Liberty of the Sons of God By dying he destroyed him that had the Power of Death and triumphed over Principalities and Powers on the Cross. We have Freedom of Pardon and of Grace and the natural and necessary Consequence is that we cheerfully serve him that set us free This is expressed by Zacharias in his divine Thansgiving that being delivered from the Hands of our Enemies we might serve him withour Fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the Days of our Lives In what a holy Extasy does the Psalmist break forth O Lord truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant and the Son of thy Handmaid thou hast broken my Bonds Yet this was but the rescuing of him from some temporal imminent Danger How much dearer and stronger Ingagements bind us to serve our Redeemer who has freed us from the Power as well as Punishment of Sin Love should correspond with Love As Love descends in Favours and Benefits it should ascend in Thankfulness and Duty St. Paul had such a lively apprehension of our Saviour's Love that it had an absolute Empire in his Heart and Life he expresses it in the most significant manner The Love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again The Word constraineth signifies properly to be intirely under the Power of another As the Prophets inspired by the Spirit of God only spake and acted according to his extraordinary Motions in them Thus the Love of Christ had such an absolute Empire in his Heart that his whole Life was spent as a vowed Oblation to his Service and Glory And whoever does not live a spiritual Life as the Servant of Christ never yet felt the Misery of this Bondage of Sin nor the sweetness of that Liberty which the Son of God has purchased for his People Lastly We are the Servants of Christ by solemn Covenant and the most sacred Ingagement In the Covenant of Grace God and Man are the Parties And such was his condescending Love that he came down from Heaven and assumed our Nature on purpose to seal his part in his own Blood the Promise of his pardoning Mercy of his sanctifying Spirit and his rewarding Goodness to all that with unfeigned Consent and firm Resolution will seal the Counterpart of their Duty and Obedience to him We are entred into his Family and the Relation of his Servants in Baptism and vowed universal Obedience to our new Master in defiance of all Temptations whether inviting or terrifying in the World For this reason Baptism is called the Answer of a good Conscience towards God We wear his Colours are distinguished from the Heathens by the Title of Christians We ratify in a most solemn manner our Covenant by the Seal of the Lord's Supper wherein we sacramentally eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Now from hence arises a new Obligation to serve Christ He had a Soveraign Right in us antecedently to our dedicating our selves to his Service but from our voluntary Consent accrues another Title whereby he claims our perpetual Service The Law of God binds us without our Consent but our Consent increases the Obligation and if we are careless of our Duty and desert his Service we break double Bonds and are guilty not only of Disobedience to the Law but of perfidious Violation of our Covenant 'T is observable in the Parable of the Talents they were committed to Servants from whence a double Obligation springs to employ them with intire Fidelity for the Master's Profit A Merchant sends Goods to his Correspondent who is bound to make faithful returns upon the account of commutative Justice that reaches all but a Servant is under a special Obligation and if he wasts or neglects the improving his Master's Goods he does not only break this Trust reposed in him but violates the Duty of a Servant that obliges him to manage them according to his Master's Will and for his Profit The Account will be particular and exact for all our Talents at the last None so high that shall be excused none so mean that shall escape that strict Inquiry For he that knows all things shall be our Judg. The Servant that had but one Talent was called to account for it and condemned for neglecting to improve it He pretended that he hid it out of caution lest it should be lost knowing his Master's Severity but his vain excuse was retorted upon him to aggravate his Sin and Sentence Cast the unprofitable Servant into outer Darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth A Judgment as righteous as terrible For the Guilt of his Rebellion in not using his Talent according to his Master's Order and Unthankfulness in despising his Gifts and an unrighteous depriving of others of that Benefit that was by the Master's Will due to them 3. We are to consider the final Reward of Christ's Servants under two Heads 1. The Order of the Reward 2. The Excellency of it 1. The Order in giving it after the Service of Christ faithfully and constantly performed 'T is