of his Door as one that would not go free from that blessed Yoke and Service and lays in Hope the whole Assistance hereof on his Grace and Help And how in so extraordinary a Case as is alone to my Lord I desire to witness and renew the same here with my humble and intire Reliance on him who is my Trust from my Youth to this day my Shield and exceeding great Reward To him I commit my Self my Ways my Work and Service which with my Soul's Desire I offer to my Lord In whose Hand I desire to secure my Credit for the Gospel's sake my Comfort and Enlargement in this Day of deep Trouble and Anguish together with my poor Children and the whole Interest of my Family and Concerns desiring to put my self with humble Confidence and all that is dear to me under his Care and Conduct O my Soul bless thou the Lord This I write the 1st of Jan. 1692. R. Fleming My Lord and my God 1694. It is in the first Day and Monday of this new Year 1694. that as I have formerly through most of my Life past so now do desire to renew my Dedication and Engagements to the Lord my God and to join in the same Witness with what herein hath been formerly with my whole Heart and Desire and to offer unto my dearest Lord Praise in remembrance of what he hath been through the Year past and in the whole of my Life whose gracious tender Conduct hath been so wonderful and well hast thou my Lord dealt with thy Servant according to thy Word in all hath befallen me And as my Soul does now move and betake my self alone to him as my own God my Father my Redeemer and blessed Comforter and my only All so do I hereby witness the settling of my Trust my Hope and Reliances alone upon him for this new Year or what Time of my Life may yet remain with earnest Desire to enter yet again and continue in his Service even in that delightful Service of my dearest Lord and Master And now I do again by a new Surrender witness my entire Commitment of my self my poor Children my Credit for the Gospel my Conduct and Comfort in so extraordinary a Juncture to my dearest Lord to his gracious and compassionate Care and Providence together with my Works and any small Design to serve him and my Generation And I do intreat new Supplies of his Grace and Strength to secure and make his poor Servant if it were his blessed Will yet more abundantly forth-coming to him And with hope of Acceptance I write this Jan. 1 1694. R. Fleming Post tenebras spero Lucem At another time thus floweth his sacred Pen O my Soul never forget this solemn Wednesday Night nor the last Monday Night what solemn Visits I had from my Lord after so serious a Work of Trial about the Warrant of my Hope and Petition for the heightning of my Faith and sealing Testimony of his Spirit In how marvellous a Way did my dearest Lord I hope bear Evidence to the great Assurance he had formerly given me c. O let my Soul bless and adore the Lord for this sweet and marvellous Visit this Monday Night which my dearest Lord I hope hath given his poor Servant when so near sinking and I hope said to my Soul Fear not I forget you not for I have graven you on the Palms of my Hands c. I look on thee with Delight and the Time is come when I will give thee an Account of thy Prayers and Tears of thy many Groans and long On-waiting Have I spoken and will I not do it c. O thou afflicted tossed with Tempests in an acceptable Time have I heard thee Trust thou in the Lord for I will make thee a Sign to this Generation c. I am leading thee right and thy Strength is to sit still Is the Lord's Hand shortned that it cannot save c. O how shall I entertain this marvellous Day and Appearance of my dearest Lord to his poor Servant O wonderful Condescension this Morning after so sweet an Evening before that he should please to give so near an Approach of himself O I hope it was his Voice I am come I am surely come my Servant in the fourth Watch of the Night to bring forth my Prisoner and set him at liberty who hath stay'd so long for me c. I embrace you as an Over-comer rejoice for great is your Reward in Heaven I am now entering thee on a Day of rejoycing Be not doubtful it is I who comforts thee c. And when I said O how shall I manage such a wonderful Enlargement how discernably was it returned I hope from himself I will manage it for thee Thou hast stayed for me but thou hast got the Victory and the Day shall be thine and thou shalt know what I have been doing with thee and for thee O let me never forget the 25th of Decemb. at Night when after 60 Years under the Lord 's special Conduct he gave me so sweet and remarkable a Visit never to be forgotten O what a Night was it when I went home pressed to sing the 103d Psalm c. But it were endless to name Passages of this nature since almost every Day was a Communion-day between God and him And how remarkably God hath answered his Prayers may easily be inferred from hence One Instance to this Purpose we may see in his Epistolary Discourse Page 68. of a Minister who had a violent Collick immediately taken off upon his praying to God for that End It is known to be himself he speaks of there though he expresses it Modestly in the Third Person I shall now present a few Things which he sets down in Writing by themselves under this Title A short Index of some of the great Appearances of the Lord in the Dispensations of his Providence to his poor Servant c. And although the Brevity and Obscurity of the Hints must needs leave us in the dark as to the full Meaning of most of them as being written only for his own Memory as the Title shews yet they will serve to shew us the particular Care of his Great Master over this his faithful and eminent Servant They are the Remarks which he calls the Appearances of the Lord towards him in his own Words 1. How near I was brought to Death in my Infancy given over yea and esteem'd a Burden to my Friends so as my Death was made desirable to them I being as the Refuse of my Father's Children yet even then I was God's Choice and in a most singular way restored 2. That remarkable Deliverance on receiving a Blow by a Club when a Child which was so near my Eye as endangered both my Sight and Life 3. That strange and extraordinary Impression I had of an audible Voice in the Church at Night when being a Child I had got up to the Pulpit calling to me to make haste
