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A58958 The Second and last collection of the late London ministers farewel sermons preached by Dr. Seaman, Dr. Bates, Mr. Caryll, [brace] Mr. Brooks, Mr. Venning, and Mr. Mead ; to which is added a farewell sermon preached at Dedham in Essex by Mr. Matthew Newcomen ; as also Mr. Lyes sermon at the conclusion of the last morning-exercise at All-hallows in Lumbard-street, being a summary rehearsal of the whole monthly-lectures. Seaman, Lazarus, d. 1675.; Bates, William, 1625-1699.; Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.; Brooks, Thomas, 1608-1680.; Venning, Ralph, 1621?-1674.; Mead, Matthew, 1630?-1699.; Newcomen, Matthew, 1610?-1669.; Lye, Thomas, 1621-1684. 1663 (1663) Wing S2257; ESTC R41075 195,536 326

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burden any where else God will not lend you a finger to help you but if you place your hope in God God will help you your extremity shall be his opportunity 4 You must take God to be the guide of your hearts if you would have the priviledge of Gods guard you must keep in Gods way keep in Gods way and you will be sure of Gods protection do you keep Gods precepts and God will keep your person do what God commands and avoid what God for bids and then you need not fear what will become of you Let the World frown and Friends forsake you resolve that you will follow God wheresoever he leads you then he will be your God all your dayes and he will guide you here by his counsel till at last he bring you to his glory And this leads me to the second Exhortation in respect to the Gospel Secondly Brethren I commend you to the word of Gods grace I commend you to the Precepts of God to be obeyed by them I commend you to the Promises of God to be believed by you 1 Keep them and hold them fast carefully it is your treasure it is your life keep it and it will keep you it is all that you can shew for Heaven I leave it as a Depositum if you part with it take heed how you will answer it at the last day it is the talent which God hath committed to you for which you will be commended for keeping at the great day Hold fast the word of Gods grace there is old tugging by the Devil and his Instruments either to pull you from the word or the word from you Let any thing go rather than the Gospel let your Friends your Estates your Lives rather than let go the Gospel Study Gods word do not keep them by for no purpose Search the Scriptures for in them you hope for eternall life There 's the pearl of great price there is direction there is comfort this book of God will make you wise unto salvation If you never hear Sermon more you have enough by the use of the Bible to carry you to Heaven There 's Divinity there is holinesse and heaven almost in every syllable when you cannot have it preached to you Be much in the study of it Then practice it conscionably Be not only hearers but doers of it let your conversation be such as becomes the Gospel It was the Apostles advice to the Philippians and it 's mine to you Let your conversation be such as becomes the Gospel Let your conversation become the Precepts the Priviledges the Promises of the Gospel Having then thus commended you to God give me leave before we part to commend God and his Gospel to you 1. Make it your daily business to walk with God make him the companion of your lives converse with God every day in the inward of your hearts He that is a stranger with God God will soon be a stranger to him and if you neglect God one day you may be to seek him when you may most need him 2. Live in the daily exercise of grace and godlinesse 1. Live in the continual exercise of Faith live by it you have need of the exercise of that grace every day you ca● as well live without food as live without faith it is that grace which feeds upon Christ 2 Be much in the exercise of the fear of the Lord all the day long be afraid to sin against God in the secret of your souls mind his presence in all places in all company in all businesses 3 Be much in the exercise of Humility live humbly and think better of others then your selves Humility will exceedingly adorn your profession 4 Be much in the exercise of Repentance Be frequent and constant in prayer Pray continually do it spiritually and do it exactly as to the season of it 5 Be fervent in spirit serving the Lord. Whatever you do for God do it with all your might do not put off God with the skin but give him the marrow 6 Be careful not onely to keep up secret but Family-worship the less preaching there is in publick the more catechising and instructing there should be in private I know no more likely means then the setting up the worship of God in private families 7. Prize the Sabbath be strict and exact in the observation of the Lords day I have shewed you many times wherein the spiritual observation of it doth consist it is your seed-time your market-market-day it is a sign you shall one day celebrate an everlasting Sabbath with God in the highest heavens 8 Be stedfast in the ways of God in a back-sliding age Keep your ground while others fall away stand fast in faith be not ashamed to own Christ before all the World teckon upon