these praises cry with the throat and lift up your voices like Trumpets And this argues that God's praises comes from your hearts when they are thus sounded as it were from your throats And this work exalteth you and that as high as the Heavens for it is the very service of Heaven only it is a greater service seeing the Proclamation of God's praises upon Earth tends to the propagation of them so as it is not in Heaven And truly he that is good at this is good indeed He is no Hypocritie for he is a self-denying man and one that loves God far above himself one that lives in God and delights in him and gives him the highest place in his heart Do what you can therefore this way and it will redound to a singular evidence of your sincerity 2. Endeavour also the Propagation of Christ's Kingdom pray for it and according to your capacity promove it You may remember what is written Psal 72. 15. where it is said of Solomon in the Type and of Christ in the Truth He shall live and to him shall be given of the Gold of Sheba Prayer also shall be made for him and daily shall he be praised Why must we pray for Jesus Christ yes by all means Of all that we pray for we must be sure to pray for Jesus Christ but not considered personally but Mystically You know how the people and the children prayed for Christ when they cryed saying Hosanná to the Son of David Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest The words are taken out of the 11th Psal ver 25 26. They cryed saying Hosanna that is Save I beseech thee It is as much as God save the King send now prosperity It is meant especially of Christ as King Christ and his Kingdom And we never say Thy Kingdom come but thus we pray for Christ who prayeth for us every day or else we should be in a very sad case And truly if the Kingdom of Christ be within us we shall be very sollicitous and active for the Kingdom of Christ without us which Kingdom of his this day is in a very low condition as to the professed power and purity of the Gospel And yet if we can do little or nothing else yet we may pray for the Kingdom of Christ Let us therefore lay the state thereof to heart this day How often do the Saints under the Old Testament pray for the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus under the New say they God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us That thy way may be known upon Earth thy saving health among all Nations c. Mark ye That singular blessing which God commanded Aaron and his Sons to pronounce upon the people of Israel The Lord bless thee and keep thee The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee The godly in David's time turned it into prayer for the enlarging of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus under the Gospel accounting it a great blessing to themselves to have it enlarged by the accession of the Gentiles though yet it was to be accomplished in the rejection of the Jews but it is as if we should say Let God do what he pleaseth with a Nation so that his Gospel may be propagated and his Kingdom enlarged in the World If God's way may be known upon Earth and his saving health among all other Nations We should account that the Lord is merciful to us aud blesseth us and causeth his face to shine upon us We should love the Kingdom of Christ above all the Kingdoms in the World and That it shall come to pass in the last dayes that the Mountain of the Lords house shall be established upon the top of the Mountains and exalted above the Hills and that all Nations shall flow unto it You know what great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart Paul had for his Brethren the Jews and kinsmen according to the flesh and yet he magnified his Office in that he was the Apostle of the Gentiles That is he accounted it to be a glorious Office to be a Preacher to the Gentiles So that Le◠the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus come whatsoever become of any Kingdom or of all the Kingdoms under Heaven Thirdly Live exemplarily that your paterns may survive you and live when you are dead Thus Paul lived Brethren saith he be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample And he denied himself to make himself an example to others You know saith he how ye ought to follow us viz. in orderly walking in your particular Callings for we behaved not our selves disorderly among you neither did we eat any mans bread for nought but wrought with labour and travel night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you Not because we have not power that is night to be maintained at your charge but to make our selves an ensample unto you to follow us And thus also he did unto the Corinthians For thus did Christ deny himself to give us an example Joh. 13. 14 15. If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet ye ought also to wash one another's feet For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you Consider also 2 Cor. 8. 9. For ye know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich And when Paul took his leave of the Elders of Ephesus who were never like to see his face more he leaves his example with them I have saith he coveted no mans Silver or Gold or Apparel Yea you your selves know that these hands have ministred unto my necessities and to them that were with me I have shewed you all things how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak The like did Samuel Thus also David left his example behind him for God set him up for a patern to all succeeding Kings in Israel whose Life and Reign God therefore measureth by their care to follow him as you may read frequently in the Books of the Kings and Chronicles For of such such Kings it is said They walked in the ways of David and of others that they did not so walk Examples are very prevalent in utramque partem either one way or t'other either for good or evil And therefore so walk according to God that others may follow you seeing your example will live whilest you live yea and when you are dead too For it will be said such a one lived thus and walked thus and thus he behaved himself in his family and thus in his fellowship with the Saints and thus in his dealings with his neighbours and with all men and thus he carried it under
