calamities Some are slain by the Hand of MAN and some are slain by the Hand of GOD. That an Evangelical Repentance is indispensably necessary unto Salvation Except which except is without any Exception ye repent ye shal all likewise perish Now that which Christ here threatned to the impenitent was forty years after fulfilled for Titus the Emperor of the Romans on the Feast of the Passover beseiged the City and having taken it slew many impenitent Jews as they were sacrificing That aimed Fury and incarnate Devil CALIGULA used to say of Himself that he loved nothing better in Himself then that he could not be ashamed For a Man to be an ISHBOSHETH a man of shame as the word signifieth and not to be ashamed is not this sinful and sad is not this dangerous and damnable Let no man live and die under this Deception and Delusion that Evangelical Repentance is obsolete and antiquated for so long as the Ship springs a Leak we must keep the Pump at work We must repent so long as we sin So long as an Issue of Sin is kept open an Issue of Sorrow must be kept open also When there is a Cessation of Sin then and not til then there is a Cessation of Sorrow also It was the sweet Saying of One I repent all my life D. Donne but that part I spent in Communion with GOD and in doing GOOD 'T is time for things have a sad Aspect and ther 's litle else but prodigious Judgment in Prospect to abhor that godless Proverb Spiritus Calvinisticus Spiritus Melancholicus As if a pure Spirit must needs be a dumpish Spirit The Heart of a Christian is usually fullest of Joy when his Eyes are fullest of Tears Canst thou think him Melancholick that hath so good Company Heaven-ward when and while thou art Jovial among thy dismal Hel-bounded Company but if he weeps mayst not thou tremble If he mourns mayst not thou houl But as there is a State of Sorrow so there is a state of Solace is not then a state of GLORY which is a sorrowless State one of the Depths of God As there is a Wilderness so there is a Canaan as there is a Cross so there is a Crown is not a state of Glory then which is a sorrowless State one of the Depths of God As if there be no Sun there can be no Light so Sublatâ Causâ tollitur Effectus if there be no Cause there can be no Effect If there be no Sin there can be no Sorrow Is not then a state of GLORY which is a sinless and a sorrowless State one of the Depths of God As there is a state militant so there is a state triumphant as there is a state of Misery so there is a state of Glory which is one of the Depths of God This State of Glory is called a CROWN of Glory Thus 1 Pet. 5.4 When the cheif shepheard shal appear When Christ Jesus that great and good Shepheard shal appear the second time without sin unto salvation Ye Not All. Ye Christians not Anti-Christians or Psuedo-Christians Ye Saints not Sinners not Sinners in your Sins Ye Ye shal receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here is not only Glory but also a Crown of Glory which is a Reward of Grace and is not this then one of the Depths of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yea an unsadable crown of glory Each Word hath its weight and may be read thus We shal
meet DEATH in its blackest Dress The Duke de Alva boasted that in the space of six years he had executed Eighteen Thousand Men. Bloody Bonner was often heard to say that he would burn a Thousand Hereticks and so might wel be termed the Harbinger of Death But a state of GLORY is a persecutionless State and is it not then one of the Depths of God Now as Persecutors have been great and Persecutions have been great so the Judgments of GOD upon Persecutors for their Persecutions that they might read their Sin in their Punishment have been also very great For instance Did not Antiochus fall from his Judicial Seat suddenly crying out that all his inward Bowels burned and so died Did not Gardiner die despairingly saying I have denied with PETER but I have not repented with PETER Did not Severus poyson himself at York to period the Dolour of his Gout Was not Valens who consulted with the Devil about his Successor pursued to a Cottage and burned alive in it to leave his Name a Curse to all Ages Did not NERO that Monster of Mankind drink a Glass of Poyson then falling upon bis own Sword died miserably as he had lived wickedly Did not John de Roma who cryed out Oh this is for my Cruelty to Christians die accursed Was not BONNER buried among Theeves and Murderers as hated of God and Man Was not Judas the betrayer of an innocent Jesus his own Executioner Was not Julian slain ignota Manu by an unknown Hand when he cryed out Vicisti Galileae Vicisti Oh Galilean thou hast overcome Did not Pilate who would not hearken to the Advise of his Wife when she said have nothing to do with that just one lay violent hands upon himself But now there is no Persecuter therefore no Persecution in a state of Glory and is it not then one of the Depths of God PRISONLESS A State of Glory is a prisonless state is it not then one of the Depths of God There are Prisons upon Earth but there are none in Heaven Joseph was imprisoned here but He is not imprisoned there No sooner was JOSEPH in a Prison but JEHOVAH was with him Thus Gen. 39.20 21. His Master took him