a man tells his friend a secret he would not have others know he whispers in his ear so the Lord deals with his People he reveals those secrets to them which every one shall not know which indeed eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath entred into the hearts of other men These God reveals to Believers by his spirit 1 Cor. 2.9 10. On this account is the Church stiled by Christ a Garden enclosed Cant. 4.12 Not only are Believers as to their persons so enclosed that they cannot fall away and miss of salvation nor are the graces of such only so enclosed that they perish not but they are also enclosed in their mystical enjoyments that none partake of them but themselves To which agreeth that Prov. 14.10 The heart knoweth its own bitterness and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy Believers have bitter and sweet listings up and castings down sorrows and joys peculiar to themselves alone Quest You will say What are those special favours Christ gives those that overcome which others cannot receive Answ There are many of these peculiar tokens of special love he doth bestow upon them that by faith get Victory over their spiritual Enemies as true Believers do we read that Abraham gave the sons of the Concubines portions and sent them away but to Isaac he gave all that he had Gen. 25 5 6. God gives portions in this Life even to all to the worst of men but some things Believers have others share not in They have the Lord for their God in a peculiar covenant-relation 't is said he is not ashamed to be called their God Heb. 11.16 others have none of the life of God given them none of the fulness of God none of the peculiar knowledge of God no special interest in the attributes of God none of the saving influential goodness of God all which the Saints receive Yea they partake of Christ they have received Christ Jesus the Lord Colos 2.16 others are without Christ no right to the Covenant no interest in the Promises no reconciliation no righteousness no acceptance no salvation for these benefits are derived to men by Faith in Christ I might adde Believers only are partakers of the spirit of God I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter saith Christ even the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive John 14.16 17. And he is to them a Spirit of Light and Wisdom a Spirit of Power and Love and of a sound mind a spirit of Grace and Holiness a spirit of Love and joy none of which things others partake of But I wave those and confine my discourse to those in the Text. 1. Hidden Manna To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna that is of Christ himself whom though none of the Princes of this World knew yet God reveals this hidden Manna to his hidden ones by his Spirit It is an allusion to the Manna God gave Israel the Wilderness which was a famous and excellent type of Christ as he himself largely declares John 6. Moses gave you not that Bread from Heaven but my Father giveth you the true Bread from Haven For this pointing to himself is the Bread of God which cometh down from Heaven and giveth life unto the World verse 32.33 and so verse 48. I am that Bread of Life Again vers 56. This is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven whereof if a man eats he shall not dye This Manna God gave the Jews was twice hidden 1. It fell in the dew of the Morning and so was hidden from their sight for it is said when the Dew was gone up they saw a little round thing and when they saw it they said it is Manna Ex. 16.14 15 33. And 2. It was hidden when some part of it was by Gods appointment put into a golden pot and preserved as a memorial of that wonderful Work to future Generations unto this latter many take the Text to allude The sense of this Promise take in two things 1. That Christ will give Overcomers to feed and feast upon himself sweet tastes of himself here in Dunes and Ordinances Even in these they shall be able to say as Christ did I have meat to eat you know not of Joh. 4.32 we have hidden Manna given us the World cannot taste of Of this they eat sometimes in Prayer when Hannah had prayed she was so strengthened by this Manna that 't is said her countenance was no more sad 1 Sam. 1.18 An ancient once speaking of what he met with of Christ in this Ordinance said nunquam abs te absque te recedo Lord I never go from thee without thee very sweet are the Refreshments victorious souls meet with in this Duty so in hearing the word they meet with more than a voice of words even Angels food the hungry soul is filled they eat the word as Jeremiah saith he did and find their weak hands strengthened their feeble knees confirmed their fainting hearts comforted their doubts resolved and their minds settled Whilst Peter was preaching the word the Holy-Ghost fell upon all the hearers Acts 10.44 Especially in that great Ordinance of the Lords Supper Believers feed not only upon Sacramental Bread but hidden Manna also Here they eat his Flesh which is meat indeed and drink his Blood which is drink indeed and sup with Christ and he with them Here they have a feast of fat things and wine on the lees well refined they are satisfied