discover and act all manner of vexation fretfulness reluctancy and opposition under the anguish of its hopeless condition And this may be demonstrated if one consider the nature of a carnal heart and spirit and the tendency thereof which doth naturally end in this degree of sin 1. There is a natural enmity in every carnal soul against God which remaineth for ever in it where grace doth not subdue and mortifie it The carnal mind is enmity to God Rom. 8.7 And it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be So that this enmity is discovered in this life by acts of sin and wicked workes done by carnal men against the holy and righteous will of God and consequently abiding in the soul after death it will in like manner manifest it self to eternity the Soul being wholly void of all sanctifying and renewing grace Secondly This enmity will more fully act after dissolution by the total withdrawing of the spirit of God whereby in this life it was limited and restrained God setteth bounds to carnal men in this life to keep the world in some degree of peace for the more quiet habitation of his people without which their lives on earth would be altogether disquiet and uncomfortable through the rage and fury of the wicked But in hell there is not so much as restraining grace to dam up the fountain of corruption from breaking out and flowing forth in its full strength and liberty Thirdly the greatest sufferings whatsoever have no power to suppress or destroy corruption and carnal enmity as in themselves considered It is a sanctified affliction through the love of God that purgeth and taketh away sin from his children who by his chastisements are made partakers of his holiness But the torments of hell are the execution of the fierce wrath of God wherein there is not the mixture of one dram of love God intending the destruction and not the salvation of the soul in taking vengeance upon it So that the sinful habits and habitual enmity of the soul are increased and blown up to the highest degree of malice by despair under eternal punishment Fourthly To this we may also add that to be given up to sin is one of the greatest Judgements of God and therefore may be a part of or at least an adjunct to the torments of the damned God sometimes punisheth sin with sin by hardning the heart for its hardness and searing the conscience for its senselessness and giving up to believe a lye for not receiving the love of the truth as also he gave up those Idolaters who imprisoned the natural light and knowledge of God to uncleanness vile affections and a reprobate mind Rom. 1. Now the highest degree of sin God giveth up a carnal man unto in this life is the sin against the holy Ghost which is to sin with malice and to doe despight unto the spirit of grace Heb. 10.29 When a reprobate heart shall grow to that hardness in sin as to sin under conviction and to revenge it self upon God and the spirit of God by committing sin upon the account of sin or because it is sin otherwise it cannot be a wilful sinning after receiving of the knowledge of the truth This being the highest degree of sin upon earth the formality whereof is malice and revenge we may easily be perswaded to believe that hell is full thereof where this malice is more stirred up by despair under these torments then it can be in this life and where the souls of the wicked vent their malice against God by blaspheming and cursing him to his face which is the proper discovery of it as desperate malefactors sometimes in their torments curse both Judge and Executioner And foâ— the proof of this I shall only argue thâ— the case from two or three Scripture instances First of Job whom Satan supposed to be but a hypocrite and temptâ—… God to afflict him with this confidence that he should curse him to his face Joâ— 1.11 The Devil well knew what over whelming afflictions would work upon carnal and sinful heart even to curse Goâ— to his face and had not Jobs sinceritâ— through the power of God upheld anâ— preserved him the Devil had had his design and Job had cursed God as well aâ— the day of his birth Another is of thosâ— wicked ones of whom the Prophet â—…saiah speaketh Isai 8.21 And thâ—â— shall pass through it hardly bestead anâ— hungry and it shall come to pass that wheâ—… they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse their King and their God anâ— look upward Whence it appeareth thaâ— when God upon earth punisheth a people for their wickedness with some extream calamity under which they despair looking upwards and seeing no help the wickedness of their hearts will through madness and malice break out into cursing of their King and their God whether true of false Which appeareth yet more clearly in the prophesie of the powring forth of the vials of the wrath of God upon the Antichristian party in several plagues and punishments for their final ruine and overthrow Rev. 16.9 And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God which hath power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory And verse 11. They blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their paines and their sores and repented not of their deeds Likewise verse the last They blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail for the plague thereof was exceeding great Much more will a sinful soul blaspheme in hell where despair is the torment of those torments Which Christ himself seemeth to put out of all question speaking of the sufferings of hell when he saith There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Math. 8.12 and 13.42 50. That is against God through fretfulness and malice for so the phrase of gnashing the teeth is taken in other Scriptures Psal 37.12 The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth So the Jews did upon Stephen Acts. 7.54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth So that as the Saints in heaven bless God with Praises and Hallelujahs so the damned in hell howl under pain and curse him and thus in hell sin shall be perfected as well as grace in heaven every wicked and graceless soul shall sin under suffering while it is suffering for sin Lastly Hereupon the wrath of God is further provoked and heightned by the actual sin of a wicked and desperate soul under its torments So that to make this everlasting punishment of a damned soul in hell unspeakable miserable the sufferings thereof are not only eternal as they are the just reward of sin committed in this life against an infinite God whose justice can never be fully satisfied but by the eternity of the punishment but they are also for ever increased and renewed by enraging provocations of malice and
