expected that he should communicate it to any of the Sons of men because it is not at all necessary that they should know it but believe it and walk by Faith and Works and labour in the Vineyard till the Son of man cometh Of that day and hour knoweth no man 〈◊〉 13.32 â—â— c. no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son as man only but the Father Take ye heed watch and pray for ye know not when the time is c. Verses 35 36. When ever he cometh Rev. 3.3 it will be by way of surprize to many So he told the Church of Sardis If thou wilt not watch I will come on thee as a Thief and thou shalt not know when I will come upon thee The Thief comes when the Master of the House least expects him in the dead and solitary time of the night when all the Inhabitants are asleep Such will be the coming of the Son of Man who a little before my Text represents it by the coming of the great Deluge in the days of Noah or as the Fire and Brimstone came upon the Cities of Sodom and Gemorrah as Thro's and Pangs come upon a Woman with Child As a Snare shall it come upon all that dwell upon the face of the Earth Now when a Fowler layeth a Snare to take a Bird he gives no warning but surprizeth it suddenly even so will the Judge of all the world come upon the generality of men when they promise themselves peace and security and walk at ease and think of nothing but plenty and pleasure of laying House to House and Field to Field of Mansions and Manors of reigning as Kings on the Earth and of Lording it over their fellow servants Behold the Judge standeth at the door ready to surprize them when they are most secure And this may be our case if we keep not up our watch If therefore the Kingdom of Heaven be worth securing and the salvation of your souls be dear and precious to you 't is both your wisdom and your interest speedily and without delays to set upon this necessary and glorious work For it is no easy matter to obtain Heaven and Happiness neither is it the work of a few spare minutes to shake off evil habits and to attire the Soul with divine Graces and Vertues that it may appear without spot or wrinkle in the Bridegrooms presence Be not deceived it is not a few penitential tears in the time of Sickness and last Visitation that can purge the soul from the pollution of Sin which it hath been contracting many years or change its temper and in a moment put it into a readiness for a future state It is not safe for us to run so great a hazard we are not sure that we shall dye deliberately and by slow degrees But suppose that a fore going Sickness should by little and little weaken the powers of Nature the Devil will then be very busy in tempting us and the Flesh unable to bear the burden of Sickness and sink under the groans of expiring Nature If we have then our great work to do our Oyl to get and our Lamps to trim when the Bridegroom comes the door will be shut upon us and we shall bewail to all eternity the folly of slipping a season which can never be regained Let me therefore bespeak you dear Christians in words of love and tenderness and beseech you by all the obligations that your holy profession lays upon you by all the kindness which you bear to your immortal souls and the desire which you have to be eternally happy seriously to prepare to meet your Lord. Go hence from the House of God with fixed resolutions from this time forth to depart from all iniquity and to live righteously soberly and godly in this present World looking for the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself To whom with the Father and Holy Spirit three Persons but one Eternal God be Glory Honour and Power now and for ever The CHARACTER I Have now performed my duty to the Living by shewing them both generally and particularly that a good life is the best preparation for Eternity and that the way to dye happily is to live holily It remains that I do now in some measure discharge my respects to the Dead whose memory will be precious among all good Christians for his many personal Excellencies and usefulness in his Generation 'T is a sad and mournful occasion that we are met upon to Solemnize the Funeral Rites and Obsequies of so dear a Friend and Relation But this is our comfort that his whole life was an excellent Comment upon this Text for tho his Visitation was short as for the most part is usual in such Apoplectical Distempers as carried him off and his Death sudden and surprizing to us from whom he was snatched away in a little time yet it could not be so to him who by the infirmities of a crazy body and by many sensible decays of Nature was put in mind of his approaching change and no doubt but his preparations for Eternity were answerable to his frequent and almost daily warnings For as in his youthful days he was by the mercy of God a well disposed Nature and a vertuous Education preserved from all gross Sins and Vices so in his riper years he lived a life of strict Vertue I am no great Favourer of Funeral Elogies because they look like mercenary Flattery if there be not some extraordinary merit to lay a just foundation for them but the Righteous ought to be had in perpetual remembrance and the memorial of the Just shall be praised 'T is justice to give every man his due praise and to commend those whose vertuous lives are bright and illustrious to others and it is kindness to the living to hold before their eyes a shining light a glorious pattern of Vertue to guide and direct them to walk in the paths of Holiness and Peace and to beget in them the like Goodness and Charity Thus our deceased Friend in his life and practice did shine as a burning Lamp and adorn'd his holy Profession by a good Conversation His divine Soul was inflamed with a fervent love and zeal for God and possessed with a holy fear and awe of his glorious Majesty whom he served with Reverence and filial Obedience His Piety did consist more in the vital and substantial parts of Religion than in Circumstantials He had a sincere love for the Preaching of the Word which he waited upon with diligence to the end that he might learn his duty and grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ whom to know and in whom to believe is life eternal His attendance upon the Word was with constancy if his infirm body would give him leave and he heard it with reverence as the word of Life and Salvation Great was his regard for the Lord's Day not only to keep it holy himself but to see that his whole Family did strictly observe and sanctify it not only by resting from their worldly labours and putting on finer Clothes c. but by performing religious Exercises and improving the present Vacation from the works of their Callings unto a more diligent attendance on God in the publick and private Duties of Religion and in the spiritual concernments of their Souls The Government of his Family was very decent and regular his House was an Oratory of Devotion wherein Morning and Evening Sacrifice was dayly offered to God and some portion of Holy Scripture was read with seriousness and devotion with love and delight and Prayer was the beginning and ending of every day And this I assure you is the duty of all Masters of Families which they ought to see performed in their Families for the care and charge of Souls is committed to them There they are Kings to rule Prophets to teach and Priests to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices for themselves and for those under their roof They their Children and Servants ought to serve the Lord and their neglect thereof is one chief cause of all that Atheism and Irreligion which too much abounds in the Age we live in To this may I add his secret Devotion in private which was most constantly and diligently performed by him The spirit of Religion eminently dwelt in this good man His Devotions were fervent and serious his affections and desires were in a great measure crucified to the world and all the delights and pleasures of it He was cloathed with Humility as with a Garment and beautified with the goodly ornament of a calm meek and quiet Spirit which in the sight of God is of great price His Mind was exquisitely tender and compassionate His kindness and charity truly admirable for he loved relieved and assisted all necessitous Objects according to his ability In company he was pleasant cheerful and facetiously witty His behaviour was modest and affable kind and courteous to all sorts of people By the evenness of his temper and sweet disposition and friendly deportment he gained the love and respect of good men His Servants speak him to be a kind respective Master and we all know that he was a true Friend a good Neighbour a very useful and serviceable person in his Generation a Patron to several Fatherless Children and Orphans a true lover of his King and Country sober and temperate in every thing in his Diet in his Apparel in his Words and Behaviour prudent in the management of his own and others Affairs wherein he was much employed a good Housekeeper according to his degree and ability and a great support to many indigent and needy persons In a word his many vertuous Qualities and praise-worthy Deeds deserve to be commemorated and recommended to your practice But he is gone to his unchangeable state God grant that we who survive may all of us tread in the steps of his exemplary Piety and Vertue of his unwearied diligence and patient continuance in well doing May the Eccho of his Praises tend to the setting forth of God's Glory to whom be ascribed by us and the whole company of his Saints as is most due eternal praises Amen Amen FINIS