visit their transgressions with the Rod and their iniquity with Stripes And he testifies it sometimes in their death as he did in the death of the Prophet that came out of Judah and Prophesied against the Altar it Bethel who was slain by a Lion for his disobeying the Word of the Lord. And Hezekiah was afraid that God had some controversie with him and he was loth to dye in God's displeasure Peradventure he was somewhat lifted up with his miraculous deliverance from the Host of Senacherib mentioned in the former Chapter For God did wonderful things as you know to effect that deliverance and this sickness was immediately after the destruction of Senacherib's Army for that happened in the 39th year of Hezekiahs life who lived fifteen years after his recovery from his sickness which two numbers make the whole number of Hezekiah's years which were 54 2 King 18. 2. So that this sickness of his fell out presently upon that great deliverance And the good Man was not so thankful perhaps as he should be but somewhat elevated For this was his weakness after his recovery His heart was lifted up and he rendred not again according to the benefit done to him for which God was angry with him What the sin was I will not positively determine only I thus conjecture but that he apprehended God's displeasure for his sin is evident from the words immediately before my Text saith he Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back Therefore it seems his sins lay before the face of God till his recovery and upon this account he was loth to dye Thirdly He was loth to dye as fearing what should become of his Reformation For he knew what became of Jehoshaphat's though he left a son behind him and of Jehojadah's though he left a well-educated Nephew behind him Add hereunto that he found the Church in a very deplored condition when he came to the Crown And as for his present Reformation it had not lasted so long as his Father's Deformation and Idolatry and his Reformation had scarce taken root as yet therefore he was willing to live longer and not as yet to dye Fourthly That which made him the more unwilling was the nature of his Disease which by the Remedy and way of Cure a lump of Figgs laid for a Plaister upon the Boyl Ver. 21. I say which by the Cure seems to have been the Pestilence And he was not willing to go to Heaven that way though good Men may dye of that Disease and many times have done But yet a Child of God would for several Reasons willingly decline that way of dying if it might stand with the good will and pleasure of God Thus you see the Reasons why Hezekiah was loth to dye Now then being recovered and having a lease of his life for 15 years granted him he writeth down his thanksgiving as much affected with God's mercy towards him vers 9 c. In the Text read unto you there is 1. A Declaration of the state of the Dead as to the loss of all opportunities ever to praise and magnifie God any more or to hope for his truth in this world Secondly An Assertion of the opportunities enjoyed by the living thus to praise God and to make known his Truth that is His Truth and Faithfulness in his Promises For I conceive Hezekiah hath here a special respect to the Truth and faithfulness of God in his Promise made to David and his Seed in the foremtioned Texts of Scripture And therefore it is very likely that Hezekiah made known this Truth and Faithfulness of God to his son Manasseh who was twelve years old when Hezekiah dyed Though Manasseh it seems did little mind it or made any good use of it That Point of Doctrine which I shall insist upon is this That Doctrine There are opportunities of service to be performed to God in this life which are not to be enjoyed after death Or thus The people of God may do that for him in this World which they cannot do in Heaven David therefore makes an Argument of it in his Prayer and sad Complaint in his Sickness For saith he in death there is no remembrance of thee not but that the Saints in Heaven do remember God for they see him there but they cannot keep up his memorial any longer among the living he goes on In the Grave who shall give thee thanks The like we have in the 30th Psalm entitled A Song at the Dedication of the house of David viz. after his return as 't is conceived from his victory over Absalom who had dreadfully defiled David's house with Incest in abusing his Fathers Concubines which house therefore David endeavours to purge and cleanse in a solemn holy manner at his return and to dedicate it anew to God And in that Psalm he sheweth how he cryed to the Lord in the day of his trouble when Absalom rose up against him when he was afraid of his life and was loth to dye by the hand of his son saith he What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit shall the dust praise thee shall it declare thy Truth And dark deserted Heman makes use of the same argument Psal 88. 10 11. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead and shall the dead arise and praise thee Selah Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the Grave or thy faithfulness in destruction Shall thy wonders be known in the dark and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness saith he Thy people may make known thy wonders in this life but not in the Grave But then do not the Saints when they are dead praise the Lord Yes But the Psalmist speaketh not of that but of praising God and declaring his loving kindness faithfulness and righteousness in the land of the living And all their service that way is at an end except by Miracle any be raised from the dead as Lazarus and Tabitha were So Psal 115. 17. The dead praise not the Lord neither any that go down into silence And hence saith David I shall not dye but live and declare the works of the Lord Psalm 118. 17. As much as to say there is no declaring of them after death But what are those services that may be done here which cannot be done in Heaven that so we may see the Point in Instances They are many and let me begin with these in my Text. The living the living he shall praise thee i. e. He shall praise thee before the Children of Men in the Land of the living Now this is a glorious service containing as much as is imparted in the first Petition of the Rule of Prayer i. e. Hallowed be thy Name which though it be a service done in Heaven yet in the presence of glorified Saints only without any propagation of praise to the Name of God for that is the priviledge of the Saints