his usual benedictory salutation first he declareth his thankfulness unto God for their spiritual estate and continuance in the fellowship of the Gospel unto the 5th verse Secondly his confidence in God for the perfecting of the work of grace begun as he was perswaded through charity to judge in them all by their future and final perseverance unto the eighth verse Thirdly his prayer for their increase and abounding in fruitfulness unto the 11. verse Then from the 12. to the 18. verse he laboureth to satisfie them concerning the consequent events of his present sufferings that they were rather for the furtherance then hinderance of the Gospel which he proveth by two arguments First because the cause of his sufferings which was the preaching of Christ the Saviour of the world was hereby made known and divulged both in Nero's Pallace and in the neighbouring Cities Secondly because by his sufferings many of the brethren were made more bold to preach the Gospel and notwithstanding there were some that preached Christ out of envy and strife thinking thereby to add to his afflictions yet he was so far from being troubled at it that he rejoyced because Christ was the more preached In the 19. verse the Apostle discovereth the gracious and sweet frame and temper of his own heart under his sufferings in the firm confidence he had that all things should work together for his good and turn to his salvation as the return and fruit of their prayers and through the supply of the spirit of God unto him that he might hold out under his tryals according to his earnest expectation and hope that through his stedfastness and boldness both in life and death Christ might be magnified in his body whereof he giveth this reason verse 21. For to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain That is if I live I shall honour Christ by my life and if I dye I shall honour him by my death and that death shall be my gain according to his confidence before expressed that it should turn to his salvation But in case he should live he should have fruit of his labour or it were not worth the while to live for to live is Christ that is he should preach Christ which would be the gain of others as his death would be his own Now in these thoughts Paul is at a stand what to choose or desire whether to live or dye for being a Prisoner at Rome for Christ's sake and the Gospel he might expect as well to dye as to live and being as it were indifferent to either he debates the case and controversie in his own heart according to the words of my Text I am in a straight betwixt two c. In which words we have three distinct parts First Aequilibrium animi the even ballance of Pauls mind in respect of life and death For I am in a straight betwixt two Secondly Inclinatio affectionum the inclination of his affections and desire Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ Thirdly Status vel determinatio judicii The determination of the controversie and the discovery of his judgement upon mature deliberation in the last words of the Text Which is far better Before I lay down the intended Doctrine or Proposition from this Scripture I will briefly explain the terms of the Text to justifie the clearness of the doctrinal deduction from the Text. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am in a straight betwixt two I am straigthly held on both sides So Beza translateth it or I am pressed of two according to the vulgar Latine S. Paul presenteth unto himself life and death two different objects of his choice and election and both sub ratione boni appearing unto him to be really good for him but which of these to close withal and pitch upon he knoweth not Not that it was in his power to live or to die but if the Lord should give him his free liberty to chuse either he was at a stand in his present thoughts which way he had best incline himself as the case was now with him being an Apostle of Christ and now imprisoned for him whether it were absolutely better upon all accounts and all things considered for him to die by a violent hand or to be enlarged as a further instrument for the promoting and propating of the Gospel in the world As it was Davids case when he was to chuse one of those three judgements proposed unto him 2 Sam. 24.13 14. Shall seven years famine come in thy land or wilt thou flye three moneths before thine enemies while they pursue thee or that there be three dayes pestilence in thy Land And David said unto Gad I am in a great straight let us fall now into the hand of the Lord for his mercies are great and not into the hand of man This was his straight in respect of evils and he chose well for he chose the least in all circumstances for the time the nature and the immediate inflictor of the evil or judgement But Pauls straight was in respect of good objects to be chosen and which of the two were the best was his present controversie whether to depart and be with Christ or to live and abide still in the dy to preach him both would be for the honour of Christ but the former would be his own gain the latter the gain of the Church and his own private interest was the less unto him because if he lived it was but the deferring of his heavenly reward and his affections sometimes were so strong that though it was impossible yet he could have wished a total deprivation thereof for the Jews sake Rom. 9.3 I could wish that my self were accursed from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh Love desireth impossibilities By all this it appears how great the Apostle's straight was betwixt living and dying as a needle hanging between two loadstones of equal force and power †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Having a desire or greatly desiring that is in respect of his own happiness and his great love and delight in Christ for whom he was now in a suffering condition to depart that he might be with him The word in the original signifieth a vehement desire or an ardent and hot desire and it is observable that he doth not barely say he did desire but having a desire which Beza translateth to contend in desire * Plus est animo ferri contendere quam simpliciter cupere Beza in locum answerable to that expression of our Saviour Christ Luke 22.15 With desire have I desired to eat this Passeover with you before I suffer So that in these words we may consider Paul looking solely upon Christ and his immediate presence waving all former considerations whereby this fervent desire was limited and himself straightned So that Pauls natural if I may so call it desire and inclination was towards the Lord and to
6.22 When Gideon perceived he was an Angel of the Lord Gideon said Alas O Lord God for because I have seen an Angel of the Lord face to face therefore he thought he must dye as appeareth by the foregoing verses An so Manoah when the Angel appeared unto him did wondrously Judges 13.23 Manoah said to his wife we shall surely dâ—e because we have seen God or an Angel of God for it is said before Manoah knew that he was an Angel of God But some of the Patriarchs and Saints entertained Angels with joy as Abraham did the three Angels in the plain of Mamre Gen. 18.8 who accepted his invitation and did eat before him what he had dressed and provided for them Likewise the two Angels which came to Lot in Sodom Gen. 19.1 He made them a feast and they stayed with him all night Surely that man is greatly honoured of God unto whom in favour he thus sendeth his Angels which the Authour to the Hebrews maketh use of as a motive unto Christians to hospitality Heb. 13.2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained Angels unawares What will that honour be then to the Saints in heaven to be entertained with Angels and to dwell with Angels and to have familiarity and fellowship with an innumerable company of glorious Angels yea with those Angels that have been made ministring Spirits for their good Heb. 1.14 Are not they ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation with those Angels that rejoyced at their conversion Luke 15.10 I say unto you saith Christ that there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth Yet this is not all beleivers after death shall not only be and dwell with the Angels in heaven but be also as the Angels Angels of God Math. 22.30 They shall live as Angels without these earthly comforts and comfortable relations they shall neither marry nor give in marriage they shall be like the Angels themselves moving up and down as