the revealed Will of God that all Men should honour the Son as they honour the Father The Son is the Heir of his Love and Glory and in serving him the Father is honoured and obeyed And as our Saviour reigns eternally in Heaven after the finishing his Work injoyned him by the Father so according to his Example we receive the Crown of Life after the course of our Obedience This is the Tenor of the Promise To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father in his Throne The Order in dispensing the blessed Reward does not in the least eclipse the Honour of God's Grace or afford the least shadow of presuming upon any Merit in our best Services The Wages of Sin is Death 't is the just Desert of it but the Gift of God is eternal Life in Jesus Christ our Lord. The eternal Election of Persons to Life the preparing of them by sanctifying Grace for Glory and the actual possession of it is from the most free Favour of God Election is the first Fountain of Water springing up to eternal Life For what could induce God when all Mankind was equally involved in Guilt and Misery to choose some to be Vessels of Grace and of Glory but his soveraign Pleasure and pure Grace The Elect were in the Eye and Heart of God from Eternity appointed to supernatural Happiness but that free and insuperable Decree is accomplished according to the Law of Faith the unchangeable Order of the Gospel and that is that Heaven shall be the Reward of the faithful Servants of Christ not for the true Desert of their Service but the most gracious and rich Bounty of God The
as Companions in a Journey are together all day but have set times of refreshing themselves so a Christian in his coelestial Journey is to walk always before God uprightly in all temporal Affairs to regard his Presence and every day at set times to draw near to him by Prayer and Thanksgiving and to represent his Greatness and Glory in so solemn a manner that there may be a serious habitual Constitution of Spirit respecting him in all his Actions If there be a neglect of heavenly Communion with him and of our spiritual State and a perpetual Consumption of our Thoughts Time and Strength for secular Advantages and Interests Men are Slaves of the World not Servants of Christ. 3. The Service of Christ is more eminently performed in some special Offices ordained for the Glory of God and the publick Good And such are the civil Magistracy and the spiritual Ministry 1. Magistrates the highest and subordinate in the Scale of Government are by designation to their Office to serve him They are called the Ministers of God for the good of the People Princes may be considered in a double Capacity as Christians and as Princes and in both they are obliged to serve Christ. As Christians by an inflexible necessity without Priviledg or Dispensation they are bound to obey his holy Laws as strictly as every private Person as Princes they are subject to him not only upon the account of his Deity simply considered but his Office as Mediator In his mortal State he did not exercise Regal Power nor appeared with conspicuous marks of Royalty for it was incongruous to his End The Redemption of the lost World was to be obtained by Sufferings But his Supremacy over the World is a Prerogative annext to his being Head of the Church a Title that infinitely transcends all Angelical much more Human Principalities He is stiled the Prince of the Kings of the Earth Princes are commanded to kiss the Son a Token of the Adoration and Homage they owe to him As Princes they are to exercise their Power and Authority to repress Wickedness and preserve the publick Tranquillity For without the restraints of Fear the most savage fierce Beasts would be less dangerous than Men to Men. They are to encourage Moral Goodness and not only to promote the civil Prosperity but eternal Felicity of their Subjects Accordingly the Apostle exhorts Christians to offer up Prayers and Supplications for Kings and all in in Authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty When Princes are inspired with Sentiments and Resolutions becoming their Lieutenancy to the Lord Christ when they govern their Greatness and employ their Power in subserviency to his Interest when they protect and encourage all that seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof as the clear direct way that leads to it they shall obtain the brightest richest Crowns in the State of Glory But those who are a Terror to the Good and encourage evil Doers their mighty aggravated Sins will sink them into the deepest Damnation 2. Those who are consecrated to the Spiritual Function of teaching and governing the Church are in a peculiar manner the Servants of Christ not as he is the Lord of the Earth but of Heaven considering the Quality of their work and the End of it For 't is wholly conversant about the Souls of Men to open their Eyes and turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of Sins and inheritance amongst them which are sanctified by Faith that is in Christ And as 't is express'd in other Words of Scripture to translate them from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of his dear Son This Relation extends it self from the highest Apostle to the lowest in the sacred Office St. Paul frequently stiles himself the Servant of Christ and by that Title he expresses any that are by office employed for the saving of Souls The Servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle to all Men apt to teach As Christ is called the Servant of God by way of Eminency and was anointed to to preach the Gospel so those who are dedicated to that Work are his Servants in the most proper sense and are to follow him the most excellent Example and highest Master in that Divine Work This I will more particularly insist upon being suitable to the present occasion and lay down some Rules directing how the Ministers of Christ may serve him acceptably so as to be rewarded in the Heavenly Glory 1. They must by serious study furnish themselves with Divine Knowledg and substantial Learning for the Discharge of all the parts of their Office To instruct the Ignorant to refute the Erroneous to reform the Unholy and to comfort the Humble and Disconsolate Our Saviour compares the Ministers of the Gospel unto a Man that is an Housholder which brings forth out of his Treasure things new and old 'T is his Duty to give to the Flock Meat in due season for which not only Fidedelity but Wisdom is requisite 'T is the Apostle's charge to Timothy Give attendance to Reading to Exhortation to Doctrine meditate on these things give thy self wholly to them that thy profiting may appear before all If Timothy who had supernatural Gifts by Inspiration was obliged to be intent and diligent in the application of his mind to the Mysteries of Godliness how much more should those who must acquire Knowledg by search and Industry and the Divine Blessing upon it As Fountains by secret Passages derive from the Sea the Waters that flow in their Streams so Ministers by reading and Contemplation and Prayer in their Retirements obtain the Knowledg of Divine Things which they convey in their Sermons to the People With the Notional an Experimental Knowledg of Divine Truths is absolutely necessary to a Minister to save himself and most useful to save others 'T is not a perfect Systeme of Divinity in the Head not an universal knowledg of spiritual Things confined to the Brain that has a saving Efficacy 'T is not composing a Sermon with exquisite Art and the delivering of it like an Orator that makes him accepted with God For without a cordial Sense of Divine Truths he only lends his Tongue in that holy Service like a Reciter in a Scene all he does is but external Appearance God sees and requires the Heart without it neither the Head nor the Tongue of a Minister tho his Speculations are sublime and his Words Drops of Gold are of any value And usually the Sermons of such are without profit to the Hearers The sound of words only reaches the Ear 't is the Mind convinces the Mind and the Heart perswades the Heart He that is strongly convinc'd of the Truth of eternal Things he will speak of them with assurance as an Eye witness and in a lively manner He that is burning
and open a Passage for sanctifying and saving Doctrine into the Hearts of Men. This is the successful Method to convince those who are seduced with Errors and to reclaim the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just. The Defence of the Truth must be managed in a calm peaceable manner as the Sun scatters and overcomes the darkness of the Night and Clouds without noise 'T is the Apostle's Counsel In Meekness instructing those that oppose themselves Without Contumelies and Revilings for Injuries convince no Man The Human Spirit is naturally proud and stiff and will resist such Arms Fierceness and Scorn irritate the Passions and hinder impartial and serious Deliberation that opens the Mind for receiving the Truth To perswade the Soul the mild and placid manner of conveying the Truth is as effectual as the Irradiation and Evidence of it And to reclaim the disobedient there is nothing more powerful than Gentleness and the constraint of Love The most fervent Reprehensions of Sinners must be mixt with tenderness to their Souls Under the Law there was a severe Prohibition of offering Sacrifices with the common Fire But only with that Fire that came from Heaven and was preserved Day and Night in the Temple The Allusion is easy and fit The Reprehension of Sinners in the Pulpit must be always from Zeal for the Honour of God and the Eternal Salvation of Souls not from natural fiery Passions If a Minister denounces the Judgments of God with Compassion to Souls if he thunder and lightens in his Sermons a Shower of repenting