doth rest in hope Not that their flesh doth hope but that resteth and their Souls hope for its rising again Accordingly it followeth That here in this life the Saints do exercise their patience which ceaseth in Heaven because our hope ceaseth there For patience is the servant of Hope 1 Thes 1. 3. called there the patience of hope For if we hope for that which we see not then do we with patience wait for it There is nothing in Heaven to put our patience to it It is true indeed what the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 13. last Now abideth Faith Hope and Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity Because Charity i. e. Love never faileth ver 8. that is Heavens grace in a Spiritual manner But yet notwithstanding even Love it self hath a larger Object here in this world than in Heaven For there is a Love here which cannot be exercised there And that is To love our enemies which is the Command of the Gospel and a great Duty and was one of the last Acts of Christ upon the Cross Luke 23. 34. And the very last Act of Stephen the Protomartyr who was never like to act it more Act. 7. last Lord saith he lay not this sin to their charge Here in this life you may love all Unregenerate men and shew it in your desires and endeavours for their conversion Here also you may exercise a Love of sympathy with all both good and bad in their sufferings But in Heaven there is no room for this Love And as these gifts of Grace forementioned do greatly glorifie God but cease in Heaven so do Parts and common-Gifts also cease there For whether there be Prophesies they shall fail or whether there be Tongues they shall cease or whether there be knowledge that is imperfect mediate and the communication of it to others it shall vanish away And yet Prophesying is much to God's glory For He that Prophesieth speaketh unto men to Edification Exhortation Consolation And Tongues do also edifie So likewise for knowledge So that put all this together and there is much to be done here whereby God may be glorified and men edified and benefited which cannot be done in heaven And thus you see the Point made good in several Instances That there are opportunities of service to be performed to the Lord in this life which are not to be enjoyed after death Quest But if it be thus why have some of the Saints mentioned in Scripture desired to dye Answer Some of the Saints have done ill in so doing but others upon good ground First Some of them have not done well in desiring death for they have passionately desired it and to their own loss if God should have answered their desires herein For instance 1. Moses he was the meekest Man upon the Earth yet he seems to be in a passion when he said If thou deal thus with me kill me I pray thee out of hand Why was there no remedy but God must kill him and presently too if the burthen of the people lay a little longer upon him This was a passionate expression and desire of death And had he died there presently he had incurred a double loss to say no more in it 1. He had been cut short of the opportunity of doing that eminent service in conducting the people through the Wilderness For he lived 38 years longer and did much for God and his people during that time 2. If he had died then out of hand he had not dyed and been buried so honourably as he was afterwards upon Mount Nebo even by God's hand 2. And though Job was a patient Man yet he passionately desired death Oh! saith he that I might have my request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for Even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off Whereas God meant Job better than so viz. to turn his Captivity and to give him twice as much as he had lost and the full number of his former Children and so to double their number also shewing him that his first number was not last Moreover he shall yet live 140 years longer to serve and honour God in this world Again 3. Elijah was a Man subject to like passions as we are and being persecuted by Jezebel he requested for himself that he might dye and he said It is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am not better than my Fathers Whereas God intended better for him viz. that he should live yet longer and finish his Testimony against Ahab Jezebel and Ahaziah and then be carried triumphantly to Heaven in a fiery Chariot So 4. Jonah would needs dye in a fret Oh Lord saith he Take I beseech thee my life from me for it is better for me to dye than to live No Jonah was not in case to dye at present God would not take him at his word but he must live yet longer and repent Secondly As for some others of the Saints death hath been desired by them and not impatiently nor any way sinfully but very well and upon good ground You know 1. Just and devout Simeon when he had taken up Christ in his arms he blessed God and said Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace and the ground of this request lies in the words following according to thy Word His Prayer it seems was grounded upon a word from God For as God had told him that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ so he had promised him that then he should dye and so his Prayer was grounded upon a Promise 2. And as for Paul He desired to depart and to be with Christ which saith he is far better i. e. for me Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you And having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of Faith So that 1. When he desired to dye he looked upon the benefit thereof abstractedly and absolutely but not comparatively 2. When he looked upon it on comparison with the benefits of life he was not so positive in the desire of death but having done great service and that too a long time for Jesus Christ for then he was Paul the aged Philem. ver 9. and being then in prison at Rome he hung for a time in Aequilibrio mid-way between two till at last the Scale turns to a desire to live further to serve Jesus Christ and his Church and people For though Paul was then in prison yet he did very much good there which had been lost had he then gone to Heaven For his bonds furthered the Gospel And they strengthned the Brethren and wrought upon several in Caesars Palace And there be converted Onesimus and there he wrote his Epistles to the