the Angels and joyning in consort with the whole Quire of Angels in singing Hallelujahs to him that sitteth upon the throne of eternal Majesty Secondly they shall have full and perpetual fellowship with glorified Saints and Spirits of just men made perfect Communion with Saints on earth in Gospel fellowship whereby beleivers enjoy the comfort of the unity of the spirit each with other in spiritual administrations is one of their great priviledges in Christ which the Apostle exhorteth the Ephesians to maintain and keep in the bond of peace Eph. 4.1 Which he also urgeth as a motive to the believing Philippians to persevere in mutual love and condord phil 2.1 2. If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfil ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind Yet there is a great defect in the society of Christians one with another here below besides the intermissions thereof partly through difference in judgement and opinion whereby their affections are in a great measure quenched and withdrawn each from other and partly through corruption of nature and occasional offences depriving them of the mutual benefit and advantage of each others gifts and graces However let not these accidental inconveniences and obstructions beget in you low and mean thoughts of this holy fellowship but remember how your hearts have been warmed your affections quickned your resolutions confirmed and your hands strengthened by the presence and close and spiritual communion ye have had with the people of God in the mysteries of Christ that your esteem may be preserved and your love so far increased as to abound more and more to the precious Sons of Sion and coheirs with you of the everlasting inheritance Considering that ye shall shortly live together with Christ when ye shall enjoy the society of all the faithful that are with him those whom ye have never seen but have loved in the spirit upon the reports of their graces with the Patriarchs and Prophets and the cloud of witnesses gone before you and that shall beleive in Christ to the end of the world and what a joyful meeting will there be of the children of God when they shall dwell together in their Fathers house being made perfectly one as God and Christ are one What a solemn assembly will there be in heaven in the presence of God himself when the whole Church of the first-born shall keep a perpetual Sabbath and God shall be all in all And how magnificent and glorious will be the heavenly Festivals of the righteous in celebrating the marriage of the Lamb when they shall all come together and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God Fourthly and lastly To be with Christ is to have eternal life with Christ for Christ giveth his sheep eternal life and they shall never perish John 10.28 And this is his promise which he hath promised us even eternal life 1 John 2.25 Therefore saith Paul we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 This is no other then the Fathers house which is built upon eternal foundations an everlasting rock the rock of ages the eternal Godhead and the unchangeable essence of God himself is the support of it There is nothing properly eternal but the divine nature for as time is the measure of motion and the continuance of successive and changeable creatures so eternity is the immensurable duration of the immutable essence of God who only is from everlasting to everlasting without shadow of turning or the least variation in being So that the Saints shall receive and enjoy their eternal life and happiness with Christ by the eternity of God himself who is the only true God and eternal life 1 John 5.20 As their life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3.3 So it is communicated unto them through Christ who lived by the Father and now liveth with the Father and that for ever more Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore And because I live ye shall live also John 14.19 Nay beloved this eternal life is begun already in your hearts by the spirit of God in you as a well of water springing up to eternal life John 4.14 By the knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ which is life eternal John 17.3 And by faith in Christ John 6.47 He that beleiveth on the hath everlasting life But your full possession thereof shall be after the dissolution of the tabernacles of your mortal bodies when ye shall never suffer change more so as to see any weakness or the least inclination to corruption Then mortality shall be swallowed up of life 2 Cor. 5 4 As
the spirit and render beleivers unfit for a natural dissolution how much more will they entangle in a time of persecution And what will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul For saith our Saviour whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it Matth. 16.23 24. Remember that Christ is your life and the cause and fountain of life and if you lose life it self for him you will find it again in him nec propter vitam vivendi perdere causam venture not the losing of Christ himself for this life sake This was Pauls present case and condition in my Text he was willing to suffer and by suffering for Christ to depart unto Christ which is far better Thirdly This fear of death may flow from a want of a clear evidence of an interest in Christ When a Christians evidence for heaven is darke and dubious the white stone slurred and the new name hardly legible when neither his own spirit nor Gods spirit beareth full witness or give in a clear testimony to adoption and reconciliation in this case eternity is terrible and the face of death and its appearance exceeding ghastful Sometimes the death of the Godly is a streight passage and a darke entrance when together with the pangs of dissolution the guilt of sin appeareth to conscience the wonted favour of God is withdrawn by removing his supporting presence and the Devil by strong assaults and temptations takes advantage of weakness to vex and disquiet the soul striving and strugling for support and comfort Methinks I hear such a heart cry out in the words of the Prophet David Psal 39.13 O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more seen It is exceeding hard for a Christian to venture to launch forth into eternity upon uncertainties and without a hopeful at least if not a full and satisfactory perswasion of happiness and salvation In this case the soul hath no other help but to roul it self upon mercy by renewing the acts of faith upon Christ to stay it self upon God though hiding his face and strongly to rest and rely upon the rock of ages And let this comfort and support in such an hour of trouble and tryal that when thou droppest into eternity and seemest to fall in the act of dissolution into eternal sorrow then the everlasting armes are ready to receive thee and as soon as ever death closeth the eyes of thy body thy soul shall see the glorious face of God himself to thy everlasting though unexpected joy Therefore imitate and follow the steps of Christ thy forerunner who in the same condition of desertion exercised faith upon the cross saying Mat. 