as with marrow and fatness and taste his love which is better than wine fat things both sweet and filling yet not cloying as other fat things are My soul is satisfied with the goodness of thy house even of thy holy Temple says David Psal 65.4 We read that the Israelites nauseated the Manna We have nothing besides this Manna Numb 11. who shall give us flesh to eat The excellent Bread God gave them was now but light Bread and they loathed it and grew weary of it but the spiritual refreshments Believers sometimes are partakers of have a present delight in them and create an earnest appetite in the soul after them Such hidden Manna does Christ give them to eat here 2. This Promise intimates that they shall feed and feast themselves upon him in Heaven He is hid and laid up there as the Manna in the golden pot was laid up in the holiest of all which was but a shadow of this mystery This none but themselves can be admitted to share in for without are the fearful and the unbelievers Here they eat by Faith there by sight here now and then a little as they are able to bear there fully and without intermission Here when the King sits at the table their spiknard sends forth its savour their graces and gracious affections slow forth What will the Sweet-Meats of Heaven the full and eternal fruition of this Banquet the everlasting enjoyment of these Dainties produce in them
God Coessential and Coeternal with the Father with their blood How few would dare to appear to own it as it is said Athinasius did when the World was in a manner over-run with Arianism When St. Peter had maid that excellent confession Matth. 16.16 17. Thou art Christ the Son of the living God what says Christ to this Blessed art thou Simon c. and though he was afterwards foiled yet he overcame all in the end Acts 4.19 Quest 2. What is that Paradise of God promised here to Overcomers Answ Heaven even the third Heaven the true Celestial Paradise For what in one verse 2 Cor. 12.2 4. St. Paul stiles the third Heaven in another he calls it Paradise And thus to be taken in the Text and Doctrine now before us Here seems to be an allusion to the Garden of Eden where God disposed of Adam after he had created him Gen. 13.10 stiled the Garden of God which was a large circuit of ground richly furnished with all good things as became so excellent a Workman and was every way answerable to the ends for which it was prepared Cant. 4.12 Some judge it was a type of the Church which is called a Garden enclosed and a Figure of Heaven It was doubtless the choicest spot of ground in the World there were all sort of pleasant Trees and delightful Fruits and free liberty to eat of them all one onely excepted Who can declare the delights of the Celestial Paradise Eden had a very famous River that ran through it and watered it Psal 46.4 So there is a River in Heaven far excelling that the Streams whereof make glad that City of God It doth overflow to refresh the Church here but runs with a full current there and ravish the Inhabitants of that Paradise with unexpressible pleasures for evermore In Eden of old the Covenant between God and Adam was perfect till man brake it In Heaven the new Covenant and all the mysteries of Grace therein are accomplished Adam was without sin and sorrow and might easily have so kept himself when he was in Eden But there is no possibility of sin or trouble in the heavenly Paradise In the Garden of Eden Adam had free access to and fellowship with his Creator but in Heaven they have it with God as a Father and more fully and durably then Adam had by which we may see the Paradise what it is Quest 3. Who and what is the Tree of Life mentioned in the Text Answ Christ himself and he onely is the true Tree of Life Pro. 3.18 So stiled by Solomon under the name of Wisdom thus he speaks of Christ She is a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her an allusion to that Tree of Life which was in the Garden of Eden which is made by some a Sacrament and Seal of that Covenant by which God assured Adam the continuance of his natural Life during his abode on Earth and Eternal Life when he should be removed from hence in case he kept this Covenant They who lay hold on Christ by true Faith have the best Seal that can be of Spiritual and Eternal Life 1 Jo. 5.12 He that hath the Son hath Life the Fountain of Life the Bread of Life the Water of Life the Well of Life the Tree of Life That Tree in Eden was as some judge both alimentum and medicamentum food and physick so is Christ he is the Tree of Life that is said to bear twelve manner of Fruits every month and whose Leaves are for the healing of the nations Rev. 22.2 That Tree of Life in Eden stood in the midst of the Garden Gen. 2.9 that it might be often in the view of our first Parents which way soever they went either to their Food or to their Employment Christ is in the midst of the Paradise of God and will be in the view of all Believers for ever Those Trees of Righteousness will be round about him to all Eternity But you will say Quest 4. What is it to eat of this Tree of Life Answ To eat is to press forth the vertue and sweetness that is in our Food that we may partake of