Righteousness 1. He must manage his good fight against the World the men of it and the things of it Paul had fought this good fight 1 Cor. 15.32 he fought with Beasts at Ephesus after the manner of men and he telleth us 1 Cor. 11.24 he had had stripes above measure he had been in Prisons frequent in deaths often five times he had of the Jews received forty stripes save one thrice he was beaten with Rods once he was stoned all this in maintenance and defence of the Gospel Thus must every Christian duly of God called to it do in defence of the holy Truths and Waies of the Lord Jesus Christ The World the Men of the World were alwaies peevish to God's holy ones Our Saviour giveth us the reason Joh. 15.19 because they are not of the world but God hath chosen them out of the world Wisdom was never justified in the world of any more than her Children Now those who ever hope to come in the Kingdom of Heaven must look to manage this part of the good fight not fearing those who can kill the body and when they have done that can do no more but fearing him alone who can cast body and soul into Hell fire taking up their Cross and following of Christ bearing up against all the opposition the world can give or make against them walking according to the holy Commandment 2. But this good fight is not onely to be managed against the men of the world setting themselves in opposition to the Truths and Waies of God but also against the things of the world the deceitfulness of pleasures riches honours whatsoever may be to us a bait alluring us to sin against God Moses by Faith did fight the World in this manner refusing the pleasures of Pharaoh's Court and chusing rather to suffer with the People of God Heb. 11.25 26. than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and esteeming the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures in Egypt But indeed this rather belongs to the second piece of the good fight which is to be managed 2. Against our own Lusts By lusts we understand those motions and inclinations to sin which are from our fleshly part for Lusts are nothing but unlawful desires in our Souls Paul fought this part of the good fight he tells us Rom. 7.23 That he saw a law in his members warring against the law of his mind and bringing him into captivity to thâ— law of sin which is in his members Gal. 5.17 And again That the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh for those two are contrary Paul fought this part of the good fight 1 Cor. 9.27 I keep under my body and bring it unto Subjection This is that Mortifying of our members mentioned Ccl. 3.5 Mortifying the deeds of the body through the Spirit mentioned Rom. 8.13 The Apostle Peter tells us that Fleshly lusts war against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 and James tells us that Lust war in our members James 4.1 Paul fought this part of the good fight and overcame I thank God saith he through Jesus Christ our Lord. Indeed this is the hardest battel that a Christian hath to fight the Enemy is within those of his own house and all the advantage which either the World or the Devil hath against us is from that party of lusts which are in our own hearts Though the Prince of the World came against Christ yet finding nothing of this nature in our blessed Lord he could do nothing against him 3. Our third great adversary is the Devil For we faith the Apostle Eph. 6.12 Do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against Principalities and powers and the Rulers of the darkness of this World The Devil is called the adversary and the Apostle telleth us that he goeth about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour and calleth upon us to Resist him He fighteth us sometimes by his commanders and under-officers those are the sinful men of the World sometimes he fights us in person by his more immediate impressions and Suggestions 2 Cor. 12.7 Paul had a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him for which thing he prayed thrice v. 8. 4. A Christian hath yet a fourth Enemy That is Death I should not have called Death an Enemy but that I find the Apostle so calling it 1 Cor. 15.26 The last Enemy that is to be destroyed is Death And indeed our flesh saith both concerning death and Trials of afflictions leading to it All these things are against us There is a victorious Song which every good Christian must learn to sing O Death where is thy sting O hell where is thy Victory Thus now I have shewed you the Enemies to be fought in this good fight The word translated fight is a very Emphatical word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is the same word which is used Luk. 13.24 strive to enter in at the straâ—t gate and Col. 4.12 Where we translate it Labouring fervently we translate it striving in Col. 1.29 fighting John 18.36 and 1 Tim. 6.12 The word seemeth to signify four things 1. A labouring against opposition A man cannot fight unless he hath an Enemy to fight against What these Enemies are I have shewed you 2. A strong vehement earnest labour where all the strength and power of a man is put out as is usual in all combates and fightings 3. An inward labour from this word comes our English word Agony which we use to signify the conflict of the mind and signifieth more then the Scuffling of the hands and more exterior members Thus it signifieth Col. 4.12 Labouring fervently for you in Prayer 4. It signifieth a strife for mastery such as were the strifes in the Roman games where the strife was who should overcome and have the Victory It is observed by Aquinas that the fight is called a good fight because it is for good things and in a good