had acquainted the people that this Calamity should befall him and this should be his Deportment the next morning he tells them it was actually come to pass and that God had thus forbad him to mourn Which being so unexpected and surprizing could not but put them upon considering what should be the meaning of so extraordinary a passage v. 18.19 25 26. So I spake unto the people in the Morning and at Even my Wise dyed and I did as I was commanded And the People said unto me Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us that thou doest so And then he tells them what God would do against 'em and how they should not be able to use the customary Rites of Mourning no more than he Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign v. 25. According to all that he hath done shall you do And when it comes to pass you shall know that I am the Lord for I will take from them their strength the Joy of their Glory the desire of their Eyes and that whereupon they set their minds their Sons and Daughters c. II. Having consider'd the literal meaning of this passage as to the Prophet you must know that how severe soever this stroke was to him thus to lose the Desire of his Eyes in that sudden and surprizing manner it hath a Typical Parabolical meaning and was designed by God not so much if at all as a Token of his Displeasure against the Prophet as a sign of approaching Judgments on the Jewish Nation It was usual with God to instruct this People and the Ten Tribes by parabolical Actions and Examples as well as by Verbal Messages Hos 12.10 I have spoken by my Prophets I have multiplyed Visions and I have used Similtudes by the Hands of the Prophets i. e. various Emblems and Representations of my Mind I have formerly given them Instructive warnings of several sorts I have sent unto them Thus the Prophet Isaiah and his Sons were given for a Sign and Wonder to the House of Israel from the Lord of Hosts Isa 8.8 their very Names were Prophetical and significative of future events Ch. 7.3 and 8. Ch. 3 4. Thus Isaiah walk'd barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder to Egypt and Ethiopia to represent the Captive miserable condition they should be brought into Isa 20.3 He went abroad without his upper Garments after the manner of * 1 Sam. 19.24 2 Sam. 6.20 Prisoners and Slaves for men are said to be naked when they are ill clad Job 22.6 we read of stripping the naked of their cloathing Captives and Mourners are likewise wont to put off their upper Garments 2 Sam. 15.30 Jer. 2.25 thus was he to walk for three years to denote the duration of that Calamity This Prophet Ezekiel was likewise to give an Emblem of that Judgment the Text referrs to by the removal of his stuff c. Chap. 12.15 16 17. digging through a Wall as if a Watch had been set at the door and all ordinary Passages block'd up to signifie the extremity of their distress when every one will be willing to put a helping hand He was to bear it on his shoulders as Servants that carry Burdens to represent the Servitude and Slavery to which the Jews should be reduc'd And this in the Evening or Twilight to denote the stealing away of the King Nobles and Men of War by Night 2 Kings 25.4 He was to cover his face that he should not see the ground as fill'd with shame and unwilling to be known thus was he to be a Sign unto the house of Israel for the signification of this refers to them of Jerusalem whose Desolation and Captivity was now at hand Which Calamity they who were already Captives in Babylon had escaped v. 9. This Burden concerned the Prince of Jerusalm and of all the house of Israel that were among them As the Prophet had done so should it be done unto them And accordingly it came to pass for the King Zedekiah escap'd out of Jerusalem with a burden on his Shoulders as if he were some common and ordinary Person digging thro' a Wall and escaping in the Twilight but is taken by his Enemies his Sons slain before his face and his own eyes put out and he is led into Captivity and there remains a Prisoner till he Dies In this was Ezekiel unto them a Sign He was so likewise by this passage in the Text which was one of the last Prophetick warnings before the destruction of Jerusalem and the last great Captivity of Judah and Benjamin by Nebuchadnezzar (q) See Jos Antiq. Jud. l. 10. c. 10. Jac. Vssiri Cronol Sacra c. It was within two years of it And 't is observable that the tenth month 2 King 25.1 Jer. 50.3 ch 52.4 5. and the tenth day of the month when this Prophet a Captive then in Babylon received this Message from God at the same time the same day of the month Nebuchadnezzar began to lay siege to Jerusalem Within two years after this is the last great Captivity and Destruction of Jerusalem the three hundred ninety days for the house of (r) See Contin of Mr. Pool's Annot. upon the place Israel mentioned Ezek. 4.5 some think now to be Accomplished (Å¿) See Derodon Lumieres dela Raison trait 2. Ch. 7. This was above a hundred and thirty years after the Destruction of Samaria and the Ten Tribes by Salmanasser King of Assyria At the very time when the Seige began he is told of it by God and by the Parable of the death of his Beloved Wife he informs the People of the approaching destruction of