things to your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father to those that ask him The Inference is strong not only from the Divine Authority of the Speaker but from the native Perspicuity of the Things for the Love of an earthly Father is but an Infusion into his Breast from the heavenly Father and but a faint resemblance of his Love The Love of a Mother is more tender and endearing than of a Father Even a fearful Hen will fly upon Death to preserve its tender Brood from the Devourer Yet the Love of God to his Children far excels it Can a Woman forget her sucking Child What Heart what Marble is in her Breast so incompassionate and unrelenting as to neglect her helpless Infant She may but saith God I will never forget thee The Seraphims those bright and unperishing Flames are but faint and cold in comparison of God's Love to his Children 'T is observable how the Love of God to them expresses it self in all the Notions of Propriety and Preciousness to make it more sensible to us They are stiled his Treasure his Jewels the most precious part of his Treasure the Jewels of his Crown that are the richest Jewels Now will he throw away his Treasure or suffer the cruel Enemy to rob him of his Jewels Will he not take them into his safe Custody 'T is to be observed that the Esteem and Affection of God principally respects the Souls of his Children Their Souls have an original Affinity with him in their Substance as Spirits and being born again of the Spirit they are Spirit in their Divine Qualities Endowments and more endear'd to him than by their first Alliance His tender Care to preserve them will be correspondent to his Valuation and Love Moreover the Condition of departing Souls affords another Argument of reliance upon his Love for they leave this visible World with all their Supports and Comforts they are stripp'd of all sensible Securities And will he leave them fatherless in such a forlorn and desolate State His Love is express'd by Mercy Compassion Pity melting Affections that are most tenderly moved when the beloved Object is in Distress Our Saviour propounds an Argument for dependance upon the delivering Love of God from the Exigence of his People Shall not God deliver his own Elect the Designation of Love who cry day and night to him He will do it speedily Love is never more ardent and active than in times of Distress Therefore when his dying Children are deprived of all their Hopes and dependance upon Creatures and fly to him for Protection and Relief will he not hear their mournful Requests and grant their fainting Desires When their earthly Tabernacles are so ruinous that they are forc'd to dislodg will the Love of a Heavenly Father suffer their naked Souls to wander in the vast Regions of the other World seeking Rest and finding none Certainly he will bring them into his reviving Presence If Divine Love be so condescending that the high and lofty One that inhabits Eternity dwells with the humble and contrite Spirit to revive the Spirit of the Humble when they are confin'd to our lowly Earth we may be assur'd when that Spirit shall be devested of Flesh he will bring it to Heaven the Temple of his Glory to be with him for ever 'T is greater Love for a King to lay aside his State and dwell in a mean Cottage with his Favourite than to receive him into his Palace and communicate to him of his rich Abundance 'T is another most comfortable Consideration that the Love of God is unvariable towards his Children His Love is the sole moving Cause of our filial Relation to him Of his own Will he begat us by the Word of Truth His Soveraign free Love was the Principle of his electing any to the Dignity of being his Children This Love is as unchangeable as free and Election that proceeds from it is as unchangeable as his Love What can induce him to alter his Affection towards them For such is the perfection of his Knowledg that he can never be surprized by a sudden new Event that may cause a change in his Mind and Will He foresaw all the Sins of his People with their provoking Aggravations Now if the foresight of them did not hinder his electing Love in its rise can they frustrate its end the bringing of them to Glory Besides we may argue from what his Love has done for his Children to what he will do He has given his Son and Spirit to them the surest Signs of his Love if we consider the unvaluable Excellence of the Gifts and the Design of the Giver The Son of God is the most excellent Gift of his Love as undeserved as he was undesired And from hence the Apostle argues He that gave his Son for us all how much more will he with him give us all things Blessed God! What richer Evidence and more convincing Demonstration can there be of thy Love Will he not with him give us all things The Inference is direct and conclusive with respect to temporal and eternal Things He will give to his Children in the present World whatever his Wisdom in conjunction with his Love sees good for them To illustrate this by a low and familiar Instance If a Mother bestows upon her Daughter rich Jewels for her Marriage-Ornaments will she deny her Pins to dress her And we may as strongly argue that with his Son he will give us eternal Blessings Will he give us the Tree of Life and not permit us to eat of the Fruit of it What was the design of