hear the Voice of others is a scarcely audible Whisper Some have but a Drop of the Oil of Joy others in comparison a very Sea of it However this is asserted of all Believers The Joy of Faith is the chief Joy of every sort of them Of them that want it none dare to slight it None can rest or be very easy till they have it The New Nature in them panteth for it as the Hart panteth after the Water-brooks And as oft as they get from under the foresaid Obstructions §. 1. Believers do truly rejoice in their Victory over Death Here Examples shall show THAT they do so and Reasons shall satisfy WHY they must so do The Time would fail to tell of Abraham foreseeing the Day and Work of his victorious Lord and rejoicing in it Of Jacob cheering himself under heaviest Pressures with the same comforting Prospect Of Job insulting over Death and glorying in his Assurance of a blessed Resurrection Of David proclaiming that his God would not leave him in Death And that he would fear no Evil when he walk'd through the Valley of its Shadow The Heart of the Saints of the Old Testament is to be seen in the Song of Solomon Hear it uttering it self to the Lord Jesus Christ We will be glad and rejoice in thee In thee that is by whose Stripes we are healed In thee on whom the Lord hath laid the Iniquities of us all and by the Faith of whom he justifieth us In thee to whom a Portion is divided with the Great and who dost divide the Spoil with the Strong as the Evangelical Prophet speaks We will remember thy redeeming Love more than Wine I sat down under his Shadow with great Delight and his Fruit was sweet to my Taste Consult with these Manifesto's the Psalms and Songs of his Father David It shall appear that the Church was dancing for Joy before the Day brake and the Shadows flew away and the Sun of Righteousness arose with the Light and Glory of the New Testament Under which who needs to be told what a Spirit of Joy was presently poured out Glad Tidings of great Joy the heavenly Heralds call'd the Gospel Where-ever it comes a Torrent of Joy follows it Gladly it is received at its first Publication though with the loss of all things adventured Philip preaches it at Samaria and there is great Joy in all the City We glory in Tribulations We rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory We are more than Conquerours We are always confident and willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. We are always rejoycing We rejoice in the Hope of the Glory of God Thus speak the Apostles as well of their Converts as of Themselves And what saith Ecclesiastical History of the Ages ever since The same Spirit of Joy and Gladness hath been in all times of the Church They that have loved the Lord Jesus have rejoiced in him And in his Name have wished for Death have welcomed it and have been unterrified with its most ghastly Shapes and Pomps Polycarp desires his Executioners to let him shew them that he could burn at a Stake without being tied to it Lucius thanketh a barbarous Judg for the Favour of sending him to his God and Father Cyprian thanks God for his Goal-delivery by Death Hilarion cries Out of this Body O my Soul What is there any thing for thee to fear For thee an old Servant of Christ But to come nigher our own days Cranmer thrusts his Right-hand into the Fire to be revenged on it for subscribing a Damned Scroll as he called it for fear of Death Think you that I have not learned to die said Adam Damlip Be at my burning you shall see and say There 's a Souldier of Christ said Kirby Ridley called his Death his Wedding And Latimer told the Bishop going before him to the Stake he would have after him as fast as he could And when Fire was put to him with a smiling Face he uttered these Words God is faithful who doth not suffer us to be tempted above our Strength Bainam in the Fire professed he felt no more Pain than on a Bed of Down Death in the most hideous Shapes hath been thus triumphed over Clouds of Instances are to be read even in English Books And do we not know Multitudes of surviving Friends and Neighbours whom we discern to be of the Mind of the Martyr Adam Wallack If Death be ready we are ready Blessed be God this Age is not so forsaken by him but that there are Multitudes to whom Christ's Word is verified Your Heart shall rejoice and your Joy shall no Man take from you Is it yet with any of you a hard Saying which holy Hildersam hath written He that doth not desire and strive to be willing to die he hath cause to suspect that there is no true saving Grace in him Or that harmonious Passage of great Calvin on Hebrews 2.14 He that is not able to quiet his Heart in holy Contempt of Death let him know that he hath made but little progress in the Faith of Christ For as excessive Fear of Death ariseth from Ignorance of the Grace of Christ so it is a sure Sign of Vnbelief Or that of Dr. Hammond on 1 Tim. 1.15 If the Conversion of a Sinner be not accompanied with unwonted Joy and Sorrow a