Tears will follow in convinced Sinners 6. A Minister of the Gospel must joyn a holy Life with found Doctrine according to our Saviour's Description of him He that shall do and teach my Commands shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven He must not only be free from Pollutions but excel in Vertues nothing in his Conversation should be worthy of Reproach nothing but what is worthy of Imitation He must lead a Life answerable to the Excellence and End of his Calling He is to preach a Doctrine so holy divine and venerable that it would become the unspotted Angels to be ministring Spirits in revealing it to Men. He is therefore strictly obliged to shew forth the Power of Godliness and the Beauty of Holiness in all his ways He must imitate and honour his Master who inseparably united saying and doing in himself He must adorn the Gospel by expressing the Efficacy of divine Truths in his Actions Under the Law he that had touch'd a dead Body was forbidden to approach the Sanctuary and what a Violation is it of all the Rules of Decency and Reason for one who is employed in the holy Service of the Gospel to be polluted with dead Works Tertullian writing of the Excellency of Patience and reflecting upon himself how opposite his fiery Nature was to that Vertue was deeply affected with Grief and Shame and drew up his own Arraignment and Process for his Impatience How much juster Cause has an unholy Minister to be surprised with Horrour and Confusion considering the irreconcileable opposition between his Doctrine and his Life How just and stinging is the upbraiding Speech of God to such how peremptory the Rejection What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes and to take my Covenant into thy Mouth since thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my Words behind thee The End of the sacred Ministry requires Holiness in those who perform it That is to convert Men to the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel Now the Practice of a Minister gives Weight and Efficacy to his Doctrine the exemplifying of it in his Actions is the most powerful perswasive to draw Men to their Duty Therefore the Apostle commands Titus in all Things to shew himself a Pattern of good Works As the Plants that are productive of Balm and Myrrh and Incense have a Fragrancy not only in the precious Liquor that distils from them but all their Branches and Leaves and Bark are Aromatick Thus a Minister of the Gospel must be Holy not only in his Doctrine but in all manner of Conversation Be thou an Example of the Believers in Word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity is the solemn Charge to Timothy He that is holy in his Profession and unholy in his Life both discredits the Gospel and hardens Men in their Sins Though his Tongue may direct to Heaven if his Life leads to Hell the Authority of his Actions will be more prevalent than of his Instructions The Vices of a Minister are more conspicuous and infamous than of private Persons As a Blemish in the Eye is more conspicuous and disfiguring than in a concealed Part of the Body and they have the most corrupting destructive Influence upon others For there is nothing more natural than for Men to think that Ministers do not believe what they preach when there is a visible Contradiction between their Lives and their Words That their most zealous Sermons are rather Pageantry than serious Piety and accordingly to slight them This is a principal Reason that the Conversion of Sinners is so rare 'T is not from any defect in the word for that is not like some medicinal Drugs that lose their Virtue by Age it has the same Divine Power to revive dead Souls to transform the carnal into spiritual Persons to clarify the Mind that it may see things invisible to reconcile the Will to the Sanctity of God's Law to calm the stormy Affections and leave an Impression of its Purity in the Hearts of Men but the admirable and secret Grace of the holy Spirit is not usually concomitant with the Ministry of those who grieve him and quench him in themselves and they render the holy Doctrine ineffectual by their discordant Conversations It was the Character of the wicked Pharisees from the Mouth of Christ They say and do not and to them and all that are involved in the same Guilt the Saviour of the World threatens the most heavy Damnation 7. Humble fervent and continual Prayer to the Father of Mercies and the Father of Spirits that he would bless the outward Ministry is requisite to make it effectual The Conversion of Man is not wrought by Man but by the Energy of the holy Spirit God instructs us what he does in the more secret Operations of Grace by what he does in the more visible Operations of Nature This is express'd by the Apostle Paul plants and Apollos waters but God gives the Increase A Man plants a green Stick and waters it but the God of Nature forms the Tree in all its Parts the Root the Sap the Trunk the Branches and the Fruits The planting by the Hand of Man is necessary for the Growth of a Tree but what is that to the Divine Blessing Thus according to the ordinary Method of Divine Grace God unites his marvellous Power with the weak Ministry of Men for the Salvation of Souls and according
