safely trust the worth of their Souls and the weight of Eternity with him who has said he will never leave them nor forsake them Besides the Promise of a Reward to the obedient Children of God is secur'd not only by his Fidelity but the declar'd Equity of his Proceedings in his final Judgment 'T is a Regality invested in the Crown of Heaven to dispense Rewards Whoever comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him His Being and rewarding Bounty are the Foundations of Religion 'T is true such is the Distance between God and the Creature and the eternal Obligations of it to God that it can challenge nothing from God as due to its Merit Justice unqualified with Bounty and Clemency owes nothing to the most excellent Obedience of the Creature tho innocent But since the Fall our best Works are defective and defiled and want Pardon and our heaviest Sufferings are but light in the Ballance against the exceeding Weight of Glory But the Apostle tells the Thessalonians It is a righteous thing with God to recompense Tribulation to them who trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us Consider them in the Comparison 'T is becoming his governing Justice to punish the unrighteous Persecutors and reward his faithful Servants who suffer for his Glory Now the present Life is the Day for our Work as our Saviour saith I must do the Work of him that sent me while 't is called to Day And at Death the Spirit returns to God that gave it in order to Judgment either fatal or favourable according to the tenor of Mens good Works and the desert of their bad The Promise is to them who by patient continuance in wel-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality they shall obtain eternal Life Our Saviour encourages his suffering Servants Be faithful to the Death and I will give you the Crown of Life The compleat Reward is reserved to the great Day of universal Recompences when the Sons of God by Regeneration shall be the Sons of a glorious Resurrection But the righteous Judg will give a present Reward at the end of the Day to all that with unfainting Perseverance have perform'd his Work Our Saviour tells us that all who wrought in the Vineyard receiv'd their Rewards in the last Hour of the Day The Parallel is instructive that when the Night of Death comes the Reward will be dispens'd There is a Law recorded concerning the paying Wages to those who were hir'd that it should be in the end of the Day that it should not be detain'd all Night with thee until the Morning The Allusion is very congruous that God will fulfil his own Law to his Sons that serve him The Reward shall not abide with him the long dark Interval the Night wherein their Bodies sleep in the Grave till the Morning of the Resurrection Our Saviour promised the dying Penitent To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The End of our Faith is immediately attended with the Salvation of the Soul The Labour of Faith being finish'd is productive of the beatifick Vision in the State of Light and Glory The Sum is That the Children of God who have by constant Conversation sincerely endeavoured to please and glorify him may with an entire Resignation commit their Souls to his Hands as if an Angel were sent from Heaven to them in their dying Agonies with the comfortable Message that they should presently be with God 3. The Divine Power in conjunction with Love and Truth is the Foundation of our secure dependance upon God in our last Hours This Consideration is absolutely necessary for our sure Trust For Love without Power is ineffectual and Power without Love of no comfortable Advantage to us The Apostle gives this reason of his chearful and couragious Sufferings in the Service of God For I know in whom I have believed and am perswaded he is able to keep what I have committed to him till that Day His Faith respected the Promises of God concerning his Salvation which are infinitely sure the Divine Power being alsufficient to fulfil them The precious Depositum that is committed to his dear Care he can and will preserve inviolate The Father of sincere Believers is the Lord of Heaven and Earth who by his Word without the least strain of his Power made the World and preserves it from falling into Confusion 'T is the Essence of Faith to assure us of God's Almighty Mercy to all that have the true Characters of his Children that are qualified for his Salvation Our Redeemer joins the two Relations of our Father and our God the gracious and the glorious Relation are inseparable Now the Love of our heavenly Father engages the Power of our God that we shall want nothing to secure our Happiness that is within the object of Omnipotence I shall insist no further upon the Consideration of the Divine Power because it will return under some of the following Heads of Discourse II. The Blessedness of this Privilege is to be unfolded This will appear by considering First What is the Depositum the Thing that is intrusted in