and put him into the prison c. But Jehovah was with Joseph and shewed him mercy c. Extended kindness unto him so the Margent Now Jehovah can make a Prison a Pallace Yea a Prison a Paradise by his special Presence A Prison with a Christ is better then a Palace without a Christ John the Baptist was imprisoned bound in prison and beheaded in the prison Mark 6.17.27 Peter was in prison kept in prison chained in prison Acts 12.4 5 6. Paul also writes himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ Eph. 3.1 For this cause I Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles Not that he was imprisoned by Christ Christi Causa but for Christ For the sake of Christ so Drusius For asserting the Doctrine and Glory of Christ so Zanchy In particular a Prisoner for the GENTILES because he was their cheif Apostle and the ground of his Passion at this time was the Hatred of his Country-men the JEWS So 2 Cor. 11.23 In prisons more frequent Thus he met with a Prison on Earth but he meets with no Prison in Heaven With a Prison have many met in a state of Grace but with a Prison shal not any meet in a state of Glory is not such a state then one of the Depths of God a state of Glory is so far from being a Prison that 't is called a PARADISE Thus Luke 23.43 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise This to day is emphatical The Master promised more than the Malefactor asked So Rev. 2.7 To him that overcometh wil I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God A state of Glory also and HEAVEN look like Synonoma's and seem to differ more in Sound than in Sense The Sacred Scripture mentions a three fold Heaven Aireal In this the Fowls flie and are called Job 35.11 the Fowls of Heaven Siderial In this the Lights are and are called Gen. 15.5 the Stars of Heaven Empyreal In this the Angels have their Residence and are called Mat. 24.36 the Angels of Heaven Is not this that which the Apostle calls 2 Cor. 12.2 the third heaven The Heaven of Heavens the cheifest Heaven so Grotius The Empyreal Heaven so Estius The Seat of CHRIST so Piscator And of blessed Spirits so Drusius If this be so certainly then a state of Glory which is a prisonless State is one of the Depths of God CURSLESS A State of Glory is a cursless state is it not then one of the Depths of God Are not cursing men cursed men yet this Age aboundeth with such Men but a state of Glory is a Curserless and Cursless state is it not then one of the Depths of God There are Cursers and Curses while Persons are in a State of GRACE but there are no Curses for there are no Cursers when Persons are in a State of GLORY is not this State then which is a curless state one of the Depths of God The righteous have the Curses of the wicked but the God of Grace can convert the Cursings of the graceless into Blessings to the gracious Thus Deu. 23.5 The Lord hath turned the curse into a blessing to thee because the Lord thy God loveth thee David though a Man after Gods own heart had a SHIMEI upon Earth 2 Sam. 16.5 14. who came forth and cursed stil as he came but he hath no Shimei in Heaven Is not a state of Glory then which is a cursless state one of the Depths of God The Prophet was the Object of the Curse of the People Thus Jer. 15.10 I have neither lent to Vsury nor men have lent to me on Vsury yet every one of them doth curse me The Italian-Antichrist who looks like the Reuben of Satan sends forth his Excommunications and Execrations he curseth the People whom God hath blessed with Bel Book and Candle But a state of Glory which He is never like to see much less to enjoy is a cursless state is it not then one of the Depths of God Did not the Jews also Acts 23.12 band together and bind themselves under a Curse or with an Oath of Execration that they would neither eat nor drink til they had killed Paul But now a state of GLORY wil be a blessed State Yea a State of Blessedness when the Soul shal not be severed one Moment from the Embracements of CHRIST to Eternity Is not this then one of the Depths of God If a state of Glory be a State as to Vision and Possession of perfect Felicity and that to Eternity without Amission or Intermission is it not one of the Depths of God Did the Emperor say I had been happy if I had not been an Emperor Faelix si non imperassem May not I
Glory or at the HIGHEST In Altissimis ther 's nothing but Purity perfect Purity There is not the least Mixture of Dross nor the least spot of Dirt in a State of Glory This Place and this State is all pure and none shal come there but such as are pure Persons that are pure are fit Yea they only are fit for Heaven and a State of Glory who are pure Persons And HE 1 Jo. 3.3 that hath this hope in him of dwelling there purifieth himself not only as Heaven is pure but as GOD is pure in whose pure eyes Heaven it self is impure Job 15.15 Grace is with Sin in a continual Conflict but Glory makes a total Conquest Is not a state of Glory now which is a sinless State one of the Depths of God SIN as much as in it lies puts God out of the World 'T is therefore called GODMURDER DE ICID IUM as being that which would murder God Sin would not allow him a Being in the World who gave the World its Being Thus Isa 30.11 Get you out of the way turn aside