Herald and in the Text proclaimeth the certainty of his coming but from the uncertainty of the time when presseth his Disciples to rouze up themselves and to stand perpetually upon their Watch looking for and awaiting the coming of the Lord either by Death or Judgment for it is all one in effect whether he come to us or we go to him whether the World endeth to us or we to it for when we die we then part with all our dear Delights and sweet enjoyments of this Life and go to Judgment for as Death leaves us Judgment will find us as soon as ever the Soul is separated from the body it is winged by the holy Angels to the Tribunal of God to receive its definitive Sentence to Joy or Misery according to its Works done in the body in this Life So that we had need to be ever waiting and prepared for that hour Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh Which Words were spoken by our Lord particularly to his Disciples but are of Universal concern to all Christians and do as much belong to Vs in our days as to Them in theirs and therefore I shall look upon them with particular Application to our selves they do contain two General Parts I. Our Blessed Saviours seasonable and serious Advice solemnly to prepare our selves for Death and Judgment Be ye also ready II. A powerful and cogent Motive enforcing this good Advice For in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh I. The first thing to be considered is our Saviours serious Advice solemnly to prepare our selves for Death and Judgment therefore be ye also ready for this Reason because ye must die and come to Judgment and the time when is unknown be ye ready the Original imports set in the way as all those are whom God hath set in the Path of his Commandments Psal 85.13 Righteousness shall go before him as his Harbinger and shall set us in the way of his Steps i. e. in the path wherein he walketh and which he hath prescribed and appointed us to follow him in The Vulgar Latine reads it Parati made fit Now for as much as this is a long and difficult work and requires many Acts and Duties to be performed by us to dispose and qualifie us to meet our Lord with Joy and Comfort I will therefore shew i. Wherein this Preparation does chiefly consist ii Manifest the urgent necessity hereof and the many Obligations which we lie under to be always prepared for Death and Judgment i. My first work is to shew wherein this Preparation does chiefly consist this I shall do two ways Generally and Particularly 1. Generally This preparation does consist in the constant course of a Religious Holy and Heavenly Conversation and in the daily practice of Universal Purity 1. For this end the great and wise Creator did make us noble and reasonable Creatures Neh. 5.9 to walk in the fear of God to approve our selves by a blameless and harmless life Phil. 2.15 the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a perverse Nation among whom we being enlightned by the Son of Righteousness shine as lights in the World that others may see our good works the beauty and splendor of our Gifts and Graces Mat. 5.16 Joh. 15. â—8 and glorifie our Father which is in Heaven For herein is he glorified if we bring forth much fruit of Righteousness and true Holiness Not that it is in our power to add any thing to the essential glory of God but only contribute to the manifestation of his Glory and Majesty 2 This he doth command and require from us as we are his Creatures When God had chosen the Seed of Abraham and had separated them from all Nations and from all Impurities and Idolatries and set them apart for himself a peculiar People an holy Nation a chosen Race a People purchased to himself by Temptations by Signs and by Wonders and by War and by a mighty Hand and by a stretched out Arm and by great Terrors Deut. 4.34 according to all that he did in Aegypt He charged them thus Levit. 20.7 8. Sanctifie your selves and be ye holy for I am the Lord your God and ye shall keep my Statutes and do them We are the Seed of Faithful Abraham Gods peculiar People his proper portion and possession he hath brought us into a state of Salvation Tim. 1.9 and hath called us with an holy Calling not according to our works nor for any merit of ours but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began and as he that hath called us is holy so should we be holy in all manner of conversation 1. Pet. 1.16 for it is written be ye holy as I am holy Now there is a two fold likeness to God in holiness viz. a conformity to his nature and will in reference to which we are engaged to crucify the old man with his deeds to mortify the corruption of nature with all those sinful affections and actions which flow from it and to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness 3 Cor. 5.17 2 Pet. 1.4 Which is called by St. Paul the new Creature and by St. Peter the divine Nature which consists not in any communication of the divine Essence to us but in our partaking of those divine Qualities and dispositions of knowledge righteousness and holiness which do express the perfections of God and in our analogical resemblance to him in his Attributes of Meekness Humility Patience Long suffering Justice and Faithfulness Mercy and Charity Love and Purity and in our sincere endeavour to please him to do his Will and keep his Commandments which require us to do justly to love mercy Micah 6.8 and to walk humbly with God To love him with all our hearts and soul and strength and might to discharge all the Duties that we owe to his Divine Majesty and to be fervent in spirit in his service To abstain from all injurious practices against our Neighbours to perform all kind and friendly offices to all men to bear good will to them to rejoyce at their happiness to pity their miseries and commiserate them in adversity to pay all due respect to them sutable to their degree and quality to shew all meekness to all men candidly favourably to interpret their words and actions mildly to reprehend their faults and sparingly relate their miscarriages forgiving and forgetting their greater offences and conniving at their lesser injuries which make no great breach upon our interest or reputation studying by all fair means as much as lieth in us if it be possible to live peaceably with all tho we we may sometimes sail in our purposes because some men are of such a turbulent fiery and malicious spirit and such profest enemies to
peace and love that it is scarce possible to obtain their good-will or to maintain a friendly correspondence with them In regard to our own persons the holy God commands us to depart from all iniquity to put away the evil of our doings Isaiah 1.16 17. to cease to do evil to learn to do well to watch and be sober to cast off the works of darkness and to walk as children of the light Rom. 13.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honestly and decently as becometh those to whom the glorious light of the Gospel hath appeared shunning all those vices of Gluttony and Drunkenness Whoredom and Uncleanness all lustful and lascivious dalliances Strife and Envy which are a stain and blemish to our Nature and to our holy Profession and to live in the constant practice of universal Purity Psal 37.24 2 Tim. 2.19 Jam. 4.8 which obligeth us to depart from evil to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts i. e. to reform and amend our lives and actions out thoughts and affections and through the assistance of Divine Grace which is never wanting to those that endeavour to obey God 2 Cor. 7.1 and do his Will to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit i. e. from all bodily pollutions such are sins of Intemperance Fornication Uncleanness c. in respect of which it becomes the duty of a Christian to learn and exercise that holy skill 1 Thes 4.4 to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour for such sins as these are a real dishonour to the body Rom. 1.2 And since God hath shewed his Art in the curious workmanship of it Os homini sublîme dedit coelumque tuerj jussit c. Materiam superabat opus Ovid. Met. which was not at first made without a consultation of the whole Trinity after what eminent manner and majestick form they should make it the rare and admirable structure whereof Gen. 1.26 being exquisitely composed of Bones and Muscles and Sinews of Veins and Arteries and variety of members excellent both for beauty and use filled David's Royal Soul with such admiration of God's infinite Wisdom and Power that when he contemplated his own Body he praised God Psal 139.14 and said I am fearfully and wonderfully made and curiously wrought with various embroidery and since God I say hath bestowed so much pains and cost upon the workmanship of the Body and that it is a part of Christ's purchase and together with the Soul is become a member of his and a Temple for the Holy Spirit of Purity to reside and dwell in it is principally incumbent upon us to keep it pure and clean chast and holy and free from all carnal pollutions We ought to have a greater regard to our noble Souls which are of an heavenly Original to purify and preserve them from spiritual wickedness from extravagant passions inordinate affections and desires from Pride and Covetousness rash Anger and Contention Envy Hatred Malice and all Uncharitableness for these Sins and Vices defile our Souls and make us both afraid to dye and unfit for judgment Therefore the Apostle calls upon us to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord and assures us that this is the revealed will of God 1 Thes 4.3 even our sanctification that we should be holy both in our hearts and lives inwardly in our thoughts and affections outwardly in our words and actions both intensively and extensively holy 3. For this end and purpose the Lord of Glory sent his beloved Son into the World in great humility to carry on this work of making us holy by his exemplary and virtuous life and by his patient and meritorious death First By his virtuous and exemplary life he hath given us the most illustrious pattern in his own person in all the parts of holiness and set us the fairest copy of the most sublime and perfect virtue For which cause we find him in Scripture dignified with eminent Titles as of a Prince and Captain a Master and Guide of holy life and obedience he voluntarily undertook to subdue our Enemies and hath encouraged us with a most bountiful promise of a glorious reward a Crown of Righteousness to follow his heroick Conduct in a holy warfare against Sin and Satan to fight manfully under his Banner against all the Enemies of our Souls as Plutarch saith Caesar's Souldiers did when his presence and unparallell'd Gallantry inspired them with Courage and Valour extraordinary Fortis in armis Caesareis Labienus erat Example hath a great influence and efficacy for as Pliny the younger hath observed Melius hominis exemplis docentur qua imprimis hoc boni habent qua approbant quae praecipiunt fieri posse Men are better instructed by Examples which have in them chiefly this advantage that they do prove the things may be done which they enjoyn And as Seneca tells Lucilius Homines plus Oculis quà m auribus credunt Epist 6. Men give greater credit to their Eyes than to their Ears to what they see than to what they hear The more Eminent any persons are that give Examples the more readily are they imitated Et in vulgus manunt exemplâ— Regentâ—um Such as sit in the Gate as all uppermost in the world have many followers that conform to their manners and practice When the King of Nineveh put on Sackcloath Jonah 3.6 his Courtiers and Citizens complied with the fashion When Constantinus Mag. embraced the Faith of Christ Heathen Superstition began to creep into holes and corners and Christianity overspread the face of the Empire Now our dearest Lord being the greatest and wisest person that ever lived and his example the most perfect and transcendent that ever was we should endeavour if we would live happily and die comfortably to conform our practice to his because he was the most exact mirrour of true Goodness and Virtue of general Kindness and Charity Patience and Contentedness Meekness and Humility which he most lovingly inviteth us to imitate him in Matth. 