his Counsel and Compassion in giving his Son to be a Sacrifice for us but to restore us to his Favour The Apostle reasons strongly If when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life He has paid our Ransom and revers'd the Sentence of Condemnation against us and it invincibly follows he can more easily accomplish our Happiness in Heaven If Love justify a Sinner it will glorify a Saint And as the Gift of the Son so the most precious Gift of the Spirit to God's Children to make them holy and heavenly is the most certain sign of his Love to them The Apostle in the fullest expression speaks of it God who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he has loved us even when we were dead in Sins quickned us together with Christ By Grace ye are saved Sanctification is the effect of rich Mercy great Love and saving Grace The Children of God are seal'd by the Holy Spirit to the Day of Redemption that Seal distinguishes them from the obstinate and polluted World and ratifies the conveyance of eternal Life to them The Spirit is stiled the Earnest of the Inheritance His dwelling in the Saints by his sanctifying and comforting Operations is an Earnest of their dwelling with
the cold Blood of their Enemies In short many live in such open defiance of the Divine Law as if there were no God to see and punish their Sins or as if they would make a trial whether he will be true to his Threatning and revenge their bold Impieties They are partly worse than Brutes for having an understanding Faculty a Principle of Reason they submit it to Sense and partly worse than Devils for as the Devils they rebel against God and yet not as they tremble in their Rebellion Now when Death is ready with its cold Hands to close their Eyes and Conscience awakes out of its Slumber what Horrors seize upon them They are stripp'd of their carnal Securities the Creature cannot help them and the Creator will not They have been Enemies to that Love that made them and preserv'd them and notwithstanding their violent Provocations has spar'd them so long They have rejected that infinitely condescending and compassionate Love that so tenderly beseech'd them to be reconciled to God as if it were his Interest to save them Whither will they fly from their Judg What can rescue them from instant and irrecoverable Misery Can they hope that Mercy will be their Advocate Their Condemnation is so righteous that Mercy cannot dispense with it 'T is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God who lives for ever and can punish for ever Who knows the Power of his Wrath 'T is boundless beyond all our Thoughts and Time O take notice of this with Terror all ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver Others are not so visibly disobedient as notorious Sinners but are as really You may see their Picture in the disobedient Son mentioned by our Saviour in the Gospel who when his Father commanded him to go work in the Vineyard answered I go Sir and went not 'T is true they perform the external part of some Duties and abstain from the gross acts of some Sins but 't is with an exception and a reserve A Duty that is contrary to their carnal Appetites and Interest they will not perform a Sin that bribes them with Profit or Pleasure a temperamental Sin they will not part with Now any indulged habitual Lust is not the Spot of God's Children but denominates the Sinner a Child of the Devil for tho the Saints till they are devested of frail Flesh have their Allays and cannot be exempt from the relicks of Sin yet the Divine Nature communicated to them is opposite to every Sin and is an active Principle to subdue Sin And from hence S. John tells us He that is born of God cannot sin that is deliberately and habitually Such Sinners tho in the Hour of Death they may address with all the applying Titles Our Father and our God shall ever be excluded from his sacred and saving Protection 2. Let us seriously consider whether we are of this spiritual Progeny the Children of God not only in Title but in Reality The Inquiry is of infinite moment for all the Promises and Priviledges of the Gospel are annex'd to this Sonship This secures us from the Wrath to come and entitles us to the eternal Inheritance Fear not little Flock 't is your Father's good Pleasure to give you the Kingdom This Inquiry is very useful to calm and quiet the troubled Saints and to awaken unregenerate Persons out of their confident Dream of their good State Many sincere Christians are infinitely concern'd whether they are the Children of God of this their Tears and Fears give abundant evidence The reasons of their Doubts are partly the Jealousy of their own Hearts which are naturally deceitful above all things and most deceitful to a Man's self and partly from the consequence of the Deceit for knowing the inestimable value of this Privilege to be the Sons of God and that if they are deceived in it they are undone for ever they are anxiously thoughtful about it But carnal Persons who are not acquainted with the Hypocrisy of their Hearts nor duly understand the excellence of the Privilege easily believe what they coldly desire And the great deceiver of Souls is equally subtile to varnish what is evil with the false colours of Good and to conceal what is good under the appearance of Evil. From