out of the path Steer another Course sail by another Compass Be not so strict and precise in your Preachings But what follows Cause the holy one of Israel to cease from before us Talk not so much to us molest us no more with so many Messages from him But He that is the Treasury of Satan for SIN is like to be the Treasury of God for WRATH Is not a state of Glory then which is a sinless State one of the Depths of God If thou killest not thy Sin Aug. but it dies of it self then Sin hath killed thee and thou hast not killed thy Sin One Leak in a Ship wil sink it One Wound kills Goliah though Caesar had Twenty Three before he dyed One DELILAH may be as injurious to Sampson as all the Philistines One broken Wheel makes the whole Clock unserviceable The breaking of the Vein may let out all the Vitals Oue Sin unrepented off is damning in the Act and wil be Damnation in the Issue Is not then a state of Glory which is a sinless State one of the Depths of God It is the Sign of a good Constitution to continue healthful in an infectious Air Thus the Truth of Grace shews it self in its Care not only to evitate the Company of Sinners but also the Contagion of Sinners If nothing be so bitter as Sin in the ACT nor any thing so bitter as Sin in the ISSUE certainly then a state of Glory which is a sinless state is one of the Depths of God As it is true there is no Sin in Grace nor any Grace in Sin It is as true though there be Sin in a State of Grace there is no Sin in a State of Glory Is not then a state of Glory which is a sinless state one of the Depths of God If Sin be the Seed of Trouble and Trouble be all the HARVEST we reap by Sin and if a Non-impugnation of an Inclination to sin makes way to stupefaction by Sin certainly then a state of Glory which is a finless State is one of the Depths of God Posse peccare If a Possibility to sin or a Potentiallity of sinning was in a Paradisical state Posse non peccare Non posse non peccare if a Possibility not to sin as a Christless Person sinneth be in an Evangelical state and if an Impossibility of sinning be in a Caelestial state certainly then a state of Glory which is a sinless State is one of the Depths of God There are sinners upon EARTH many sinners upon Earth very many sinners upon Earth too many sinners 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vot upon Earth who are Workers of Iniquity who are wickedly arrived at an Artificialness in Wickedness The Apostle saith 1 Jo. 5.19 We know that we are of God and that the whole world lieth in wickedness A great part of the World the greater part of the World the greatest part of the World lieth in wickedness They lie in Sin as in a deep Dungeon or in a dead sleep They are under the Power of that wicked one the DEVIL The whole World Mankind so Calvin Worldly Men so Estius Unregenerated Men so Vorstius This is written as it were in Capitals and as it were with a Beam of the Sun that there are Sinners upon Earth but there are no Sinners in Heaven The Apostle Heb. 12.22 23 24. transmits to posterity a NARRATIVE of the Communion if I may so write of Heaven where I find a God a Christ Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect but not a Sinner And if no Sinner there no Sin there Is not now a state of Glory which is a sinless State one of the Depths of God SORROWLESS A State of Glory is a sorrowless state is it not then one of the Depths of God In a state of Grace there are Tears standing in the Eyes of every Saint but in a State of Glory there shal not be a Tear standing in the Eyes of any Saint Is not a State of Glory then which is a sorrowless state one of the Depths of God Ther 's sighing in a state of Grace ther 's singing in a state of Glory is not this now one of the Depths of God In a State of GRACE the Praises of Saints are noted with Selah but in a state of GLORY the Praises of Saints shal be a Note above Elah Is not then a state of Glory which is a sorrowless state one of the Depths of God There is in a state of Grace the double Vail of Corruption and Affliction but in a state of Glory this double Vail shal be taken off is not a state of Glory then which is a sorrowless state one of the Depths of God It was Tertullian who said it of Himself that he was born for REPENTANCE and who adviseth Persons backward in Thoughts of Repentance Prima Conditio est non peccasse secunda vero penituisse to be forward in Thoughts of Hel. 'T is true he that is born in Sin and so every one is is also born for Repentance 'T is best not to sin but having sinned the next best is to repent They who beleive without repenting shal repent without beleiving They were the words of blessed BRADFORD at the stake Oh England England England repent of thy Sin repent of thy Sin repent of thy Sin Our present life is like Checker-Work we must mourn like Doves and groan like Turtles as wel as sing like Larkes While we are on this side a state of Glory which is a sorrowless State and one of the Depths of God we must mingle Tones of Sorrow with Tunes of Joy Let none so flatter themselves with the fair Weather of of Gods Mercy as not to know that when the Sun and the Wind meet it wil rain Ther 's a twofold Sorrow Legal and Evangelical Legal There is a wordly Sorrow which worketh