11.29 Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart His Patience in bearing the Affronts and Indignities of Sinners his Contempt of all the Glories of this World his Self-denial and Submission to the will of God his unwearied diligence in his Service his Peaceableness and Gentleness to all men and readiness to perform all kind Offices to men especially to their Souls was written for our Admonition to influence our practice and lead us in the paths of Righteousness and to make us partakers of his Holiness 2dly Our Blessed Lord Saviour's patient and meritorious Death and Sufferings were primarily intended to work Holiness in us The design of his coming in the Flesh was not only as the Socinians say to give us an example of Christian Purity but to lay down his life for us We are assured of this from his own sacred lips Matth. 20.28 The Son of Man came not to
by forgiving injuries are very considerable such are freedom from all those unreasonable Passions of envy hatred malice and desire of Revenge which are continually fretting and vexatious to our Spirits and eat out the peace and comfort of our Lives whensoever we do cordially forgive a Trespass we find a great Calm on a sudden in our Bosoms our Souls are at ease and our Thoughts are no longer disturbed with meditating of Revenge the offence is to us as if it had never been committed Envyings Strife and Contentions cease together with the sources of them anger malice pride emulation in the room whereof springs up charity kindness gentleness meekness humility long sufferings patience and other God like Vertues which are the Riches and Beauty the Glory and Ornament of a Christian and render him lovely and amiable in the Eyes of his Enemies and Venerable in the esteem of all good Men and all his Duties and Services pleasing and acceptable to God and greatly contribute to the obtaining remission of his sins with God as our Saviour himself certifies us Mat. 6.14 If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you not that our forgiving our Brethren without the concurrence of other divine Graces and holy Duties is alone sufficient to entitle us to the remission of our Sins but to shew us that without this forgiving of our Brethren Almighty God will not forgive us as also to represent the excellency and necessity of this Duty which is very grateful to him and of great Power in order to the commending us to his Grace and favourable acceptance and a principal part of that Obedience which we owe to him Psal 32.1 2. and which he will reward with eternal Blessedness Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven whose Sin is covered blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no guile 2 The inconveniencies which do attend the neglect of this Duty are very dangerous and hurtful the implacable and irreconcilable Person encreaseth his own sorrows vexeth and cruciateth his own Soul makes his anguish more sharp and piercing To use the words of a great and good Man Arch Bp. Tillotson's Sermon on Mat 5.44 The very design of Revenge is troublesom and puts the Spirits into an unnatural fermentation and tumult the Man that meditates it is always restless his very Soul is stung swells and boiles is in pain and anguish hath no ease no enjoyment of it self so long as this passion reigns It entails enmitie and mischief upon him that is guilty of it from his Adversaries who will not fail to add weight unto his shoulders and multiply fresh injuries and affronts upon him which will gall his very Soul and make his Life painful and uneasie to him and which is most of all afflictive and deplorable he puts a bar to the remission of his own sins If ye forgive not Men their Trespasses Mat. 6.15 neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses one Man beareth hatred to another and doth he seek pardon of the Lord Ecclus. 28.3 4. he sheweth no mercy to a Man which is like himself and doth he ask forgivness of the Lord God will surely keep his sins in remembrance Mat. 7.2 and repay him in his own kind and measure he that is pitiful and merciful to his offending Brother shall find mercy from God he that will not forgive shall not be forgiven but shall be judged with impartial justice according to the severity of the Law without the least mixture of Mercy he shall have Judgment without mercy Jâ—m 2.13 that hath shewed no mercy God will deal with him according to the demerit of his sins and appoint him his portion with the reprobate Angels whose example he imitated in implacable malice and revenge this will be the dreadful sentence of malediction Mat. 25.41 depart from me thou cursed Sinner into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels miserable companions for distressed Souls but their condemnation is just and agreeable to their own requests for as oft as they said the Lords Prayer they in effect prayed for their own Damnation and besought God to forgive them their Debts as they forgave their Debtors i. e. that he would not forgive them because they will not forgive their offending Brethren Upon the whole then it does appear that as abiding anger malice and uncharitableness renders us unfit to die and to appear in Judgment so forgiveness and mercy dispose and prepare us for the coming of our Lord let us therefore take the Wise-Mans advice Ecclus 28.6 7. Remember our End and let enmity cease remember Corruption and Death and abide in the Commandments and bear no malice to our Neighbour tho' our Blood flows now warmly in our veins and our spirits are brisk and we enjoy a perfect state of Health and therefore delay and put off many things that are necessary to fit us for our final change yet it will not be long but we must put off this tabernacle and put on corruption when Death approacheth us we shall then with Balaam desire to die the death of the Righteous and that our latter End may be like his peaceable and happy that we may see the Felicity of Gods chosen and the glory of his Saints in Heaven the which we shall never attain unto unless we quit our selves of all uncharitableness and root out the malignant distemper of mind and all those bad dispositions those keen and tumultuous passions which hitherto have rufled us and disturbed the tranquility and repose of our Souls therefore the great Men of the World who have been prone to remember affronts and injuries with the highest resentments when they come to Die look upon Forgivness and Charity as necessary preparations for their change do give their general Amnesty to all that have offended them either out of Fear or Obedience to him who is the fountain of Love and Goodness who passeth by innumerable indignities and poureth down showers of bounty and mercy upon them that provoke him to wrath and indignation against them every day A chief part of our readiness and preparation to meet our Lord consists in doing all the good we can while we live with unwearied diligence and expedition For there is no work Eccles 9.10 nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave Now is the season for us to lay up for our selves Treasures in Heaven for if once Death put a period to our Lives the time of our preparation for Eternity is at an end our Souls will be for ever what they are when they leave the Body so that it ought to be our chiefest care to improve the present seasons of Grace and to secure to our selves a right and title to that exceeding great and eternal weight of Glory which is reserved in Heaven for all those that are rich in works of Piety Justice and Charity