Godly Sense of past Distress and a Godly Triumph for his Delivery I counsel not to Distrust but to Fear to a solicitous though not a suspicious Trembling Let me add one more of Mr. Ward of Ipswich If we had but half the Strength of St. Paul 's Faith or Life of his Hope or Fore-imaginations which he had of his future Felicity we could not but have the same Desires and Longings for our Fruition of them I think few Truths to be more evident But it 's possible that these following Reasons may add to its Evidence These Reasons I give why Believers must needs rejoice in their Victory over Death First Believers are Men And it is the Nature of Man to rejoice in his most desired Good when he knows it to be obtained Victory over Death is certainly the most desired and the obtained Good of Believers And ordinarily they do know themselves to have obtained it through Christ their Lord. For the Law of Grace through Faith they do understand Their own Acts of Grace by Sense they do perceive And their State of Grace by Reason they do infer And the Spirit which is of God they do receive whereby they know the things which are freely given them of God 1 Cor. 2.12 What our Saviour in his days on Earth said to the Ears of some the Holy Ghost saith now to Believers Hearts Be of good chear your Sins are forgiven Witnessing with their Spirits that they are the Children of God Rom. 8.16 Not only enlightning their Minds to see the Truth of their Graces and thence to conclude themselves in a
of these great Confirmations that I hope with assured Confidence was the Voice of my beloved God and Master yea as indeed it had been with an audible Voice said I will do for thee even exceeding abundantly c. I will surely give thee a Deliverance that shall make thee glad above all thy Sorrows past I do remember thy Prayers and Groans oft in this Walk and though I was only a Witness of them then yet now as I have seen in secret so will I reward thee openly The time is now come and it shall linger no more rejoice and be glad O my Prisoner of Hope for the Time of thy Release is come I remember thy Kindness and know thy Love be still and know that I am God I know thy Distress and that thy Straits now draw near but fear not I will take care of thee and the greater the Extremity be the greater Testimony thou givest to me c. This Thursday Evening the 17th of Aug. when I came in with some Challenges I got first great Access to my dear God in Confession and the sense of his Peace which was so lively and sweet as is unexpressible After I found some sweet renewing of former Confirmations with Power impressed on me thus 1. As your latter Works have exceeded your former so shall your latter Days also 2. As you have not made haste until my time so this is the time I have watched for when you are now so low to make my Power known 3. And do you fear to trust me Are the Consolations of God small or have they ever failed you 4. You know not my Child what I am to do for you and how near it is c. After I went down this last Night what Confirmation had I from God further And now this Morning Aug. 18. I had some lively Exercise of the same nature as before c. And now this Saturday Aug. 19. how clear an Evidence did God himself give me of the Evidence of the Work of Grace in my Soul in some most lively Actings thereof so as to rejoice in him as my alone Portion so as to say He only is my Salvation and my Defence my All in whom I desire to triumph and boast And therewith what a sweet Inbreaking followed from himself when he said thus to my Soul I will deliver you in a Way you know not and when all Means fail then is the Time I chuse I know thou hast none to look to but me It is not yours to see now But blessed are they that believe for there shall be a Performance of things promised Dost thou see the Pledges I have given you and the Conveyance of them with such Sealings and Embracements of my Love Remember the Text that Hope makes not ashamed because the Love of God is shed abroad in thy Heart Thou hast been long trading with the Talent of the Cross for some Fruit unto me But now I will also give thee a Talent of Comfort and put it in trust under thy Hand c. And O how remarkable hath this Evening been and Close of this Week which I may call a most solemn Confirming Week And now in its close had I most near and sweet Access to my dear God in Prayer And I hope I may own these immediate Confirmations from himself As 1. What shall be done to the Man whom the King delighteth to honour to whom my Honour and Service hath been dear 2. Have I said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee and can I leave thee now when thou hast most need of me and when all Refuge faileth 3. I know thou art at the hardest Part of that Lesson to believe in Hope against Hope but fear not I am with thee which in an extraordinary Way was then spoken and though thou see not what thy Outgate shall be leave that to me 4. And what a marvellous and sweet Confirmation did the Lord give to his poor Servant as I came down Return unto thy Rest and be still Which did so deeply surprise and astonish as answering so directly to what that Day had been my Exercise what he would do with my Hope which seemed to be against Hope This was the giving me a new Text to answer what I had long been upon c. He spent his Days and Years after this Manner And in order to have the Year rightly carried on it was we find his Custom from the 15th or 16th Year of his Age to his last to set a-part the first Day of every Year in renewing his Covenant with God in a new Self-surrender and Dedication of himself to him or if interrupted the first