acquittance Men said he speak evil of me but they are evil men that do so and an argument for us from an adversary is not to be neglected though wicked men curse the Saints while they live yet they shall bless and justifie them in the day of Visitation as the Apostle speaks 1. Either when pangs of conscience seize on them Or Secondly When they come to die as one said O that I might be Craesus living and Socrates dying Or as the Proverb is Let me live in Italy but let me die in Spain So Balaam though he lived the life of the wicked yet he loved the death of the righteous though men live Hypocrites yet they would die sincere though many live by a form of godliness yet they would fain die by the power Or Thirdly They shal respect and honor them at the Judgement-day Oh will Pharaoh say then that I were Moses Wil Cain say that I had been but suffering Abel Who would be a Rake-hell or a Ranter then when many of those that have been Judges shall be judged and the judged many of them I mean shall be Judges when Paul that once stood at the Bar shall sit on the Bench for the Apostle telleth us That the Saints shall judge the world That time is a coming though now the world judgeth the Saints and one Saint judgeth another that is shall be q. d. Coassessors with Christ at the last day consenting to and applauding of his Judgement of the world when the Judge shall say to the Cursers Go ye cursed the Saints shall say Amen Lord when Rabshekah shall be thrown down to Hell and Hezekiah taken up to Heaven Who would rise in that estate of wrath he was born lived and dyed in Those that now accuse the godly for dissemblers and Hypocrites will then publikely confess their sincerity Christians Be not discouraged in your more strict profession of Christianity it is no matter what now they say of you behinde your backs but what they shall be forced to speak of you to your faces at that day Fifthly Even the Spirit of God will bear a testimony to his works What though all men and Angels should condemn us now God himself will not condemn but acquit us as he hath a bottle for our tears so he hath a file for our Prayers and a Book for our Works Wicked men look on the infirmities of Gods people their mole-hills as mountains their motes as beams as sins of the greatest magnitude and on their own mountains and beams as mole-hills and motes Men are merciless in their censures but God hath more equitable scales and can give Grains of allowance to his Gold Even as God seemed to stand Neuter for a time while there was a dispute held between Job and his Friends concerning his integrity at length God steps from behinde the curtain and pleads his cause Who saith my servant Job is an Hypocrite you charge desperately on my servant but you have not spoke of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath done Job 42.7 Gods people oft in their temptations speak that against themselves that God never spake we are but Hypocrites we are cast out of Gods presence these miscarriages of ours have dissolved the Covenant between God and us are inconsistent with integrity or true Grace but God Revel 2.2 knows their works their patience their labors of love their gold notwithstanding some dross their sincerity amidst many failings and will make them known to themselves all the World at the last day the Lord will say concerning this and that man I know them to be cleansed by the blood of my Son however men have cast dust on them Others have surveyed their lives and seen some spots which they themselves have lamented and I know them to be Holy and to have feared my Name Now if God shall justifie who shall condemn at that day Fifthly and lastly Their works shall follow them in respect of a guerdon and reward In Scripture the word Work signifieth three things 1. The very act of Labor so Solomon tells us that in the Grave there is no wisdom no work that is no working for Heaven Eccles 9.10 2. For the effect of labor that which is wrought we call his work as well as the act of his labor thus the fire will try every mans work 1 Cor. 3.13 3. For the reward of a Christians Labor Work is taken for wages it is usual to put Prayer for the thing prayed for or for the thing obtained by Prayer so Hannah 1 Sa. 1.27 The Lord hath given me my petition that is The childe for which I did Petition It is usual to put sin for the reward or punishment of sin Gen. 4.13 My sin that is my punishment for sin is greater then I can bear so also its usual to put the work as for the reward of the work and that 1. In malo as Jer. 4.18 Thy way hath procured this unto thee this is thy wickedness that is this is the reward of thy wickedness 2. In bono as in my Text their works followed them that is the reward of their works they had done their work and now God rewards them through Grace Their works die not with them as Hortensius his labors did A cup of cold water shall be produced Matth. 