hence it is that many tender-spirited Christians are timorous and full of unquiet Agitations all their Lives and many who have but a shew and fair pretence of Religion are undisturb'd and hopeful till at last they fall from their supposed Heaven and high Hopes into the Abyss of Misery This Trial will be most clear and convincing by representing from Scripture the inseparable Properties and Characters of the Children of God that distinguish them from all that are in the State of unrenewed Nature The Apostle tells sincere Christians The Spirit it self witnesses with our Spirits that we are the Children of God Here is a Consent and Agreement of those Witnesses in whom are all that is requisite to give value to their Testimony For the Spirit of God such is his unerring Knowledg who searches the deep things of God and such is the absolute Sanctity of his Nature that he can neither deceive nor be deceived so that his Testimony is infinitely sure and of more worth than the concurrent Testimony of Heaven and Earth of Angels and Men. The other Witness is the renewed Conscience that is acquainted with the Aims and Affections of the Heart as the Apostle saith Who knows the things of a Man save the Spirit of a Man This Faculty reflects upon our Actions and the Principles of them to this Faculty is referr'd the decision of our spiritual State If our Hearts condemn us not of any allowed Sin then have we Peace towards God From the consent and agreement of these Witnesses there is a blessed Assurance of our Evangelical Sonship that overcomes all our Fears Now this Testimony is rational and argumentative from the discovery of those Graces that constitute a Person the Child of God I will make the Inquiry concerning the Grace of Faith and of Love which are the vital Bands of our Union with Christ the principal Fruits of the sanctifying Spirit and the Symptoms of Salvation 1. The Grace of Faith is express'd in Scripture by receiving of Christ this answers to God's offer of him to our acceptance in the Gospel It receives him entirely in his Person and Natures as the incarnate Son of God and in his Office as a Prince and Saviour to give Repentance and remission of Sins This receiving Christ implies an Act of the Understanding and the Will the Understanding assents to the Truth of the Divine Revelation that Christ crucified is an alsufficient Saviour and the Will closes with the Terms of it that he will save to the uttermost all that obey him From hence it follows that reliance upon him and a sincere resolution to obey him are
A Funeral-Sermon FOR THE Reverend Holy and Excellent DIVINE Mr. Richard Baxter Who deceased Decemb. 8. 1691. WITH An Account of His LIFE By WILLIAM BATES D. D. LONDON Printed for Brab Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1692. To the Right Worshipfull and his much Honoured Friend Sr Henry Ashurst Baronet SIR YOur Noble and Constant Kindness to Mr. Baxter Living and your Honourable Respect to him Dead have induced me to inscribe the following Memorial of him to your Name He was most worthy of your highest Esteem and Love for the first Impressions of Heaven upon your Soul were in Reading his unvalued Book of the Saints Everlasting Rest. This kindled a mutual Affection in your Breasts his Love was Directing Counselling and Exciting you to secure your Future Happiness your Love was Observant Gratefull and Beneficent to him The Sincerity and Generosity of your Friendship was very evident in your appearing and standing by him when he was so roughly and unrighteously handled by one who was the dishonour of this Ages Law whose Deportment in a high place of Judicature was so contrary to Wisdom Humanity and Justice that there need no foul words to make his Name odious Of this and your other Favours Mr. Baxter retain'd a dear and lasting Sense and in his dying hours declared that you had been the best friend he ever had He has finished his Course and received his Crown His Name will shine longer than his Enemies shall bark I cannot omit the mentioning that Mr. Boyle and Mr. Baxter those incomparable Persons in their several Studies and dear Friends died within a short space of one another Mr. Boyle was engaged in the Contemplation of the Design and Architecture of the visible World and made rare discoveries in the system of Nature not for Curiosity and barren Speculation but to admire and adore the Perfections of the Deity in the Variety Order Beauty and marvellous Artifice of the Creatures that compose this great Universe Mr. Baxter was conversant in the invisible World his Mind was constantly applied to understand the harmonious Agreement of the Divine Attributes in the Oeconomy of our Salvation and to restore Men to the Favour and Image of God They are now admitted into the inlightned and purified Society above where the immense Volumes of the Divine Wisdom are laid open and by one glance of an eye they discover more perfectly the Causes Effects and Concatenation of all things in Heaven and Earth than the most diligent Inquirers can do here in a thousand years Study though they had the Sagacity of Solomon By the Light of Glory they see the face of God and are satisfied with his likeness for ever 'T is a high honour to you that Mr. Boyle and Mr. Baxter should by their Last Will nominate you amongst their Executors