their City and Temple which was the Desire and Delight of their Eyes For then God suffer'd the Chaldeans to desile and destroy the Temple the Holy and Beautiful House where their Fathers praised God was burnt with Fire and all their pleasant things laid waste As it is lamented by the Prophet Jeremy Lam. 2.7 And your Sons and your Daughters saith God who are the Desire of your Eyes shall fall by the Sword and shall perish with my polluted Sanctuary For thus he explains this passage in the 24 25 verses of this Chapter Thus Ezekiel is unto you a Sign according to all that he hath done shall you do and when this cometh ye shall know that I am the Lord God Also thou Son of Man shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength the joy of their glory the desire of their eyes and that whereupon they set their minds their Sons and their Daughters You shall do as I have done you shall not be able to make a regular Mourning you shall not cover your lips nor eat the bread of Men you shall not make any solemn Lamentations or Funeral Solemnities for your dead Relations So perplexing will be your distress and so great the multitude of the slain but you shall pine away in your Iniquities and tho'
Followers shall one day be with him to behold his Glory Let this then be remembred as the matter of our Christian Hope that we may not mourn * See Cyprian de Mortalitate ad sinem Greg. Narianz Orat. deca in laudem Caesarii Fratris Fun. as strangers to the Gospel for such as dye in the Lord. We sind the Egyptians mourned longer for Jacob than Joseph did even threescore and ten days They that have little Knowledge and Expectation concerning another Life and the Resurrection of the Dead may more excusably extend their Funeral Sorrows and grieve for the loss of this and equal the Days of their Mourning to the number of the years of the Life of Man but so tedious a Funeral Solemnity would have been unsuitable to Josephs Faith Had he shown himself more a Son by such a Testimony of his Natural Affection in Mourning longer he had shown himself less a Patriarch When God restored to Job after his long Tryals double for all his Cattel and Goods which he had lost as Fourteen thousand Sheep for Seven thousand c. he gave him but the same number of Children again for they were not really lost though Death remov'd 'em they were Alive in another State And if they were Holy Persons he had the like number in Heaven as God gave him on Earth It 's a great Relief to a Christian Mourner to consider that his Deceased Friends are not Lost but Live I know very well that the Holy Will of God must take place of mine I know that I ought to love God and Christ above all and absolutely resign my self and All that 's mine or cannot hope to see his Face I know that I shall shortly follow the Desire of mine Eyes I hope I shall be silent and adore and not charge God foolishly But methinks I know with sensible supporting Insluence from such a Thought that She is not Dead but Sleepeth She is not Lost but Lives And if I get to Heaven shall meet her there in the presence of the Lord our Redeemer And then the Company of our Holy Relatives will be more Sweet than ever it was on Earth For though the Blessed Vision of God be our Chiefest Hope and Joy yet the Presence of all the Blessed Spirits will make a Real though Subordinate part of our Happiness and Delight I am so far from doubting whether we shall Know and Love one another in the Heavenly State that the Belief and Expectation of it is or should be one great Motive why we love 'em so well now If we thought we should not Know and Love them after Death we ought to Love 'em but as Earthly Transitory things and not as Heirs of Heaven with such a Love as shall be perfected and last for ever Neither can it well be imagin'd how the Process and Proceedings of the Judgment-Day according to the Scripture Account of it can be manag'd by the Man Christ Jesus or the Lord Redeemer cloath'd with Humane Nature without our Knowledge of One Another in the other World who were acquainted and convers'd together in this 'T is true the present Relations by Marriages and Blood will then cease but there is no reason to think that the Remembrance of those Relations must also cease Yea their Knowledge and Remembrance of us and their Affection to us whom we knew and lov'd in the Lord is not like to be abolish'd but perfected by Dying Doubtless the Angels who rejoyce at the Conversion of a Particular Sinner and the Departed Saints too do know more even of the State of this World than we do who are * Mr. Baxter Of the Knowledge of God part 3. p. 331. acquainted with so very little a part and spot of it Which by the way should check anâ— inordinate fond Desire of living to see Glorious Times on Earth For if we get to Heaven we are like to know much more of those Happy Times than if we remain'd alive in a Corner of the Isles of the Gentiles But as to our Mutual Knowledge in the Heavenly state Shall those whom we Reliev'd on Earth Welcome us to Heaven And are therefore said to receive us into Everlasting Habitations Luk. 16. And shall not the departed Saints know one another in Glory Shall we then know as we are known And shall the Thessalontans be the Joy and Crown and