their lives in not answering the end of them They are meer Earth-cumberers and such who have lived only to themselves Thirdly But which is worse some have lived to wicked purposes having spent their days in sin and been offensive both to God and Men who as last will come to dye like Jehoram without being desired And such another was Hezekiah's Father even that King Ahaz who when he died was buried like Jehoram and not brought into the Sepulchres of the Kings of Israel And such another was that persecutor Jehoiakim for whom they lamented not saying Ah Lord or ah his glory Oh! these are to be exploded out of the Land of the living For Men shall clap their hands at them and hiss them out of the world he never did good work while he lived and he shall have never a good word when he dieth So much for Reprehension This Point instructs us in matter of Humiliation What hath been said should humble even the very best of God's people in that they have done no more service for Jesus Christ in their Generation You have possibly done something for him but you might have done more You might have praised him more declared the Truth more to your Children you might have projected and designed more for the glory of God and the good of Posterity you might have devised liberal things lived more exemplarily been more zealous of good works more edifying in your conversation you might have adventured more for Christ and whereas you have gained two Talents for him you might have gained five Truly for my part I might have done more and it humbleth me that I have done so little I remember it is said of Doctor Vsher in the Narrative of his Life and Death that when he was a dying he was humbled for his omissions And indeed they are great sins and the judgment of Christ at his appearing will pass much upon good works on the one side and omissions of them on the other And therefore we had need to sit in judgment upon our selves for our omissions before we dye For it is not enough to do good sometimes but we should be rich in good works and prepared unto every good work always abounding in the work of the Lord giving a portion to seven and also to eight going about as Christ did doing good And he that is thus exercised is fit to live and fit to dye But let us be humbled this day for our neglects For have not our hearts sometimes checked us upon reviews of the loss of our opportunities to do such or such a good work Saith a gracious and tender heart when he is come from such a person or such a place or such a company or occasion Alas what have I omitted I might have put in such a word for Jesus Christ I might have reproved such a sin or given such or such counsel or stopt such a vain discourse or given such an example or moved for such a good work c. Alas who knows the errors of his life this way and therefore this consideration calls for deep Humiliation and self-judging at this time 3. Exhorted We are here Exhorted and the Point affords Exhortation several ways To do all the good you are able during your abode here below seeing death will put an end to all your opportunities If God enable you to speak a good word to his honour and to the edification of others when you lye a dying you are never like to do so much good again to Eternity When you take your leave of the world you take your leave of doing good And therefore you had need bestir your selves while your Bodies and Souls abide here together Whatsoever therefore thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest And suppose you have done well hitherto like a good and faithful servant be not yet weary of well doing but up and be doing still and in due time you shall reap if you faint not What a deal of good had Hezekiah done before he fell into this sickness He destroyed the Monuments of Idolatry set up a notable Reformation brought back the Tribes of Israel to the Lord God of their Fathers And yet you see here he is willing to live longer to do more So Peter had done much good in his time you know he converted about three thousand Souls at the beginning of his Ministry he had a most happy hansel Acts 2d And yet he takes another opportunity and sped well And after this he passeth through all quarters and came at last to Lydda Saron and Joppa you know what good he did in the house of Cornelius c. At length he becomes old then he writes to the Saints For saith he I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me Moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance First saith he I am aware of death approaching Secondly I will therefore do all the good I am able both with my Tongue and Pen. Thirdly I will endeavour that the good I do may live when I am dead that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance Even thus we should endeavour to live in this world after our departure Survive your Funerals and out-live your deaths For it is not enough that we shall then live in Heaven but we should endeavour to be doing of that good while we live that may make us live on Earth even when we are dead And in this way the memory of the Just shall be blessed and the Righteous had in everlasting remembrance It is the Saints happiness to have Glory and Honour and Immortality in Heaven but it is much to the glory and honour of God for the Saints to be immortalized on Earth and to live in their good Examples good Counsels good Names and good Works when their Souls are shining in Heaven Particularly 1. Dilate and diffuse the praises of God and make his Name glorious to the utmost of your power And let this be often sounding in your ears The living the living he shall praise thee Speak much and live much to his praise Let the high praises of God be in your mouthes Ainsworth and the Dutch Interpreters render it Let the exaltations of God be in your throat and it suits with the Original as also with the Translation of the 70. The Exaltations i. e. the lifting up of God in his Name Attributes Precept Promises Threatnings Providences c. let them be in your throats i. e. exalt your voices in exalting