the pure Possibility of Being without the giving actual Being to us The natural Law that shines in the Minds of Men in the Knowledg of what is just and good and in the Conscience of what is evil binds them with the deepest Humility to acknowledg the Greatness and Goodness of our Creator and in the sense of this first and fundamental Benefit to consecrate our selves for ever to his Service 2. We are his Servants not only upon the general Title of Creation but in a more peculiar manner by Redemption Man by his Disobedience was fallen into a woful Bondage his Guilt subjected him to the threatning that contained two Deaths in one Sentence the temporal and present of the Body and the eternal of the Soul The righteous Judg of the the World whose Law was broken required an honourable Reparation of it the most costly Sacrifices of Beasts a Sea of Blood could never atone his Displeasure Nay the Obedience and Sufferings of Men and Angels were of no value to satisfy his injured Justice Thus Mankind was desperately lost our Ruines if I may so speak were sowed with Salt we were concluded under his most righteous and fearful Wrath If the Love and Wisdom of God had not accorded to find out that astonishing expedient of uniting the eternal Son of God with the human Nature in one Person that as Man he might voluntarily submit to bloody Sufferings and as God give an infinite Merit and Value to them and thereby purchase our Redemption This is accomplished by Jesus Christ The Lord laid on him the Iniquity of us all he gave his Life a ransom for us From hence a new Right springs of his Dominion over us as the Apostle invincibly argues Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your Bodies and in your Spirit which are God's The naked representing of this to the serious Mind must awaken a dear Sense of our Obligations to our Saviour but if we solemnly and deliberately contemplate this amazing Benefit out of what Rock is the Heart framed that is not soften'd and melted in Love and Obedience to our Blessed Redeemer To heighten the Sense of our Obligations Consider 1. A more excellent Goodness is visible in the redeeming Man than in creating the Angels upon the account of the distance of the Terms and the Difficulty of the way to effect it In the Creation of Angels Goodness was rich indeed there being no Possibility of desert in pure nothing but it was simply free whereas in our Salvation it is merciful beyond all Imagination for by our Rebellion we were justly fallen under the Wrath of God Their Creation was without the least strain of his Power He spake and it was done But there was a legal Bar against our Restitution To remove it his Son endured the Curse of the Law for us and bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree Divine Love in our Redemption not only exceeds what was shewed in the Creation of Angels but is admirably illustrated by a higher comparison For the Father seemed to love us above his only begotten Son whom he spared not but delivered him up for us all and the Son loved us above his Life which he laid down for us 2. By the way of our Redemption he has infinitely honoured our Nature that was so vilified by the Fall Man whose Soul was an immortal Spirit stamped with the lively Image of God capable of everlasting Communion with him in Glory was sold for nought Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be very desolate That Man who had the two great Lights of Natural Reason and Divine Faith should prefer the pleasing an irregular Appetite before the Favour of God and for a vain Fancy lose the most substantial Happiness Thus Man being in Honour and understood not became like the Beasts that perish nay viler than the Earth And all the Children of Adam sin according to the Similitude of his first Transgression O the cheap Damnation of Sinners For transient Pleasures and mean Profits they venture upon eternal Death This guilty and woful Folly not only defiles but debases Men to Hell Now the Lord of Life and Glory by suffering an ignominious Death for us has with the clearest evidence discovered the true Worth of Souls That they are precious beyond comparison since the whole World is not a valuable Compensation for them We are not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without spot and blemish That sacred Treasure of Heaven that was laid down for us exceedingly increases our Obligations to the Blessed Redeemer 3. By giving himself for us he has not only freed us from the Wrath of God but restored us to his dearest Favour We are translated