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Fourthly The Saints may be subject to the fear of death and not chearfully submit unto it from their ignorance of the state of heaven and their happiness with God hereafter It is a received axiome ignoti nulla cupido we cannot desire what we do not know and apprehend And though the greatest part of what we know here be the least part of what we know not but shall know hereafter for we know but in part yet most Christians are guilty of neglect unexcusable ignorance in that they might know far more of the state of heaven then they doe It is true what the beloved Disciple and Apostle asserts 1 John 3.2 Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is The Scriptures are not altogether silent in revealing So the glorious inheritance of the Saints that though we are not able in our understanding while we are in the body to behold so great a glory had it been fully revealed yet so much is revealed thereof unto us that we may in the promises thereof discerne and contemplate as we doe the glory of the Sun by its reflexion in still waters For as it is written 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath revealed unto them that love him but as it followeth in the next verse God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit for the spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God among which are profunda coeli the high or deep things of heaven It would be endless to gather together those pieces of heaven which like rich pearles and sparkling diamonds lye scattered up and down the Scriptures Let every high and heaven-born soul look more after his portion and spend more i me in surveying that inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in the heavens for him This will sweeten the thoughts of death and strengthen the soul to encounter the King of terrours Who would not endure the strongest paines for heavenly pleasures who would not shoot this gulph for eternal gain who would not dare to dye once that he might live and never dye more yea who would not depart that he might be with Christ Use 4. Then suffer the word of exhortation and first let every natural men accept of a friendly call to provide and prepare for the day and hour of his dissolution Consider wherefore thou art come into the world and how thou mayst close thy dayes in peace Wherefore hath God given thee a being and breathed into thy nostrils the breath of life Why did not she that bare thee miscarry before she had reckoned her months that thou wast not the untimely fruit of the womb why wast thou not stifled in the birth and the long expectations of him that begat thee frustrate with the news of a stilborn child or why diedst thou not in thine infancy as a blossome withered through sudden blasting By how many preventing and preserving providences hath thy life been renewed and continued unto thee that thou still drawest thy breath and swallowest thy spittle what account canst thou give of the golden talent of time God hath betrusted thee withal upon every moment whereof dependeth eternity Call to mind the dayes that are past and gone and shall return no more and examine the short periods and divisions of time never to be recalled which thou hast spent either idlely and impertinently or for the most part sinfully and prophanely Art thou born to sin or dost thou therefore sin that thou mayst shorten thy dayes by hastening to fill up the measure of thine iniquity why shouldst thou dye before thy time Is there no measure of sin or bounds of profaneness that thou drinkest in sin as the fish the water and drawest iniquity with cart ropes and the cords of vanity O make not so much hast to hell thou wilt be there too soon but turn at reproofe and to day whilest it is called to day harden not thy heart who knoweth
sin not for the patience of God to every carnal soul persisting in rebellion and disobedience is but a present suspension of eternal wrath which may suddenly break forth and begin in temporal judgements upon them And take heed of interpreting the silence of God to be his allowance of sin for because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the Sons of men is fully set in them to doe evil Eccle. 8.11 Whereas if the Lord should execute his wrath immediately upon every profane person in the act of sin what fear would surprise your hearts who would swear a profane oath if he were sure to dye as soon as the word is out of his mouth who would commit adultery if he were to be thrust through with a sword in the act of his uncleanness who would steal his neighbours goods if he were perswaded he should be immediately stoned to death what drunkard would venture upon excess if he apprehended every immoderate draught to be so much deadly poyson to destroy him Or who would exalt himself against God and his people if he beleived that the earth would presently open her mouth and swallow him up quick And is the wrath of God less fearfull because through patience it is deferred in the execution of justice and recompense upon ungodly men For ye are not only by nature the children of wrath but because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience Ephes 5.6 Therefore let no man deceive himself with vain confidence and presumption as if God had said in vain that he will render to every man according to his deedes Vnto them that are contentious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile Rom. 2.8 9. O that ye would set the Lord before your eyes and his consuming displeasure when ye are venturing upon any act of folly and iniquity possibly this might restrain corruption and check your violent lusts ready to break out into practise and actual commission What are the damned suffering in hell for the same sins that ye are committing daily Bethink your selves how ye shall endure those torments or rather that ye may escape them labour to foresee them and present them to the face of your stout and head-strong corruptions When the temptation is before you the place present and the company of evil workers ready to joyn with you in any unlawful and sinful enterprise or design remember that hell is kindled and the flames thereof ascend for ever Is not a fiery furnace hot enough or a bottomless pit deep enough to terrifie your senseless spirits Or can ye endure to be ever burning in that furnace and ever falling in that piâ— Our Saviour tells those that offend his little ones Matth. 18.6 That it were better a milstone were hanged about their necks and they cast into the bottom of the sea Were there any hope for such to arise from perishing under the mighty waters And is there not much more weight in the infinite wrath of an omnipotent God to sink you down to the nethermost hell and to keep you under the foaming billowes and raging and roaring waves of the Lake of burning brimstone O that ye would consider this ye that forget God least he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Psal 50.22 Venture not the day of Gods displeasure and provoke no longer omnipotency to appear against you least the roaring lion seize upon the prey and say not peace and safety for sudden destruction shall come upon the wicked as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape Cease your mocking ye that scoffe at the threatnings of God that say let him make speed and hasten his worke that we may see it and let the counsel of the holy one of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it Isai 5.19 How soon the Lord may come in wrath and judgment upon you ye know not and all that spend their dayes in vanity shall goe downto the grave in a moment How soon doth the cloud arise which at length covereth the whole heavens and the ratling thunders make you tremble and the white flashings of lightning turn you into darke holes to hide your heads how fair a morning had the wicked Sodomites when the Sun arose so gloriously upon their City and by and by a showr of fire and brimstone turned all into ashes And how did the security of the old world deceive them when they took