Brother another And how often also do the Saints in Scripture reprove the wicked and ungodly I need not give you Instances for that It is not enough that we have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but we must also reprove them We must appear for Christ his Truth his Rules and Glory or where is our love to him Sometimes you shall hear cursing and swearing in your presence sometimes reproaching slandering flithiness foolish talking and sinful jesting sometimes you shall see Covetousness Pride Passion Anger and uncomely Language and sometimes inordinate affections and somtimes gross omissions of duty either to God or Man Here now are opportunities of doing a service for Christ and of appearing and witnessing for him so as you cannot do hereafter in glory In such cases therefore consider your duty and what the Lord requireth of you who will take it very ill if you have never a Tongue for him And do not say I am loth or I am afraid to speak and it will be ill taken or I shall do no good by testifying or I shall be accounted a busie-body but attend your duty and leave the event to God only beg Wisdom which is profitable to direct And however a Reproof take or speed yet you have done a better service for Christ than any Saint in Heaven can do I know indeed that such testimonies for Christ are soldom well taken but that ariseth from the pride of Man and however that must not hinder your duty for I am sure that the with-holding such testimonies when you are called to give them is very ill taken by Christ and if he take them well let proud spirits take them as ill as they please The like I may say as to the opposing of Error and Heresies according to your capacities and of informing and instructing the ignorant when a season is offered and of warning the unruly c. And you know not but you may do much good in such cases and your work may live when you are dead however your rewerd is with the Lord for whom you have performed this service There are other good and gracious Offices to be discharged which cease when you are dead I did briefly mention some of them in the Doctrinal part Let me now exhort you to attend them also As to pray one for another which Duty ends with our Lives For as I have said God will have but one Intertercessor in Heaven but here he requireth many Here we may yea must be trading one with another viz. Prayers for Prayers Ministers with people and people with their Ministers and one Saint with another Not but that we must pray for others also Oh! what a trade did Paul drive this way I have sometimes thought what a Catalogue of Churches and Saints he had to commend to God in his daily prayers How many Churches did he usually pray for saith he to the Church at Rome God is my witness that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers The like for the Church at Ephesus saith he I cease not to give give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers So for the Church at Philippi saith he I remember you always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy And thus too he saith he prayed for the Church at Colossus The very same for the Church at Thessalonica We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers remembring without ceasing your work of Faith labour of Love and patience of Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ And doubtless had he written Epistles to all other Churches we should have heard of his prayers for them Neither did he pray only for Churches but also for several Saints in particular For he saith that he prayed for Timothy night and day that is Morning and Evening the whole put for the part And as for Philemon he saith That he made mention of him always in his prayers What a Catalogue then had Paul of Churches and Saints to recommend to God in his daily prayers For it is very likely that he prayed for many more than we find in his Epistles And as he prayed for the Churches so he desireth to be remembred in their prayers For as I said he drove a holy trade this way He begs the prayers of the Church at Rome in the very Language of a Begger for an Alms. Now I beseech you Brethren for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me that I may be delivered So of the Church at Ephesus and of the Philippians and of the Colossians and of the Thessalonians and of the Hebrews for the greatest Apostle had need of the prayers of the meanest Christian only he begs no prayers of the Church at Corinth in his first Epistle to them as looking upon them under many and great offences for which he there reproves them Nor of the Churches of Galatia whom he look't upon as greatly backsliden from the Faith And he would not trade with broken men But here you see I have given you a notable example for your imitation in this Point Pray therefore for one another and trade together as you shall see occasion Yea you must pray sometimes for such as never desired it So likewise if you do hear of the afflicted condition of such and such of the Saints suppose in great poverty or in prison upon the account of Christ and a good Conscience or in some great distress otherwise or under sickness and in danger of death look upon your selves as obliged to put up one Prayer for them You know what the Apostle saith Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and them which suffer adversity as being your selves also in the body Remember them How To sympathize with them to pray for them and to your power to help and relieve them And think it not enough that you pray for Saints but perform the like service for sinners also for your prayers may contribute much to their conversion as Christ's prayer Luke 23. 34. did to the conversion of many that were his enemies Acts 2. and Stephens prayer probably was heard in the conversion of Paul And be sure to pray for Children and Childrens Children that they may live in the sight of God and bear up his Name in their generations Neither rest in particular persons but pray also for the Churches of Christ this day in whom he is so much concerned as exercising his special Government in and over them Pray therefore for their peace and purity and progress in holiness and that they may be edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and comfort of the Holy Ghost be multiplyed And this is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem And