be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 2.6 a redemption-price so great and valuable that there needs no further satisfaction to be made for any St Paul saith that he gave himself a ransom for all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an emphatical word denoting the exchange of condition with another the laying down of ones life to save another And so did our dearest Lord and Saviour Tit. 2 14. Rom. 8.32 he gave himself for us and in our place and stead that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous ofâ—â— good works The price which he paid for our Redemption was his own blood not a few drops for then what he shed at his Circumcision and bitter Agony when he sweat drops of blood might have sufficed but it was his hearts blood Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold 1 Pet. 1.18 19 from your vain conversation and course of life which is unprofitable for your souls and insufficient for Righteousness and Salvation but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Precious in the Esteem of Angels and Men but most of all precious in regard of the Glory and Dignity of the Qualifications and Endowments of the Gifts and Graces of the Person that shed it Coloss 2.3 In whom are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge in whose mouth no guile was ever found who needed not to offer Sacrifices for his own Sins being a person so perfectly holy harmless and undefiled No! it was for us and for our Salvation that he died Rom. 4.25 He was delivered by the determinate counsel and fore knowledge of God for our offences Acts 2.23 to make full satisfaction to his Father for them and to reconcile us to God By his own free and spontaneous act he laid down his life Joh. 10.17 Gal. 1.4 and gave himself for our Sins Not only to take away the Guilt with all the causes and consequences thereof Once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away Sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 9.26 Rom. 5.19 to the abolition of Sin by the Sacrifice of himself by whose obedience many are made righteous but also to ease guilty souls of the pain and anguish of Conscience which doth fill them with dreadful fears and terrors and a certain fearful looking for of wrath Heb. 9.14 and fiery indignation The Blood of Christ doth purge your Conscience from dead works and not only justify and absolve the true penitent Sinner but also meritoriously purify the Soul from inherent corruption and sanctify it by infusing holiness So that body soul and spirit becomes one frame of Holiness to God to serve him here in the Beauty of Holiness and to enjoy communion with him in his Ordinances till he is pleased to fit him for the full fruition of himself in the Holy of Holies in Heaven This is the effect of Christ's Blood which was shed to put a silence to the clamours and accusations of Conscience and also to pacify the wrath of God for Sin Jesus being the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thess 1.10 Who delivers us from the wrath to come and is now actually delivering us by his prevailing Intercession and the supplies of his Grace enabling us to subdue the power of Sin and temptation and will most certainly compleat and perfect our deliverance at his second coming So that now the penitent Believer may safely make that bold challenge which the great St. Paul doth Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect Rom. 8.33 It is God that justifieth and absolveth them who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died and by his Death hath made a sufficient attonement to God for all our Sins and washed them away in his Blood which is a Fountain opened for Sin and for Uncleanness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Laver to wash away the pollution and filth of all our Sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness he is a propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only 1 Joh. 2 2. but for the Sins of the whole World Eph. 5.25 27. He delivered himself up for the Church that he might sanctify and cleanse it i. e. Purify all its members from the guilt filth and power of Sin endue them with a principle of Holiness and consecrate them to God a glorious Church without having spot or wrinkle free from the smallest remainder of sin and misery 1 Joh. 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifest to destroy the works of the Devil the original word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might dissolve those chains wherewith Satan holdeth all his Vassals in bondage 4. So great was the care of our Lord to make men truly good and virtuous that when he left the World he sent the Holy Ghost the Promise of the Father to superintend the Affairs of the Church Vicarius Christi in Ecclesia whom Tertul. calls Christ's Vicar a Metaphor borrowed from certain Church-Officers who are so denominated as our Civilians say Quasi vice fungentes Rectorum to attend the Offices of the Church in the Rectors absence To oppose the Torrent of Vice and Wickedness to instruct people in the fundamental Principles of Religion to guide direct and encourage them in the paths of Holiness and Virtue and by a continual residence upon his Cure to be ever ready to perform the Duties belonging thereunto Even so the Holy Spirit was sent to supply Christ's room in the Church Joh. 16 7. If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you He was not to enter upon his Oeconomy or Dispensation till after Christ's Ascension and Glorification as we learn from John 7.39 The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Christ was not yet glorified Princes do liberally bestow their gifts and favours at the time of their Inauguration Eph. 4.9 and the Prince of Peace being ascended up on high and triumphing gloriously over all his Church's Enemies poured down a plentiful effusion of gifts and graces unto men As St. Peter acquaints his Auditors That Christ being by the power of God exalted Acts 2.33 and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear The design and end of his coming is as our Saviour saith Joh. 16.8 To reprove the world of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment To convince us of the evil and obliquity of our ways and doings and reclaim us from Sin and Error to regenerate us unto God's Image infusing holiness into our souls and giving us a right to eternal Salvation Tit. 3.5 by the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the
Holy Ghost changing of our corrupt Natures creating good Dispositions and pious Affections in us sanctifying us with Divine Graces Dr. Bar. Creed and begetting vertuous inclinations in us reverence towards God charity to Men sobriety and purity as to our Selves with the rest of those amiable and heavenly virtues of the Soul which is the work of Sanctification leading and governing us in our Actions and Conversations that we may actually do and perform those things which are acceptable in the sight of God These are the Offices of the Holy Spirit who is therefore denominated Holy because he is the Author and efficient Cause of holiness in us and hath the special Name of Spirit given him both because of his Spiritual Essence and in regard of his Spiritual dispensations and those Graces which he bestows upon every faithful Soul which are heavenly and spiritual for the performance of which Mat. 28.20 he is to abide with his Church for ever Lo I am with you always even to the end of the world to enlighten your Understandings to sanctifie your Wills Affections to assist you in Devotion to stir up in you good Desires and to lead you in the way of all truth and obedience to Gods holy Will and Commandments 5 For this purpose the great Ordinance of the Gospel Ministry was instituted and persons in sacred Orders appointed to make men truly holy to dispose and fit them for Death and Judgment Heaven and Happiness to teach and tread the way to Glory 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to teach the way to Heaven rightly to cut out to every man his portion and to divide the Word of Truth 2 Tim. 2.15 The titles which are given them in Scripture import the business they are to perform and do They are Ministers Stewards Embassadors Ministers of Christ 1 Cor. 4.12 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. Acts 20 18. 1 Cor. 3.9 and Stewards of the mysteries of God to whom he hath committed the Ministry of Reconciliation the word of Power They are Overseers and Comptrollers of his Family Embassadors for Christ to pray beseech and court men in their great Lord and Masters stead to be reconciled to God Labourers and Co-operators with God in the work of Conversion and Edification He Joh. 20.21 22. Rom. 10.15 the principal Agent They Officers under him ordained and sent by him and furnished with Gifts and Abilities to negotiate his great Affairs He made them able Ministers 2 Cor. 3.6 fitted by a supervening act and influence of Grace to discharge the trust which he hath reposed in them to the souls of men He strictly charged them to preach all the counsel of God Acts 20.27 whatsoever he requires of any one in order to eternal blessedness even the whole doctrine of Christianity which teacheth us to deny all ungodliness c. to reprove rebuke and exhort with all long suffering and patience 2 Cor. 5.11 and as knowing the terror of the Lord to persuade men to believe the dreadful comminations and threatnings of God revealed in his Word Rom. 1.18 against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men and accordingly to frame their lives innocently and holy that at the dreadful day of Judgment which the Prophet calls a day of wrath Zeph. 1.15 He alludes to it in the ruin which he foretold should fall upon the Jews by the Chaldeans a day of trouble and distress a day of wasting and desolation a day of darkness and gloominess a day of Clouds and thick darkness and the Apostle a day of terror because there will be a very strict scrutiny a narrow search made into the thoughts words and actions of men done in the flesh nothing but holiness will then stand in any stead therefore the Ministers of the Gospel are commanded to use the most prudent and effectual course Acts 26.18 to open mens eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith which grace doth purifie the heart from sin corruption They must not connive at or comply with the lusts of men as Ahabs Priests did but handle the Word of God sincerely with zeal and courage not fearing the faces of men in the work of the Lord who hath charged them at their peril not to be dismaid at the presence and frowns of great men Jâ—r 1.17 or presumptuous sinners yet at the same time when they do shew their zeal against their sins to manifest their reverend esteem and love of their persons and tender affection to their souls instructing those that oppose themselves with all gentleness and winning insinnuations and restoring them in the spirit of meekness which is the most probable way to enamour them with the love of Vertue and to save their Souls 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To tread the way to heaven and to walk uprightly Cal. 2.14 according to the truth of the Gospel So passionately desirous is God of mens happiness that he would have his Ministers to be Shining Lights as John the Baptist was shewing the power of Godliness in their lives that by their good Conversations their People might be drawn to imitate them in the practice of all