manner and because it is difficult and the Apostle telleth us that he who striveth is not crowned except he strive lawfully Thus I have opened the first thing requisite for him who would have the Crown of Righteousness he must fight the good fight 2. The Second condition required of those who expect this Crown of Righteousness to be given them is their finishing their course I have saith the Apostle finished my course or my race There is nothing more ordinary in Scripture then for a series or course of actions to be called a way Thus we read of the way of God the way of the wicked and the way of the righteous Holiness is called a way the way of God's Commandments and the exercises of Holiness are a Christian 's walking or running in this way in the language of holy Writ John fulfilled his course Acts. 13.25 Neither saith our Apostle do I count my life dear to me so that I may finish my course with joy It is the same with that
out of the world all the reproaches of Ministers and Godly Christians all their bonds and imprisonments which they suffer for the Gospel they are but the fruits and product of this enmity this hatred and antipathy which is betwixt Christ and the Devil and the seed of Christ and the seed of the Devil 2. Another reason of it lieth in the nature of the Propositions of the Gospel as to the Doctrine of faith and as to the precepts of the Gospel so far as it concerneth holiness the sublimity of the first and the purity of the latter and its exceeding strictness The sublimeness of the Doctrine of faith raiseth it two sorts of enemies 1. The ignorant persons of the world 2. Those men who have idolized their own reason and are determined to believe nothing but what they can fathom by their own reason 1. For the first ignorant Persons the Apostle telleth us of some who speak evil of what they know not there is nothing more unworthy of a man then this yet there is nothing more ordinary especially when men apprehend the ways and persons that they speak evil of are enemies to their lusts and corruptions the Apostle telleth us 1 Cor. 2.7 8. we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory Which none of the Princes of this world knew for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory The wisdom of God signifieth the Gospel of Christ and the Apostle saith the Princes of this world did not know it for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory The most ignorant persons if they be also loose in their lives are enemies to the Gospel of Christ 2. Men that have idolized their own reason and entertained a fancy that they should comprehend the highest mysteries of the Kingdom of God that which maketh them enemies to the Gospel of Christ is their zeal they are puff'd up in their own opinion of their own reason and are certain enemies to whatever they cannot comprehend with it now the Doctrines of the Gospel being of that nature that sublime nature that ignorant persons cannot comprehend them and men of reason cannot fathom them with their own reason they become enemies unto them and to the true Professors of them hence it was that the Philosophers of old were such enemies to the Gospel of Christ 2. As the sublimity of the Propositions of the Gospel is one great reason of the opposition which it meeteth with in the world so the exceeding purity and holiness of the precepts of the Gospel is another reason take the Gospel as it bringeth news of a Saviour who died for sinners it pleaseth them well enough but look upon it as it containeth a systeme of precepts an obedience to which must be given in order to the obtaining of that salvation so it quite crosseth the grain of flesh and blood as it teacheth us that no Drunkard no Fornicator no Swearer shall come into the Kingdom of God thus they cannot approve of it and this maketh them enemies as to the Doctrine of the Gospel so to the Ministers and Professors of it for though they have so much lust as will not suffer them to comply with the Doctrine of the Gospel yet they have also so much pride that they cannot endure themselves to be contradicted and out-done by the Professors of it but this is enough to shew you what the afflictions of the Gospel are of which the Apostle would have Timothy content to be a partaker and what that testimony of Christ is of which he would not have him to be ashamed I come now to the next Question Qu. 3. When men may be said to be ashamed of the Testimony of our Lord and what the meaning is to be partakers of the afflictions of the Gospel To be ashamed of the testimony of Christ I conceive signifieth two things 1. To be ashamed or afraid to give a testimony unto Christ and to the truth of the Gospel to be afraid to give a testimony of Christ because of the opposition of men is a great sin it is contrary to the precept Fear not them who can kill the body and can do no more but fear him that is able to cast Body and Soul into Hell-fire but to be ashamed of this testimony is a greater sin because the temptation is higher under the former then under the latter to be ashamed of the testimony of Christ is to decline to own and profess Jesus Christ when there is no great danger that threatneth us in such a Profession we have an High-Priest that can have compassion upon our infirmities but when no such danger threatneth a man only he may suffer a little in his honour and repute amongst men and they may not have so good an opinion of him for this to decline the publick owning and professing of Christ it must needs be a very great sin it is a dreadful Text Mark 8.38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels For a man to be afraid to own Christ and his