Glory and Rejoycing of the Apostle Paul in the Day of Christ And shall he not know them or they him who prosited by his Ministry Did the Rich Man in Hell know Abraham afar off in Heaven and can we think a blessed Lazarus shall not For though that be a Parable there is some Truth as the Foundation of it Shall it aggravate the Misery of lost Souls to meet their wicked Companions in the place of Torment as few deny or doubt And shall it not Rejoyce the Blessed to meet their Holy Friends whom they knew in this World Did Peter James and John know Moses and Elias in the Transsignration whom they never saw before and we read not that Christ told em ' who they were And shall those who were acquainted upon Earth and helpt one another to Heaven utterly forget and lose the remembrance of any such thing It is a pleasant Thought and proper to support under the Death of those we have honoured and loved and profited by on Earth to think that hereafter we shall meet and know several Ministers of Christ whose Preaching and Converse and Writings have been useful to us That we shall then meet and know several of our Holy Relations and Acquaintance with whom we were wont to walk together to the House of God and meet often at the Table of the Lord with whom we conferr'd about the Misteries and and Promises of the Gospel and many a time discours'd together of the Heavenly Inheritance believingly to foresee and consider that though they are gone before we shall meet 'em again at the last great Supper of the Lamb in the Celestial Kingdom And why may not I suppose such a distinct and personal Knowledge and Remembrance of one another as to be able to say This was the Person whom God employed to bring me into the World and educate me in his Fear who instructed my tender Years and taught me early to Know the Lord. Or This was the Person who was at so much pains to convince me of my Sin and reclaim me from the Errour of my Ways This was He or She who tendred my Salvation as their own who watch'd over me and pray'd for me and with me and often told me of the Evil of Sin of the Excellency and Pleasantness of Wisdom's Ways of the Freeness of the Love and Grace of Christ and his Willingness to receive Returning Penitents at first and even Backsliders afterwards This was the Person who was assisted by God to encourage strengthen revive and comfort my desponding my doubting my unbelieving Heart and establish me in the way of
affecting manner to the faithful discharge of his Duty by that Consideration I charge thee before God and before the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and dead at his Appearance and his Kingdom or when he shall appear in his Kingdom 2 Tim. 4.1 The Jews knew and granted that the Messiah was to come as a Judge by the Traditional Prophecy of Enoch which began with those words The Lord shall come This they understood long before the Incarnation of our Saviour So that they were wont to begin their Writs or Instruments of the Greatest Excommunication with those words of the Prophecy of Enoch The Lord shall come As if besides all other Punishments they bound over the Excommunicated Person to the last great Assize to be Judged by the Messias And the Apostle seems to allude to this 1 Cor. 16.22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha i.e. Accursed with that great and terrible Excommunication The Lord shall come For so they call it from the first words as we often give Names to Writs and other Instruments by reciting the first words of them He shall come again he shall be revealed from Heaven in slaming sire with his mighty Angels to render vengeance to them which know not God and obey not the Gospel c. 2 Thes 1.7 9. We shall all be made to stand before his Judgment-Seat 2 Cor. 5.10 14. Rom. 14.10 And every one shall then give an account of himself to God and receive according to what he hath done in the body whether it be good or whether it be evil He is delegated and appointed by God for this Work and every way fitted and qualified to undertake it Acts 17.31 II. The Suddenness and Vnexpectedness of his Coming again The hour of it no man knows no not the Angels of God in Heaven It will surprize Mankind as the Deluge did the Old World in the days of Noah The time of it is lock'd up in the Treasuries of Heaven and we have no Key that will open it Neither the time of Christ's coming to Judge the World or the time of his calling us by Death to come to him is certainly known Behold I know not the day of my death we may every one say with Isaac Gen. 27.2 The Knowledge of this time and Season he hath reserved in his own power it belongs not to us it is no part of our Priviledge to know it Acts 1.7 If it had been fit and becoming adviseable and expedient for us to understand it if it had been for our Advantage to know the precise time of our own Death or of the Final Judgment if it would have added any whit to our Spiritual Stature and Growth in Grace if it would not have much better promoted our Watchfulness and serious Diligence and forwarded our Preparations to have remained Ignorant he would not have drawn such a Veil over that Day and Hour But would have left it written in fair Characters But he every way consulted our Interest and the