Christian Graces 1 Tim. 4.12 St. Paul exhorts his Son Timothy to be an example of Believers in word in Conversation in Charity in spirit in faith in purity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Believers not of moral honest men only but of Gods Jedidians Pro. 12. the excellent of the earth in whom he delighteth of those first-born Souls Mal. 3.17 those bright and sparkling Jewels of whom the world is not worthy those darlings of heaven that are the Apple of Gods Eye Heb. 11.38 Deut. 32.9 those precious Sons of Sion who are the lot of Gods inheritance and the glory of Christ 1 Cor. 8.23 To such noble and vertuous persons as these are the Ministers of the Gospel to shew themselves patterns in Sacerdotal exemplariness and in the habits exercise of grace Prov. 4.18 and in holiness of life which is a shining light that hath influence and powerful operation upon others to excite them to bring glory to God For this reason they are stiled Presidents Shepherds Guides because they are not only to preach Angelical Sermons but to live heavenly lives to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour by the purity and lustre of their Conversations For the greatest part of Mankind are like Sheep Heb. 10.24 Prov. 27.17 which go rather as they are led then as they are taught A good Example is greatly influential to Vertue to provoke unto love and to good works as a bad one is an occasion of much harm faciles imitandis Turpibus pravis omnes sumus we having a great proclivity to follow ill Examples Those therefore that are to teach others that are to
life This preparation for death in the day of Sickness and Visitation is not to be then neglected 'T is advised by Jesus the Son of Sirac My Son according to thy ability do good to thy self Ecclus 14.11 12 13. and give the Lord his due offering remember that death will not be long in coming and that the Covenant of the Grave is not shewed unto thee Do good to thy friend before thou dye Put not off to thy Will and Testament but according to thy ability stretch out thy hand and give unto the Poor Thus in the day of health it is most convenient to dispatch this work but in the day of Visitation and the approaches of Death Ecclus 33.23 't is an indispensible duty not to be neglected At the time when thou shalt end thy days and finish thy work distribute thine Inheritance Gen. 48.22 ch 49. 1 K. 2.1 2 3 4 So did Jacob in that prophetical Testament of his And David also when his days drew nigh that he should die he disposed of his Kingdom to his Son Solomon and charged him saying I go the way of all the Earth i. e. I die be thou strong and shew thy self a man of Wisdom Courage and Constancy and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his Statutes c. that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest and whithersoever thou turnest thy self that the Lord may confirm his word which he spake concerning me saying If thy Children take heed to their ways to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul There shall not fail thee a man on the Throne of Israel Verse 13. And when David had finished his charge he slept with his Fathers and was buried in the City of David And after him this was expresly commanded by God himself to the good King Hezekiah as a preparation for death In those days was he sick unto death 2 Kings 20.1 and the Prophet Esay said unto him Thus saith the Lord Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live i. e Make thy Will and settle the Concerns both of thy Family and thy Kingdom to prevent all Contentions and Quarrels after thy decease for thy Disease is mortal in its kind if God do not by his power prevent it therefore dispose of thy temporal Affairs and as for the spiritual Estate of thy Family imitate the example of David and Abraham advise instruct Gen. 18.19 exhort and admonish them to keep the way of the Lord and to do Justice and Judgment There are some Divines who give this relation of our Lord and Saviour's last Will and Testament that upon the Cross a little before he gave up the Ghost he bequeathed his Soul into the hands of his Father his holy Mother to his beloved Disciple St. John his Body to Joseph of Arimathea Paradise to the penitent Thief that was to die with him and to his Crucifiers his heartiest Prayers and Intercessions Rom. 15.4 Now these things were written for our learning and instruction to teach us to imitate them and to prevent the ill consequences of intestate Estates to settle our minds at ease and free from disturbance and to put our Souls into a prepared frame and disposition for our departure Thus by discharging a good Conscience we may be ready to meet our Lord and freely depart in peace 2. This readiness doth consist in moderating our love 〈◊〉 affection to◠this World and not overvaluing any earthly comfort We serve a very liberal and bountiful Master 1 Tim. 6 17. Who gives us richly all things to enjoy and with holdeth no good thing from us but that which would be a temptation and a snare unto us only he hath not allowed us to set our affections upon this world nor any of the enjoyments of it for this is not our place of rest and abode Whilst we are at home in the body 2 Cor. 5.6 we are absent from the Lord may better be rendred Whilst we converse or sojourn in the body So long as we tabernacle in the flesh we are but like the Israelites in the Wilderness Strangers and Sojourners passing to the Heavenly Canaan detained from the blessed Vision and Fruition of God Heb. 13.14 and the possession of that happiness which makes Heaven Here we have no continuing City no settled abiding place This notion the wiser Heathens had of this present World who looked upon it as an Inn not as their home Nature having designed it to us as a Diversory to lodge Commorandi enim natura diversorum nobis non habitandi locum dedit but not to dwell in For it is not a fit place for us nor can our stay in it be very desirable because it is fleeting and vanishing full of vanity and vexation all its splendor and glory depends meerly upon our fancy Our Historians tell us that the Peruvian Mines of Gold and Silver their precious Stones and Pearls were of such low and mean esteem with those barbarous Indians that they preferred our trifling Bawbles before them and made that their valuable Treasure which we make little or no account of In the Reign of the Great and Wise Solomon Silver which is now the adored Idol of the World and for which men venture not only their dearest lives but even pawn their precious Souls to obtain was not at all regarded 2 Chron. 9.20 it was not any thing accounted of it was but as Stones in his days This glorious Prince surpassed all the Kings of the Earth in Riches 1 Kings 4.22 23 26. and Wisdom He had the greatest flow and confluence of this World His Provisions for one day were 30 measures of fine flower 10 fat Oxen and 20 Oxen out of the Pastures besides Harts and Roe Bucks and Fallow Deer and fatted Fowl he had 40000 Stalls of Horses for Chariots and 1200 Horsemen for the Guard and preservation of his Person for the defence of his people and for the grandeur of his Government The yearly income of his Traffick be-besides that which Merchants imported and the Kings of Arabia brought to him was six hundred and threescore and six Talents of Gold 2 Chron. 9.13 many of his Shields and Targets and all his Drinking Vessels were of pure Gold He resolved to gratify himself with delicious Meats and pleasant Wines and if it were possible for him to arrive at satisfaction in this mortal state he made magnificent Works for delight Eccles 2.3 4 5 7 8. and erected stately Houses and planted Vineyards and made Gardens of pleasure and planted Orchards and Trees in them of all kind of Fruits for profit he gathered himself Gold and Silver vast Riches and the peculiar Treasures of Kings and of the Provinces i. e. the most valuable Jewels and Rarities both of other Princes and of his own Dominions he gat him Men singers and Women-singers
dispose of every mans life at his pleasure as David did in the case of Vriah whom he had contrived and caused to be slain by the Sword of the Children of Ammon Psal 51.14 Deliver me from Blood-guiltiness O God thou God of my salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness And forasmuch as no reparation can be made to the deceased Persons Mournful Friends the Offender must humbly beg Pardon of them also and make due Satisfaction to the Creditors and Children and Relations of the Person slain so far as it appears that they are damnified in their Temporal Estate by the immature Death of their dear Friend who was cut off out of the Land of the Living without time to repent and opportunity of making his peace with God In like manner he that hath taken away the good Name of another by Slander or Detraction and hath blasted his Reputation by opprobrious Defamations cannot prevent the Mischief that may ensue thereupon all that he can do is to confess his fault to the Person injured and endeavour to stop the spreading of the infamous Report by timely unsaying what he hath spoken in passion or prejudice against the Rule of Charity which obligeth to give every man his due Honour to whom Honour In these and such like Cases Restitution hath no place But in Oppression Bribery and unjust detention of what is anothers to which we have no legal right or title where the practice of this Vertue is absolutely necessary St. Augustine sets down this for a Canon Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum the Sin of unjust getting is never pardoned unless restitution be made of what is unjustly gotten if the Offender be able Therefore it is necessary to do it in point of Duty and Obedience to God who hath commanded it and as a means of Pardon and Salvation our Repentance cannot be sincere without it as the Prophet Ezekiel assures us Ezek. 18.21 and 33.15 If the wicked man turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep my statutes and do that which is lawful and right if he restore the pledge give again that he hath robbed walk in the Statutes of Life without committing iniquity he shall surely live he shall not dye If he do not this the Commination threatned shall not be reversed He shall surely dye Evident then it is that a well grounded peace cannot be obtained with the person injured without restitution nor with Almighty God whose Laws which oblige men to love fidelity and justice are transgressed in every sin we commit against our Neighbour and particularly in the case before us Levit. 