Gospel and the profession of it when utmost danger threatneth him is sin enough it arguing that the fear of man prevaileth in him above the fear of God but for a man when no such danger threatneth him to be ashamed and to think it beneath him to own the Gospel and to love the honour that is from men before the honour that cometh from God is a very dreadful transgression 2. That man is ashamed of the testimony of Christ That is ashamed of others for the testimony which they bear to Jesus Christ I must confess I think this is that which the Apostle here chiefly intendeth Paul was now a Prisoner and at Rome the condition of Prisoners you know is a low and contemptible condition now for a person to be ashamed to be a friend or companion or to own the relation to and acquaintance with any because they are giving a testimony to Christ and for that testimony are hated maligned and persecuted is to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord It is reported of that famous Emperor Constantine the Great that he would often kiss the hole of Paphnutius's eye that was bored out for the profession of the Gospel What is the meaning of the phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel 1. Negatively it doth not imply that it is the will of God that any man should throw himself into the afflictions of the Gospel the best of afflictions are trials and temptations no man ought to pull trials upon himself we read indeed of some in the Primitive times that offered themselves to the stake and owned themselves to be Christians
held 5. Lastly Consider you shall overcome by your Testimony Rev. 12.11 John saw the Devil overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their Testimony Magna est veritas Truth is a great thing and it will prevail look back upon the former Ages of the Church the Witnesses which God raised up to his Truth in the beginning of the Gospel were very few the persons seemed contemptible yet God overcame the whole World by them and brought the whole World into some professed subjection to the Gospel of Christ often before the Church had degenerated many errors prevailed at last Popery prevailed then stood up Luther in Germany those that look upon that Story would have thought it impossible that Luther's Doctrine should have prevailed in the World but they overcame by the word of their Testimony and to that Victory they held doth the Protestant Religion owe it self Now this should greatly encourage us not to be ashamed of the Testimony of Christ it hath ever been victorious and shall be to the last it is by the Faith and patience of the Saints and Servants of God who stood close to their opposers and managed their spiritual fight that the Gospel hath obtained and they ought still to hold fast for they are sure of victory so long as Christ remaineth King in Sion I shall add but a few words more and that is to direct Christians what they should do that they may not be ashamed of their Testimony 1. Look that you be rooted and grounded in truth a Tree that is not well rooted you know is very easily shaken Col. 1.23 If saith the Apostle you continue in the Faith grounded and settled The truth is to make a Christian that he should not be ashamed of the Testimony of the Lord he had need of a double ground he had need be grounded in Faith according to that Text Col. 1.23 And he had need be rooted and grounded in love according to that Text Eph. 3.17 that you being rooted and grounded in love Col. 2.7 Rooted and built up in him and established in the Faith Christians look to this every Witness ought to understand the cause well to which he is to give his testimony many a poor Creature beareth a testimony to they know not what labour to be rooted in the Faith rooted in love and rooted in Christ that Soul that is filled with the knowledge of truth and warmed with the love of truth never faileth in an hour of testimony that Soul that is either ignorant of the ground of that truth which he pretendeth to own and defend or that wanteth a love for God never holdeth longer than till he meeteth with a contradiction 2. Look up to the power of God for your assistance I told you these words in the Text according to the power of God might be taken as an Argument to perswade Christians not to be ashamed of the Testimony of the Lord because the power of the Lord shall be manifested for them but they may also be interpreted as signifying that which we ought to have an Eye to in our Testimony and in our suffering affliction we have no spiritual enemy we can prevail against in our own strength our enemies you know are the World the Flesh and the Devil for the Flesh the Apostle saith Rom. 8.13 If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the Body you shall live Never yet was lust mortified by meer moral Arguments and for the Devil we are bid to take upon us the whole Armour of God to resist him strong in the Faith and it is the same for the World Our help is in the name of the Lord and therefore it hath been observed that none in an hour of Testimony have come off worse than those who have been most confident our Book of Martyrs telleth us of two that were in prison together the one was very confident and couragious and told the other that his fat should fry in the fire next day the other was very timorous and fearful the first recanted and denied the truth the second was burnt at the Stake David might possibly mean it of his external enemies but he repeateth it thrice My enemies compassed me about but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them they compass me about yea they compassed me about but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them