Day then to take the first convenient Day following We cannot give any Account of the Manner of his doing this for the first Years of his Life but we may guess what they have been by the few Instances following 1691. It is in the Entry of this new Year as I have done now for many Years past most solemnly that I desire to renew again my personal Engaging of my self to the Lord my God and for him and with my whole Heart and Desire to enter my self into his Service and take on his blessed Yoke and humbly to lay claim embrace and take him O Him to be my God alone my All my Light and my Salvation my Shield and exceeding great Reward Whom have I in Heaven but thee O Lord or in the Earth whom do I desire besides thee And now under thy blessed Hand my Soul desires and does here testify my Trusting my self and securing my whole Interest my Credit my Conduct my Comfort my Assistance my Thorow-bearing and my poor Children and to leave my self herein on the gracious Hand of my dearest Lord whilst I am within time As I write this the 2d Day of Jan. 1691. R. Fleming 1692. It is in the Entry and first Day of this new Year that I desire here as formerly to enter in this hidden Record a new Surrender and Offering of my self to my dearest Lord and Master who hath been wonderfully tender and gracious to me and hath brought me by his immediate Conduct through the Days and Years of my Pilgrimage past hath still cared for his poor Thing and given more singular Mercies and Evidences of Respect than to many else and now as still formerly hath taken me through this last Year with singular Evidences of his Presence and Assistance And as I trusted my self to my Lord so hath he graciously answered for which and his special Grace hitherto I desire to insert this Witness of my Soul's blessing the Lord my God And now I do here with my full and joyful Consent testify my giving up my self again to the Lord and to his Work and Service here and where-ever he shall call me with desire to consecrate my old Age to my God and the Guide of my Youth I love my Master and his Service and let my Ears be nailed to the Posts
c. 4. That I of all my Father's Sons being four should be spared when the other three were so promising and desireable above me and should thus come to be the only Male-heir surviving of such a Stock 5. That solemn and memorable Day of the Communion at the Gray-Friars in the Entry of the Year 1648. where I had so extraordinary a Sense of the Lord's Presence yea whence I can date the first sealing Evidence of my Conversion now 40 Years past 6. The Lord 's gracious and signal Preservation and Deliverance given me at Dunbar-Fight 7. Those solemn Times and near Approaches of the Lord to my Soul the first at the Elve when I went there and the other a little after my Eather's Death in the High-study 8. That Scripture Acts 12. was by an observable Providence given to be my first Text and how I was unexpectedly and by a surprizal engaged therein 9. Those two great Deliverances at Sea in going to Dundee the first time in Company with the Duke of Lauderdale the other time in Company with Mr. Andrew Grey of Glasgow 10. That extraordinary Dream and marvellous Vision I had twice repeated with the unexpressible Joy after the same 11. Those memorable Impressions and Presages about my Health when it seemed hopeless at my first Entry upon the Ministry and the strange Expression of Mr. Simpson to that purpose at New-mills 12. The Lord 's immediate and wonderful Appearance for me in my first Entry upon the Ministry with that extraordinary Storm on the Day of my Ordination and the amazing Assault which followed the same in what befel wherein Satan's immediate Appearance against me was so visible 13. The great and conspicuous Seal given to my Ministry from the Lord in the Conversion of several Persons with that marvellous Power which then accompanied the Word on the Hearts of the People 14. That signal Appearance of the Lord and his marvellous Condescendence in my Marriage-lot and in the whole Conduct of the same 15. My Deliverance from so eminent Hazard of my Life in my Fall from my Horse at Kilmarnock 16. The Lord 's marvellous Assistance and Countenance at the two Communions of Cathcart and Dillop with that great Enlargement I had at the last of these Places at the last Table 17. That as my Entry to my Charge was with so bright a Sun-shine so no less did the Lord appear at my parting from that Place wherein all things did meet in a remarkable Juncture to make the same both honourable and comforting 18. The Lord 's special Providence as to my outward Lot after my Removal thence in many Instances that way 19. His gracious sparing my dear Wife so long when her Life was in such Hazard in the Years 65 and 72. 20. The Preservation I had in going over to Fife in the Year 72 with the solemn Times I got there 21. That Dream at Bonssy wherein I got such express Warning as to my Wife's Removal with the Lord 's marvellous Appearance and Presence with me the Thursday after at St. Johnstown 22. That extraordinary Warning I got again of my dear Wife's Death and of the Manner of it at London in the Year 1674. 