6.2 3 4 5. If a Soul sin and commit a trespass against the Lord and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep by denying a thing deposited in trust with him or in fellowship or commerce in trading or in any thing taken away by violence Isai 61.8 force and rapine God hating Robbery or hath deceived his Neighbour secretly of which kind of injustice Zacheus the Publican cleared himself by offering a Four fold Restitution of what he had gotten of any man wrongfully Luke 19. or have found that which was lost and sweareth falsly then it shall be because he hath sinned and is guilty he shall restore that which he took violently away or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten De male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres or that which was delivered him to keep or the lost thing which is found he shall restore it in the principal for Restitution to Man must accompany Repentance towards God and shall add the Fifth part more thereto and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth and he shall bring his Trespass Offering unto the Lord and the Priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord and it shall be forgiven him in any thing that he hath done in trespassing therein Which Law was again inculcated with additional directions to whom compensation is to be made either in kind or in equivalency in Numbers 5.6 7 8. and largely commented upon by the learned Ainsworth out of Maimonides his Treaty of Robbery Now if God did so strictly insist upon the performance of this duty from the Jews and encouraged them to it with promises of pardon and remission of temporal prosperity and eternal glory and expresly told them that he would not accept their Oblations if they did not confess their sins with grief and remorse and make full satisfaction according as the Law directed then we may rationally infer that he will not accept of our Repentance without the like practice if we would be at peace with him we must offer unto him the best and most acceptable sacrifice Psal 51.18.19 which is a broken spirit and a contrite heart Therefore our Saviour who came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets nor to abrogate the observation of them in his Kingdom but to fulfil supply and perfect them hath made this an Evangelical Duty Mat. 5.23 24. If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee any matter of complaint for any wrong or injury done by thee to him leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy gift St. Paul chargeth us 1 Thes 4.6 Rom. 13.7 8. not to go beyond or defraud our Brother in any matter and to owe no man any thing but love for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law this is the Golden Rule to do as we would be done by Wherefore it concerns us to have special regard to the discharge of this duty of Restitution as far as we are able and if we want ability to do it as the sacred Word and Law of God commands we are to manifest our Repentance and remorse of Conscience to testifie the sincerity thereof with compunction and tears and solemnly promise that if ever God make us able we will actually do it And in this case we need not doubt but that God will accept of a willing mind 2 Cor. 8.12 and every merciful and good man whom we have injured will pity pardon and forgive us and restore us to his favour 2. For the composing of our mind in order to our waiting for the coming of our Lord by Death or Judgment it is also necessary that as we submit our selves with all humility to all persons whom we have justly offended acknowledg our faults and crave their pardon so also cordially forgive those that have wronged us Tho' we find it a work of great difficulty to bring down our big Spirits and to bow our stubborn Wills to make an humble and ingenuous acknowledgment of our faults and ask the forgiveness of those whom we have justly displeased because as Salvian saith Totum durum est quicquid imperatur invitis every
will attend us no further than the Grave and if we dispense it not well and wisely but hoard it up as the unprofitable Servant did his Talent in a Napkin the rust and canker thereof will be a Witness against us and convince us of our unmercifulness in doing no good with it it will kindle the wrath of God against us and gall our Consciences with a vexatious remembrance of our Sin and Folly But good Works will certainly follow us into the future Life blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord Rev. 14.13 so saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours and their Works follow them to Witness for them before the great Judge of the quick and dead and I had almost said to appease his Wrath Jam. 2 13. Dr. Ham. in locum Mat 5.7 and to prevent their Condemnation for St. James saith mercy rejoyceth against Judgment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 triumpheth over it for the merciful shall obtain mercy our Saviour doth not say that they shall Merit mercy at the hand of God but obtain mercy the reason is plain for when we have done all we are unprofitable Servants and have not at all benefitted the infinitely Glorious and Blessed God by our services but only done that which was our Duty and therefore must expect to receive our reward from Gods free mercy and not of merit Non properito accipis Vitam aeternam sed tantum pro gratiâ August St. James is very express Chap. 1.14 That we must be perfect and entire wanting nothing as to all the integral parts of Christianity to render us truly acceptable to God yet this we may firmly relie upon that no one single Vertue can better qualifie us for mercy or more effectually prevail with God to shew us mercy then this of mercifulness Phil. 8.14 which is an Odour of a sweet smell a Sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing to God the consideration whereof should induce us upon all occasions and opportunities to do good to be rich copious in good Works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for our selves not for our heirs and executors a good foundation against the time to come that we may lay hold on eternal Life A Life Bp. Reynolds which may be held when the last general conflagration shall have melted all the Treasures of the World our good works will abide that Tryal the Inheritance unto which they follow us is incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in the Heavens for us But we must qualifie our selves for it upon Earth by making it the whole business and trade of our Lives to do good which is to act according to the frame of our Natures and to comply with the best of those inclinations which God hath planted in us and to do a most delightful and pleasant Work even in the Opinion of Epicurus himself the great Patron of pleasure which is accompanied with satisfaction in the present performance of it and in the after reflection doth yield a huge refreshment to our Minds and a spring of peace and joy to our Souls which far exceeds all sensual and bodily delights and will most of all be sweet and comfortable to us when the pains of Death are upon us and our Souls are ready to take their flight into the eternal World therefore if we would have our Passage easie at our Death we must treasure up now a stock of Comfort against the evil day good Works will certainly support us in the Agony of Death and stand by us in the day of Judgment and plead for us before the Righteous judge and obtain for us a glorious Reward a Kingdom not purchased by our Works Mat. 25.34 35 c. but prepared for us from the foundation of the World and freely bestowed upon us for our obedience to his Holy Laws in being kind and merciful to his suffering Servants 5 The preparation which our Lord requires to fit us for his coming consists in keeping Conscience clear and free from offence either by abstaining from all filthiness of flesh and spirit or by a sincere endeavour if the mind and Conscience be defiled to get the guilt of sin done away by Godly sorrow which worketh Repentance unto Salvation for so St. Paul directs us alluding to the purifying under the Law by the sprinkling of Blood Heb. 10.22 1 Tim. 1.19 To get our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and to hold Faith and a good Conscience To this he assiduously applied himself with all his might Acts 24.16 Herein do I exercise my self to have alway a Conscience void of offence towards God and Man He made it his constant study and the daily business of his life continually to live inoffensively and to do his duty concscienciously both to God and Men. He felt the sweetness and comfort of it in his Soul when he was by the malice of the Jews imprisoned at Jerusalem and brought before the Sanhedrim where he makes this solemn profession Men and Brethren Acts 23.1 I have lived in all good Conscience before God Tho' Tertullus impleaded him with all the insinuative Arts of Learning and Eloquence he is able to make his own defence sully to answer the charge laid against him and his home and powerful reasonings of Temperance Righteousness and Judgment to come made his Judg to quake and tremble See here the great advantage a good man hath of his Adversaries and what invisible supports a good Conscience affords in the day of danger and adversity Hor. Car. L. 3. Od. 3. Neither the tumults of the People nor the face and indignation of Tyrants can abate his courage Inocency and Virtue animate him with boldness and confidence against all their accusations and terrors and lay the firmest foundation of a durable contentment and satisfaction therefore Seneca represents the mind of a wise man by the state of the superior Regions which were free from storms and tempests always serene and temperate A good man is never without joy Ep. 59. his contentment groweth not but from the Conscience of Vertue This made Paul and Silas when they were cast into Prison and thrust into the inner Dungeon Sanctorum sors est non melesté ferenda and their Feet mast fast in the Stocks sing divine Hymns and Songs of praise to God This was holy Job's comfort under all those piercing afflictions which besell him the loss of all his Substance and Children and desertion of his nearest Friends and Relations In these sad and miserable circumstances when there was none to pity and comfort him the conscience of his own innocence and integrity supported his Spirit Job 27.5 6. I will never remove my integrity from me my righteousness will I hold fast and will not let it go mine Heart i. e. my Conscience shall not reproach me so long as I live This supported and comforted the Primitive Believers in all their