they compassed me about like Bees they are quenched as the fire of Thorns for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them It must be so as to our spiritual enemies we shall never prevail but in the name of the Lord. 3. Remember in your Testimony There is more with you than there is against you While we bear Testimony to Christ God is with us Christ is with us the Spirit is with us all the Holy Martyrs are with us there is none but sinful men against us Christ the faithful and true Witness is with you Rev. 1.5 From Jesus Christ who is the faithful Witness He was the first Witness The Apostle St. John saith 1 John 5.7 There are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost What did the Father witness This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased This is the Lord our righteousness What did Christ witness He witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate he owned himself to be the Son of God the Saviour of the World that they that believe on him should not be ashamed he owned himself to be the object of our Faith to be the Lord our righteousness the Spirit testified the same thing and the Spirit beareth witness for us and in us 4. Fourthly Would you not be ashamed of your Testimony love not the World nor the things thereof nor the persons therein take heed of being swallowed up in the love of creature comforts and enjoyments How dwelleth the love of the Father in him that doteth on the World The World taketh off Christs witnesses both the Men of the World and the things of the World you must be fond of none of these 5. Take upon you the whole Armour of God of which you read Eph. 6.14 Stand therefore having your Loins girt about with truth and having on the Breast-plate of righteousness and your Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace taking the shield of Faith the Helmet of Salvation the Sword of the Spirit Finally pray always with all Prayer and Supplication in Spirit watching thereunto with all perseverance SERM. 8 9 10 11. Matthew 5.10 11 12. Blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven v. 11. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake v. 12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven for so persecuted they the Prophets which were before you THe Evangelist
4. The command of the Superiour doth not excuse the inferiour agent from the guilt of persecution nor yet deprive the sufferer from the blessing of him that is persecuted If a person be pursued for righteousness sake for the Kingdom of Heavens sake for doing that which God obligeth him to do the persecution is as well persecution in the inferiour agents as in the first causes and the more superiour agents the Jews accused the Lord Jesus Christ they brought him before Pilate Pilate condemned him the Jews nailed him to the Cross did not they who nailed him to the Cross persecute him Paul was but an inferiour agent against the Church of God Act. 9. the Letters were from the Magistrate and the Chief Priests of Damascus the guilt lieth in the act in the inflicting of punishment upon such as ought to be really freed from punishment it is true he that commandeth he that counselleth and adviseth is not excused but much less the next immediate actor and this is the most reasonable thing in the World doth not the Law of man thus deal with offenders Nay when it excuseth the principal agent it thinketh it justice to punish severely the inferiour Minister for were there no Minister in wickedness Superiours could do no hurt and therefore if any be so vain as to think they are excused because they are but Ministers and do but execute the Will or Sentence of others they are mistaken Pauls holding the clothes when Stephen was stoned brought him into the guilt of his death 5. They are not only persecuted who resist sin unto Blood and choose Death rather than sin but they who are reviled and reproached our Saviour you see putteth all together blessed are you when you are reviled and persecuted and when they shall speak all manner of evil of you for my names sake Gal. 4.29 He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit If you look into the story of Isaac and Ishmael it is said Ishmael mocked him thus Paul complaineth Rom. 8.39 for thy sake we are killed all the day long all kind of suffering to avoid sin is persecution and those that make them to suffer are persecutors those that are sufferers are so persecuted it is true there are degrees both of this and of other sins but he that smiteth with the Sword of the Tongue persecuteth as well as he that smiteth with a Sword that is made of Iron and he who is so smitten is in the Eye of God persecuted as well as he whose Life is taken from him Now I say this hath been the lot of the people of God of the Disciples of Christ in all Ages to suffer persecution to be pursued by wicked and malicious men both with their Tongues reviling them and with their hands endeavouring to do them mischief either spoiling them of their goods or depriving them of their lives and that because they will not sin against God 2. I come now to the second thing How this doth appear to have been the portion of the people of God It appears by the whole story of the Scripture and also all Ecclesiastical story Take Adam's Family immediately after the fall Abel was persecuted by Cain indeed he did not suffer because he would not sin but because he was more righteous and had offered up a better Sacrifice consider Abrahams Family of that the Apostle speaketh Gal. 4.29 He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit Acts 7.52 Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted But if you come unto the New Testament and consider the Church of God in that state you shall find it was persecuted at all hands First by the Jews then by the Heathens then by false and pretended Christians as is evident in the example of Christ in the example of Stephen the Proto-Martyr and of Christians ever since First by the Jews of which you read in the Acts of the Apostles then by the Heathens which persecution lasted 300 hundred years till Constantine the Great then by false Christians the Papists and others those that were born after the flesh always persecuted them who were born after the spirit It may therefore be worth the while rather to fathom the bottom of this to understand the reason why the people of God in all Ages have been the Mark and But of the Worlds envy Reas 1. The original cause must be fetched from that Text Gen. 3.15 where God saith I will put enmity betwixt thee and the Woman and between thy seed and her seed that Text giveth you an account of the reason of a three-fold antipathy or enmity which you find in the World 1. You see there is a natural antipathy between the nature of Man and a Serpent though we have little experience of it in England In Egypt and Africa they are mortal enemies unto Men and though we have no such exceedingly mischievous Serpents yet we see men generally averse to them and shunning them and seeking to destroy them 2. There is an antipathy betwixt the Devil and us you see by daily experience that the Devil is the destroyer though men serve him yet he destroyeth them Witches are the worst of people they are his slaves he is their ruine and destroyer at last and for the people of God he is continually molesting them Here is the reason 3. There is an antipathy betwixt the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent who was the Womans seed but Jesus Christ Who are the seed of the Devil but wicked men You are of your Father the Devil saith Christ John 8.44 for his works you do But although this be the first and more remote cause yet there are other proximate and immediate causes and some of them I shall endeavour to give you an account of 2. The next cause is that Innate hatred of God and the Image of God which is in every man since the fall Rom. 1.30 The Apostle telleth us of the Heathen that they were backbiters haters of God This is a fruit of the fall when Man lost the Image of God in which he was created No Man hath a natural love for God or for the Image of God as they say of the Basilisk that it hath such a hatred to a man that it will fly upon the Picture of a man so it is true that every Man and Woman by nature are Basilisks they fly upon God and the Image of God where ever they see it Now persecution is but the daughter of hatred and though every one hath not the like rough and harsh nature so that he is not so furious as some men are yet it is most certain that no man naturally loveth yea every man naturally hateth God and the Image of God hence the more any one hath of the Image of God upon his Soul the more he is the object of hatred and the reason of this hatred lieth in
what to do great perplexity and suspence violently and incessantly pursued by wicked men who may overtake them and cast them down from their dignity and excellency I shall not stay upon the proof of this which needeth none to those that are but meanly acquainted with the Story of Scripture and reflect upon the History of Joseph Jacob the Israelites in Egypt David Christ the Apostles Nor shall I offer at any Reasons of it The sweetness lies in the next Proposition Prop. That though they be troubled on every side yet they shall not be distressed tho' they be perplexed they shall not be in despair tho' they be persecuted they shall not be forsaken tho' they be cast down they shall not be destroyed Here now are four words answering the former four four good words answering the four former evil words four words expressing their relief and grounds of consolation as the other four expressed their misery and afflictions let us examine also the import of them and 2dly see how these Predicates agree with the aforementioned Subjects 1. The first word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it properly signifieth to be straitned in place as a man who is crouded up in a narrow room where he hath not sufficient room or space for his body thence by a metaphor it is used to signifie any affliction which beareth any proportion to this Rom. 2.9 ch 8.35 2 Cor. 6.4 12.10 where it is translated distresses Now saith the Apostle we are indeed troubled on every side but we are not straitned as to our minds we are imprisoned but we have yet a liberty in our spirits they are and shall be free prisoners thus Paul and Silas were Acts 16. who sang in their prison at midnight Their bodies were in little ease but their spirits were at great liberty they were not straitned in their own bowels There is this Riddle opened the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being in trouble on every side that referred to their outward man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not in distress that referred to their inward man to their better part 2. The second phrase is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we translate it not in despair that is not wholly in despair The Praeposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place increaseth the signification of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which it is in this Text opposed he had said before that they were in anxiety in suspence at uncertainties but yet saith he not wholly at incertainties we are at incertainty what God will