might speak unto our Children saying What have you to 〈◊〉 with the Lord God of Israel For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you ye Children of Reuben and Children of Gad ye have not part in the Lord So shall your Children make our Children cease from fearing the Lord Therefore we said Let us now prepare to build us an Altar not for burnt-offering nor for Sacrifice but that it may be a witness between us and you and our generations after us that we might do the service of the Lord before him with our Burnt-offerings our Sacrifices and with our Peace-offerings that your Children might not say to our Children in time to come ye have no part in the Lord c. Here you see the care and endeavour of the two Tribes and half for the preservation of the true Religion and way of God's Worship among their posterity which is the Point that I am now pressing I beseech you lay it to heart for I fear that many are guilty in this matter and that posterity is like to be little beholding to them Admit of a few Expostulations and consider What will your Children and Servants say when they come to succeed you and peradventure dye at last in therâ—â— sins Lord our Parents and Masters did not make known the Truth to us they did not Catechize and Instruct us they did not deliver to us the form of sound words nor any brief sum of the Articles of Faith and true Religion but we lived and dyed in ignorance for they had no care of our Souls and if others dealt thus with their Children and Servants Religion it self might have perished as we have done Now would not this be most miserable And are you willing to be thus indited by your Children and Servants in that great day Doth not Hezekiah here say The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth And is it not exprest as a duty and a great one too And doth not Hezekiah look upon this as one of the great works to be attended in this World without which it is not worth while to live Hezekiah indeed had no son at this time but he resolveth here that if God shall give him one he will make known the Truth and Faithfulness of God to him for he looks upon it as his duty when he saith The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth And what is the reason that many are so ignorant this day but because they wanted Family-instruction from Parents and Masters For it is not enough that such do live under the preaching of the Gospel if they want instruction in the Families wherein they have lived the want whereof makes the Ministers Plow to go so heavily Oh let not the Children and Servants rise up in judgment against you and charge their ignorance and damnation upon the neglect of your duty towards them Thirdly Consider with whom God hath betrusted the Gospel and true Religion 1. He puts his Ministers in trust with it For saith the Apostle We are allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel And it is a great trust and we must be faithful in the discharge of it and you must not be offended if we deal plainly with you 2. He betrusteth all his people with his Gospel and pure Religion expecting their discharge of this trust by their utmost endeavors to transmit it to posterity as you heard but even now from that Text Psalm 78. 3 7. For he doth not as I said put the trust into your hands for your selves only that you should make use of it during your lives and then dye and let others that shall come after you shift for themselves for this were to be cruel like the Ostriches in the Wilderness who leave their Eggs in the Earth and warm them in the dust forgetting that the Foot may crush them and the wild Beast break them but he expecteth and requireth your faithfulness and utmost care and labour to recommend the same Religion to your Children and Servants that live with you And what saith Solomon My Father taught me and said thus and thus to me Prov. 4. 4. And my Mother also taught me and she said so and so to me Prov. 31. But how have you taught those that are under your care and what have you said to them And where is the Altar Ed that you have built for them as a witness and memorial of the true Religion and Worship of God which you have commended to them No marvel that Religion decayeth in many Families when their Governours have wrapt up their Religion in a Napkin and professed only for themselves and not for them that should come after them You that are guilty in this part will have a sad reckoning to make when you shall be called to give an account of your discharge of that trust which is commended to you and have never an Ed to witness your care of conveying the Truth to the generation to come Know therefore that it is your duty according to this trust committed to you to turn and wind your Religion for God's Glory the advantage of posterity which if you neglect take beed you be not numbred among the wicked and slothful servants and have your portion with them Consider the common care of Parents to bequeath their Houses Lands and Goods to such as are to succeed them They leave their substance to their Babes saith the Psalmist And the inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever and their dwelling places to all generations and they call their Lands after their own names That is they are thoughtful for the upholding of their Families and the continuing of their names from one generation to another But as for the Gospel which they profess and the Religion which they own they have little or no care at all They leave their Earthly substance to their Children but that which is the most substantial thing of all they leave it not to them and they leave their names to their Children but the Name of God and Christ they leave not nor have they any care that Christ's Name be named upon them by endeavouring to make them Christians indeed according to their duty as the Psalmist saith I will make thy Name to be remembred in all generations They care not that his Name should be childed from generation to generation Truly it were just with God that their names should be blotted out from under Heaven who love their own names better than Christ's Consider the Covenant that pious Parents are entred into with God For when God saith I will be thy God and the God of thy Seed He expecteth and requireth that Parents do not only give up themselves but their Seed also unto God As Hannah said in her prayer If thou wilt give unto thine Handmaid a Man-child I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life