is a laborious exercise of many good works it consists in the performance of several kind Offices The Christian must exert that labour of love mentioned by the Apostle 1 Thes 1.3 Temperance is a vertue not easily attained it requires presence of mind and great wisdom to regulate unruly Appetites and to govern unnatural Lusts which are fired by a small spark of temptations and to withstand the allurements of pleasure to refuse the courtships and solicitations of jolly Companions to shun the snares of their wild examples and to bear with evenness and equanimity of mind the scoffs and sarcasms of those patrons and encouragers of Vice and Vanity who can have no kindness for those that will not run with them the same risk of madness and extravagance The like might be shewed concerning meekness humility self-denial and resignation to the Divine Will patience contentedness and all other Divine Graces which are from above from the Father of Lights who is the giver of Grace and Glory and hath placed them out of our reach that we might take pains to acquire them by fervent Prayer and Devotion and exert great diligence in the practice of them For since it is appointed for Men to die but once we should do all we can to prepare our selves to die happily and as St. John saith in the Lord that we may live for ever with the Lord. iii. The time allowed us to prepare for Eternity is precious for it is very short if we measure time according to the largest extention of it for all that space of this present life which is allowed us to do the works of our Callings in is exceeding short but if we take it for the opportunity of time or the proper season for the making our Calling and Election sure and securing our everlasting state 't is much shorter Of all the outward blessings and comforts which God is pleased to bestow upon us in this life he is not so frugal and provident in any of them as he is in the distribution of our time He confers upon us the comfortable accommodation of this world in great abundance but Time he proportions to us in a continual succession of days and hours and minutes so that we never enjoy two of them together but as one passeth away he gives us another and yet how profuse and lavish are we in the expence of them A considerable part of our time we have wasted in childish vanities and when we came to maturity of years and consistency of reason we spent no small part of it in gratifying inordinate appetites and in sensual pleasures So that before we seriously consider the end for which we were created the major part of our time is elapsed beyond revocation and we croud up this solemn work of preparation for Eternity into a narrow compass It concerns us therefore to redouble our diligence to redeem the time and to encrease in all Graces adding to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge c. 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7. To reach forth with the blessed St Paul unto those things that are before Phil. 3.13 14 to stretch as hard as we can after that measure of holiness which we have not yet attained to press toward the mark that we may win the prize of eternal Glory and the rather should we exert the greatest vigour because we have but little time to do the work of him that sent us 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. in The time is short furled like Sails when the Mariner hath finished his Voyage and is come into the Haven so that we should be careful to improve it to our best advantage which is a special point of wisdom commendable avarice as Seneca saith Nulla nisi temporis honesta est avaritia We are allowed to covet earnestly the best things amongst which this precious jewel of time may be reckoned and therefore not to be wasted in fruitless pastimes and carnal contentments in earthly pleasures and overmuch secular negotiations of this life much less in wicked projects or sinful practices but in adorning our Souls with such virtuous dispositions as will fit us for the presence of God and the society of the Saints in the future state of Glory When we come to die one of those days or hours which we have vainly wasted will be of more value to us then all this world It is scarce possible for us in the day of health and prosperity to conceive how valuable Time will then appear to us We shall sadly repent that we have spent any part of it in worldliness ambition idleness sensual gratifications or sinful lusts We shall heartily wish that we had improved every minute of it in the spiritual and everlasting concernments of our Souls and to be sure if we have any presence of Mind and the use of our Reason we shall then imploy every minute of it which is free from disturbances and interruptions in finishing our last preparatory work on Earth in order to our appearing before our great Judge It will be our wisdom to do that now with all our might which we shall then be so intent upon because a few sands more will bring us to that state in which we shall remain for ever and leave us in Eternity iv The urgent necessity of such a solemn preparation as I have described will farther appear if we consider that life it self which is the most valuable treasure the richest Jewel in this World is very short and uncertain and Death inevitable 1. Life is very short The most fading and vanishing things in Nature are made use of by the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures to set forth the brevity of the life of man 'T is represented by a Dream which for a little while affects the Fancy Job 20.8 but when the man awakes if not before it vanisheth away By a Flower of the Field or the Grass of the Earth Ps 73.20.90.6.103.15 which in the Morning is green and flourishing but in the Evening is cut down dried up and withered As for man his days are as grass as a flower of the field so he flourisheth Job 14.2 he cometh up like a flower and is cut down he fleeth as a shadow and continueth not His life slips away suddenly like a Tale that is told his beauty strength and all his excellencies consume away like a Moth Ch. 13.28.7.6.9.25 26. which by eating and fretting a Garment spoils the glory of it Sometimes the life of man is compared to a Weavers Shuttle which is an Instrument of a very swift motion and passeth the Loomb or Web speedily Sometimes it is compared to a swift Post which rideth upon fleet Horses and hasten his speed by land To swift Ships of Ebeh a River in the East where Job lived which by the force and strength of its Current added swiftness to the Vessels which sailed fast upon it And forasmuch as an Eagle of all the Fowls of the Air is
by Gouts as Septimius Severus Julius the 3d. Sozimus the Syrian and Sixtus the 4th others by the Stone and Cholick as Gregory the 11th and Pius the 5th Some by Plurisies as Gelasius the 2d c. others by violent pain and anguish as Crassus the Orator some have ended their days in transports of Joy as Philippides the Comedian when his Lauriat Poems were preferred and Diaggoras of Rhodes Bp. Taylor 's great Ex. part 3. disc 20. and Chilon the Philosopher embracing their Sons crowned with Olympick Lawrels others have expired in excess of sorrow Many have lost their lives by overmuch fulness repletion and ingurgitation of meats and drinks but more have perished by pinching Famine O the havock and desolation which it made at the Sieges of Jerusalem and Samaria 2 Kings 5.25 Joseph de bello Jud. l. 7. c. 7 8. when the poor miserable Jews did for very penury eat their Girdles Shoes and the Skins that covered their Shields and an Asses Head which hath but little meat upon it and that also both unwholsome and unclean by Law was sold for 80 pieces of Silver which amount to about 5 l. of our Money a vast price for so small a pittance Mille modis lethi miseros 〈◊〉 una fatigat and the 4th part of a Kab or quart of Pease for 5 pieces of Silver Death is every day making its approaches near to us with speedy and undiscerned steps it follows us and will arrest us e're we be aware of it but when or how we know not every breath we draw may be our last and the next step we take may be into the Grave Who sees not then the absolute necessity of being always ready for his departure hence No man dies so cheerfully as he that hath prepared and composed himself for it by a foregoing preparation Death will not wait for us one moment and therefore it is extremely dangerous to flatter our selves with hopes and expectations of long life and that we shall repent hereafter for we have not one day or hour or minute at our disposal Qui poenitenti veniam spospondit peccanti crastinum diem non promisit Death spares none neither for age nor manners We see the Rose-buds are gathered as well as the ripe Roses Many young persons are snatched away in the flower of their time and strength Job 10.22 ch 3.19 The Grave is without order there are small and great in it Goliah not too bigg David's Child not too little to fill a Tomb. So that upon this account we ought to live in a constant expectation of Death and the coming of our Lord and to dispose of every day in such sort as if it did lead to the consummation of our lives Luke 12. Blessed are those Servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find so doing 3. As Life is very short and uncertain so Death is inevitable and therefore the preparation for it is indispensibly necessary the very Heathens wondred not to see Bodies composed of earthly materials dissolve into dust and ashes What man is he that liveth