25. They forget their good works When saw we thee an hungry or naked But Christ remembers them inasmuch as you did it to one of these little ones you did it unto me those that have done well shall have a well done those that have sown to the Spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life Glory and Honor and Peace shall be to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile if in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable as in Adam all dyed so in Christ shall all be made alive as sure as we are gracious so sure shall we be glorious as sure as Heaven enters into a man in this world so sure shall that man enter into Heaven in the world to come To be brief in this as certainly as now the Crown of immortality and Glory shines in the eyes of Gods people so certainly shall it one day sit gloriously on their heads It s easier to tell what Heaven is not then what it is We may talk of the greatness of our future reward but we shall never know the weight of that Crown till we have it on our heads the worth of that Livery till we have it on our backs the greatness of that Glory till it rest in and shine into our hearts The reward of good works shall be great Q. But why doth the Gospel chiefly mention or more apparantly note the reward of works of mercy pity and charity at the last day A. Upon four accompts 1. Because good works are the fruits of Faith There may be charity without Faith but there can
WORK REWARD OR THE TESTIMONIAL OF A BELIEVER FOR HIS Entrance into GLORY Examined and approved In a SERMON at the Interment of the Vertuous LADY Margaret St. John Wife to the Right Worshipful Sir Alexander St. John Septem the 3. 1656. By Francis Raworth Teacher to the Church at Shore-ditch London Printed by T. Maxey for John Rothwell at the Fountain in Goldsmiths-Row in Cheap-side 1656. To his Honored Friend The Right Worshipful Sir Alexander Saint John Honored Sir THe great Design of God in this World is to exercise man and the greatest interest of man is to glorifie God who hath provided the Touch-stone of his Word to try our hearts by and the Balance of his works to weigh our Lives in So much strength as we have in a day of temptation so strong we are and since Temptation is for our Probation we have as much cause to bless God for our support under Tryals as for our deliverance from tryals It is true Satan hath his Sieve and his aim is to seperate the Wheat from the Chaff to give life to our sins by the death of our Graces but God hath his Fan in his hand and his design is to seperate the Chaff from the Wheat to give life to our Graces by the death of our sins I must acknowledge That God hath lately put into your hands a bitter Cup to drink off in the decease of your Vertuous and Beloved Consort onely this I presume doth support you That your eyes are opened to see that it was of your Fathers mingling This affliction is a sharp Arrow but it is shot out of a sweet hand amara sagitta ex dulci manu Dei as the Father speaks How excellent a thing is it when Gods Rod is upon our backs to have our hands upon our mouthes and not to murmur While unbelief commenceth an Action against and complains of the heavy hand of God to the World for us to complain rather of our own evil hearts to God Your experience Sir I trust in Gods School hath acquainted you with the Equity of his Discipline and Pedagogy Oh! What an advantage have we over Satan when we understand the intent and and possess the fruit of every Cross when we can see our Lashes to be our Lessons our Corrections to be our Instructions our Crosses to be the Executioners of our Corruptions It was an Heavenly Prayer of him that said Lord I do not desire that the Burthen should be taken off but that I might have stronger shoulders to bear it And an Heroick Experience of him that said If any man would ride post to Heaven let him get up upon the Cross The truth is every affliction is Gods Messenger and every one of his Messengers have their Errand to deliver The Rod must be heard or the Word will never be felt Though all that are corrected are not Gods children yet all that are Gods children are corrected Afflictions are favors and therefore when God threatens that he will shew mercy no more he threatens that he will afflict no more Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone Lord rather let every gracious heart say let thine hand be laid on me then that I should be cast out of thy hand rather frown on me then that thou shouldst turn thy Face from and not look on me But the great Advantage of our tryal is to come here the Language of the rod is easie and plain but the Dialect of that Language is hard and difficult to be known conformity and self-denyal are indisputably the meaning of every blow but we are disposed to misconter Providence in Particular what God intends onely for our exercise we pretend is done out of his anger And therefore where the Text is obscure we must be wary in writing Cōmentaries we must take heed of turning his Reubarb into Ratsbane by reading wrath where God never wrote it There will come a time when God will interpret his own minde and satisfie us not onely in the Regularity and justice of his Rods but in the Reason and suitableness of them why we are almost burned and consumed while others were but singed why he drew so much blood from us more then from others that seemed more exorbitant God loves not to be stinging like the Bee he exhibits honey freely but he stings upon provocation his wisdom and our necessity weigh and prescribe every drop of gall that is put into our Cups and every lash of the Rod that is laid on our backs A Cordial is fitter for this man a Corrasive fitter for another Such a Christian will be wakned by the light of a Candle another stands in need of a Clap of Thunder How sweet is it to justifie God when he condemns us At last day we shall say The Lord knew our distemper and he let us blood in the principal Vein if we had not perished we had perished His Sun-shine melted us his Hammer brake us Blessed affliction that made us see more uglinesse and emptinesse in the Creature and