instead of a Father to him that it went well with him and his Kingdom whiles he lived but miserably with both afterwards Many Children have lost themselves together with their Parents Consider what I say And then you that have such Ministers of Jesus Christ as labour in the Word and Doctrine and watch for your Souls prize them pray for them and improve them for you know not the consequences of their removal 5th Use of Exhortation Lastly Seeing there is more service to be done on Earth than in Heaven how should this exalt Christ Jesus in our hearts and enlarge them in love to him who as he wrought so much for us on Earth so still is he at work for us in Heaven He He is the great Worker in the highest World You know what he saith in his prayer to his Father I have glorified thee on Earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Yea but we are to understand it of his Work upon Earth for his Work in Heaven is not as yet finished nor will before the end of the world Alas we can do little for Christ in Earth and less in Heaven Yet Jesus Christ whether in Earth or Heaven is still at work for us It is not with him as with us Heaven takes the work out of our hands but it puts it into his For thither is he gone to take and keep possession and to prepare places for us There he executeth his Mediatory-Office continually appears and makes intercession for us sheds abroad his Spirit gives Commission to the Angels and Gifts unto Men calleth and gathereth in his Elect ones enableth us to work on Earth governs the World upholds his Church and subdues their Enemies All the Work of Heaven lies upon Christ's hands and it is well it doth oâ— what would become of us on Earth And as this should raise our Esteem anâ— Love of Christ so should it quicken us the more to work for him on Earth seeing he is still at work for us in Heaven He wrought above thirty years for us here on Earth but in Heaven above sixteen hundred and thus he will continue his work to the end of the world To him therefore be glory and honour for ever and ever Amen A short Discourse OF THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE Gospel-Day Reaching from the Destruction of the OLD to the erection of the NEW JERUSALEM Zach. 14. 6 7. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Light shall not be clear nor dark But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord not day nor night but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light By W. H. London Printed for John Wilkins and are to be sold at his shop in Exchange-Alley next door to the Exchange-Coffee-House over against the Royal-Exchange 1673. COURTEOUS READER THou hast added a brief Treatise of the nature of the Gospel-Day in its Rise Progress and Perfection The Morning of which Day beginning in the Apostles times had much darkness mingled with a little light You know what stiff and earnest contentions there were for the Jewish Rites and Ceremonies yea the very Articles of Faith called in question the Spirit of Anti-christ working even then in the Evangelical Churches which in after Ages grew to a greater height in the exaltation of the Man of Sin But still the Light and Purity of the Gospel prevailed though sometimes the darkness was such as to threaten an utter extirpation God raising up some faithful Witnesses in all Ages to hold forth and vindicate the Light against all that opposition made against it The Truth had its Champions even then when the whole World wondred after the Beast And from them to us it is continued by an uninterrupted succession being still of a growing and encreasing Nature like the path of the Just shining more unto the perfect day What cause have we to bless God that we see the Truth and Gospel going on conquering and to conquer all Errour and Opposition Well the night is far spent and the day is at hand and go let us cast off the Works of Darkness and put on the Armour of Light and so much the more as we see the Day breaking when Shadows shall flee away Light shall overspread the face of the whole Earth Peace Truth Holiness and Comfort shall then abound In the mean time it is no wonder if Light and Darkness conflict together Light of Peace with Trouble of Truth with Errour and go let us not be secure God may soon bring a Cloud over our Peace and Liberty And let us also who are of the day be sober bearing with and forbearing one another forasmuch as yet we know but in part and see through a Glass darkly but when the Evening of this Gospel-Day cometh the Lord shall be one and his Name one Zech. 14. 7 9. one heart and one way Jer. 32. 39. In the Faith and Hope hereof Let all the Children of Zion rejoyce and endeavour to be a People prepared for the Lord. Reader I shall detain thee no longer from this useful and seasonable Discourse The blessing of God go with it and make it fruitful so prayes Jan. 18 th 1673-4 Thy Servant in the Gospel H. J. ZECH. 14. 6 7. And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear nor dark But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord not day nor night but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light THis Chapter begins with the revenge of God upon Judah and Jerusalem for their crucifying the Lord of glory Ch. 13. 7. of which vengeance Christ himself foretold and he calls them days of vengeance where he amply fieth what the Prophet here speaketh briefly Yet God threatneth to be avenged on the Nations that dealt thus with Jerusalem and the Jews They should have no thanks for this their service as minding only the fulfilling of their own wills and not Gods Ver. 3. But though Jerusalem should be overthrown and the Temple burnt and the Temple-Worship abolished yet the Lord would have a care of his Church and make way for the conversion of the Gentiles and expose the Truth and Way of his Worship to the open view of the Jews and Gentiles from East to West For the Truth and Way of God's Worship and of Salvation was pent up before Christ's coming in the narrow confines of Judea and obscured also and darkned with shadows and Ceremonies as Jerusalem the Seat of God's Worship was with Hills But now all should be laid open before all the world from East to West And this here is signified by an Allegory of the cleaving of Mount Olivet one famous Hill being put for the rest in the mid'st towards the East and towards the West whereby the City of God which is the Church should no longer be obscured but patent