no warning by Noah the preacher of righteousness nor by the building of the Arke until the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened and the deluge came the flouds increasing and covering the tops of all mountaines so that their was no help in their distress but all perished together in those swelling waters Gen. 7. latter end And dare ye still scoffe at the messengers of the Lord saying where is the promise of his coming Are not the heavens and the earth kept in store and reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men And this day of the Lord will come also as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the workes that are therein shall be burnt up The Lord is not slack concerning his coming but is long suffering to you-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance Therefore seeing that all these things shall be dissolved when heaven and earth shall be in flames what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness 2 Pet. 3.9 10 11. Thirdly Then labour to get an interest in Christ before ye die What rich provision hath God made for immortal souls in sending the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to suffer under the imputation of sin that he might reconcile the disobedient and rebellious hearts of men unto himself And how often hath this Gospel been preached among you That God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever should beleive in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 Therefore we are embassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God How willing is Christ to save your souls and to redeem you from wrath to come Oh let not your unbeleif frustrate the grace of God thereby depriving your selves of the benefit thereof so freely offered and fully revealed unto you Is not the golden Scepter of grace held forth and the royal Standard set up and proclamation made to sinners to turn and live How will ye escape if ye neglect so great salvation O ungrateful
and unworthy wretches who disdain and slight such reports of mercy and the rich mystery of Gods good will towards men in Christ which the Angels admiring bow themselves and stoop down to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 Hearken O ye unbeleivers Is it not a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ came into the world to save sinners whereof ye are the chief What is the meaning of so many publique Assemblies every Lords day and our occasional comings together upon this or any other providential call what is the meaning that so many are set apart and make it their study and labour to preach unto you whom ye openly see in their Pulpits spreading their hands and hear them with so much zeal and fervency crying aloud spending their very strength and hazarding their healths and life it self in their unwearied paines Is it not Christ whom we preach and in whom ye say that ye beleive How can ye beleive that wallow in the mire of your unclean and polluted conversations How can ye beleive that commit iniquity with greediness and blush not at your open sins and profaneness How can ye beleive that make the world your God and prefer the trrash of the earth before the treasures of heaven How can ye beleive that seek the honour and praise and favour of men more then the honour that is of God that ye may be great upon earth and get a name which shall be written in the earth Is it not true that all men have not faith ye say ye beleive and ye have faith can your faith save you can a dead faith a feigned faith a fruitless and a workless faith save you Can ye prove or shew a true faith without workes Give me leave to try your faith in regard of the object of it Doe ye beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ Doe ye beleive in that Christ who from the beginning was promised to the sore-fathers who saw his day and rejoyced who in the fulness of time appeared in our flesh made of a woman and under the law and took upon him the form of a servant who suffered so much shame and reproach by the contradiction of sinners and at last an accursed death the death of the cross for the satisfaction of divine justice and appeasing of the wrath of God so highly provoked by the sins of men who arose from the grave having overcome and broken the bands of death to assure unto us our justification who lastly ascended into the highest heavens and is there interceeding for his people and ruling and reigning till he overcome all his enemies whence he shall come again and appear the second time without sin unto the final judgement of the world and the full salvation of all that beleive in him Why then do ye say in your selves or is it not the language of our unbeleiving hearts who shall ascend into heaven to bring Christ from above and who shall descend in to the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead What strange fancies have ye in your mindes of Christ and beleiving in Christ Is not your faith a fancy O that the word of faith were nigh unto you even in your hearts the word of faith which we preach And that ye would beleive our report when we preach Christ and him crucified as we have evidently set him forth crucâ—fied among you Besides if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed it would soon manifest its self by the growth of it and the fruits that proceed from it It would be a Christ prizing faith a heart purifying faith a world conquering and crucifying faith it would be a Saint loving and a soul humbling faith it would work in you the fear of God and the fear of sin a love to the truth and to every ordinance of Christ it would make conscience tender and the heart sincere and upright with God yea it would render holiness beautiful and lovely and all the wayes and commands of the Lord delightful and easie besides it would make future things present and present things absent and as if they were not and yet the beleiving soul inherits all things and possesseth all things The exercise of faith is a pleasant joyful and glorious act through the transcendent and unspeakable excellency of Christ the object thereof Now if these things be a mystery unto you and your hearts wholly strangers unto them look into the Gospel more seriously and acquaint your selves further with the riches of the mystery of Christ even the riches of mercy and the unsearchable treasures of Christ and be no more faithless but beleive If ye were but sensible of the wants of your souls as ye are of the straights and necessities of your bodies it would not be so hard to perswade you to come to Christ the great treasury of all supplies who hath gold for the poor and eye-salve for the blind and white rayment for the naked Rev. 3.13 Now are not ye thus poor and blind and naked and consequently wretched and miserable And how freely doth Christ offer himself to become all fulness unto you who is made of God unto all that beleive wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 what sure foundation can ye build upon if Christ be not the corner stone and rock of your trust and confidence and to whom will ye goe for eternal life if ye refuse him and reject the counsell of God by persisting in unbeleif and impenitency I can assure you from the word of God that other foundations can no man lay then is laid by Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Acts 4.12 To day therefore whilst it is called to day harden not your hearts refuse not him that speaketh from heaven lest you perish in your unbeleife but lay hold upon this strength of God that ye may make peace with him ye shall make peace Isai 27.5 For he is our peace by whom we have access with boldness unto the throne of grace and he is able to save unto the uttermost all those that come unto God by him Heb 7.25 O sinners beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ and ye shall be saved every soul of you your sins shall be blotted out and your iniquity shall be remembred no more and receive him who is ready to receive you and to bless you with all spiritual blessings that ye may be the children of God and heires of the promises and of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven Secondly The exhortation is also to all Christians for to such my text hath a more special relation even to those who with their hearts beleive and love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity who though peradventure they cannot so freely with Saint Paul desire to depart yet in case of departing unfeignedly desire to be with him And because