23. Those two remarkable Scripture-places given me at Westnisbet in my return from London 1674 viz. that in Rom. 4. in the Forenoon and that in 115 Psalm in the Afternoon 24. Those great and signal Confirmations given me at my Wife's Death And that extraordinary Voice so distinct and clear which I had a few Nights after her Death 25. Those special Confirmations given me at my first leaving my Country at Westnisbet Ridsdale Stanton and the first at Sea from the Sheils 26. Those solemn Passages to confirm my Faith from Heb. 11. and Exod. 33. and at other times at London and the last Night there before I went away 27. Those extraordinary and signal Times I had at my first entry at Rotterdam 28. Those two observeable Providences which did occur to me at Woerden and about the Business of William Mader 29. The marvellous Sign given me of the State of my Family in what happened as to sudden withering of the Tree and its extraordinary reviving again at my first entry into my first House in Rotterdam 30. The great Deliverance from Fire in the High-street 31. The special Providence in preserving my Son from perishing in the Water 32. The good Providence in returning my Diary after it had been long lost 33. That surprising Relief when cited by the Council of Scotland to appear with that sweet Resignation to the Lord which I had then under so pungent a Trial. 34. The remarkable Event of a Warning I was forced to give that some present should be called away by Death before the next lord's-Lord's-day 35. The Lord 's immediate supporting under a long Series of pungent Trials in this Place by a Series of Wonders I may truly say for which I am obliged in a singular Way to set up my Ebenezer that hitherto hath the Lord helped 36. The remarkable Appearance of the Lord with me which I omitted in its place in that strange Providence relating to Mr. Moneyenny's Death at Preston-pans 37. That most solemn Providence and Wonder of my Life my Fall under the York Coach in Aug. 1674. when the great Wheel went over my Leg so as I could feel it pressing me without hurting far less breaking my Leg as if it had been carried thus over in a just Poize to let me see how Providence watched over me c. 38. The Comfort God gave me in my Children and those extraordinary Confirmations I got from God upon the Death of those sweet Children whom God removed from me to himself Now go Reader go and do thou likewise For Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Mat. 24.26 〈…〉 to the Memory 〈…〉 Reverend and Worthy Mr … E RT FLEMING who de … sed July 25 1694. By a Friend My Pen must be like to an Angel's Quill And my weak Parts must equalize my Will Should I presume him fully to set forth Though in rude Characters or draw his Worth Extol him as you please yet still you shall Remaining find behind This is not All. Renowned Men and righteous are this Day O sad Prognostick quickly pluckt away Rehold how fast he 's gone as if he griev'd Enjoying of his Life whilst here he liv'd Rare Fruit's soon pluckt and Souls to Ripeness grown Too good for Earth are snatcht up to the Throne Free and unbiass'd for the Truth he stood Liv'd all he knew knew all that 's understood Each Vertue in him did so equal dwell Men hardly could perceive which did excel In endless Bliss he 's now whilst mournful I Nothing can think but how he pierc'd the Sky G'ot into Heaven and seem'd amaz'd to cry Reviewing O Behold Eternity's Rich Throne From Living Earthly Mounted I'm Now Gone Vivacem nolo Dolorem Sed memor aeterno tempore vivat Amor FINIS
exulting Victors and Strength enough to hold them in its Dungeon till the Resurrection This Mouth of Infidelity is presently stopped Here follows A justifying Reason such as clears the Triumph from the Charge of Absurdity It is confessed if Death were but it self and not Pars minima sui it would be unworthy of the Honour of being insulted over it would be an Insect of an inconsiderable Sting if not a perfect Drone An Enemy too despicable to be triumphed over with Harp and Psaltery nor would Christians blow a Trumpet for the Overthrow of a Wasp But Death's Name is Legion and as it 's an Host of Enemies in one it is a formidable one The Sting of Death is Sin q. d. Sin is the whole Element of Evil it is all the Evil of Doing Nothing beside is Evil essentially or meritoriously This Hell of Sin being infused into Death makes it like it self even the whole Element of Misery and all the Evil of Suffering where then if not here shall be found a Trophy for Faith Here in Death envenomed by Sin By Sin whereof a Spark made Devils of the most blessed Creatures And no more than the imputed Guilt made the ever-living God to sweat Blood Seems this to be a Paradox Hear then The Strength of Sin is the Law q. d. No wonder that Sin is so pernicious a thing for the Curse of the Divine Law is on it And who can think what is God's Power or his Law 's Terror His Law must be like himself as in its Precepts and Promises so in its Threats The Punishments of so great a King must necessarily be great The Breach of his Law 's Duty can deserve no less than Extremity and Eternity of Misery and the Curse laid upon it is no less No marvel then that Sin 's Guilt maketh a Hell of Death being the Law 's Curse maketh Sin a worse thing than Death or Hell an Evil that Hell it self must have all Eternity to punish But over both Law and Sin God giveth us the Victory As fiery as this Law is Christ's Blood quencheth it As boiling a Furnace as it makes of Sin it cannot make Sin to be the Death of a Believer's Soul These the worst of Enemies are first slain For upon our first believing Christ's Righteousness is imputed and by that Imputation the Law 's Curse and Sin 's Condemnation are removed Over them we have Triumph sounded Rom. 7.4 Ye are dead to the Law by the Body of Christ And ver 24 25. Who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Death's Dominion is therefore at an end though its Power to kill the most holy Body and to detain the most sacred Dust for a time be not taken from it In short the Grace of Christ hath made Sin a broken Enemy the Law a kind Friend