God's Hands Secondly What is implied in his receiving of it In answer to the first 'T is the Soul the more excellent and immortal Part of Man that is commended to God's keeping 1. ' T is our more excellent Part in its Nature and Capacity Man is a compounded Creature of a Body and a Soul the Body in its Original and Resolution is Earth the Soul is of a divine Descent a spiritual Substance and in the Nobility and Perfections of its Nature but a little lower than the Angels 't is the vile Body but the precious Soul In its Capacity it incomparably excels the Body for the Body lives moves in the low Region of the Senses that are common with the Worms of the Earth but the Soul in its Understanding and Desires is capable of Communion with the blessed God of Grace and Glory From hence it is that the whole World can't make one Man happy for the Ingredients of true and compleat Happiness are the Perfection and Satisfaction of the Soul The Apostle tells us The less is blessed of the greater Can the World bring Perfection to Man that is so incomparably short of his Imperfection Our Saviour assures us the Gain of the whole World cannot recompense the Loss of one Soul There is a vast Circuit in our Desires and all the Lines terminate in the Centre of Blessedness Can the World give sincere Satisfaction to them Solomon who was as rich and high as the World could make him has left an everlasting Testimony of the Vanity of transient Things from his experimental Observation and the Direction of the Holy Spirit So he begins and ends his Sermon Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity so vain and vexing that we shall not only be weary of them
Lord Chancellor the Earl of Clarendon I shall onely observe that in reading the several parts of the Declaration Dr. Morley was the principal manager of the Conference among the Bishops and Mr. Baxter among the Ministers and one particular I cannot forget it was desir'd by the Ministers that the Bishops should exercise their Church Power with the counsel and consent of Presbyters This limiting of their Authority was so displeasing that Dr. Cosins then elect of Durham said If your Majesty grants this you will Unbishop your Bishops Dr. Reynolds upon this produced the Book entituled The Portraicture of his Sacred Majesty in his Solitude and Sufferings and read the following Passage Not that I am against the managing of this Presidency and Authority in One Man by the joint Counsel and Consent of many Presbyters I have offer'd to restore that as a fit means to avoid those Errors Corruptions and Partialities which are incident to any One Man also to avoid Tyranny which becomes no Christians least of all Church-men Besides it will be a means to take away that burthen and odium of affairs which may lie too heavy on one Man's shoulders as indeed I think it did formerly on the Bishops here The good Doctor thought that the Judgment of the King 's afflicted and inquiring Father would have been of great moment to incline him to that temperament but the King presently replied All that is in that Book is not Gospel My Lord Chancellor prudently moderated in that matter that the Bishops in weighty Causes should have the assistance of the Presbyters Mr. Baxter considering the state of our affairs in that time was well pleased with that Declaration He was of Calvin's mind who judiciously observes upon our Saviour's words That the Son of Man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend Qui ad extirpandum quicquid displicet praepostere festinant antevertant Christi judicium ereptum Angelis officium sibi temere usurpant They that make too much haste to redress at once all things that are amiss anticipate the Judgment of Christ and rashly usurp the Office of the Angels Besides that Declaration granted such a freedom to Conscientious Ministers that were unsatisfied as to the Old Conformity that if it had been observed it had prevented the dolefull Division succeeded afterward But when there was a motion made in the House of Commons that the Declaration might pass into an Act it was oppos'd by one of the Secretarys of State which was a sufficient Indication of the King's averseness to it After the Declaration there were many Conferences at the Savoy between the Bishops and some Doctors of their Party with Mr. Baxter and some other Ministers for an Agreement wherein his Zeal for Peace was most conspicuous but all was in vain Of the Particulars that were debated he has given an account in Print Mr. Baxter after his coming to London during the time of Liberty did not neglect that which was the principal Exercise of his Life the preaching the Gospel being always sensible of his duty of saving Souls He Preacht at St. Dunstans on the Lord's-days in the Afternoon I remember one instance of his firm Faith in the Divine Providence and his Fortitude when he was engaged in his Ministry there The Church was Old and the People were apprehensive of some danger in