and shall not see death Ps 89 48 There is an Erotesis in the words a Figure peculiar to the Idioms of the Hebr. and Greek Tongues we frequently meet with it in the Scriptures as in Isaiah 58.3 Who can declare his Generation i. e None can Heb. 1.13 because he is eternal Again To which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my Son c. i. e. He never said so to any of them So in these words of the Psalmist the interrogation bears the force of a positive affirmation There is no man living shall escape death Job 3.13 14 15. for it is the end of all men Of Kings and Counsellors of the Earth of Princes and great Warriors of Oppressors and Prisoners of Captives and mean Persons of Masters and Servants of Small and Great all go to the place of Silence where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary be at rest 17 v. Your Fathers that have been in all Ages before you where are they Zech. 1.5 and the Prophets that Preached to you and warned you of your danger do they live for ever These are all laid down in the dust and we must all follow in our order i. e. Heb. 9.27 It is appointed unto men once to dye none shall escape the irreversible decree save those that shall be found alive at the coming of Christ 1 Cor. 15.51 52. Behold I shew you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump for the Trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed which change shall be either by their dying for a short time and then reviving again as the Sleep there mentioned seems to imply or else by the mighty power of God their natural and corruptible bodies shall be changed into spiritual and incorruptible bodies which change shall be equivalent to death but all other persons shall see death and undergo the common fate of all mankind Neither Achitophel's Policy nor David's Piety nor Solomon's Wisdom nor John Baptist's Zeal for God nor Tertullus his Silver Tongue nor Aristotle's Philosophy nor Demosthenes his Oratory nor Bathsheba's Beauty nor Sampson's Strength nor Orpheus his Harp could charm Death nor prevent its all-subduing Conquests Death knocks at the Palaces of Princes as well as poor mens Cottages What is become of all the Egyptian the Persian the Grecian and the Roman Monarchs the Renowned Cesars Julius and Augustus celebrated in History for War and Peace Where are the Egyptian Ptolomies the Syrian Antiochus's the Theban Labacides's the famous Constantines the pious Theodosiis's and all those Religious and Valiant Kings that have filled the Brittish Throne and awfully sway'd the Scepter of this Kingdom in their several Ages from William the Conquetor to William our glorious Deliverer all that remains of them is an imperfect Historical account of all their Vertues and Heroick Acts recorded in our English Annals What is become of those wise and experienced Generals Joshua Othniel Ehud Barak Gideon c. Achilles Hannibal c. whose noble Exploits we read of in the Book of Judges in Josephus's History and in Plutarch's Lives they have all been conquered by the King of Terrors Where are now the Seven Angels of the Asiatick Churches the Bishops of Ephesus Smyrna Pergamos Thyatira Sardis c. where Christianity was once in its zenith and flourished most gloriously What is become of those extraordinary Lights of the African Churches Panaenus Clemens Alex Origen c. incomparably furnished with divine and human learning as also the rest of the Fathers of the Greek and Latin Churches Irenaeus Tertul. Chrys August Jerom. and multitudes more who enlightned the World with the knowledge of divine things and shined as lights in their lives and conversations These
our selves ready to meet him in these words For in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh wherein we may observe three things to hasten and invigorate our preparations 1 The designation of the person to whom the administration of the last Judgment is committed the Son of Man 2 The certainty of his coming he cometh 3 The assignation of the time when he will come in such an hour as you think not These three things being duely considered wil make us very zealous in our preparations for the coming of Christ i. The designation of the Person to whom the administration of the last Judgment is committed is a very proper motive to quicken us in this important work The Son of Man who is no other then the Lord of Glory who in obedience to his Fathers will and an ardent desire of our happiness was pleased to take upon him our nature and to be born of a pure Virgin Joseph being his reputed Father in whose Womb and of whose substance he was conceived by the Holy Ghost and by a real and proper parturition was born into the world in the fulness of time Gal. 4.4 and at the very season which God had appointed for the redemption of Men in respect whereof he stiles himself The Son of Man The original power of Judgment doth certainly belong to God who hath an absolute sovereignty over his Creatures he as grand Lord of all the world hath intrusted us with various gifts and talents an improvement whereof he will require from us and exact an account of our obedience But such is the brightness and glory of his Majesty Exod. 33.20 that we poor mortals are unable to behold him If he should display the Beams of his glory to us we should certainly be astonished and overwhelmed with his dreadful presence It hath therefore pleased him to constitute the Son of Man to execute that last and grand trust of his Mediatory Office because he is capable by reason of his human nature which he assumed from his Mother of being visible to an eye of flesh The father judgeth no man Joh. 5.22 27. but hath committed all judgment unto the Son and hath given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man This Doctrine of his second coming our Saviour before his ascension into Heaven gave in strict charge to his Apostles principally and publickly to preach unto the People Acts 10.42 That it was he which was ordained of God to be judg of the quick and dead To him the Father delegated his power and commissioned him to be his Agent in performing this great work ch 17.31 He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world with righteousness by a man Dan. 7.13 14. that peculiar man mentioned in Daniel's Vision whom he hath ordained and confirmed under the broad Seal of Heaven John 6.27 to judg the world The Lord himself shall descend from heaven the Mediator between God and Man shall come in his own person and not by a representative every eye shall see him tho to agrandize his Advent all the holy Angels shall attend him 2 Thes 1.7 8. He shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire to take vengeance of them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Now if the Judg be appointed and that the Son of Man is the person to whom the office of executing judgment is consigned that the Divine Goodness hath committed it into his hands who hath taken upon him our nature hath born our griefs hath felt our infirmities and undergon those chastisements by which our peace of reconciliation with God our salvation and happiness were purchased and effected The consideration hereof should deeply engage us to make our selves ready to meet our Sovereign Lord For what can we wish more in our own favour than this that he shall be our Judg who hath been touched with a fellow feeling of our miseries and can have compassion of our infirmities For his coming we should be always ready because none but such as are in a prepared state shall pertake of the joys which God hath laid up for those that love him ii It is certain that the Son of Man will come he is about it upon the point of coming As for those persons that have the impudence and impiety to redicule and deride this fundamental Article of our Christian Faith they are generally such as deny the Being and Providence of God the immortality of the Soul and future rewards and punishments Men of Atheistical principles and dissolute lives whose interest it is that this Doctrine should not be true because it lays a great restraint upon their Lusts and fills them with fears and terrors and dreadful expectation of fiery wrath and indignation which shall be their portion if in the end they should prove mistaken but their judgment is not to be relied upon against the consentient belief of men of all Ages and Nations to the contrary for not only the Greeks and Romans persons among whom Arts and Sciences Learning and Policy have been improved to a considerable degree but also the rude and barbarous people among whom little of Policy or Religion or good Manners are to be met with have been of this perswasion That the Soul is immortal and destined to a future life in joy or misery according to its demerits in this life and that there shall pass future scrutinies after death upon the actions of this life That there are places of rest and pleasure provided for good men Some Paradysical Gardens and Elizian Fields where they shall partake of purer joys and sweeter delights then the finest sensitive pleasures On the other hand that black and dismal Regions are assigned for wicked men ubi fera regnat Erinnys where they shall be tormented by infernal Furies frightful Officers and grim Judges and dreadful punishments such as Ixion and Titius suffered who are said to have a Vulture perpetually gnawing his Vitals But suppose that this sort of men were wiser then all the world besides yet it is a great piece of rudeness and incivility to maintain a Position contrary to the sentiments of all mankind and their deriding the Doctrine of Christs Advent and scurrilously sporting with that which we account an essential principle of the Christian Religion is a clear agument of the truth and verity of it and of the near approach of his coming So St. Peter affirms that there shall come in the last days a little before the Son of Man appeareth Scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying 2 Pet. 3.3 4. where is the promise of his coming for since the Fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the Creation They observed no discernible change or alteration saving that men die and others succeed in their room and so for ought they know may continue for