general Good of the World by hiding this Knowledge from us God's Government of the World and the Magistrates influence under God for the Good of Men would very much be weakned if every Man did certainly know before-hand the time of his Death Our Usefulness to others would be very much check'd and the necessary Preparation for being so if we knew we should not out-live such a Year or such a Stage of our Lives Our Joys and Sorrows with respect to our Relations and Friends would then be immoderate our Carriage in Prosperity and Adversity would be more unbecoming our Dependance upon God and his Providence the Redemption of our Time the Contempt of this World and the Preparation for another would all be very much hindred by the certain knowledge of the time of Christ's Coming to call us to Judgment Therefore he tells us That in an hour we think not of the Son of Man cometh It shall be suddenly when he is not expected and therefore All should be Ready It is sometimes represented by the travailing Pangs of a Woman with Child which may over-take her at a distance from her own House when she looks not for it 1 Thes 5.3 'T is set forth by the surprize of a Thief entring the Window of a House by Night when the good Man of the House little expected him Rev. 16.15 Behold I come as a Thief blessed is he that watcheth And again we are told As a snare shall it come upon all that dwell upon the face of the earth Luk. 21.35 When Men are careless and secure and confident of Long-life when they are busie in pursuit of great things for themselves in this World when they are big with mighty Projects and Designs for hereafter when they enlarge their Imaginations to contrive the Satisfactions they shall have for many years to come in the Pleasures and Dignities and Wealth which they count upon before-hand when they say in their Hearts Our Lord delays his Coming I have yet time enough to get ready Then shall this day overtake them when they think not of it The Lord of that Servant will come in a day that he looked not for him and in an hour that he is not aware Luk. 12.46 III. The Necessity and Obligation of being Ready because of the Certainty and Suddenness of the Coming of Christ Where I shall First Consider the Nature of this Readiness and Explain something of it Secondly Shew the Force of the Argument and amplifie it in several Considerations to urge it the more effectually upon All to make Ready I. What is the Nature of this Readiness In the general it is expressed by Two or Three Evangelists under the term of Watching Which as the summary Preparation for the Coming of Christ takes in all the Duties of a Christian with respect to the Affairs of his Soul and the Everlasting World as awaking out of Security foreseeing our Danger providing against it carrying it suitable to the Expectation of the Appearance of Christ from Heaven Looking for Waiting for Praying for Hastning to or hastning of the Coming of the Day of God It comprehends an awaken'd Heart an active Faith a lively Hope a diffusive Charity and persevering Diligence in all the Fruits of Righteousness That we may perfect Holiness in the Fear of God lay up a good Foundation against the time to come and at last lay hold of Eternal Life That we may have Confidence at Christ's Appearance and be able to stand before the Son of Man with exceeding Joy This in general under the Name of Watching and being Ready is the Duty of all 2. Besides this General Account we may consider some of the Particular Metaphors under which our Lord represents himself or is set forth in Scripture when he comes again First As a Bridegroom And so our Readiness consists in our Accepting him and Choosing him in such a Relation I have espoused you
having their Brother speedily Recover'd did not proceed from Unkindness or want of Affection tho' there was appearance of them No he bore the same Love unto a sick and dying Lazarus as if he had wrought a Miracle to prevent his Sickness and Death 'T were easie to enlarge upon this Head but I must proceed unto the III. And Principal Observable in the Text The Import and Sence of this Answer And if it be remembred that the Sickness of Lazarus was Mortal there will be found these two General Propositions contain'd in it I. The Sickness and Death of those who are the Friends of Christ do bring a peculiar Glory unto God and the Redeemer II. This one Consideration is sufficient to quiet and support the Followers of Christ under those sorrowful Providences I need not spend time to prove how evidently these Truths are contain'd in this Answer of Christ which though given in a particular Case yet carrieth such a general Instruction as reacheth unto Christians in all Ages of the World 'T is granted that there were singular Circumstances that attended the Sickness and Death of Lazarus and a most glorious Miracle was wrought in raising him from the Dead But notwithstanding there are other grounds which justifie the general Conclusions which are drawn from the words In which 't is manifest as has been observ'd our Lord design'd to quiet and ease the troubled Minds of Lazarus's Sisters who had now a sorrowful Prospect of losing a beloved Brother And in order to this he thought it enough without mentioning his