meeting in it and while Mr. Baxter was Preaching something in the Steeple fell down and the noise struck such a terror into the People they presently in a wild disorder run out of the Church their eagerness to haste away put all into a tumult Mr. Baxter without visible disturbance sat down in the Pulpit after the hurry was over he resum'd his Discourse and said to compose their Minds We are in the Service of God to prepare our selves that we may be fearless at the great noise of the dissolving World when the Heavens shall pass away and the Elements melt in fervent heat the Earth also and the Works therein shall be burnt up After the Church of St. Dunstans was pull'd down in order to its re-building he removed to Black-Fryars and continued his preaching there to a vast Concourse of Hearers till the fatal Bartholomew In the Year 1661 a Parliament was call'd wherein was past the Act of Uniformity that expell'd from their publick Places about two thousand Ministers I will onely take notice concerning the Causes of that Proceeding that the Old Clergy from Wrath and Revenge and the young Gentry from their servile Compliance with the Court and their Distaste of serious Religion were very active to carry on and compleat that Act. That this is no rash Imputation upon the ruling Clergy then is evident not onely from their Concurrence in passing that Law for Actions have a Language as convincing as that of Words but from Dr. Sheldon then Bishop of London their great Leader who when the Lord Chamberlain Manchester told the King while the Act of Uniformity was under debate that he was afraid the Terms of it were so rigid that many of the Ministers would not comply with it he replyed I am afraid they will This Act was past after the King had engaged his Faith and Honour in his Declaration from Breda to preserve the Liberty of Conscience inviolate which promise open'd the way for his Restoratâ—on and after the Royalists here had given publick Assurance that all former Animosities should be buried as Rubbish under the Foundation of a Vniversal Concord Mr. Baxter was involv'd with so many Ministers in this Calamity who was their brightest Ornament and the best Defence of their righteous though oppressed Cause Two Observations he made upon that Act and our Ejection The one was that the Ministers were turned and kept out from the publick Exercise of their Office in that time of their Lives that was most fit to be dedicated end employed for the Service and Glory of God that is between thirty and sixty Years when their intellectual and instrumental Faculties were in their Vigour The other was in a Letter to me after the Death of several Bishops who were concurrent in passing that Act and exprest no Sorrow for it his words were for ought I see the Bishops will own the turning of us out at the Tribunal of Christ and thither we appeal After the Act of Uniformity had taken its effect in the Ejection of so many Ministers there was sometimes a Connivance at the private Exercise of their Ministry sometime publick Indulgence granted and often a severe Prosecution of them as the Popish and Politick Interest of the Court varied When there was Liberty Mr. Baxter applyed himself to his delightful Work to the great Advantage of those who enjoyed his Ministry But the Church-Party oppos'd vehemently the Liberty that was granted Indeed such was their Fierceness that if the Dissenting Ministers had been as wise as Serpents and as innocent as Doves they could not
were subservient to this blessed End It was his Meat and Drink the Life and Joy of his Life to doe good to Souls His Industry was almost incredible in his Studies he had a sensitive nature desirous of ease as others have and saint Faculties yet such was the continual Application of himself to his great Work as if the Labour of one Day had supplyed strength for another and the willingness of the Spirit had supported the Weakness of the Flesh. In his usual Conversation his serious frequent and delightfull Discourse was of Divine things to inflame his Friends with the Love of Heaven He received with tender Compassion and condescending Kindness the meanest that came to him for Councel and Consolation He gave in one year a hundred Pounds to buy Bibles for the poor He has in his Will dispos'd of all that remains of his Estate after the Legacies to his Kindred for the benefit of the Souls and Bodies of the Poor He continued to preach so long notwithstanding his wasted languishing Body that the last time he almost died in the Pulpit It would have been his joy to have been transfigured in the Mount Not long after his last Sermon he felt the Approaches of Death and was confin'd to his sick Bed Death reveals the Secrets of the Heart then words are spoken with most feeling and least Affectation This excellent Saint was the same in his Life and Death his last Hours were spent in preparing others and himself to appear before God He said to his Friends that visited him