the reproaches of Christ and count them greater riches then the Treasures in Egypt Do not place Religion in a few shadows when the substance is neglected do not think that God will be put off with the skin without the substance and by your holy conversation labour to put to filence the foolishness and ignorance of wicked men that ●en may have nothing to accuse you but in the ma●●ers of Jesus Christ that you may cut off occasion from them that seek occasion Let no reproach make you lay aside holiness and say If this be to be vile I will be vile still And love all those that have been instrumental for your spiritual comfort Forget not to contribute to the necessities of the poor Saints think that God hath given you your Estates for such a time as this for this is acceptable to God Blesse them that curse you pray for them that despightfully use you so shall you heap coals of fire upon their heads when you are reviled revile not again Do your duty to your Superiours to those that God hath set over you and so carry your selves as it was in the case of Daniel that they may find nothing against you save in the matter of your God In all things let your conversation be as becomes the Gospel of Jesus Christ That I may rejoyce in the day of the Lord Jesus that we have not run in vain and laboured in vain And labour to keep up that Christian love which in this place hath been more eminent than any where I know I would preach St. Johns Doctrine Little children love one another And that my expression may be pathetical I shall speak it in the words of the Apostle in Phil. 2.1 2 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind I now have but a word more speaking of yours and mine own comfort under this sad Dispensation 1. It is a Ministers comfort that when he is taken from his people he can yet Commend them to
From the Object the Profession of our Faith And Thirdly From the Act with the Qualificationt Hold fast without wavering First From the Subject concerned Us Let us hold fast whatever others do if they let go Faith and God and 〈◊〉 and Souls and all● yet let us hold fast 〈…〉 the Apostle speaks of 〈◊〉 to Believers the●●●● a very great Emph sis in the word We or Us as in the 〈◊〉 of Tim. 6.8 saith ●e Having food and rayment let us be content Indeed he might have said Let every man be content but the emphasis lyes upon the us If no body else will be content yet let us for a Christian lyes under more obligations to all manner of vertue hen any other man doth If Nature will not be content with little yet let Grace Let us be content So here let us hold fast our Profession It may be others will let it go I but let us hold it fast let us among whom let us upon whom let us in whom such mighty things have been done by God let us hold fast or else it will be an intolerable upbraid and condemnation to us That it will be both see but two Texts of Scripture The first is in the 11th of Matthew vers 20 21. Then began he that is Christ to upbraid the Cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not Wo unto thee Chorazin woe unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in Sackcloth and Ashes but I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of Judgment then for you And thou Capernaum which art exalted unto Heaven shalt be brought down unto Hell for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained untill this day But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the Land of Sodom at the Day of Judgment then for thee Pray do but mark what an upbraid there is and upon what ground Because mightier works had been done among these then among others Now it seems to be a little excusible that they where these mighty works had not been done did not repent and therefore their punishment shall be the more tolerable But it will be more inexcusable for them among whom less mighty work have been done If they do not comply with the design of God their condition will be far more intolerable They that have been lifted up to Heaven as it were that have as it were seen Christ crucified before their eyes for them to apostatize and turn away from Christ of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy Certainly those very persons that have great and mighty works done among them and upon them too great Convictions and strong Resolutions and yet they shall apostatize oh how will God upbraid these persons Now see that other Text that speaks as dreadful as this Heb. 6.4.5 and 6 verses For it is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the Heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the World to come if they shall fall away to renew them again to repentance Seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame It is the greatest disgrace and affront that man can put upon Christ to apostatize from him it is not half so much not to own him for by that they crucifie him again and put him to an open shame it is as if they told all the World that this Christ is not worth the believing in and it were but to throw away their time and happiness to believe in him Well then let us that pretend to such enlightnings and say We have tasted of the Heavenly gift and of the good Word of