the benefit thereof Overcomers shall participate of the fulness of Christ to their own joy In eating there is a natural delight arising from the taste of our meat 't is said They did eat Neh. 9.15 and delighted themselves in thy great goodness so of others that they did eat and were all filled 1 Kings 19. Elijah did eat and was strengthened of another 't is said 1 Sam. 30. he did eat and his Spirit came again and he revived They that get Victory over their Spiritual Enemies shall feed and feast themselves upon Jesus Christ the true Tree of Life in Heaven whereby all their desires shall be satisfied and their Appetites quenched and they everlastingly strengthened to behold his glory and to follow him whethersoever he goeth Quest 5. Why does the promise run in these terms That he will make them eat of the tree of life in the midst of the paradice of God Answ Partly to mind us of that first sin by which we were overcome in Adam as he was the publick head and representative of all mankind that we may be humbled for it and partly to shew us that this happiness then lost is recoverable by Christ the second Adam and shall be the portion of them that overcome Not that they shall return again to the Garden of Eden as some have concluded from this Text but a far more excellent estate and felicity than we should have had if Adam had never fallen which caused some to cry out O felix peccatum O happy sin of Adam which has occasioned the bringing in of a far better estate The Uses follow Vse 1. Are these things true Behold here the misery of all such as are totally and finally overcome by the grand enemies of their souls they are excluded for ever from the good of this promise as Christ said of them who slighted the invitation of the Gospel Luke 14.24 They shall never taste of my supper So he speaks of these here I will never give them to eat of my fruits those fruits which grow upon me the tree of Life They have temporal delights which are a paradise to them and are so well satisfied with these things That a Noble man in France is reported to say He would not change his part in Paris for a part in Paradise Such a one was the young man in the Gospel who would not quit his earthly treasures for heavenly and these assured by Christ himself Worldly contents are their chief joy though but a Fools paradise Thou fool says Christ to him that bid his soul take its ease for he had goods for many years Luke 12.20 Solomon among other vanities planted Orchards and Gardens with variety of Trees Eccles 2. but not a Tree of Life amongst them all Oh! that men could believe how sad their end
are the Devils Bayliffs and Agents shall cast some of them into Prison and then bids them be faithful unto death verse 10. which implies that it might reach even to life it self To encourage them to faithfulness in all he gives this sweet promise in the Text as if he had said get Victory here and if it comes to the worst men can do which is to kill the body I give you my faithful word they shall do no more they shall go no further I will secure you from that which is a thousand times more to be feared viz. the second death which is the sting and emphasis of the first that shall not touch or hurt you So then the observation lies plain before us viz Doct. That Overcomers shall not be hurt of the second Death Sin Satan and the World are the Enemies true Believers are the Overcomers as was declared in the former Sermon To these is this promise made hence it is said They shall never perish John 10.27 And he that believeth on the Son shall not see Death John 8.51 viz. the second Death for as to bodily death the Psalmist saith What man is he that liveth and shall not see death Psal 89.48 We shall now enquire 1. What is meant by the second death 2. What is the great hurt thereof 3. Why Overcomers shall not be hurt by it Quest 1. What is the second death Answ Death sometimes signifies great afflictions and distresses Intreat the Lord your God says Pharaoh to Moses and Aaron that he may take away from me this death only Exod. 10.17 that is the judgment of the Locusts then upon him for being such Locusts as never was before nor should be after they might be a deadly annoyance to them as well as devour the fruits of the Earth So St. Paul speaks of Gods delivering him from a great death 2 Cor. 1.10 meaning an imminent danger which he calls a death because it was past means help and hope of delivery Such deaths he was in often 2 Cor. 11.23 which were either such sicknesses and persecutions in which there appeared no hope of escaping with life or such pains as were equivalent to the pangs of death But more particularly 1. Death is taken for the dissolution of nature dissolutio compositi so some define it the dissolving the earthly house of this Tabernacle 2. Cor. 5.1 A Tent or Tabernacle is destroyed not by consuming of the parts but by taking them asunder the death of the body is no annihilation but a dissolution of the parts of which man is compounded a cutting a-sunder the soul and the body This is the first death which the Apostle Paul desired I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 The soul sleeps not when a man