more excellency in God that weaned our affections from the world and occasioned our more serious thoughts of Eternity It may satisfie us That God dealeth with his as the Persians I take it do with the offending children of their Princes they correct their Royal Garments in publick but let their Persons go free our Bodies are beaten and our Souls are bettered Here we must be polished by Tryals and hewn by Hammers and hereafter we shall be laid into Gods Building Nunc foris per flagella tundimur ut intus in Templum Domini disponamur Afflictions are the fruit of his Wisdom Repentance our fruit of his Afflictions The Lord grant that all our storms may drive us nigher to our Harbor I should humbly crave excuse for this freedom but that I know your Ingenuity and that your condition requireth support and as remembring that words spoken in season are like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver I am sorry of so sad an occasion of presenting this yet so seasonable a subject to you I request your acceptance of it the advantage whereof is the desire of Your worships much obliged to serve in the Lord F. R. From my Sudy in Shoreditch Decem. 20. 1656. Revel 14.13 And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them IN these Words we have two things The Work and the Reward of a Christian In the work of a Christian we have 1. Something Implyed It is supposed That those that die in the Lord do first live to the Lord For as it is impossible for one that lives well to die ill so it is impossible for one that lives ill to die well for on that to the last lives to the Divel to die to the Lord. 2. Something Expressed They are such as die in the Lord Some
Evagrius in Cedremus bequeathed 300 l. in his will to the poor but took a Bond of Synesius the Bishop for the payment of it in the other life the next night after his departure appeared to him in his shape delivered in the Bond cancell'd and fully discharged saying Take your Bond again I am satisfied Thirdly His perseverance will follow him It were better for a man never to set his hand to the plow then to look and to go backward better never to have begun in profession then to end in Apostacy Perseverance is the Crown of Grace because it is the Crowning Grace Perseverance is the Crown of Grace and Heaven is the Crown of Perseverance Praise the Marriner when he is arrived at his Harbor commend the Souldiers valour when he hath got the day and won the field Hold on and hold out Faith and Prayer said the Martyr Hold fast that which thou hast that no man take thy Crown saith the Lord Revel 3.11 How sweet will it be for a Believer to carry the testimony of his perseverance in his conscience to the last Assizes to have ground to say It 's true Lord I have had many infirmities many failings yet my heart was upright my heart did not lay hypocrisie at my door I confess I often stumbled I had almost faln many a time have I offended against thy glory before the World but oftner have I grieved thy gracious spirit in private yet through thy grace I have risen I have fought the good fight I have run my race and though I have many ways forsaken thee yet thou didst not forsake and take thy farewel of me thou didst pardon my sins and heal my soars We cannot but be shot at by Satan while we are besieged we get many a fall and bruise by the world lust scarce a Jacob that wrestleth with God but goeth limping yet where sin is a Tyrant not a King an enemy at our backs not a friend in our bosoms it wil not be charged on us so as to condemn so as to damn us What a comfortable sight is it to see a Christian to contend against flesh blood in this world to ruine with Christ rather then to reign with Caesar to march out of the Battle though wounded and maimed yet with his colours flying to the Grave If they be blessed that die in how blessed are they that moreover die for the Lord Mori pro Domino Martyrum est in Domino confessorum Bern. Beatus est Petrus qui cruciatur nec minus beatus est Johannes qui in Lecto moritur Aret. in Loc. Fourthly His works follow him in respect of Testimonies ad extra and so his works shall finde a probation 1. From the good Angels As they are Gods Messengers to us so they are our witnesses to God the tears of repenting sinners are the wine of Angels they rejoyce in therefore they must needs observe the conversion of sinners Many Actions done out of the view of men are yet within the cognizance of Angels The good Angels shall give in their testimony against the wicked and for the righteous such an one Lord was a Blasphemer a Drunkard we can witness to it we have heard him swear we have seen him drunk but such and such were attenders upon Gospel Ordinances were given to Prayer and Meditation to Repentance and good works and as far as we can judge were not onely Professors of sincerity but sincere Professors were not onely called Saints Saints by calling but Saints indeed by Dedication and Infusion not onely called Christians but Christians as they were called Zech. 1.10 2. His works shall finde a probation from the very Divels As at the great day in some things the godly shall acquit the Divels for the Divels are not always guilty when we are filthy we often paint the Divels blacker then they are to make our selves whiter then we are and give them their due so in some things the Divels as very Divels as now they are shall acquit the godly God q. d. will then say to Satan as one of old Satan hast thou considered my servants Job David and Peter and Satan