God and of the first-fruits of Heaven let us hold fast lest we come under this upbraid and this condemnation But more particularly let us hold fast as we are concerned to do if we consider First What we were before Faith Secondly What we are by Faith Thirdly What we shall be at the end of Faith First What we were before Faith What were we Before Christ was Preached and before we believed what were we Why much worse then if we had not been considered in our case and state it is better not to be at all then to be a sinner it were better not to be a people then not to be the people of God Now what were we before Faith Why truly we were not a people so the Scripture tells you They that were not a people are now the people of God so that if we are not the people of God we are as if we were not a people We were What were we before Faith Dark We were the Darkness it self as the Apostle's expression is in Ephes 5.8 saith he Ye were sometimes Darkness The very Light that was in us was Darkness corrupt in our Understandings and Imaginations the Understanding dark We were dead yea under the worst of Deaths dead in sin You saith he that were dead in sins and trespasses hath he quickned How were they dead in sins Did they not live in sin Yes saith he wherein you walkt Why What is their Death To live in sin is to be dead in sin all the while the Prodigal lived in his sin the Father said of him He was dead My Son that was dead is alive We were What were we before Faith Why we were Children of what of Wrath as well as others Now Beloved consider how many abide thus to this day in Darkness Dead in sin and Children of Wrath When you are or pretend to be translated out of this darkness into his marvellous light will not You hold fast You that were dead as well as others and now you live is this your requital to God that you will now let it go Oh! I beseech you have a care of that Secondly let us consider what we are by Faith and that will be another Obligation upon us We were not so bad before Faith but we are better by Faith We were not in so miserable a case before believing but we are in as happy a case when we do believe Why what are we We are alive and Children of Light and Children of God We are alive You hath he quickned saith he or made alive and My Son that was dead is alive Now what is the work of the Living It is to praise God The Living the Living they shall praise thee as I do this day Now if this be the work of the Living then consider if we hold not fast our Faith if we apostatize we are so far from doing the work of the Living that is of praising God that we do all the dishonour we can to God we do the work of dead
Conspiracy of thy Thoughts and Passions against thy Peace Thou mayst be quiet within and yet have war with God because as in the world there may be a Truce when there is no Peace the War may still continue tho there be a Truces between 2 Princes Or rather there is not a Truce between God sinner but as a Town that is besieged for many days may not feel the Battery of their Enemy because he is undermining them to blow them up at once so God doth not many times make his Battery against sinners but he is undermining them and the Fall at the last will be dreadful if there be not a composition Vse 2. By way of Exhortation Let me press you all to follow Peace it is a Duty which the Gospel enjoyns with the greatest vehemency with the greatest force of words and expressions The Apostle when he is to seal up his affections to them he doth it with that Prayer 2 Thess 3.16 Now the God of Peace himself give you Peace always by all means What strange expressions First he gives you here the Title of the God of Peace and then he saith Himself The God of Peace himself There 's a great deal of force in that word Peace is so excellent a blessing and there is such an abhorrency in our corrupt nature to it that it is onely the Lord himself that is able to effect it As if the Apostle had said The Lord must bow the Heavens he must come down himself to create Peace among you and to express the greater vehemency of his desire he saith Give you peace always by all means So another Scripture Pursue Peace Follow Peace with all men a word that imports our pursuit after it though it run from us This is the strain and tenour of the Gospel and this becomes you as Christians When Christ came to purchase our Peace he came as a Lamb an innocent and meek Creature Behold the Lamb of God When the Holy Spirit descended to seal the priviledge of Peace to us he descended in the form of a Dove a gaul-less Creature in whom there is no rancour nor bitterness What a strong engagement should this be upon all of us to pursue and promote Peace And for your encouragement consider First That in the times of the Gospel all the Promises do as it were empty themselves into this blessing the blessing of Peace Thus Isa 11.6 you shall find there a gracious Promise respecting the times of the Gospel The Wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard shall lye down with the Kid and the Calf and the young Lion and the Fatling together and a little Child shall lead them and the Cow and the Bear shall feed their young Ones shall lie down