dies for then his wish had been vain upon his dissolution he could not have been with Christ but the union between the body and soul is cut a-sunder and the soul which wilst in the body was absent from the Lord is then absent from the body and present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5.8 This is that death all must pass under or something equivalent to it It is appointed for all men once to dye Heb. 9.27 Statutum est It is enacted in the Court of Heaven by a Statute-Law more sure than the Laws of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered A sentence gone forth out of the mouth of God concerning all men never to be reversed Death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 2. Death is taken for Hell and destruction even the wrath of God inflicted upon them that are finally overcome by the enemies of their Souls Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death says the Apostle John Rev. 20.14 Men dead and buried before were now sent body and soul to Hell Rev. 21.8 Qu. 2. Wherein lies the great evil and hurt of the second death Answ It is altogether unexpressible and inconceivable Who knows the power of thine anger says David Psal 90.11 Let none be offended or affrighted at the opening of it A Sermon of Hell if rightly emproved may keep us from Hell The hurt and evil of the second death lies in Two things 1. There is paena damni the punishment of loss This is great and grievous for they who fall under it lose all good at once they lose Heaven that holy habitation that sedes beatorum the mansion and dwelling-place of all that are blessed When Tully was banished from Italy and Demosthenes from Athens they were so troubled that as oft as they looked towards those places they wept What is Italy and Athens and a thousand such places more if compared with Heaven Though here unsound Professors may have room in Gods sanctuary yet there will be no place for them in his Palace hereafter To be excluded hence will trouble and perplex them They lose the best dainties there seems to be eating and drinking in Heaven Christ will gird himself and make his Servants sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them Luke 12.37 They shall have flagons of Wine to comfort them and Christ will say to them eat O Friends and drink abundantly O beloved I take it spiritually in a far better way than can be here O the misery of them that shall never taste of the Supper of the Lamb of these refreshments in Heaven Poor men grieve when they are sent away empty from a rich mans Table much more sorrowful will they be who shall never eat of Christ's dainties In this also they lose the best inheritance Ahab was sick with grief when he could not enjoy Naboths inheritance as we read 1 Kings 21. It will make them head-sick and heart-sick also who shall be deprived of that incorruptible undefiled and never-fading inheritance reserved in Heaven for Overcomers for the Promise is He that overcometh shall inherit all things Rev. 21.7 Yea they lose the best company the society of Angels and Saints Here they despise their company then they would be glad of it but shall not have it How desirous was the rich man that Lazarus might be sent to him Luke 16. On Earth he despised him and in Hell desired his company but it could not be granted him a great gulph being fixed between them which would not permit it And which is yet worse they lose the company of God and Christ When Orpah was to part with Naomi her Mother-in-Law she lifted up her voice and wept Ruth 1.14 O how will they who shall be separated from God drench and even drown themselves in tears His gracious presence is the chief good of his creatures yet this is the first word of that dreadful sentence Christ at last pronounceth Depart from me Mat. 25.41 To go from him who hath the words of Eternal Life is the most bitter part of the second Death If Cain when banished from the Society of Saints where God was worshipped
how much the Mercies promised in it exceed the things alluded to The Manna God rained down to Israel was Material this is Spiritual That came from the Clouds this from the highest Heaven from the bosome of God the Father That was hidden in the Dew and in the Golden Pot this in the Virgins Womb and now in the Heavens that fed the Body this the Soul That was apt to breed Worms and stink this can see no corruption That preserved none from Death Your Fathers did eat Manna in the Wilderness and are dead Job 6.49 But he that eats of this hidden Manna lives for ever So of the White Stone They were material the Romans gave this is Spiritual They were inanimate this is a Living Stone Those were Tokens of a Temporal Election and Absolution this of a Spiritual and Eternal Those its probable were given sometimes to vile and wicked persons this to none but true Believers So for the new Name it is a name of Dignity and Honour excelling the names of the great ones of the Earth Let Believers labour to drink in the Comfort of these things Vse 3. If this Doctrine be true Then let all the Saints from these Promises wax valiant in fight quit themselves like men yea like good Soldiers of Jesus Christ endure the greatest