that accused them while living shall then as it were justifie them Wisdom is too often condemned by her children here but Wisdom shall be justified by her enemies hereafter Providence will extort this confession from Divels true Lord they were great sinners but we cannot deny the truth of their repentance and we did often tempt them when yet they were not overcome Thus Religion shall be cleared not onely by Divelish men but by Divels The Divels will then testifie that wherein Gods servants failed it was much because of their snares that such and such of Gods children had lived more comfortably but that they tempted them to dispair had lived more righteously but that they tempted them to scandal had done more work for God in his vineyard but that they disquieted and hindred them Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you said the evil Spirit in the Acts. Thirdly He hath a testimony of his good works from good men Religion is now made a party by too too many and men became of an opinion not to serve God but to get Votes for their reputation O what a refuge is it for the Hypocrite to flie to the applause and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Gods people to cry up others for their Heavenly-mindedness that the Heavenly-minded indeed might not cry out against them for worldly-mindedness not but that the good opinion of good men is considerable but in se and separated from goodness of practise in our selves it s but the varnish of Hypocrisie As the evil Opinion of an evil man maketh not a good man evil so the good Opinion of a good man maketh not an evil man good yet as God is the witness of our heart so good men are the witnesses of our lives The Rabbies have a fine Proverb That he that doth a good work bonum opus gets to himself against the last day Advocatum an Advocate and so many good works so many Advocates but Christ is our Advocate but he that continues so many evil works as he doth so many Divels or so many Accusers he procures against himself in Judgement Good men will then testifie one for another when Justice shall enquire what such and such were not that God needs mans testimony but to speak to conscience and according to the substance of the process at that day the righteous shall answer Lord since we are called to be witnesses we must needs say That while such were a blaspheming thy name a scoffing at thy people we knew them to be Blasphemers and Scoffers these and these of thy people were a praying a hearing of thy Oracles a mourning for sin they and we did comfortably and often serve the Lord together Fourthly They shall have a probation from evil men Their accusation is not so considerable as their
not suffer him to go in with him So in a sense Faith guards us to Heaven Gates and when it hath done its office there it leaves us Faith follows a Christian as the shadow doth the Sun from one point of the Compass or Dyal to another until it comes to the Miridian and there it leaves it but love is a Royal Grace an Heavenly Peer with State and Majesty it enters into Glory and dwells with the King of Glory himself to all Eternity As Dr. Preston said when a dying I shall change my place but not my company his Graces followed him Thirdly Their Works follow them in respect of the comfort of them as the wicked onely leave their duties behinde them and carry their sins with them so the godly leave their sins behinde them and carry their graces with them they put off their garments when they go to bed And here 1. After death a childe of God is comforted with the success of his works How comfortable at the last day will it be for a Master of a Family to present his servants at the Tribunal Bar before the Lord and to say Lord Here am I and my servants with me that not onely wear my Livery but also obeyed thy commands For the Ministers of the Gospel that have been faithful to present their flocks before the great Bishop and Shepheard of souls and to say Here are the purchase of thy blood the travail of our souls the fruit of our labors and tears As the Ancient sweetly brings in the Apostles like so many File-leaders severally bringing up their Converts to the Judgement-Seat Peter attended with the converted Jews John leading up the Asiatiques Thomas the Indians and Paul the Gentiles Et nos hic Pastores vocati sumus ibi greges non ducemus And it is the perswasion of many great Divines That the spiritual Fathers in Christ shall know their children in Christ at that day Their success will advantage their comfort and therefore it is part of our duty to labor for success though it must be acknowledged that God rewards us not according to the success of our labors properly but according to our labors for success Let none be discouraged that their faithful works have not their success with men for as the good Physician always heals not so the good Preacher always converts not The success of our labors is his work not ours and God rewards us not according to his own work simply and abstractly taken by the leave of that yet true and famous affirmation God crowns his own works in us but according to our works He shall give to every man according to his works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we had better have one work writ in Heaven then a thousand on Earth and though men may forget labors of love on earth yet the comfort is they shal be reminded rewarded by Christ in heaven those that convert souls and run like stars on Earth shall at last be Crowned and shine like stars in Heaven Dan. 12.3 4. 