and Death a useful Servant Doth the Saints Triumph therefore precede or exceed Victory let the Wise judg When Israel was brought through the Red Sea what Songs of Praise were straitway sung though they had a howling Desart to be passed through and were not presently in Canaan Their Songs injected Terror to the Dukes of Edom and the mighty Men of Moab Yea the Greeks no sooner heard the Articles of Peace purchased for them by Titus Flaminius but they cried 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Saviour a Saviour Plutarch in vit T. Flam. And with such Shouts of Joy as made the Air to ring and the Birds to drop down astonished A deep Lethargy it is that maketh Christians Joy to be less while their Reason for it is infinitely more That restrains them from such Triumph as would make the Infidel World to tremble But O where shall Offerings and whole Burnt-offerings be found For this Victory this Inchoate one Lebanon is not sufficient or the Cattel upon a thousand Hills But as Jehoshaphat in Berachah the Saints throughout the Earth do bless the Captain of their Salvation and Conquest The next Verse and Breath is An holy Gratulation A lovely Heaven of it in a little Globe of Words Thanks be to God! To the Father Son and Spirit our One God be all holy Obedience Whereof Gratitude is the principal Part that which contains and animates all Laws bind to Obedience and Benefits unto Thankfulness But God our Law-giver is in all things our Benefactor His very Laws all are Benefits To him be therefore all Obedient Thankfulness and all Thankful Obedience To him Who giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Of his Saints Victory we publish the Truth We declare his Gift of Grace to be the Original We testify the Limitation of this Gift unto Believers only and the Extent of it unto all Believers As well to Babes in the Cradle of Christianity as the oldest Mnason's in God's Kingdom We proclaim the never to be forgotten Purchaser of it the Lord Jesus Christ Whose Death gave the Angel of Death his mortal Wound Whose Resurrection certified and exemplified Believers Whose Righteousness by Faith received instateth them in the Power of an endless Life Whose Sanctifying Spirit mortifieth sinful Lusts which be not the least Stings of Death Whose Comforting Spirit takes out the Pain and Anguish that Sin sticketh into our Souls And whose Glorious Appearing one day will fulfil his old Word to a tittle O Death I will be thy Plague O Grave I will be thy Destruction Waving all others the Argument I take hence is this Holy Believers on Christ do rejoice in their Victory over Death Truly Righteously and Holily they rejoice in their Salvation by Christ They sing O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory c. The Plural Number in which he speaks may assure us that the Apostle sung in Consort Thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory And it shall be shown that this Text is all the Holy Catholick Church's Song Which while Militant is so far triumphant We may say of Death and of all Enemies in Combination with it as St. John saith of the World Whosoever is born of God overcometh them And this is the Victory that overcomes them even our Faith Consequently he that overcometh and shall not be hurt of the second Death must take it for his Duty and make it his Practice to joy in the Lord and rejoice in the God of his Salvation But lest with the Dogs I should shut Children out of the Church-Doors and wound any that have already the Arrows of the Almighty sticking in them I must premise two things Obstructions are allowed for It is not affirmed that all or any Believers do always rejoice Full oft they are hindred by Bodily Maladies by Mental Mistakes by Satan's Buffetings and by Divine Desertions Under which their Harp is turned to Mourning and their Organ into the Voice of them that weep And Secondly Degrees be wondrously different Of them that sing Triumph the Voice of some is as Thunder which all
abundantly Bees do suck Honey out of sweet Flowers whatever it be that Spiders do extract Sixthly The very Essence of this Joy is holy Obedience And is not Obedience the Womb of Obedience as Sin is the Womb of Sin What carries to obey God more than obeying him doth Naturally Acts do strengthen Habits and institutively also God of admirable Love rewards Grace with Grace The Believer's Joy answering a known Precept prepares his Ear and Heart to answer all the Divine ones In a word how fruitful of Holiness is the Joy of Saints in Heaven Believers Joy is of the very same Nature and why should it not be their holy Strength also Seventhly The constant visible Concomitants of this Joy are extraordinarily holy Satan's Delusion it is and not divine Consolation which sheweth not out of an excelling Conversation its Works with Meekness of Wisdom Holy Joy hath these Jewels shining in the Crown of it High Esteem of Christ Jesus No Star leads to Christ more than Joy in him doth Profound Humility The most joyful Apostle stiled himself least of Saints chief of Sinners Spiritual Flame is herein like natural the higher it rises the more it trembles Sorrow for Sin after the most godly manner No where are so bitter Herbs eaten and so sweetly as in this joyful Feast of Passover Strictest Watchfulness against Sin The more Joy in a Treasure the stronger Guard is set upon it against the Robber Because Joy breeds Jealousies omnia tuta timet the Disciples for very Joy believed not Luke 24.41 and Jealousy suffers not to sleep or to slumber Thoughtfulness of Heaven The joyful Israelite had Canaan in his Mind all the while he was in the Desart True Contempt