do with us as to our bodies liberties or outward concerns but we are at no incertainty what is our duty nor what God will do with us as to our souls as to our spiritual or eternal concernments 3. The third phrase by which their happiness is exprest is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we translate it not forsaken It is a decompound Verb the simple Verb signifieth to leave or to forsake so doth the compound Criticks say the Decompound here used signifieth more viz. to leave one in distress when he is in the greatest danger It is used by our Saviour hanging upon the Cross Mat. 27.46 Mark 15.34 Acts 2.27 Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell 2 Tim. 4.16 All did forsake me Heb. 10.25 13.5 In all which places it signifieth a leaving in distress or in a time of danger God's people shall not be left in time of danger But this must be understood of God's special gracious presence respecting their inward man for as to the presence of his providence with respect to their more external concerns they are often left 4. The fourth phrase is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we translate it not destroyed which indeed is the ordinary signification of it and it never signifies less than dead it often signifieth eternal destruction We are saith the Apostle cast down in our honour and reputation and from the station we have formerly had in the World but we are not cast into Hell we are not yet killed and cast into the grave The Proposition then cometh to this That God will not utterly cast off and forsake his people when they are in the greatest dangers and difficulties imaginable he may seem to forsake them he may withdraw from them something of his providence which he before afforded them but he will not wholly withdraw himself from them This leadeth me in the next place to inquire what tokens of Gods presence and influences of God upon them the People of God have experienced and may expect in the times of their greatest dangers and difficulty These are various few or none possibly have experienced all and scarce any of Gods People but have experienced some or other of them and may live in the expectation of them I will instance in some few 1. Sometimes they shall experience the Divine power Once have I spoken saith the Psalmist twice have I heard it that power belongeth unto God This power is inseparable from the Divine Being where-ever that is Omnipotence must be but as to the exerting of it this or that way that dependeth upon the will of God Man doth not necessarily at all times exert that power which is at all times in him and natural to him but governeth himself by his reason and wisdom in the use of his power So doth God sometimes he is pleased not to shew forth what he could of his power either in preserving his People from the hands or out of the hands of their Enemies he hath wise ends why he will suffer them to fall into their hands and to be overpowered by them But sometimes when they are in trouble they shall have the Experience of the Divine Power to keep them from destruction The Angel of the Lord shall by night open the Prison Doors and let out the Apostles Acts 5.19 And knock off Peters chains and carry him along with him Acts 12.7 An Earthquake shall arise the foundation of the prison shall be shaken and the Doors opened and the Apostles bands shall be loosed Acts 16.26 Elijahs enemies shall be smitten with blindness and led into their Enemies City God will make a way to escape the temptation 1 Cor. 10.13 God will sometimes let his proudest enemies see and know that wherein they talk or act proudly he will be above them This particular appearance of God is not the object of our faith It is but what God hath formerly done and doth still in some particular instances but not what he hath by promise tied himself to do thus the Children in Egypt the three Children in Daniel Daniel himself were persecuted but not forsaken as to the influence of the Divine power for them 2. But God chuseth not thus at all times to make his Power glorious Sometimes he will make his wisdom glorious they shall seem to be forsaken as to his power his arm shall not be made bare for them but they shall experience the presence of his wisdom and that two ways 1
and become medicinal instead of being venemous Our natural passions are corrected either by Reason or by Grace the first working to its due height doth a great deal toward it It were no hard matter to give you a multitude of Instances of Heathens in this case from the operation of Moral Philosophy But alas what is the force of that operation compared with the operation of the Holy Spirit powerfully commanding and bowing of our Souls to a compliance with the Divine Will and commending to us the infinite Divine Wisdom in the dispensations of Providence O the felicity of a Child of God! if the Apostle hath in my Text given a true account of him he swimmeth like Cork upon the waters of all afflictions all troubles you cannot sink him he lies like Flint in the fire of affliction and is only purged and made more clean and bright by it Evils come to him as the Prince of this World came to his Lord but can do nothing against him because they meet with nothing in him to make them bitter and heavy 2. Nay here is not all Afflictions do not only not hurt him but they prove of exceeding great high advantage to him he is not only not distressed but he is refined purged and made more white they are to him as the refining pot for the silver and the furnace for the Gold He is not only not in despair but his Tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope such an hope as will not make