some of us are come to this place at this time as Abraham at the cave of Machpelah to bury the dead out of their sight and are mourning for the departure of a near relation I shall speake a few words unto them before I come to direct and counsel Christians in general And I shall only exhort you freely to resign your relation to Christ and not to mourn as those that have no hope which was Saint Pauls counsel to the Thessalonians in the like case 1 Thess 4.13 14. which he presseth with a strong argument for saith he if we beleive that Christ died and rose again even so them also which beleive in Jesus will God bring with him which implieth that they are with God and Christ It becometh all that fear the Lord to be silent in submitting to every providence of God It is recorded of Aaron when his two Sons were slain by an immediate hand of God and the fire of his displeasure that after Moses had declared the mind of God unto him he held his peace Levit. 10.3 When David understood the death of his child for which he mourned so exceedingly during the time of its sickness he rose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped 2 Sam. 12.20 The patience of Job is set forth in Scripture for an example to all beleivers who when he had heard out the relation of the evil tidings which his sad messengers brought unto him of his great losses in estate and also of the sudden death of all his children glorified God under all Job 1.21 The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. How then should Christians not only labour to submit but willingly and chearfully satisfie and quiet their spirits when they part with Relations upon such Comfortable terms that no sooner they are out of their sight but they are immediately with Christ It is true nature is strong in her affections and loth to let go the possession of any present comfort and therefore cannot but discover her passions when she is bereaved of near enjoyments And this seemeth to be the ground of sorrow in the breach and dissolution of natural bonds even a long continued absence or an imagination of never seeing departed friends any more if not a conceit of annihilation and that the dead are not as ignorant persons are ready to entertain strange notions thereof But however natural men may immoderately mourn upon such apprehensions of the state of the dead or which we may add of the greatness of their own loss in such a case who know not how to value or prize a creature comfort with any moderation because they mind not a greater and better portion yet where nature hath been at school and under the teaching and instruction of grace in those who understand and are acquainted with the truths of the Gospel and the mysteries of Christ how should all such manifest a more noble and heavenly principle ever the grace they have received in adorning their profession and justifying the truth and worth of religion by a comely gracious solid and sweet behaviour and demeanure of themselves under such providences The faithful part with their spiritual Relations at their dissolution upon the grounds of heavenly promotion wherein they should be more free then those that can take a joyful farewell of their nearest friends for the greatness of earthly preferment Let the Godly husband therefore rejoyce under his sorrow and rather weep for joy that the wife of his bosom is translated into the bosome of Abraham and taken into the presence and embraces of Christ her heavenly head and husband now knowing her no more after the flesh but in Christ in whom all natural relations are spiritualized by the medicinal union of fellow membership in his body which is the church and the spouse of Christ And let the off-spring and children of such aparent no longer look with teares upon the womb that bare them the papps that gave them suck and the tender bowels of her that now ceaseth to care for them but unto the Lord with whom the fatherless find mercy and the orphans succour and releif when they put their trust in him and cast their cares and burthens upon him How soon would tears dry upon our cheeks and our sighs and sobbs turn into songs could we see the heavens open and not only Christ standing at the right hand of God but our dear and godly relations departed at the right hand of Christ having put off the weedes raggs of mortality and temporal misery and being clothed with the garments of praise and robes of immortality and glory Such a sight the eye of faith can see which periceth the heavens and seeth things invisible Therefore let us not think that the Saints departed are less happy because we are uncapable of beholding their heavenly advancement like Jacob deluded by Josephs brethren and his coat of many colours which they presented unto him as torn by wild beasts whence he concluded that he was not though yet alive and in the way to be advanced to be Lord of Egypt and the next unto Pharaoh in the Kingdom Our godly relations though dead are yet alive and we shall shortly goe to them though they return not to us I shall say no more in this case but what Christ said unto those who followed him towards his death lamenting him Luke 23.28 Weep not for me but weep for your selves your children So weep we not forthe dead in Christ but let us weep for our selves and mourn over our dead hearts and their corruptions that sin still dwelleth in us and we cannot honour Christ as we desire nor doe that which we would the flesh lusting against the spirit and withall let us follow Christ on earth and the faith footsteps of those who are with him that when we depart we may also be with Christ which is far better Thus I come at length to lay down some spiritual directions and counsels to Christians in general in reference to their comfortable and joyful departing unto Christ at their dissolution Direct I. Labour to rejoyce in beleiving and so to exercise and act faith upon Christ as spiritually to rejoyce in him This is a duty incumbent upon all beleivers though all doe not at all times attain nor keep up and maintain this heavenly frame and sweet temper of spirit but walk mournfully and disconsolately depressed by fear and doubtings concerning their state and condition in grace dejected by corruption of nature and the motions and strivings of the flesh the cause either of sinful falls of distracting infirmities or else darkned and clouded by spiritual desertions and withdrawings of the gracious presence of God formerly enjoyed and the light of his countenance sometimes lifted up upon them vexed also by Satan troubling their peace by his strong and powerfull temptations who envying their
