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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A32899 A Christians sure anchor and comfort in times of trouble and danger being a sermon preached on the 16. day of June / by a divine of the Church of England. Divine of the Church of England. 1693 (1693) Wing C3961; ESTC R23846 7,658 26

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most certainly to be believ'd then what reason can I have to hope I shall be sav'd tho I continue in my Sins when God saies the contrary Can I be happy whether he will or no Can I force my way into Heaven And take possession of that glorious Inheritance I cannot be so foolish to think so and therefore the result of all is this That before I can have a sure and rational and well-grounded hope I must reform my wicked life and resolve to serve God in Holiness and Righteousness all my daies then and not till then shall I be able to hope for Heaven with any Comfort and Assurance After this manner therefore let us reason with our selves and by this means we shall perceive our Folly and Danger in relying upon weak and unwarantable Foundations and in flattering our selves with vain hopes of Heaven while our vitious Conversations carry us directly toward Hell By what I have said so plainly on this point you cannot but understand when your hope of Heaven is true and when false when it has good Foundation and when it has none And therefore unless you are willing to cheat your selves you cannot be deceived in this matter Consider your lives what they are and thence judge of your hope If they be good and comformable to the Rules of Christian Piety then is your Hope warrantably grounded if they be wicked your hope is vain and deceitful 'T is true wicked men may hope for the Fruition of a better life but it is upon this supposition that they first change their manners and live Religiously but while they remain wicked and resolve never to be otherwise their trusting in God and hoping for his mercy and Salvation is no Virtue but a great Sin 't is a presumptuous dependance which God is never pleas'd with It is a peice of high Injustice to expect and lay claim to that whereto they have no right Let us be sure therefore to lay a good Foundation for our hope that in the end we may not be disappointed 'T is of the greatest concernment to us to endeavour not to be deceiv'd in this matter He that lives well may hope well as for others their Expectations are Vain III Let us now see of what use this Christian hope is to those that have it and what advantages men receive by it It serves to many good purposes First At all times it encourages men to serve God diligently chearfully and constantly For when we have a prospect of so great Happiness as is prepar'd in the Kingdom of Heaven and have hope of enjoying it upon Condition we carefully perform our Christian Duties We think it well worth our labour to qualifie our selves for that highest Felicity by conforming to God's Will in all points of holy obedience For the hope that is set before us we think it not reasonable to grudge the performance of any thing that is in our power This makes Religious Duties more easie and pleasant to us We set about them with chearfulness when we hope for so great a Reward after we have done ' em Thus as a good Life encourages us to hope so that hope encourages to persevere in a good Life 2. The Hope of Heaven and Eternal Joys makes men put a just estimate upon things here below and not to overvalue or too much love this present World For when men have such excellent and eternal enjoyments in their Eye and Expectation they make no great account of earthly transitory things nor settle their affections upon them but passing by these lesser matters aspire with the greatest ardour of affection after those enjoyments wherein they are sure of perfect Satisfaction and of which they are never to be dispossess'd Whereas we see other men whose hopes of future blessedness is either very languishing or who have none at all to be very so licitous about the World to love it excessively and to prize it as their chief Felicity They mind not the things of Eternity because they want this hope to elevate their minds and draw them off from the World Happy then are they who have this hope which makes them mind and regard most the things that are most regardable and keeps them from being Slaves to the World and overprizing Vanities and trifling enjoyments 3dly In all afflictions and worldly adversities this Hope comforts and supports us Whatever our condition be how deplorable soever our circumstances in the World yet we are not dejected we cannot think our selves unhappy while we have this Hope For whatever our troubles and sufferings are our hope of being deliver'd from them and enjoying a State of perfect Peace and Happiness afterwards makes us bear 'em patiently and chearfully If we are hated and evil-entreated in the World if we Suffer Poverty Shame Reproach or any thing else that the malice of wicked men can bring upon us we are the less mov'd at these things because if we suffer 'em upon a good account we are sure we shall be gainers by 'em and in that respect we can look upon 'em as matter of rejoycing as the Apostles and primitive Christians did who rejoyced that they were counted worthy to suffer in a good cause for the Name of Christ and the Sake of true Religion This St. Paul declares Rom. 5 2 3 4 5. We rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God And not onely so but we glory in Tribulation also knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope maketh not ashamed Men who have this Hope of the Glory of God will never be ashamed of those Sufferings which they know are the way to it But for the Sake of that eternal weight of Glory which they hope for will rejoyce in them And thus St. Paul advised these Christians To rejoyce in this Hope and to be patient in Tribulation both which are here joyn'd together This was nothing but what their Saviour had done before who for the Joy that was set him endured the Cross despising the shame And unless we take up our Cross and follow him When 't is necessary so to do He tells us we are not worthy of him To him therefore let us look in all our Sufferings as to the Author and Finisher of our Faith as to the true Promiser of Heavenly Glory and not be ashamed to tread in those holy Steps of his which will surely lead us to a blessed Eternity and bring us to Sit down with him at the right hand of God If ever we should come to be in such Circumstances as these Christians were when St. Paul gave 'em this Exhortation if we should be persecuted for Christs Sake and Suffer the Hatred of the World for our adherance to the truth if we should be depriv'd of our Goods of our Liberty and all that we esteem of in this World Let us not be asham'd to Suffer nor murmur at our Condition but on the contrary rejoyce and glory in such sufferings which are indeed the shame of our Enemies but our glory who endure ' em Let us hope to the end and Comfort our selves with the many promises of a Blessed Reward Holding fast the Profession of our Faith without wavering knowing that he is Faithful that has promis'd and being well assur'd that he will abundantly recompence all that we Suffer for him And for our light afflictions which are but for a moment will reward us with an eternal and exceeding weight of Glory Now to c. FINIS Advertisement Christian Supports under the Terrors of Death By a Divine of the Church of England St. Paul 's Triumph in his suffering for Christ with some Directions how a Christian ought to behave himself under and may reap Advantage by sufferings By Matthew Bryan L. L. D.