of this World's Gaudies What are Candles or Stars when the Sun appears When the Good of all the Land of Egypt was before Jacob and his Sons they regarded not their Stuff Exod. 45.20 The Joy of Paradise stains the Glory of a Paris Sweet Content in the most bitter worldly State The Joy of Faith finds Meat in the Eater and Sweetness in the Strong The God whom we serve is able and he will deliver us say the Hebrew Heroes And what follows Vpon their Bodies the Fire had no Power not a Hair of their Heads is singed they walk in the midst of the Fire and have no Hurt Lions Dens are quiet Rooms to Daniels Prisons are Musick-houses to such as Paul and Silas Exquisite Pleasure in all holy Services Being full of holy Joy St. Paul was well pleased to be kept out of Heaven for a time to serve Christ's Interest on Earth And joyful Luther professed he had rather honour God with his Service than be honoured by God with any Gifts which made great and noted in the World Mallem obedire quam miracula facere Lastly A real Indifferency towards this present Life It is only the joyful Christian that can possess this but the Heart of every one that is such doth say as his Lord Father not my Will but thy Will be done Concerning his stay in the Body it thus saith most sincerely To conclude Is God to be thought now a Loser and not a Gainer in his Glory by Believers Joy Or is it possible that Holiness should languish in a Joy wherein these Fruits do flourish In a Joy that so evidently maketh God to be the Centre of the rejoicing Heart the Centre toward which it moves and in which it rests There are many Inferences of most humbling instructing and comforting Truth which do here offer themselves and I presume will be darting in their Beams upon Minds not shut up against them Their Light is such as is ready for every prepared Eye It is therefore a tripartite Exhortation wherewith I conclude 1. To those who have not ever sang Triumph over Death 2. To those who have sung it but have lost that Voice of Joy and Gladness 3. To those that have for any time sung it and are still singing it I must have leave to think that all three Sorts are present among us Unto the first I first address my self §. 1. To such of you as have not yet sung Triumph over Death If now you believe the Truth which hath been irrefragably proved I exhort as follows First Acknowledg your selves to have no Saving-Faith if you have no stirring Desires to attain a joying Faith It hath been said by what Means a Child of God may be kept it may be all his Days from the Joy of Faith but it cannot be said whereby he should be so kept from desiring it and from pursuing it Nothing but a reigning and damning Presumption or Despair is able to keep a Soul from these Review my seven Arguments which I may not repeat and assure you it is no Child of Light that sits unconcernedly in the dark as if nothing ailed him and unto whom it is not as Death it self that he cannot triumph over Death who travels not from Ordinance to Ordinance for the Power and the Act and follows not Heaven with unutterable Sighs and Groans until he gains them Comfortless Believers are represented so doing Cant. 3.1 2 3. and Cant. 5.6 7. Secondly When you bestir your selves for the Joy of Faith be not impatient if it doth not presently become triumphant To be using the Means appointed for getting it is your unquestionable Duty but to fret against God as though he wronged you if he made you wait long for it is your certain Sin and Folly Doubt not but God will give it as soon as he sees you fit for it And nothing save Ignorance and Pride can make that wild Question Why should I wait on the Lord any longer In a word Let him not go till he bless you with it but let him take his own time to bless you with his richest Gift It is Unbelief that makes Haste and that Haste makes Woe Thirdly When you are waiting for the Joy of Faith be praising and blessing God for putting you upon the Pursuit of it and enabling of you to wait therein This Grace well deserveth your best Thanks Had you ever ran after it if Grace had not drawn you or had not you laid violent Hands on your selves as others have done under their Terrors if Grace had not restrained you Thanks are Sacrifices with which God is well pleased And who was ever known to be thankful for Twilight but he had e're long a shining Noon-day On the contrary from him who is unthankful Sun Moon and Star-light is full often removed and he is left as without Hope Fourthly When you are blessing God for drawing you to seek the Joy of Faith fail not to multiply the two first Acts of Faith That which prepareth for Union to Christ and that which uniteth unto him Plainly thus Night and Day tell your Souls that God propitiated by Christ will surely save them if they truly repent and believe on him Proceed also and perpetually be saying to your God that as far as