from the fearful State of being God's Enemies into the amiable joyful State of his Children And consequently our Redeemer has purchased for us not only Salvation from Hell but eternal Glory a Life more divine and durable than the natural Life in Paradise How can we seriously think of this transcendent Benefit without a rapture of Affection He infinitely deserves our Love and Service who has bought us with so dear a price and purchased for us a glorious and incorruptible Inheritance 3. We are his Servants by his Deliverance of us from our Spiritual Enemies Satan Sin and Death Since the Devil obtained a woful Victory over us in the Fall of Adam great was the Triumph of Hell And though he be an Usurper of God's Right which could never be extinguished yet by our Overthrow he has a kind of a Title to us and keeps us as the Spoils of his Victory And having revolted from God we are justly though miserably under the Powers of Darkness We are chained in the lowest and the vilest Bondage The Soul and Body are under his tyrannous Dominion and suffer the deepest Wounds of Infamy and Cruelty He fetters our Minds with dangerous Delusions our Wills with divers Lusts and Passions and leads Men Captives in the ways of Sin till they fall into Hell the Centre of Misery Now as in redeeming a Captive there must be the paying the Ransom and the breaking his Chains that he may be restored to Liberty So besides the Price that was payed to God the Supreme Judg for our Discharge our Saviour has broken our Chains he by the sanctifying Spirit dispels the Darkness of our Minds softens the Hardness of our Hearts subdues the Rebellion of our Wills rectifies the Disorder of our Affections that we may be freed from the Domion of Sin as well as from the Obligation and Terrors of the Law He has broken the Powers of Darkness that conspired to keep us fast in the Intanglements of our Iniquities he has freed us from the spiritual Pharaoh and his cruel Task-Masters the imperious violent Lusts that are seated in the Heart and restores us to the glorious
Angels of Glory cannot from a Plea of Justice claim any Reward from God For the Rights of Justice suppose some Equality between those who respectively are obliged by them tho not in all regards yet so far as a certain common Rule makes them equal But there is such an immense distance between the Divine Majesty and the highest Creatures that there is no Foundation for such a Plea between them Besides the Duty of Obedience is absolute For all our natural Powers and supernatural Strength are his Gifts and were there no Reward assured to us are to be faithfully employed in his Service Now the Paiment of a Debt cannot deserve a Reward Our best Services are blemished with many Imperfections and without the Mercy of the Gospel that mollifies the strictness of the Law would make us liable to Punishments God spares us as a Father spares his Son that serves him Now Pardon and Merit are utterly inconsistent And what Proportion can there be between our mean and short Services and the eternal weight of Glory Even Martyrdom which is the most signal Act of Love and Obedience to our Redeemer the highest Advancing of his Glory the most noble Testimony of his Truth when our Example works upon others and engages them to Christ and entitles us to a kind of Interest in all they do and suffer for his Name yet even the laying down our Lives is by infinite degrees below the Glory of Heaven that is the promised Reward to it This St. Paul testifies from his deliberate Judgment I reckon that the Sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in us From hence in Scripture the Reward is often expres'd by Mercy The Apostle prays for Onesiphorus whose valiant Love in visiting and supplying him in the time of his Imprisonment was set off illustriously by the Discouragements and Inconstancy of others who neglected him The Lord grant to him that he may find Mercy of the Lord in that day And we are exhorted to keep our selves in the Love of God looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal Life But although there is no Merit in our Service of the Reward yet God has wisely established an Order and Consequence between them as the most conducing for his Glory and our Good For not only the superabundant Mercy but the Righteousness and Truth of God appear with an eminency of Glory in this way of making us happy The Promise of the Reward was from excellent Goodness but the performing it to his faithful Servants is from his Justice and Fidelity He was unlimitedly free but having pleased with such condescending Favour to make a Covenant with us up-our sincere Compliance with the Terms of it he is obliged for the Honour of his Truth and Righteousness to accomplish it though in strictness he can owe nothing to us yet he is a Debtor to his Promise From hence the Apostle saith I have fought the good Fight I have