threaten sometimes in the Name of God Now therefore That they might convince people that they aim onely at good unto them in this therefore they must be of as loving and gentle and quiet and patient Spirits as possible may be especially in their own cause and that 's the tryal You sometimes prehaps hear a Minister preach hard things and you think they come with much harshness to you and your hearts are ready to rise against them But examine whether in all their dealings else and in things concerning themselves whether they be not of loving and gentle Spirits and full of Bowels of Compassion And they must be of such dispositions that they might win upon people and draw their hearts as in Hos 11. 4. I drew them with Cords of a Man and with the Bands of love And indeed this is one special reason why God sends Men to be the Ministers of the Gospel rather then Angels that there might not be any terror strook into the hearts of people If Angels should appear they would be exceeding dreadful and terrible but God doth rather choose Man to be a Minister that so he might sute himself to the dispositions of Men and draw with the Cords of Man And what 's that That 's with the Bands of love Mans Nature will rather be drawn then driven And my Brethren As it ought to be in Ministers to be of such dispositions so you that are the people should shew your selves to be of the like dispositions towards them again of Sweet and Loving and Gentle and Fair Dispositions towards them not of rugged and ridged tempers We read of the building of the Temple that there was not one whit of Iron us'd in it which is observable We do not read I say of Iron that was brought to the Building they made their Pinns of Wood and other things and Plates of Gold and Silver but brought no Iron God when he is about to build a Church and call a People home to himself he will call such as are of gentle Spirits or make them such God doth either refuse such ridged Spirits or else he doth change their natures that 's the First Note Say Peace be to this House The Second is this That Ministers ought to bless their People for so these words are to be considered not onely as to manifest their dispositions to give them a taste of their Spirits but as a Benediction to them Peace be to this place We in the Name of the Lord Bless you with Peace And this is more than to pray for them Ministers are to pray for People God forbâ—d saith Samuel That I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you But Ministers should do more They are in the Name of the Lord to Bless them Prayer it is a Speaking unto God but Blessing it is to Speak from God to Man and that with some kind of Authority Therefore we find in Scripture that The Lesser is Blessed of the Greater And That the Ministers were appointed to Bless the People in the Old Law Numb 6. 23. Speak unto Aaron and to his Sons saying On this wise ye shall bless the Children of Israel saying unto them The Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make His Face to shine upon thee and be Gracious unto thee the Lord lift up His Countenance upon thee and give thee Peace Here was Blessing in the Old Law And they retain'd some part of it in coming to any place when they said Peace be to this Place We read of Men of great Esteem among the People of the Jews that were wont to Bless those that they came unto As you find that of Boaz in Ruth 2. 4. He Prays for them and they Bless him Here was a sweet Salutation of a Man that did set other Men on work Boaz came into the Field and said unto the Keepers The Lord be with you And they answered him The Lord bless thee Many Men when they go among their Work-men they go with Raging and Cursing if things be not done according to their Mind Now what an unseemly thing is this among those who profess themselves Christians But on the other side this is Gracious-like to come among their Servants and Work-men and thus to Bless them The Lord be with you And they to pray for them And the Lord bless thee And so we read of pure Parents to Bless their Children And it hath been the Use of the Church to Bless the People Therefore in all Congregations where you meet with the Exercises of Religion you use to have a Blessing before you go and you are not to flight it And except God call you out by extraordinary Occasion you are to abide and stay the Blessing We read of some that were appointed by God to stand upon Mount Gerisim in Deut. 27. and their work was only to bless to Bless the People and there were some who stood upon Mount Ebal and they were to Curse But now Mark If we search who they are that are appointed to Bless you shall find them to be more Honourable than those that were appointed to Curse For those that were appointed to Curse there was Reuben he had lost his Birth-right and Gad and Ashur and Dan and Napthali they were Children of the Hand-Maid they were not begotten in the way of Marriage but only by the Hand-Maid or by a Concubine Most of these that were to stand upon Mount Ebal for Cursing they were of the meaner sort of the Tribes This notes thus much That Blessing is the chief work that Ministers should Rejoyce and Delight in Therefore though they do sometimes pronounce the Threats of God against you to awaken Secure Drowsie Sinners which is their work likewise yet certainly there is nothing more sutable unto the Heart of a Godly Minister than to be alwayes Blessing of his People and to be bringing of the Message of Blessing unto them And if this be so then certainly the Ministers of the Gospel they are a great Blessing in the World And you that are People you should Encourage your Ministers to Bless you and to Bless God for you your Carriage towards them should be such as they may with Chearfulness in the Name of God Bless you and they may in secret when they are between God and themselves Bless God for you O when as the Minister shall first look upon the People and Bless them in the Name of God and Bless God for them and the People shall look again upon the Minister and pray to God for a Blessing upon him and Bless God that ever they knew him I say happy is the Minister that thus Blesses and Blesses God for a People and happy likewise the People that do thus pray for a Blessing upon and Bless God for a Minister But more Blessed is that God that shall joyn such Ministers and People together And that 's the Second Note That Ministers are to bless People when they