such fruitful seasons Nevertheless lift up the hands that hang down the feeble knees up and be doing the worke of the Lord shall prosper in your hands gird up the loynes of your minds and so run that ye may attain being swift to hear not slothful in business fervent in spirit continuing instant in prayer that God would fulfill in you all the good pleaof his goodness and the work of faith with power Fifthly That ye may better redeem the present time of grace and mercy exercise your hope with all sobriety in the use of temporal comforts and enjoyments Take heed of surfeiting your selves with the sweetness of creature delights lest your hearts should say it is good to be here and you sit down ready to take your lot on this side of heaven But be sober and hope unto the end for the grace and salvation that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.13 Ye that are the children of the day watch and be sober and with Paul whose example is imitable in this case labour to beat down your bodies and to bring them into subjection that ye be not cast away 1 Cor. 9.21 It is better to starve lust then by pampering the body to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Therefore study contentment in a mean condition in this world having but food and rayment to supply the bare necessities of this present life A little will serve for your passage though all the world should not content you for your portion because ye are heirs of precious promises and of a rich and glorious inheritance whereof ye shall shortly take possession in the life that is to come and in the enjoyment of God himself in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Wherefore if by Christ the world be crucifyed unto you and you unto the world and ye overcome the world by the victory of faith live above the vanity and emptiness of fading and withering comforts and look not at the fashion of the world which passeth away but use the world as if ye used it not because all these things perish in the using dye in the hand and the beauty thereof corrupteth and vanisheth while your eyes are set upon them And let your moderation be known to all men in respect of your care and contention for the things of this life for the Lord is at hand who if you cast your burthens upon him will sustaine you for he careth for you Content your selves to live at his allowance in your minority and think not hardship unsutable to your present state whereas if you were full ye might forget the Lord and less mind your home and your Fathers house But if the Lord hath enlarged your present estate upon earth content not your selves in being rich unless you are rich towards God and deny your selves in what is in your power to use and possess that ye may doe good in your generation and lay up for your selves a good foundation against the time to come Direct VI. Sixthly For the maintaining of a holy sobriety of spirit act faith upon eternal promises and the unseen glory of heaven Nothing doth more support and bear up the hearts of the Saints then to live by faith and to look over the pale of time to the things which are eternal This will make afflictions light suffering easie the world contemptible and the hardest labour and work for Christ and the Gospel comfortable While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4.18 While faith feedeth upon the promises of life and glory and eyeth the great reward of happiness and perfection the soul fainteth not under its burden neither is discouraged at the greatest difficulties in the way of its hopes but becometh more lively and undaunted in contending with opposition that it may break through and passe to the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God Yea how fully is the soul satisfyed in beholding the incomprehensible riches of eternity that when it is taken up with the thoughts and meditations thereof it is ready to forget that it is still in the body as being transported above the sphear of sensitive objects This made David cease to envy the prosperity of the wicked when his heart was raised to a sight of God in the Sanctuary which so ravished his soul that he brake out into that expression Psal 73.25 Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee And this will ween your affections desires from earthly contentments did ye often by faith visit your heavenly mansions and keep your thoughts upon Christ and his preparations for you which the eye hath not seen nor the ear heard neither hath the heart conceived and yet not beyond the reach of faith as it is the evidence of things not seen Seventhly and lastly Labour after a complying heart with the will of God under every dispensation of providence towards you in this earthly tabernacle Be willing to live or dye to doe or suffer following every call of God whose infinite wisdom disposeth of your conditions and whose gracious power is present to assist and streng then Acknowledge the Lord in all your wayes and he shall direct your paths and commit your way to him and he shall give you the desire of your hearts Take heed of self-will and sinful will in opposition to the will of Christ but lye prostrate at his feet with a holy and an humble resignation of your selves to his will and pleasure And let nothing move or terrifie you neither count your lives dear unto you that ye may finish your course with joy Be contented with any condition which the Lord shall allot unto you in your present pilgrimage and travails homeward and let the consideration of your approaching ascension unto Christ in the highest heavens sweeten every bitter cup which providence shall put into your hands lighten every burden which God shall lay upon you knowing that your sufferings are only temporal but your joyes will be eternal and that ye have all your evil here but your good things are to come O forget not that your treasure is in heaven and where your treasure is there let your hearts be also that for the joy that is set before you ye may endure every cross and despise the shame of all your sufferings for Christ counting the sufferings of this present life not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in you when ye shall depart hence unâ—o Christ which is far better Not only better then the present straights troubles tribulations and afflictions which attend the Gospel the profession of Christ and the state of Grace but better then the best and most honourable and comfortable condition which the Saints of God have ever enjoyed or can expect to partake of while the foundations of the earth remain Which I shall only add by way of motive to what hath been said by way of counsel that to depart and be with Christ is far better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that in comparison with the three degrees o excellency attainable in this earthly state First it is better then life and all the comforts of life which the world can afford in pleasure profit or honour For all these things are short and uncertain and at least but created delights and creature enjoyments which Saint John describeth by the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life 1 John 2.15 And laboureth to take off our affections from them by an argument drawn from the love of God And if the loving kindness of God to his people here be better then life it self Psal 63.3 How much more the fulness of his love communicated without measure in the life that is eternal Secondly it is better then all the service which the Saints can doe for God and Christ in their most perfect obedience here below Yea though we could say with Saint Paul to us