his Soul ashamed He is not only not forsaken but he ordinarily never more experienceth the power wisdom and goodness of God even the most high God He is not only not destroyed but through much tribulation he entereth into the Kingdom of God his light and momentany afflictions work for him a far more eternal and exceeding weight of Glory And turn unto him for a Testimony Luke 21. v. 13. But of this argument I may possibly speak more hereafter VSE 4th Fourthly This discourse sheweth the vanity of wicked men in troubling the People of God On every side perplexing persecuting them and casting them down They onely satisfy their malice treasure up to themselves wrath that 's all It is a pitiful fruit of an Enemies malice if he cannot break ones Spirit distress him put him into despair destroy him What did Julian get by all his rage when he was at last but put to it in a rage to throw his dagger up to Heaven and cry Vicisti Galilaee O thou Galilean thou hast overcome When wicked men have done their worst if they cannot put Christians into distresses into despair c. They must at last cry their enemies are conquerors yea they are more then conquerours through Christ that loved them What did that bloody Bishop Bonner get by all his rage when he was forced at last to cry out A vengeance on them I think they love to burn Nay their Vanity appeareth yet further in this they cannot only not break their Spirits or Spoil their joys or hopes but they commonly add to them Christians ordinarily never finding more peace more joy in the Holy Ghost more satisfaction in their own Spirits more of the presence of God c. There are many that can say before we were hunted and persecuted we had more doubts more fears of our eternal state of the truth of our Spiritual habits since we were thus hunted God hath not so filled us with his terrors we have not so many doubts or fears we live in a clear view of our own sincerity and we have learned less to go astray VSE 5th Fifthly this discourse ought to quicken every one to inquire whether he or she be of those who if they should happen to meet with the troubles mentioned in in this Text yet might hope to meet with the relief and support of the Text. You will say to me how shall we know that I answer if we wistly look upon what goeth before and what followeth after in this Chapter we shall find it no difficult matter to conclude what we may hope for in a day of trouble of this nature 1. See v. 6. These that Saint Paul speaks of were such as that God who commandeth light to shine out of darkness had shined into their hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ God makes the light of the Knowledge of the glory of God to shine into mens hearts for a double end To shew them the truths of the Gospel and the way to everlasting life that their own Souls may be saved in the day of Christ hence enlightned regenerated Souls who were once darkness are said to become light in the Lord Eph. 5.8 2. That they may communicate this light unto others either by Doctrine which is the work of the Ministers of the Gospel or by an holy and exemplary life and conversation upon which account as well others as Ministers are compared Matth. 5. to a light lighted up in an house and commanded that their light should shine unto men that men might see their good works and glorify their Father which is in Heaven This is not the priviledge of the latter only but of the former also persons into whose Souls the light of the Gospel hath shined in the face of Jesus Christ who have received Christ as their Saviour believed in him given up themselves unto him Psal 91. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty Such as have chosen God for their God Christ for their Saviour as have said of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress my God in him I will trust These are those whom the Lord will deliver from the snare of the fouler c. And of whom he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee 2. Secondly they are such as suffer in the exercise of that calling to which God hath called them Paul here speaks of such as had received a Ministry v. 1. and discharged it faithfully not handling the Word of God deceitfully v. 2. Such as preached not themselves but the Lord Jesus v. 5. God is present with men in their callings not in their extravagances if good men will go out of their road they must not expect Gods company or Christs presence with them But if they be in the way in which God hath set them in the station wherein God hath fixed them and meet with trouble on every side they may expect that they shall not be distressed they shall not be in despair they shall not be forsaken 3. They must be such as have renounced the things of dishonesty And commend themselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God v. 2. Such as the the life of Christ is made manifest in their mortal flesh v. 11. A good man may find himself distressed in a day when trouble is on every