fight of Afflictions Heb. 10.32 Put on and handle well your Armour of Righteousness to repel and repulse Temptations on the right hand and on the left Set your Watch and keep it strictly as Soldiers must do upon Pain of Death A Soldier being asleep when he stood Sentinel his Officer ran him through thinking it an act of Justice to leeve him as he found him It 's a time of War and our continual dangers should move us not to sleep as do others but to watch and be sober Let Christians keep close to the Standard 'T is Death by Martial Law for Soldiers to run away from their Colours they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed Follow Christ your Captain in all ways dirty and clean in all weathers fair and foul in all Ordinances in all Providences If any man serve me let him follow me saies Christ Joh. 12.26 And strive to make good your ground yield not to your Spiritual Adversaries Divines observe there is no armour provided by Christ for the back to shew that we must give no ground to our Enemies A Captain delights not in Renegadoes If any man draws back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10.38 They are the Prophets words say some but God's say others It's true both ways Neither God nor his People can take plea-pleasure in Apostates Fight couragiously against your Spiritual Enemies as for your Bodily Enemies you have another Rule Love your Enemies pray for them that persecute you Mat. 5. And if your Enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good But as to your Soul Enemies fight manfully and stoutly against them give them no Quarter If you spare them your Life your Soul must go for it It was the Saying of a Captain to his Soldiers having the Spanish Army before them and the Sea behind them Either you must drink up this Sea or eat up these Spaniards So it is here either we must fight and overcome our Sins or drink up the Sea of God's Wrath. O cease not combating till all your foes be made your foot-stool This Church of Pergamos was overcome by the Doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans holding both Adultery and Idolatry lawful Doctrines pernicious to sound Truth and a holy Life only some held fast Christ's Name and did not deny his Faith Antipas resisted unto Blood the rest are called upon to strive to overcome these Doctrines by these sweet Promises in the Text And hath not the Dragon poured out a flood of Errors amongst us of late Are not many carried away with divers and strange Doctrines Do not some go about to null the Eternal Decrees of God to make void the Satisfaction of Christ to deny and deride the Imputation of his Righteousness to Believers in the matter of Justification to maintain the Doctrine of Free-will and final Apostacy from Grace And doth it not then concern us to keep the word of Christ as Soldiers must keep the Word their General gives them so let all Christ's Soldiers keep the word of Precept the word of Promise and the word of his Patience that he may make the same honourable report of you which he doth of them Joh. 17.6 And they have kept thy Word Who knows how soon the same Trials may be upon us that were upon Antipasâ— â—ere in his Church Oh! that we may be found faithful Martyrs as he was Know our Call to the battle is clear our Cause is good and our Comforts sweet when we have been slaying our Lusts conquering Errors and Temptation from the Devil and the World Christ will meet us as Melchizedek met Abraham when he came from the slaughter of the Kings bringing forth bread and wine supports and comforts to our souls Melchizedek's Bread and wine were to Abraham Pawns and Pledges of Canaan the Land of Promise and Christs supports and comforts shall be to us Earnests of Heaven and Glory See what consolations flow in these promises to the Overcomer as the Manna of old fell about the Camps of the Israelites and was preserved in the Golden Pot so hidden Manna falls about the Overcomer and is preserved in his heart Pardon is the white stone and Adoption the new name and all these though secrets to others are well known to himself Let all that are listed to fight under Christ's Banner encourage themselves and one another with these words To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it SERMON IV. REV. II. 26 27 28. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations And he shall rule them with a rod of Iron as the Vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my Father And I will give him the Morning-star HERE is another of those gracious Promises Christ makes to the Overcomers though directed to the Officers and Members of the Church in Thyatira yet is written as the other are for the common benefit of these seven Churches and of all others to the end of the World This Thyatira was a City of Lydia not far from Ephesus called Thugateira which doth signify a Daughter as Mr. Brightman observes for as a Daughter new-born is always growing in age and stature till she comes to full ripeness so it was with this Church which he therefore stiles Growing Thyatira The true Believers went on from faith to faith and so consequently conquering and to conquer Not like languishing Ephesus