2. After death a childe of God shall be comforted with the Testimony of his Conscience And thus 1. His Integrity shall follow or accompany him Miserable is he whose conscience condemns him though all the world acquit him but thrice happy is he whose conscience acquits him though all the world accuse him A man may have hypocrisie in him and yet be no Hypocrite he may slumber and sleep with the foolish Virgins yet be no foolish Virgin while we are on this side our Fathers house we cannot but trip and stumble though we keep the way while we are on this side Paradice we cannot behold a Pomgranate that hath no rotten grain in it This may support that if we bring our Graces to the Touch-stone the Lord himself will never bring them to the Balance the charge of Hypocrisie is familiar and easie the proof is laborious and hard We are not made Lord Judges of mens Consciences and therefore notwithstanding private suspitions we must forbear and refer the censure of the full and final estate of man to God It s the work of God to discover Hypocrites not of man while a man goes about to discover an Hypocrite let him beware lest in seeking to finde out one he discover two the searched and the searcher Quam immensa est laetitia de recordatione transacti operis Possibly it may be said concerning many Christians who never studied to be conformable to the Critical Religion of the World as it was said of Father Paul the Venetian because men knew not how to convince him either in his Profession or Life they had onely this common plea against him That he was an Hypocrite But what a testimony will Samuel bring with him at that day to say in the audience of Men and Angels Whose Ox have I stoln For blessed Paul to manifest at that day This is the testimony of my conscience that in godly simplicity I have behaved my self in the world My Beloved get a good conscience for that is a thousand witnesses and a thousand witnesses will not at that day be so good as a good conscience How amiable will the face of true Grace be then How abominable will the vizor and counterfeit be 2. His Charity and Love shall witness for him Many have no greater sensible evidence of their loving Christ then by the love they bear to his servants that wear his Livery to his Children that bear his Image But then the scruples of the upright shall be dissolved resolved and they shall not need so to puzle their brains to finde the love of the Brethren in their hearts How refreshing will it be then for a Believer to have occasion to say by way of Praise and Testimony the Lord gave me the loaf and I grudged not to give others the crums God made my cup full and I made it to run over for the relief of others It will I am sure it will be more comfortable for a man to say I have been good and I have done good in the World then to say I had all the goods of the World Good works are a Treasure and will follow you good and cordial Prayers are a Treasure and they will go before you and Faith and Hope are a Treasure and they will go with you It is strange to consider how many bad words men have for good works as if to be charitable were to be Popishly affected but if charity be Antichristianism Christ is the Pope and Rome is at Jerusalem Rev. 14.13 Acts 7.59 Luke 23.43 Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Luke 16.9 Not by way of merit but by way of concomitancy every acting of every Grace will stand us in stead a charitable act as well as a repenting act Quicquid pauperibus spargimus nobis colligimus I shall not impose on your belief But it is reported that
their Estates their Gold behinde them but they shall carry their oppression their guilt with them they shall lie down in their sins and their sins shall rise with them their sins shall go into Hell with them and there stare them in the face here a Regiment of Oathes on the one hand there a Regiment of Lies on the other hand Happy would the wicked be that they could go naked out of this World as free from their sins as of their riches If men shall be condemned for idle words much more for ill works How many will then wish their Blasphemies against the Mediator unprinted and their slanderous Libels against men unpublished to the World when God himself shall read a black Bill or Indictment against them out of every line they wrote and make every Volumn a Fagot to burn and torment them withal and the more Proselites men have gained to their damnable Errors the more additions of Wrath they shall have to all Eternity As Christ said Can men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles So comparing Works to Trees Rewards to Fruits Consider Will thy gall and wormwood ever make pleasant Drink These wilde and sowre Grapes ever yield sweet Wine This ignorance this impenitency these vulgar Oathes and wanton dalliances are these the seed-plot of Heaven the foundation upon which I build my salvation No no my soul as thou brewest so thou must drink as thou sowest so thou must reap Alass how unfruitful have I been in good works how fruitful in evil whilest others have been a praying wretched I have been a cursing while others have spent their time in gathering of Manna to feed their souls I have been gathering of sticks to burn my soul withal I had a season to go into Gods Vineyard the Spirit called Conscience called Providence called but I was idle but I was evil How can I that have so long stood idle and O that I had onely been idle and done nothing look for the peny or that have refused