together and the Lion shall eat straw like the Oxe That which I observe from thence is this that God here promises to cause an universal Peace and Unity under the Gospel though it be as difficult as to perswade the most disagreeing Natures to a peaceable cohabitation For here the Scripture instances in those Creatures between which there is the most natural and therefore the most fierce Animosities The Lord will reconcile men though their differences he never so great What is too hard for the God of Peace to effect Is not God of infinite power of infinite love then it should quicken us to pursue Peace 1 By Prayer to him because he is able to effect it Certainly that God that was able to bring Order into the World when it was a meer lump and mass of Confusion is able to bring peace and to unite our spirits And it is observable the greater our differences and divisions are the more will the power of the God appear in reconciling them 'T is said in the Psalms That God's Throne is in darkness i. e. His ways of Providence are very difficult for us to trace and find out ● and therefore when our Divisions are at the highest he is able by one word to allay the storm This should encourage us in Prayer This is the course of God to glorifie himself by putting a stop to the greatest Troubles when nearest to us and to work out one contrary by another To give you some Instances that so we may encourage our Faith and quicken our Prayer to God for this blessing Consider how still God hath made difficulties the way for enjoyment for instance The Promises that Sarah should be the Mother of a Child but he made way for that by her dead Womb for all that numerous Progeny which like the Stars of the Sky descended from her That he first maimed Jacob and then gave him the blessing He brought Joseph from the Prison to a Princely Palace First David was harassed with Troubles and then his head was deck'd with the Imperial Crown So if you look into the Kingdom of Christ who would have thought that a few Fishermen should have advanced the Empire of Christ in the World had you lived to have seen those despicable beginnings when a few unlearned men were the Heraulds and Preachers of Christ how would this have caused you to fail and sink in your Spirits and yet the Gospel hath been preached in all the parts of the World and that by a few Fishermen The Providences of God are like those plated Pictures if you look one way upon them there is the appearance of a Serpent if you look on the other side there 's the appearance of an Angel So here many times God is pleased to suffer exasperations to go very high that so his power may appear more eminent in the composure of them He it is that enables the Faith of his people to draw Water out of the Rock when the Fountain is dry that makes meat to come out of the Eater as in Sampson's Riddle that is able to bring a peaceable harmony out of devouring differences and therefore it should quicken our Prayers to him Secondly To make us more serious in our endeavours after peace Consider what a dishonour it is to the Gospel that those that profess themselves Sons of the same God Members of the same Christ Temples of the same Spirit should be at deadly jars one with another It is strange and unnatural that Lillies should prove Thorns to one another that those who are Saints in pretence should be Devils in practice to one another that God's Diamonds should cut one another this is very strange yet thus it is But how especially it is most sad when Religion which should restrain and bridle our Passions is made fewel and insentives of them How for distant is it from the counsel of the Apostle Rom. 14.10 where he speaks concerning their lesser differences One values one day above another another esteems every day alike what 's his counsel He speaks as a person that was fill'd with bowels and compassion Oh saith he let not him that doth not esteem the day judge him that doth For we
shall all stand before the Judgment-Seat of Christ there we shall appear all upon a Level stand upon equal ground and receive our final doom from him This therefore should calm our Spirits Why may there not be some differences in Judgment without division in Affection for it is as impossible that all Judgments should be of the same extent as all our faces to be of the same colour and figure Therefore consider what an injury it is to our Profession how doth it obscure the glory of God and lustre of our Religion Thirdly Doth not the publick Enemy rejoyce over us I mean the Papists Do they not warm themselves at the sparks of our Divisions for you know the old Maxim of Divide and Reign Therefore it should compose our spirits and quicken us to labour after Union Vnmortifi'd Lusts are thence whence all Wars Enmities springs in the World The Apostle Paul when he would compose their differences he doth not lay down Rules to decide their Controversies but corrects their secret Passions Pride Self-seeking Revenge c. this being the Seed of all Disturbances in the Church And although these Lusts may not be conspicuous and visible to the eyes of men yet they are certainly the Fuel of our Distempers The sum of all is this Those that have the