finish'd my Course from henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the righteous Judg shall give unto me The Honour of his Truth is sacred and inviolable Thus he is proclaimed in a stile expressing how glorious his Truth is and how dear to him The Lord thy God he is God and the only Attribute that is annext is the Faithful God keeping Covenant and Mercy At the last day he will be glorified not only as the free and magnificent Donor of all the Treasures of Heaven but as the God of Truth who has fulfilled all the exceeding great and precious Promises made to his Servants And the Connexion between our Duty and the Reward has a powerful influence to excite our sincere and earnest Endeavours to please God 'T is the strongest Engagement to Universal Sanctity and Obedience For the Gospel is an everlasting Covenant and Condition of it is unalterable Heaven is not promised as an absolute irrespective Gift but as a Reward consequent of Services There can be no lively regular hope of future Happiness but according to the Revelation of God's Will who gives it The Accomplishment of his Promise has a dependance upon our Duty The Crown of Life is promised to those that love God and Love is the fulfilling of the Law If any one aspires to that Dignity he must from Love which is the internal Character and Disposition of a Saint obey and serve God To presume of obtaining our last and blessed End without a diligent use of the means prescribed in the Gospel is such idle preposterous Folly that Men would be ashamed of with respect to the gaining of temporal things Can he that sows no Seed expect a Harvest or that plants no Vineyard expect a Vintage Can a Merchant hope for rich Returns from a foreign Countrey without trading thither And 't is as vain to hope for the eternal Reward without following Holiness The Presumption is heightened and more fatal when any shall think if they are predestinated to Glory they shall obtain it without their best Diligence in making their Calling and Election sure This is to make a diametrical Opposition between the Decrees of God and the Record of his Will in the Gospel Election is a Chain that reaches from Heaven to Earth to draw Men from Earth to Heaven It has intermediate Links that must not be left out Between Election and Glorification the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel intervenes The Apostle informs us that we are chosen to Salvation through the Sanctification of the Spirit and the Belief of the Truth The Decrees of God are a secret we cannot dive into We can discover what is secret only by what is revealed our Election by our effectual Calling which is the infallible and sensible Effect of it To lie down securely in the secret Decree neglecting to work out our own Salvation is such pernicious Sophistry as can only be inspired from the Father of Lies If ever such a Thought is suggested That if I am elected I shall be happy though careless of my Duty chain it up there is Folly and Frenzy in it Heaven is bestowed as a Gift of his infinite Grace and Power but according to the wise and immutable Order set down in the Gospel which is so far from lessening and obscuring the Glory of his Mercy that it makes it more conspicuous For Holiness to which we are so strictly obliged as preparatory for Heaven is our most Divine Perfection and qualifies us for the Enjoyment of God 2. The Excellence of the Reward is to be considered He that serves me him will my Father honour Such is the Wisdom and Equity of God in his moral Government that he has by a graceful Order annexed Honour as the Reward to Vertue The general Rule is Those that honour me I will honour and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed There is such a Majestick Beauty in Holiness as commands the
mighty Influence upon those about them Now the Deportment and Expressions of this Servant of Christ in his long languishing Condition were so holy and heavenly that though his Life has been very useful yet he more glorified God dying than living When he was summoned by painful Sickness his first Work was to yield himself with resigned Submission to the Will of God When a dear Friend of his first visited him he said I am in the use of Means but I think my appointed time is come that I must dye If my Life might be serviceable to convert or build up one Soul I should be content to live but if God hath no work for me to do here I am let him do with me as he pleaseth But to be with Christ is best of all Another time he told the same Person That now it was visible it was a determined case God would not hear the Prayer to bless the means of his Recovery therefore desired his Friend to be willing to resign him to God saying It will not be long before we meet in Heaven never to part more and there we shall be perfectly happy there neither your Doubts and Fears nor my Pains and Sorrows shall follow us nor