to live is Christ yet to dye and be with Christ were gain and far better and though in keeping of his commandements there be great reward and the godly have great peace therein yet their happiness hereafter shall be the crown of their holiness here and their reward with Christ shall exceed all their labour and worke for him Lastly It is better then the most uninterrupted fellowship the Saints are capable of with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ in their nearest and most spiritual approaches in the purest ordinances or most heavenly meditations and that by how much the immediate and glorious presence of Christ God himself in heaven surpasseth the clearest discovery manifestations of God to his chosen and precious faithful people upon earth Therefore leâ— all the Sons of God wait with joy for the day of their ascension when they shall depart unto Christ who is ascended far above all things that he might fill all things And that your hearts may be filled with joy and that ye faint not implore his spiritual presence with his love-sick Spouse Cant. 2. last Vntill the day break and the shaddowes flee away turne my Beloved and be thou like a Roe or a young Hart upon the mountaines of Bether FINIS
cannot but glorifie himself vindicate his holiness the justice of God in the execution of his infinite unsatiable displeasure can no longer be suspended but stirreth up his fury as fire to prey upon the soul Thus fitted for destruction The day of patience is now over wherein the Lord waited upon this soul in the ministery of the Gospel in the use of all means to gain it in wooing it by tenders of grace mercy warning it by foretelling this present misery What fair opportunities rich advantages hath all wicked ungodly wretches to prevent this condemnation and to escape the wrath of God while the glorious Gospel of the great God is preaching to them wherein grace is upon the knee and mercy stretcheth forth her hands Christ standeth knocking at their hard hearts and his messengers cry aloud to their deaf ears No wonder therefore if now patience abused turn into fury mercy slighted stir up indignation and contempt of favour heighten displeasure and hereby wrath is treasured up against the day of wrath Rom. 2.4 5. Or despisest thou the richer of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgement of God God is a consuming fire to all such dry and combustible souls seizing upon them as straw and stubble in their approach unto him like Nadab and Abihu when they offered strange fire before the Lord which he commanded them not Lev. 10.2 And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them and they died before the Lord. O that the sinners in Zion were afraid and that fear might surprise the hypocrites Consider who among you shall dwell with the devouring fire and who among you shall dwell with everlasting burnings The wrath of the Lord is the lake of fire and brimstone of which the Scripture so often speaketh this is hell it self wherein God himself is the tormentor who by his wrath kindleth those unquencheable flames Isa 30.33 For Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is prepared he bath made it deep and large the pile thereof is much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone kindleth it In this Scripture the Lord denounceth hell to King Sennacherib in describing whereof the Prophet alludeth to the fires in the valley of Hinnon wherein those Idolaters burned their children in sacrifice to Moloch and that the parents might not hear the cry of their children they beat up their taâ—rets or drummes and from the name of Toph or drum the place was called Tophet So in hell there shall be no pitty or compassion of God to the cryes of burning souls And this is the punishment of old ordained not only for Sennacherib but all the ungodly which is said to be deep and large As the dimensions of Gods love to his people in heaven are highth length depth and breadth in all which love passeth knowledge so are the dimensions of his wrath to the damned in hell which we are not able to conceive the heat whereof is intollerable as of a fire made with much wood and eternal through the stream of wrath for ever flowing forth from God the fountaine of wrath to the wicked the hot breath of whose mouth kindleth and bloweth up the everlasting flames of their endless sorrow and torments Fifthly the soul under this consuming wrath of God lyeth down in everlasting despair of ever being released or in the least measure releived or eased Eternity in torments maketh them unsupportable though in themselves they were not so heavy and burthensome how much more intollerable will that punishment be that is both in nature as well as duration so insufferable And if the paines of wrath but for one hour in hell cannot be recompensed with all the wealth of the world who would venture the eternity thereof for the pleasures of sin which are but for a season The damned in hell apprehend the endlessness of their torments by the immortality of the soul the demerit of sin and the unchangeableness of God from whom they suffer If the soul could be consumed or annihilated by its torments if sin could be expiated by any measure of sufferings or if God could repent or be moved to compassion there might be hope in hell but all these are impossible For God changeth not guilt diminisheth not the soul wasteth not therefore the worm never dieth and the fire is never quenched Mark 9.48 And to seal up this bottomless pit upon such miserable souls we may add that if there might be any help in this case either Christ must suffer once more to expiate Gospel disobedience as he suffered for legal or time must be called back again for these tormented ones to enjoy once more the Gospel which they refused But neither of these can be imagined Christ will no more leave the bosom of his Father and his glory having offered one sacrifice for ever and being set down at the right hand of God from hence expecting that all his enemies should become his footstool Heb. 10.12 13. For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries verses 26 27. And who can call time again that is past If God should bring the Sun back upon the dial by a contrary motion through all those minutes of time it hath gone from the beginning of the creation and of its motion in the firmament time would still goe forward by the Suns going backward and it would measure succeeding time by its retrograde motion So that to call time again that is past is one of those impossibilities which God himself cannot doe because it implyeth a contradiction Therefore this shall aggravate the misery of the soul under the wrath of God that the sufferings are easeless endless and helpless wherein the wicked shall bewail their lost seasons never to be regained and their precious time never to be redeemed Despair is written upon the gate of hell whence there is no returning Omnia te adversum spectantia no prints appearing of the feet of any that have come from thence Sixthly the Soul of a wicked man thus desparing under the implacable wrath of God shall stir up it self against God through malice and despite in sin to curse and blaspheme him to his face For the soul being an immortal spirit cannot be only passive but active under its intollerable sufferings the object whereof being God and sin and punishment or God punishing it for sin and all the acts of the soul being purely evil and sinful without the least mixture of good the soul must of necessity be so far from an humble acknowledgement confession and godly sorrow as to