Spirit of God they cannot but mourn and be sensible of these Divisions I know a great part among us are unconcern'd some rejoyce those that are rather buried in the Affairs of the World and incumbred with much business or those that are steeped in the pleasures of sense are altogether unaffected with these things and stand as Neuters dis-regarding all events But the Saints of God cannot but mourn over them when our Divisions hinder the progress of the Gospel and are serviceable to nothing but to the Kingdom of Darkness Therefore I beseech you let what hath been spoken quicken you in your Prayers to God to pray for the peace of Jerusalem that 's the least effect of our love and desires after Peace and by all endeavours to labour to bring back Peace to us that we may see that Prophesie fulfilled in our time that the Lord shall be one and his Name one amongst us Doctor BATES His Afternoon SERMON Heb. 13.20 21. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the bloud of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is wel-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ To whom be glory for ever and ever Amen THe Apostle describes God by the effects of his power and love That brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus The Resurrection of Christ from the dead is one of the most transcendent testimonies of God's love and power towards us 1 Of his Love because as the Anger of God was that which crucified our Saviour so on the contrary it must be his Love that should raise and restore him Christ when he died he looked upon God as an Enemy as a Judge and as those Colours which we see conveyed to us are unanswerable to the Medium through which we see them as if we look through a coloured Gloss we see the object of that colour So the Lord Jesus when he was upon the Cross looked upon God through the black cloud of our sins and through the red cloud of his Father's wrath and so died as a sacrifice to Divine Justice But when he was raised from the Grave that was the restimony of God's love to him and of his love to us for he died as our Surety he was arrested for our debt he was cast into the Grave as into a Prison But by his Resurrection he was redeemed from Prison and Judgment And therefore you shall find when Christ was risen he salutes his Disciples with this Peace be unto you Luk 24.31 There was the dawning of peace at the Incarnation of Christ for then the Angels sung Peace upon Earth but the compleat Sun-shine of peace was at his Resurrection when he had made full and compleat satisfaction to God's Justice for this was a clearing of him before all the World when God rais'd him from the grave And in this respect it was very agreeable for the Apostle to say The God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus 2 It was the effect of Infinite Power You know 't is naturally impossible for a dead body to quicken it self to revive but for the Lord Jesus who had the load of the sins of all the Elect upon him who was as it were secured in the grave by God's Justice and Power for him to rise again This must be an effect of Infinite Power in the great God This raising of Christ sometimes 't is attributed to the Son being God equal with the Father but here 't is attributed to God And therefore when the Scripture would speak with the greatest magnificence of the Power of God it expresses it thus That Power which raised Jesus Christ from the dead When Christ wrought deliverance for the lost world all those who were committed to his charge This could be no less than the work of an Infinite Power And upon this account also it is very proportionable to the design of the Apostle for that Prayer he makes to God is for that which onely can be accomplished by Infinite Love and infinite Power i.e. to make the Christian Hebrews perfect in every good work to do his will I come to a further description He that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus The Title of the Lord Jesus was only given to our Saviour after his Resurrection he was called Lord before and Jesus before but these two Titles were never united till after his Resurrection They came to see the place where the Body of the Lord Jesus lay the reason was this Because the Resurrection of Christ was a solemn Proclamation to the world that Christ was the Son of God 't is true this Title was iven him immediately upon the Conception but it was never compleatly declared to the world till after his Resurrection for before Christ was a Prince in disguise the beams of his Divinity was abated by the vail of his Humanity but then he was declared by power to be the Son of God It follows That great Shepherd of the Sheep For the opening of this 1 We will consider this Title of Christ 2 The person for whom this Title relates First This Title The great Shepheard 'T is a wonderful condescention in Christ that he will take upon him the Title of a Shepheard that which rather expresses Love and Care than Power and Dominion yet he is pleased to assume this Title to express his affection to us For the opening of it wherein he appears to be the great Shepheard I shall lay down these particulars 1 He is great in the Dignity of his Person