our Sins which is best of all After a long continuance in his languishing Condition without any sensible Alteration being asked how he did he replied I lie here but get no ground for Heaven or Earth Upon which one said Yes in your Preparations for Heaven O yes said he there I sensibly get ground I bless God An humble Submission to the Divine Pleasure was the habitual Frame of his Soul Like a Dye that thrown high or low always falls upon its Square thus whethe hope of his Recovery were raised or sunk he was content in every Dispensation of Providence His Patience under sharp and continuing Pains was admirable The most difficult part of a Christian's Duty the sublimest degree of Holiness upon Earth is to bear tormenting Pains with a meek and quiet Spirit Then Faith is made perfect in Works and this was eminently verified in his long Trial. His Pains were very severe proceeding from a cancerous Humour that spread it self in his Joynts and preyed upon the tenderest Membranes the most sensible Parts yet his Patience was invincible How many restless Nights did he pass through without the least murmuring or Reluctancy of Spirit He patiently suffered very grievous things through Christ that strengthned him and in his most afflicted Condition was thankful But what Disease or Death could disturb the blessed Composure of his Soul which was kept by the Peace of God that passes all Vnderstanding Such was the Divine Mercy he had no Anxieties about his future State but a comfortable Assurance of the favour of God and his Title to the Eternal Inheritance He had a substantial double Joy in the reflection upon his Life spent in the faithful Service of Christ and the Prospect of a blessed Eternity ready to receive him This made him long to be above He said with some Regret Death flies from me I make no haste to my Father's House But the wise and gracious God having tried his faithful Servant gave him the Crown of Life which he hath promised to those that love him His Body that poor Relick of Frailty is committed in trust to the Grave His Soul sees the Face of God in Righteousness and is satisfied with his Likeness The Hope of this should allay the Sorrows of his dearest Friends When the Persons we love and have lived with are to be absent a few Months it is grievous but at the last lamenting Separation all the Springs of our tender Affections are opened and Sorrows are ready to overwhelm us But the stedfast Belief of the Divine World and that our Friends are safely arrived thither is able to support our fainting Spirits and refresh all our Sorrows The truth is we have reason to lay to heart the Displeasure of God and our own Loss when his faithful Ministers are taken away When the Holy Lights of Heaven are Eclips'd it portends sad Things When the Saints are removed from Earth to Heaven their Souls freed from the interposition of their dark Bodies they truly live but we that remain dye being deprived of their Holy Lives their Examples that are a preservative from the Contagion of the World A due Sense of God's afflicting Providence is becoming us But always allayed with hope of our being shortly reunited with our dearest Friends for ever in the better World O that our serious Preparations our lively Hopes and the Presence of the great Comforter in our Souls may encourage us most willingly to leave this lower World so full of Temptations and Trouble to ascend into the World Above where perfect Peace full Joy and the most excellent Glory are in Conjunction for ever FINIS Rom. 12.11 Luke 1.74 75. Et si adhuc viliorum materiarum obtulisses fecisset quod ex illa fieri optimum possit Sic sapiens virtutem si licebit in divitiis explicabit si minus in exilio Quamcunque fortunam acceperit aliquid ex illa memorabile efficiet Senec. Ep. 78. Tit. 2. Rom. 13. Acts 26.18 Col. 1.12 Rom. 1. Phil. 1. 2 Tim. 2.14 Mat. 13.52 Mat. 24.45 1 Tim. 4.14 15. Cui ideo reor veteres pagani tam speciosae appellationis titulum dederunt ut quia in eo non erat numen vel nomen esset Et quia non habebat aliquam ex potestate virtutem haberet saltem ex vocabulo divinitatem Salv. de Provid l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippoc. Aphor. Lib. 6. 2 Tim. 4.1 2. Col. 1.28 Acts 20.24 Miser ego semper aeger caloribus impatientiae Confiteor ad Dominum Deum satis temere me si non etiam impudenter de patientia componere ausum cui praestandae idoneus omnino non sim. Esa. 44.12 Psal. 103. Dan. 9. Psal. 118.181 Idoneus sui operis aestimator magno pretio nos redemit Arnob. Luke 11.21 Acts 18.5 1 Pet. 3.12 Rev. 3.21 Deut. 7.8 Col. 3. Nam ut mens per diem veris visionibus avocatur ne dormiat ita falsis nocte ne excitetur Lactant. de Opific Dei c. 18. Quae in ipsis visceribus medicaments epotis Originem futuri hominis extinguunt paricidium faciant antequam pariant Minus Fel. 1 King 2.38 Jussisti Domino sic est ut poena sit sibi omnis inordinatus animus Aug.