to the Vnity and Purity of Faith Speaking of the Differences of Brethren in this City he thus expressed himself I am amaz'd to see good Men thus tear one another in the dark Nor can I understand how they should have Grace in due Exercise who value their particular Designs above the Interest of the Catholick Church and who confine Religion to their own Notions and Models To another complaining of Reproaches from pretended Friends his Answer was To me to be judged of Man and of Man's Judgment is a small thing I bless God I value not my own Name but God's only I do confess when Men wound the Credit of the Gospel through me it is hard then to bear up Nor may it be forgotten what he hath said to his dear and excellent Friend and spiritual Son of this City Dr. D. H. I bless God in fifteen Years time I have not ever given any Man's Credit a Thrust behind his Back But when I had ground to speak well of any Man I did so with Faithfulness and when I wanted a Subject that way I kept Silence O in what Concord might Prelatists and Dissenters walk much more the Dissenters themselves had they more of this Balsamick Spirit What agree in Principles of Faith in all substantial Parts of Worship and assert all of us the same Necessity of Holiness and yet bite and devour one another Blessed Saviour send down thy Spirit to us with the Wisdom that is pure and peaceable But to return Of the Man so pure and peaceable it must be added His TRIUMPHS in the Favour of God were transcendent Triumphs over Law Sin Death Grave and Hell Too few do I discern to aspire to such as he had long attained O how dwelt he on the Mount How oft was he as in the third Heaven What a Jacob what an Israel was holy Fleming Such a Wrestler and Prevailer with God such a Moses to whom God spake as it were Face to Face such a Nazarite with a Soul with a Life and with a Name darkned with no Cloud except but that of his own Humility which doth together darken a Man to himself and beautify him in the Eyes of God and Saints A Man so highly favoured of God and blessed with so much of Heaven upon this Earth is not oft found I suppose in any one Age. There is no end of Instances every Day seeming to have been a holy Sabbath and communion-Communion-day and Day of spiritual Jubilee unto him In his last Sickness he had more than one wondrous Manifestation of God's Love to his Soul and one which he declared he had not Strength enough to have born much longer But now Of his DEATH in the Lord what shall my trembling Heart utter It was but July the 17th that his Sickness seized him and the 25th he who had so much seen the Salvation of God departed in Peace On his first Arrest O Friends said he to such as were about him Sickness and Death are serious things But till the Sparks of his Fever had risen to a Flame he was not aware that that Sickness was to be unto Death for he told a Relation of his that if it should so be it was strange being the Lord did not use to hide from him the things that he did with him and his His heavenly Father knew his thorow Preparedness for Glory and pleased not to give the Premonition which he saw him not to want Sudden Death is sudden Glory to such Saints Yet before his Expiration he was apprehensive of its Approach Calling to him a Friend he asked What Freedom do you find in Prayer for me Seems God to becken to your Petitions or does he bind you up and leave dark Impressions on your Mind This way said he I have often known the Mind of the Lord. His Friend telling him he was under Darkness in the case he said Well I know your Mind Trouble not your self for me I think I may say that I have been long above the Fear of Death His Groans and Struglings argued his Flesh to be under no small Pains But his Answers to enquiring Friends certified that the Irons did not enter his Soul Always he would say I am very Well or I was never Better or I feel no Sickness Thus would he say while he was seen to be very sensible of every thing beside Pain The malignant Distemper wasting his Natural Spirits he could speak but little But what he spake was all of it like himself Having felt himself indisposed for his wonted Meditation and Prayer he thus said to some near him I have not been able in a manner to form one serious Thought since I was sick Or to apply my self unto God as I ought But though I have not been able to apply my self unto God he has applied himself unto me And one of his Manifestations was such as I could have born no more Opening his Eyes after a long Sleep one of his Sons asked him how he did he replied Never better Do you know me said the Son unto which with a sweet Smile he answered Yes yes dear Son I know you This was about two Hours before his Ascension About an Hour after it he cried earnestly Help help for the Lord's Sake And then breathing weaker and weaker he soon gave up his precious Ghost The renewed Eagle took flight to the Mountain of Spices As his Life his Death also speaketh And whosoever hath Ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit speaketh by both of them unto the Churches His Diary the rich Treasure of his Experiences is not at hand And therefore cannot as yet be brought into publick Light But from the few Manuscripts which are here found I shall add some Hints that I judg to be very directive and incentive I mean unto the Faith of Reliance and of Assurance in which he was so eminent Unto the Love of God and Men wherein he was so vigorous Unto Meditation and Prayer and Heavenly Mindedness wherein he was so grand an Exemplar They are indeed but Hints And if any Difference be they are the most ordinary of his Memorials The more sublime and extraordinary ones are kept back of a Suspicion that the Generality of good and honest Readers might be more amused than edified by things so stupendious And so very much out of the common Road of Christian Experience But to proceed Aug. 16 1685. Thus he wrote I found some sweet Access to the Lord in the Morning in the lively Actings of Grace and after I had this Day set down some Remarks of the Day before I had some clear Impress of this Since thou art careful to improve thy Talent of Observation more shall be given and the Oil shall not fail whilst there are Vessels to receive And now O the sweet Evening of this same Day when in the outer-Walk where I had found a sore Damp for some time the Door was as it were cast open with such a clear imparting