to mortifie a last look for a Crown or for the Harvest of Glory that have neglected my seed time Can I think to finde the living among the dead the Tree of Life out of Paradice Heaven in Hell O that either my works had been according to my profession or my profession according to my works Aut professio secundum opera aut opera secundum professionem When the Saints die they rest from their labors and their works follow them through Free-grace in glorious rewards When the wicked dye they rest from their labours too but their works follow them through Divine Justice into everlasting punishment Thus many may everlastingly rest from their troubles in this world and when they have done so go into a world of everlasting troubles Opera sequuntur bonos persequuntur malos Omnia mala mali secum portant Secondly As it reproves evil so also Idle workers Ah Christians How ready are we to neglect our Watch to give over our Worke to make the affaires of this world our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our main work and the affaires of Heaven our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things by the by Volumus assequi Christum sed non sequi how do we set our affections on things Temporal while wee neglect the things that are Eternal Are we by nature Children of wrath have we seasons offered us for reconciliation and shall we neglect our Souls Pretend the world against God and desperately venture our Salvation upon an Arbritary God upon an it may be we may be saved Do we know already that they that dye in sinnes shall forever live in everlasting burnings and shall we dare live in sinne and goe out of the world in that same state of enmity against God with which we came into this world Is heaven a Kingdome and have we no violence to offer for it Will this be a sufficient Apology for any man to say at last day Lord I never opposed thy wayes when I did not professe them I did not despise the offers of grace though I did neglect them Have you any greater work to do in the world then to looke after the glorifying of God and the salvation of your souls I must acknowledge that in the first work of Grace we are rather Passive than Active for ut Deus operatur in nobis ut accedamus ita operatur ne decedamus and that without the influence of Omnipotency wee can doe nothing but undoe our selves and that when wee have done all wee can wee must say not in a Jesuitical Complement but really we are unprofitable servants yet our impotency contracted and nourished by our selves excuseth not but aggravates our weakness though we can't create the breath of the Spirit yet cannot we hang out our sails to entertain it though we cannot make the Pool of Bethesdah the ordinances of God effectual for our cure yet cannot we come and lay our selves at the Pool to wait the motion of the Angel Is it not our duty to pray for as well as to pray in the Spirit Because God worketh in us both to will and to do shall we therefore sit still and not work out our salvation with fear and trembling might not we have done more for our souls then we have done Doth God compel us to run to a Tavern when we should go to Church Is it no burthen to be a Pack-horse and Drudge to the Divel and yet it is a burthen to be a servant a free-man a Son of God Will it not be a greater trouble to suffer hereafter the will of God Go ye cursed then now it is to do his will Believe and repent Non posse pretendiditur cum nolle est in causa My Beloved No work no reward no holiness no Heaven roundly and plainly as 't was said in another case either turn or burn Do and live is Evangelical Language as well as Legal Do on Earth or suffer in Hell Finde out a new Heaven if you can for you shall never finde out a new way to the old if ever you go before to Heaven your works must follow you Si non vertamus verba in opera Deus vertet verba in verbera If we turn not our words into works God will turn our words into blows It was the trouble of a Martyr when he was led to the stake that he was now going to that place where he should receive wages but do no work Vse 4. Is for comfort to the godly and holy Your works of goodness shall follow you not your sins Pharaoh followed Israel to the Red-sea and there he left them the Pilot follows the Merchant-man to the Harbors mouth and there leaves him That busie Divil that now prosecutes you from one Ordinance to another with his temptations that envious World that now persecutes you from one place to another with reproaches and revilings shall then prosecute and persecute you no more farewell troubles and tryals farewell hardness of heart
and unprofitableness under the means of Grace and that for ever Remember Christians that Death that is a Trap door to let some down into hell shall be a Portal or Gate to let you into heaven That that stroke of the King of terrors that shall separate your souls from your bodies shall separate sin likewise from you souls Your sorrowes now are mixt with your joyes your darknesse with your light you have indeed some rest while you labour how full then will your rest be when you shall rest from your labours and work no more this is your day of working hereafter is your day of rewarding this is your seed-time hereafter is your harvest Si Deus tam bonus sequentibus quam bonus fuerit consequentibus though here you sigh and mourn yet hereafter you shall sing and rejoyce though here you are as Pearles hid in and besmeared with durt yet hereafter you shall shine as the Sun Then you shall see the