his life And then he seeks to get riches by communicating of his riches That Scripture you have for this in 1 Tim. 6. 17. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy That they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute The more good works he doth the richer he makes account himself is Now ordinarily a carnal heart when he is call'd to do good works he cannot for shame but do something I but he thinks he is the poorer by it What will you get away all my estate and make me a begger Why these often Contributions draws away my estate and they think they have so much of their heart-blood drawn away and so they grow poorer and poorer But a godly man he makes account that the more good works he doth the richer man he grows Why God himself accounts his riches to be in the works of mercy In Eph. 2. there you shall find that the riches of God are in the works of his mercy That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us Why God is not said to be rich in power so much as in grace in the works of his mercy in the works of kindness And so a godly man that hath learned by the grace of God to be full doth account himself made rich in the communicating what fulness God hath given him for the glory of his Name and the good of others This is a second mysterious way of a godly mans learning how to be full And then the Third way of a Godly mans learning how to be full is this He doth learn how to have comfort in his estate by mortifying of his affections to his estate and by moderating of his spirit in the joy that he hath in his estate he comes to receive the greater joy in what he hath given to him This you will say is a riddle for a man to have greater joy in outward things by moderating of his joy and to have a greater fulness in his abundance by keeping himself within bounds This is the way of a godly man the more he keeps himself within bounds the more comfort he hath in his abundance and the more he can mortifie his affections to the comforts of the world the more comfort hath he in these comforts of the world Now because this may seem to be a great riddle and mystery for so it is I will give you one Scripture that will make it out fully and it is in Phil. 4. 4 5. Rejoyce in the Lord alway and again I say rejoyce Here the Apostle puts people to rejoyce to rejoyce in the Lord that is not onely in spiritual things but rejoyce in all Gods blessings in a spiritual way Now the men of the world when they are put upon it to rejoyce and again to rejoyce they think they know nor how to reioyce but by letting out their hearts without any bounds they know not how to keep any bounds But mark the words that follow Let your moderation be known unto all men As if the Apostle should say And would you rejoyce indeed truly and graciously and fully I exhort you to rejoyce and again to rejoyce Well then This is pleasing to the heart of a man we will give our selves liberty to rejoyce we will enlarge our selves in our joy I but saith the Apostle Let your moderation be known to all men though So that in that he adds this exhortation Let your moderation be known to all men it 's apparent that he means the joy in outward things as well as in spiritual things Let your moderation be known to all so that he doth not envy your rejoycing in your estate You may rejoyce in the comforts of this world that God hath given you But would you have true joy that that should glad your hearts indeed let your moderation be known to all men and do so bound your selves in your joy and let your hearts be so mortified to the world as that you may rejoyce in God even while you rejoyce in the outward blessings that God hath given to you And although many men may think this to be a mystery and scarce to be believed yet those who are truly godly find this by experience I appeal to you when have you had the greatest comfort and joy in your estates and comings in but at that time when you have found your hearts mortified to the world and that you could keep your selves in bounds If a man goes abroad and among company if he can keep his appetite in bounds and eat moderately he hath more comfort in his meat and drink than another man hath that eats excessively A man that eats and drinks moderately he preserves his health and by preserving his health he hath more sweetness in his meat and drink in a constant way than those that eat and drink immoderately and when a man hath been abroad among company and let out his heart profusely in way of laughter and merriment and all upon the merry pin why in the midst of this laughter his heart is even sad and when he comes home he comes home with a dead spirit He is like Nabal you know that when he was feasting his heart was merry but as soon as his drunkenness was gone from him his heart died like a stone Many Company-keepers that give liberty to themselves in jollity and mirth why the next day their hearts are even as dead as a stone and there 's a great deal of guilt upon their spirits and their consciences fly in their faces so that they have not so much joy in their spirits as those that can keep within bounds Those that can go in a sober way and meet with their neighbours and rejoyce one with another they when they come home can bless God for this their refreshing that they have had and the next morning their hearts are in a sweet and joyful frame The more we keep our selves in bounds in the use of the Creature the more comfort have we in the use of the Creature That 's the third way of a gracious hearts learning how to abound He learns how to enjoy the world by mortifying his heart to it and by keeping himself within bounds in the use of the Creature And then the Fourth way of mystery of the Godlies learning how to abound it is this He learns how to abound by getting all that he hath to be sanctified by the Word and Prayer It was one way of knowing how to want by having our afflictions sanctified to us and so it is the way to know how to abound Now this is a way that carnal hearts have little skill in they think they know how to abound by their natural wisdom I but the way that a gracious heart hath for abounding is this God