It was the Saying of a Wise Roman Malo divi Augusti judicium quam beneficium I had rather have the Esteem of the Emperour Augustus than his Gifts for he was an understanding Prince and his Esteem was very Honourable to a Person That two who so excell'd in Wisdom and Goodness should commit to your Trust the disposal of their Estates for the Uses of Piety and Charity is a more noble Testimony of their Esteem of your Prudence and inviolable Integrity than if they had bequeathed to you rich Legacies It is a satisfaction to me that I have complied with Mr. Baxter's desire in Preaching his Funeral-Sermon and with yours in Publishing it I shall unfeignedly recommend Your self your excellent Lady and vertuous Children to the Divine Mercies and remain with great Respect SIR Your humble and faithfull Servant William Bates A SERMON On the DEATH of Mr. Richard Baxter Luke 23.46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud Voice he said Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit THE Words are the Prayer of our Blessed Saviour in the Extremity of his Passion His unrighteous and implacable Enemies had nail'd his Body to the Cross but they had no power over his Spirit that was ready to take its flight to the Sanctuary of Life and Immortality This dying Prayer of Christ is a Pattern for sincere Christians He has invested them with the Relation of Children of God and authorises them by his Example to commend their departing Spirits to his powerful Love The Observation I shall unfold and apply is this 'T is the Priviledg of dying Saints to commend their Spirits into the Hands of their Heavenly Father In discoursing of this I shall I. Consider the Foundation of this Priviledg II. Shew what a blessed Priviledg this is III. Apply it I. The Foundation of this Priviledg is to be consider'd This is built upon two things 1. The Relation of God to the Saints 2. His Perfections joined with that Relation 1. The Relation of God to the Saints The Title of Father is upon several Accounts attributed to God 1. He is a Father by Creation O Lord thou art our Father we are the Clay thou art the Potter we are the Work of thine Hands He formed Man's Body into a Majestick Figure becoming his original State being Lord of the lower World But in a peculiar manner he is stiled the Father of Spirits they have a near Alliance and Resemblance of the Father of Lights in their intellectual Powers and their immortal Nature From hence it is the Angels are called the Sons of God They are the eldest Off-spring of his Power Adam has the Title of the Son of God And since the Fall Men are called God's Offspring There is an indelible Character of Dignity engraven in the reasonable Nature by the Hand of God But since Man turn'd Rebel to his Creator and Father this endearing obliging Relation aggravates his Rebellion but gives him no Interest in the Paternal Love of God of which he has made a deadly Forfeiture 'T is threatned against ignorant perverse Sinners He that made them will not save them 2. Upon the account of external Calling and Profession there is an intercurrent Relation of Father and Sons between God and his People Thus the Posterity of Seth are called the Sons of God and the entire Nation of the Jews are so stiled When Israel was young I called my Son out of Egypt And all that have received Baptism the Seal of the holy Covenant and profess Christianity in this general Sense may be called the Children of God But 't is not the outward Dedication that entitles Men to a saving Interest in God unless they live according to that Dedication There are baptized Infidels as well as unbaptized How many every day fall as deep as Hell whose hopes were high on the account of their external Christianity 3. God is our Father upon a more excellent Account by Renovation and Adoption The natural Man is what St. Paul saith of the voluptuous Widow dead while he lives There is not only a cessation of spiritual Acts but an utter
but of this Life wherein we use them Can the Creature make us happy when their Emptiness and Anguish annex'd to it makes our Lives miserable The World cannot satisfy our narrow Senses The Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear with hearing much less the infinite Desires of our supreme Faculties Those who are now inchanted with its Allurements within a little while will see through its false Colours As when one awakes all the pleasant Scenes of Fancy in his Dream vanish so when the Soul is awakened in the End of Life the World and the Lusts thereof pass away and the remembrance of them I shall add further What clearer Evidence can we have of the worth of the Soul than from God's Esteem the Creator of it Now when God foresaw the Revolture of our first Parent that brought him under a double Death in one Sentence temporal and eternal and that all Mankind was desperately lost in him then his compassionate Counsels were concerning his Recovery His Love and Wisdom accorded to contrive the Means to accomplish our Redemption by the Death of his incarnate Son We are not redeemed with Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as a Lamb without spot and blemish Of what value is a Soul in God's account that he bought with his own Son's Blood the most sacred Treasure of Heaven We may say for the Honour of our Redeemer and