fruit of the travels of your souls then you shall not repent of your mortification and repentance Then finally will it appear that that man is happier that hath had Saint Pauls Coat with his heavenly graces then the Purple Robes of Princes with all their Kingdomes Fifthly By way of Advice to all That they may so carry themselves while they live that their works may gloriously follow them when they die To which purpose First Bee importunate at the Throne of Grace that ye may be made the workmanship of God which you must be before you can do the work of God Fiamus opus Dei ut facimus opus Dei your natures must be renewed before you can doe new actions A bad man can never Theologically do good works morally he may but he that doth a moral work only shall have a moral reward only as the wheele turns round not to the end it may be made round But on the contrary as the stemms must first be grafted on the stock before they can bring forth fruit so we must be Branches in Christ united to and made one with him before we can be fruitful in good works The Church in the Canticles is described no where by the beauty of her hands or fingers though oft by the beauty of other parts of her body because a Christian should abound in good works and yet in silence without boasting Or Secondly because it is Christ alone that works all our works in us and Grace is not our Creature but the manufacture of Christ Bona opera non praecedunt Justificandum sed sequntur Justificatum Secondly If you would have your good works to follow you send them before you Now Repent now Believe and hereafter you shall have the reward of your Repentance and of your Faith and as for Charity part with that you cannot keep that you may obtain that you cannot lose When the world shall leave you your good works shall follow you your gracious actions your good works are an inexhaustible fountain that shall never be dryed up a durable spring that shall never fail they are acts of time short in performance yet eternal in their recompence Non transeunt opera nostra sicut transire videntur sed velut aeternitatis semina jaciuntur Though they are sown in this world they shall spring in the next that which you lay out for Christ on earth you lay up for your selves in Heaven the hand of the poor is the Treasury the Gazophylacium of Christ and by charity in a Gospel sense you make your Maker your Debter and surely if thou be the Creditor of the Almighty it will not be long ere he come out of thy Books How foolish are they that fear to lose their wealth by giving it and fear not to lose themselves by keeping it He that lays up his Gold may be a good Jailor but he that lays it out is a good steward Merchants traffick thither with a commodity where 't is precious in regard of scarcity We do not buy Wines in England to carry them to France Spices in France to carry them to the Indies so for labor and work repentance and mortification there is none of them in Heaven there is Peace and Glory and the favor of God indeed Their works in my Text go with them they dare not go without their fraught A Merchant without his Commodity hath but a sorry wellcome God will ask men that arrive at Heaven Gates ubi opera Rev. 22.12 His reward shall be according to our works Thou hast riches here and here be objects that need thy riches the poor in Heaven there are riches enough but no poor therefore by faith in Christ make over to them thy monies in this world that by Bill of Exchange thou mayest receive it in the world to come that onely you carry with you which you send before you Do good while it is in your power relieve the oppressed succor the fatherless while your Estates are your own when you are dead your riches belong to others one light carryed before a man is more serviceable then twenty carryed after him In your compassion to the distressed or for pious uses let your hands be your Executors and your eyes your Overseers and that I may not be mistaken let your Charity have these two Qualifications 1. Let your works be done in Faith as without works we cannot profit men so without Faith we cannot please God we must be marryed to Christ or our children are not Legitimate our works are not right All our surviving out of the Ark will not save us from the deluge of Gods wrath As Isaac said to Abraham Father here is the Altar and the wood but where is the sacrifice so at last day when you shall knock at Gods door and seek to enter and hold up your Lamps and cry Lord we are Virgins we are Christians we were hospitable and charitable according to thy command let our neighbors be witnesses of our good works but will the Lord reply True here are your duties and your works but where is my grace of Faith Are these a satisfaction to my Justice where is my Benjamin the righteousness of my Son to plead for you My Beloved There seems to be less glory in Faith then in any other Grace it seemed but a sorry Grace a Grace of no great vertue Holiness is acceptable because it honors God Charity is noble because it profits men Thankfulness is melodious because its the tune of Angels Other works seem to make God a Debter to give as it were something to God but ad quid fides What is Faith good for Yes it is good for every good purpose it s the root of all the Graces it s the richest Grace because its the inriching Grace if Faith go before Works will follow Vbi Christus non est boni operis fundamentum ibi nullum est bonum aedificium 2. As works of Charity must be qualified with Faith or else our haec ego