You come hither to learn to dye I am not the onely Person that must go this way I can assure you that your whole Life be it never so long is little enough to prepare for Death Have a care of this vain deceitful World and the Lusts of the Flesh be sure you choose God for your portion Heaven for your home God's Glory for your end His word for your rule and then you need never fear but we shall meet with Comfort Never was a Sinner more humble and debasing himself never was a sincere Believer more calm and comfortable He acknowledged himself to be the vilest Dunghilworm 't was his usual Expression that ever went to Heaven He admir'd the Divine Condescension to us often saying Lord what is Man what am I vile Worm to the great God Many times he prayed God be merciful to me a Sinner and blessed God that that was left upon record in the Gospel as an effectual Prayer He said God may justly condemn me for the best Duty I ever did and all my hopes are from the free Mercy of God in Christ which he often prayed for After a slumber he wak'd and said I shall rest from my Labour a Minister then present said And your Works follow you to whom he replyed No Works I will leave out Works if God will grant me the other When a Friend was comforting him with the remembrance of the good many had received by his preaching and Writings he said I was but a Pen in God's hand and what praise is due to a Pen. His resign'd Submission to the Will of God in his sharp Sickness was eminent When extremity of pain constrain'd him earnestly to pray to God for his release by Death he would check himself It is not fit for me to prescribe and said when thou wilt what thou wilt how thou wilt Being in great Anguish he said O how unsearchable are his ways and his paths past finding out the reaches of his Providence we cannot fathom and to his Friends Do not think the worse of Religion for what you see me suffer Being often ask'd by his Friends how it was with his inward Man he replied I bless God I have a well-grounded Assurance of my Eternal Happiness and great Peace and Comfort within but it was his trouble he could not triumphantly express it by reason of his extreme pains He said Flesh must perish and we must feel the perishing of it and that though his Judgment submitted yet sense would still make him groan Being asked by a Person of Quality whether he had not great Joy from his believing Apprehensions of the invisible State he replied What else think you Christianity serves for He said The Consideration of the Deity in his Glory and Greatness was too high for our Thoughts but the Consideration of the Son of God in our Nature and of the Saints in Heaven whom he knew and loved did much sweeten and familiarize Heaven to him The description of Heaven in the 12. to the Heb. and the 22. was most comfortable to him That he was going to the innumerable company of Angels and to the general Assembly and Church of the first-born whose Names are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect And to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than the blood of Abel That Scripture he said deserved a thousand thousand thoughts He said O how comfortable is that promise Eye has not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of Man to conceive the things God hath laid up for those who love him At another time he said That he found great comfort and sweetness in repeating the words of the Lord's Prayer and was sorry that some good people were prejudiced against the use of it for there were all necessary Petitions for Soul and Body contain'd in it At other times he gave excellent Counsel to young Ministers that visited him and earnestly prayed to God to bless their labours and make them very successfull in Converting many Souls to Christ And express'd great joy in the hopes that God would do a great deal of good by them and that they were of moderate peacefull Spirits He did often pray that God would be mercifull to this miserable distracted World and that he would preserve his Church and Interest in it He advis'd his Friends to beware of self-conceitedness as a Sin that was likely to ruine this Nation and said I have written a Book against it which I am afraid has done little good Being askd whether he had alter'd his mind in Controversial Points he said Those that please may know my mind in my Writings and what he had done was not for his own Reputation but the Glory of God I went to him with a very worthy Friend Mr. Mather of New-England the day before he died and speaking some comforting Words to him he replyed I have pain there is no arguing against sense but I have peace I have peace I told him you are now approaching to your long-desir'd home he answer'd I believe I believe He said to Mr. Mather I bless God that you have accomplisht your business the Lord prolong your Life He exprest a great willingness to dye and during his Sickness when the Question was ask'd how he did his reply was almost well