Therefore surely it 's Gain to die for a Godly Man 7ly Further It 's Gain in this respect When they receive immediately they shall receive all United in one and all together They shall have such Influence from Christ as hath all Good united in one Beam of Excellency and so receive it all together As now a Man may take the Quintesence of several Herbs there 's this Herb hath this Virtue another another and a third a third but now if you Still all these Herbs together you will have the Virtue and Quintesence of all in one Drop So Christ here scatters His Excellencies one in one Creature another in another but when we come to enjoy Him immediately then we shall have all in one because all His Excellencies whatsoever is united in one in Him Eighthly Further all our Good shall be in continal Act. Here we have a great deal of Good in the Habit but now when we come to have this Immediate communion with Christ there all our Graces shall be Acted continually The Sun you know how it doth Act the Earth whatsoever there is in the Earth it draws it forth and makes it flourish So the Presence of the Sun of Righteousness Oh how Gloriously will it Act all our Graces In Numb 17. 7. We read of Aarons Rod it Blossom'd And the Text saith It Blossom'd before the Lord. When the Souls of the Saints shall be before the Lord and be in the Presence of the Lord Christ O they shall Blossom and Flourish and all their Graces shall Flourish in a most Glorious manner Ninthly And then lastly We shall enjoy what is in Christ without any Intermission What 's the reason of any Intermission here But something that comes between Christ and our Souls But now when there shall be nothing between Christ and the Soul then there will be no Intermission That Sweetness and Comfort thou hast in communion with Christ at any time thou shalt have it at all times And how good is that O saith many a Soul could I have but the communion with Christ at all times as I have at some times O that would be comfortable Now when the Soul hath Immediate communion with Christ it shall have it at all times What 's the reason of Ecclipses It is the Interposition between the Moon and the Sun or some Interposition between the Sun and us So our Ecclipses of the Light that we have from Christ it is some Interposition Take away the Interposition and then there will be no Intermission Now put all these together and is it not Gain to Die and to be with Christ Now by way of Use It is Gain thus to be with Christ Hence then If it be Gain for one that doth so much Service for Christ as Paul did surely than those that are Believers and are made little Use of in any Service for Christ they will get by their Death Paul was a Man that one would wonder how the Churches could spare him he did so much for Christ and yet Paul would get by Death If thou beest a Believer thou shalt have thy Immediate communion with Christ as Paul had Alas here while thou Livest thou hast but little communion between Christ and thee and doest Him but little Service in the World Then why should you so much desire to Live in the World that have nothing to Countervail the Trouble that you have and the Sin that is committed in the World O surely it will be gain for you Secondly Hence it follows That it is a Self-denial to a Believer to be willing to Live here in the World You will say If it be so much Gain why should any be so desirous to Live It 's this first Nature will have its work though in their Judgments they are convinc't that it 's better to be with Christ yet the Body will be working and the Affections will follow the Body very much Further Though they be convinc't that it is Gain yet God lays a Tie upon them to preserve their Lives as long as they can here in this World in Obedience to God They do desire to avoid Dangers and Preserve their Lives It is not for them to be where it is best for them to be but to be where God would have them to be and therefore God doth charge them to seek to Preserve their Lives and to go on till He Himself shall Dissolve the Body and Soul It 's God that is the Lord of our Life and as God gave us our Lives so it is He that must take them away and not any Body else But yet I say there is some Self-denial in it We must look upon our selves here as in a very Low and Mean condition in comparison of what we hope to be within a while after Therefore observe this one Note Those that do believe the Gain of Death they had need Labour what they can to countervail the Forbearance of the Gain by somewhat or other If a Man hath a great Gain and it comes not in his present Possession he thinks What shall I have for my Forbearance You will say What is it that any Believer can have in lieu of his Forbearance of that Gain Truly the most Excellent thing is this that he may do Christ Service while he Lives Now then Is that the main thing O learn from hence to be of as much use in your Lives as possibly you can for you have nothing else to speak of in Forbearance of that great Gain Why Lord I expect to enjoy Thee for ever before long but thou art pleased to Prolong my Life here for a while in the mean time I meet with many Temptations and Troubles and Vexations and much Sin I have But yet Lord thou knowest it 's my desire to Honour Thee and Serve Thee and through Thy Mercy I am some way or other Serviceable to Thee in the Place where Thou hast set me and Lord this is the thing contents me while I am absent from Thee Thirdly Hence we see the great Difference that there is between the death of a Believer and the death of a Wicked Man I shewed you I remember in the death of an Ungodly Man when the siery Serpent comes with his Sting and takes him in his Natural Estate Death is not Gain to such a one O no death takes away all his Gain But now death is the greatest Gain to the Saints That 's an excellent Scripture you have in 1 Cor. 3. the latter end Whether Paul or Appollos or Cephas or the World or Life or Death or Things present or Things to come all is yours In Christ Death comes to be made yours Death is part of the Possession of the Saints O the difference between the death of the Saints and the death of Wicked and Ungodly Men Do but put two Men a Wicked Man and a Godly Man lying both together upon their Death-Beds you must take a wicked Man that hath an enlightned