miraculous Raising from the Dead only to inform them That the threatning Sickness of their Brother was for the glory of God and that the Son of God might be glorified thereby This one Consideration when it sinds due Entertainment in and hath a right Operation upon a believing Soul is able to still all the disquieting Motions that Sorrow and Fear have raised there I have not design'd a distinct handling of these Two Propositions 't will be as useful to joyn both together in a plain and instructive Method And therefore shall 1. Give a short Account of the Glory of God and Christ 2. Shew how the Sickness and Death of those who are the Friends of Christ does contribute unto it 3. On what Accounts the Consideration of this hath such a quieting and supporting Insluence upon a Christian and after ward draw some instructive Inferences from these memorable words As to the 1. The Nature of that Glory which belongs unto God and Christ On which I shall only make a very few Remarks because it may be hoped that few Christians are unacquainted with this common Subject Glory in its general Idea or Notion is nothing but some great Excellence manisested and acknowledged whence 't is that it makes so very strong an Impression upon Intelligent Creatures and the desire of it hath so universal an Influence More particularly 1. The Glory of God is the Manifestation of the great and adorable Excellencies which are in the Deity both absolutely and relatively considered When the Virtues as the Greek Expression is 1 Pet. 2.10 of God are shown forth so as to be acknowledg'd and esteemed by his Creatures When his inflexible Justice and spotless Purity his unsearchable Wisdom and infallible Truth his Almighty Power and inexhaustible Goodness do shine forth and are set in a just Light then the Glory of God appears in open view Numb 14.21 God sweareth that all the Earth should be filled with the Glory of the Lord because he intended to display his Justice and Holiness in punishing and consuming the murmuring Israelites Thus 't is said Psal 102.16 When the Lord buildeth up Zion he shall appear in his Glory because that Work would manifest the Power and Veracity of God 2. The Glory of Christ is the shewing forth that Excellence which belongs unto his Mediatory Office accordingly when he wrought his first Miracle at Cana he is said to have manifested forth his Glory Joh. 2.11 All the Evidences which bear Witness unto his Priestly or Regal or Teaching Offices do glorisie the Redeemer 2 Pet. 1.17 3. It must be remembred that the Glory of the Deity is distinct from that of the Redeemer yet they are never separated from much less opposed unto each other 'T is otherwise as to the Glory of God and of a Creature these do often disagree and clash against each other When Herod accepted an undue Honour from a flattering Crowd this took away the Honour that was due unto God Acts 12.23 but the Honour that is given unto Christ doth bring Glory unto God Joh. 17.1 These two are so inseparably joyn'd together that they can never be put asunder Let us now enquire 2. How the Sickness and Death of those who are the Friends of Christ do bring Glory unto God and the Redeemer While our Eye is sixt only upon the dark side or Supersicies of this Object we shall be tempted to put such a Question as once Nathanael did concerning Nazareth Joh 1.46 Can any good thing come from such Evil Can so barren a Soil produce such precious Fruit as the Glory of God Can this dark and dismal Cloud send forth such a refreshing Light At the first view it seems dishonourable unto God when these Bodies which are his Temples are demolish'd and laid in the Dust This I say seems a disparagement unto him who rais'd and dwelt in ' em When these pleasant Plants which stood in the Courts of God are overturn'd this seems a damage unto the Heavenly Husbandman But notwithstanding these Objections of Sense 't is undeniably true that the Sickness and Dissolution of Christians do really contribute unto the Glory of God and Christ The Evidences which confirm this do relate both unto those Christians who are remov'd by Death and unto those who survive 1. With respect unto the Dying Friends of Christ themselves Their Sickness and Death do many ways bring Glory unto God and the Redeemer 1. The Divine Veracity or Truth is glorified by executing the Primitive Sentence which hath been given against all the Posterity of fallen Adam Gen. 3.19 Dust thou art and unto Dust thou shalt return A peculiar Glory redounds unto God when these Declarations which signifie his Councel and Purpose are punctually accomplisht As on the contrary nothing is more dishonourable in its own Nature than Falshood which is counted even by Lyars themselves an intolerable Reproach Compare Num. 14. ver 21. with ver 35. The Death of every Christian doth seal unto the Truth of God 2. The Divine Holiness and hatred of Sin are honour'd by the Sickness and Death of those Christians who have provok'd the Anger of God though they die in Peace We have memorable Instances in Moses in Josiah and the Corinthian Christians some of whom were cut off by Death though not Condemned with the World 1 Cor. 11.30 32. Concerning Moses we read that by his unadvised Language he offended God At