our own that which the Angels cannot we were so valued by God himself that his Son became Man and died on the Cross for the Salvation of our Souls I shall only mention another Evidence and Effect of God's valuation of our Souls that is the eternal Weight of Glory which exceeds all the Thoughts of our Minds and Desires of our Hearts What are all the Kingdoms and Pleasures of the World in comparison of that Blessedness God has prepar'd for those who love him Now the Soul that is inestimably precious and should be most dear to us is secured from Danger when received by God's Hands 2. The Soul is our immortal Part. The Body is compounded of jarring Principles frail and mortal A Casualty or Sickness dissolves the vital Union and it falls to the Dust. But the Soul is a Spirit by Nature and immortal by its inherent Property It s spiritual Operations perform'd without the ministry of the Senses the Eye of the Mind contemplates its Objects when the Eyes of the Body are clos'd demonstrate its spiritual Nature for the Being is the Root of its working and consequently that it exists independently upon the Body But of this we have the clearest assurance in the Scripture This is another demonstration that present Things cannot make us happy for they forsake us the first step we take into the next World and then the Soul enters into Happiness or Misery equally eternal The Immortality of the Soul and the Immutability of its State are inseparable then for the present Life is the time of our Work the next is of Recompences according to our Works If we die in the Lord the Consequence is infallible we shall live with him for ever If we die in our Sins we shall not be received by his merciful Hands but fall into his bottomless Displeasure And of what concernment is it to have our Souls with God in that infinite and incomprehensible Duration All the Measures of Time Days and Weeks Months and Years and Ages are swallow'd up in that invisible Depth as the Rivers that pour into the Sea are swallowed up without any overflowing of its Waters The Dove that Noah let out of the Ark as a Spy to discover whether the Deluge was abated found not a Place to rest on but after many Circuits in the Air it returned to the Ark. If our Thoughts take wing and multiply Millions of Millions of Ages we cannot rest in any Computation for there remains after all an entire innumerable Eternity Secondly I will consider more particularly what is contained in this blessed Privilege The reception of the Soul into God's Hands implies three things 1. Entire Safety 2. Heavenly Felicity 3. 'T is a certain Pledg of the reviving of the Body and its reunion with the Soul in the State of Glory 1. Entire Safety After Death the separate Soul of a true Believer immediately passes through the airy and Ethereal Regions to the highest Heaven the Temple of God the native Seat and Element of blessed Spirits The Air is possess'd by Satan with his Confederate Army who are Rebels to God and Enemies to the Souls of Men he is stiled the Prince of the Power of the Air He often raises Storms and Tempests discharges Thunder and Lightning the woful Effects of which are felt in the lower World The Numbers the Strength and the Malice of the evil Angels to the Souls of Men render them very terrible We may conjecture at their Number from what is related in the Gospel that a Legion possess'd one Man They are superiour Spirits to Man and tho stripp'd of their moral Excellencies Holiness Goodness and Truth yet retain their natural Power at least in great degrees Their Malice is unquenchable 'T is said of the Devil He goes about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour All the Joy those malignant Spirits are capable of is the involving the Souls of Men in their desperate Calamity And tho they know their opposing God will increase their Guilt and Torment yet their Diligence is equal to their Malice to seduce pervert and ruin Souls for ever Now when the Saints die all the Powers of Darkness would if possible hinder the ascension of their Souls to God What David complains of his cruel Enemies is applicable in this case Their Souls are among Lions and if destitute of divine Preservation the Danger would be the same as if a little Flock of Lambs were to encounter with a great number of fierce Lions or fiery Dragons Anger sets an edg upon Power and makes a Combatant but of equal Strength to overcome How dangerous then would the Condition be of naked Souls oppos'd by over-matching Enemies armed with Rage against them How easily would they hurry them to the Abyss the Den of Dragons the Prison where lost Souls are secur'd to the Day of Judgment But all the Potentates of Hell are infinitely inferiour to God they are restrain'd and tortur'd by the Chains of his powerful Justice a Legion of them could not enter into the Swine without his permission much less can they touch the Apple of his Eye That black Prince with all his infernal Host cannot intercept one naked Soul from arriving at the Kingdom of Glory Our Saviour assures us None is able to pluck them out of his Father's Hands The Lord Christ our Head and Leader having vanquish'd in his last Battel on the Cross Principalities and Powers made his triumphant Ascension to Glory Thus his Members having overcome their spiritual Enemies shall by the