been here said answereth that Challenge of the Papists Where was your Church before the Dayes of Luther We answer Where the Light was For though great Darkness was introduced by Antichrist for many years before the breaking out of the Light in the daies of Luther yet there hath been alwaies a mixture of Light in the obscurest times and there the true Church hath been There have been Witnesses to the Truth ever since the rise of the Man of Sin and their testimony witnesseth to the true Churh distinct from Antichrist in that it witnesseth to the Light where the true Church hath alwaies dwelt which Church still professed against the Additions and Impositions of the Man of Sin hating and abominating his Idolatrous Corruptions and Superstitious Inventions and held to the Faith and Truth of the Gospel And as this Church like the Light did still bear witness to it self So did the continual opposition made against the Light and Truth professed bear witness to the same And therefore we remit the Papists to their own oppositions and persecutions for an Answer to their Challenge Yea and this true Church hath been visible at all times to them that are of the Light For what can men in darkness see The Day you hear hath been one all along and therefore the Sun did never set in it and the Light hath still been Index sui tenebrarum A discoverer both of it self and of darkness All things that are reproved or discovered are made manifest by the Light For whatsoever doth make manifest is Light And therefore the true Church hath alwaies seen both her self and the false Church but the false wanting Light could never see the true Vse 2. The Doctrine may serve to shew us the parallel between the Day of the Gospel aud the Day of them that do profess it which is also intermixed with Light and Darkness so that it is neither Day nor Night For First There is Knowledg mingled with Ignorance and Truth with Errour even in the best of God's Children who know but in part and prophesie in part till that which is perfect in another world is come For now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face now we know in part but then shall we know even as we are known Thus it is and thus it will be till our Sun is set and then it will be perfect light 2. There is also Trouble mingled with Tranquillity Adversity with Prosperity Light of inward Peace and Comfort with inward Doubts and Darkness whiles we live here below Vse 3. We are shewed That the darkest time of the Gospel-Day is yet to come For that time is to be expected in the Evening which is the darkest part of all the Day Only this Darkness will not be as I conceive in respect of the withdrawing of the Light of Truth but of the Light of Peace and Tranquillity For at the Evening of this Day Men shall look unto the Earth and behold Trouble and Darkness and Dimness of Anguish And this will immediatly precede the Conversion of the Jews through the opposition of Turk and Pope For this will be the time when the Kings of the Earth and of the whole world shall be gathered together to the battle of the great Day of God Almighty At what time Men shall beat their Plough-shares into Swords and their Pruniâ—â— hooks into Spears But though that will be the darkest part of the Day yet we must expect gloomy times till then though with intermixed beams of Light wherein God will still be setting this over against that to the end that Men should find nothing after him And thus God will Chequer out the Gospel-day till that be fulfilled which is spoken by the Prophet Isaiah Arise shine for thy Light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee And seeing the day shortneth and the shadows of the Evening begin to be stretched out let us expect no more Dayes of Tranquillity and Peace but Wars and rumours of Wars Nation lifting up Sword against Nation and learning of War the confused noise of Battle and Garments rolled in blood For the Man upon the red Horse is gone forth to whom power is given to take Peace from the Earth and nearer the Evening still the darker That which concerns us is to be in a Posture of Humiliation and Preparedness for the reception of these dark Dispensations Here is the Faith and Patience of the Saints Use 4. Let what hath been said be for Exhortation First To pray for the Conversion of God's ancient people the Seed of Abraham Isaac and Jacob for whose sakes they are beloved Till when the Day shall not be clear nor dark but then the Sun shall no more go down nor the Moon withdraw it self but the Lord shall be an everlasting Light the dayes of mourning be ended Therefore hold not your peace day nor night ye that are the Lord's Remembrancers keep not silence and give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the Earth Secondly Though you want the Light of Peace be thankful and improve the Light of Truth For it is a mercy that we have this part of the Light though we want the other and of the two it it is far the better seeing we should part with Peace for Truth but not with Truth for Peace The Text saith It shall come to pass in that day that the Light shall not be clear nor dark or as after the Original not be precious nor thickness which sheweth us that the Light of Truth is precious and though that of Peace is so likewise yet not of equal value for Christ came not to send Peace on the Earth but the Sword by the publication of the Truth which was of so great esteem with Him that He bore witness to it to the Death even when He witnessed a good Confession before Pontius Pilate concerning the truth of his Kingly Power and Government which the Apostle adjureth us to attend as of great moment though Pilate slighted it saying What is Truth For he did not propound that question for satisfaction in that he stayed not for an answer but shewed thereby that he looked upon truth and particularly that truth concerning the Kingly Power and Government of Christ as a pittiful Cause whereon to hazard the Life of Christ Oh! The Truth there confessed by Christ is a precious Truth a very great Truth and the Foundation of many Truths which Christ sealed with his Blood which therefore we are adjured in the sight of God who quickeneth all things and before Jesus Christ who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good Confession to keep without spot unrebukeable until the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ Let us then love the Truth and this Truth and improve it Thirdly Seeing the Gospel-day is not equally lightsome in all the periods of it how thankful should we