Children or Lands for my Name sake shall receive an hundred fold and inherit everlasting Life Mark repeateth the same passage but with some Variation he saith he shall Receive an hundred fold now in this time Houses and Brethren and Sisters and Mothers and Children and Lands with Persecutions and in the World to come Eternal Life Luke ch 18.30 repeating it saith He shall receive manifold more in this present time and in the World to come life everlasting As to the reward of another life they all agree that is out of doubt If so be we suffer with him we shall be glorified together 2 Tim. 2.12 If we suffer we shall also reign with him The sufferings of the people of God are a manifest token of the righteous Judgment of God that we may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which we suffer 2 Thes 1.5 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense To those that are troubled rest When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels Sufferings for Christs sake are tokens of Salvation and that of God Phil. 1.28 Suitable to this was the vision which St. John had Rev. 20. v. 4. Where he saw thrones and they sat upon them and Judgment was given unto them and he saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not worshiped the beast nor his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads Or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years It hath been questioned by some whether any but Martyrs shall be saved And answered That none shall be saved but either such as have been Martyrs actu or Voluntate either actually or who have been willing and ready to be so if God had called them to it But of this there is no question as to the promise The only question is how they receive an hundred fold in this time or as Luke saith manifold more at this time Mark saith with persecutions this is generally interpreted concerning the internal influences of the Spirit of God upon the Souls of his people Solatia promittuntur non deliciae saith an eminent Interpreter God promiseth inward comforts not sensible or sensual delights But God often maketh it good of sensible things in this life As it is said of Job after his long trial of Affliction Job 42.12 That God blessed his latter end more then his beginning In his beginning we read his Inventory thus he had 7000 Sheep and 3000 Camels 500 yoke of Oxen 500 she asses ch 1. 3. In his latter end all was doubled ch 42. 12. He had 14000 sheep 6000 Camels 1000 yoke of Oxen and 1000 she Asses So it hath been observed that God hath strangely blessed those families whose heads have been sufferers for him I have particularly heard it observed of those Walloons who left their country and fled hither in the time of D' Alva's rage in Flanders So that often times God giveth manifold more in this life then they lose for his sake much more sensible comforts But oftner he gives them an hundred fold with persecutions that is if together with their persecutions they weigh the consolations they have from the Spirit of God if they set the one against the other or weigh the one with the other they are manifold more And this is that which the Apostle experienced 2 Cor. 1.5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ The sum is sufferings for the name of Christ are a Testimony or a Token to those that suffer of great rewards which God hath designed them and prepared for them either in this life or in that life which is to come In this life either with persecutions mixing their bitter cups with the Sweet consolations of his holy and blessed Spirit to that degree that the sweet tast shall drown the bitter tast and they shall have no tast of the wormwood and the gall Or when the persecutions are over for Nubeculae sunt transibunt they are but storms and will go over repairing their losses building them up fairer houses then the fire hath burnt and giving them better estates then they have lost Or in the life to come giving them as the Apostle calleth it 2 Cor. 4.17 a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory for I reckon saith the Apostle Rom. 8.18 That the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us Fourthly They are a Testimony on Gods part to those that suffer That the Lord will destroy their enemies Thus Stella expoundeth this Text. Quod illi impiè contra vos egerunt juste damnentur That they have dealt unjustly and wickedly with you and shall justly be condemned This is that which the Apostle saith 2 Thes 1.4 So that we our selves glory in you in the Churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you indure which is a manifest taken of the righteous judgment of God that ye may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which ye suffer Mark ye There is one thing of which it is a manifest token but then it followeth v. 6. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you It is a manifest token of that also Now the reason of this lyeth in the heinous nature of this sin which ordinarily goeth before unto Judgment And is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a mortal sign in every Soul where it is found A Soul may be sick of lusts of the flesh sick of intemperance in eating and drinking sick of incontinence filthy lusts and uncleanness sick of other lusts and yet through grace may recover such were some of you saith the Apostle to the Corinthians but now you are washed But it is very rare that a Soul is sick of rage and malice against Christ and his name and gospel so as it breaks out in overt acts I say it is very rarely that it recovers This disease of rage and malice against Christ and his Gospel which is seen in mens dealings with the publishers and professors of it is much like that disease in the body which they call a Cancer which may lurk a great while and the person may live so long as he can keep it from breaking but if it once breaketh there is very little hope of long life God according to his infinite patience beareth a long time with these vessels of wrath fitted for destruction there are thousands in the World who have this cancerous humour within them who are full of wrath malice and rage and hatred of Christ and his Gospel but they keep it from breaking out into overt-acts they will think ill enough of God and Christ and his ways and sometimes they will also talk hardly enough these may live