in this Text of great Importance to your Souls and mine O that I knew how to â—ffect your Hearts and mine with it â—hat we might know how to give it â—ts Influence upon your Hearts and Lives I say so because of the Great Solemnity with which these Words are introduced here is such an Apparatus as is verily very awful I do not know three Passages in all Scripture so Solemnly introduced I heard a Voice from Heaven whether the Voice of the Angel of God the Angel of the Covenant Or whether a Voice from God more immediately the Text hath not told us And we may safely be ignorant about it But it is A Voice from Heaven a Voice than cannot lye a Voice that cannot deceive us a Voice that should be heard and received with all suitble Reverence and Acceptation and who could have believed it unless well attested and this Voice bids him Write Write why is it worthy to be Written if it is a Voice from Heaven on such an Important Occasion as appears in the Context John might well write it down fro the Comfort of the Followers of Jesus that poor despised reproached persecuted Generation whom the World reckons not worthy to live And their God that knows them better than the World knows them and is not ashamed to be called their God he knows that the World is not worthy of them q. d. Souls bear up under all Discouragements tho' yours is a Distressed Heart-stooping Day here is a Word from Heaven a Cordial for Fainting Seasons and I 'll write it down for you that you may have it ready and may have Recourse to it in your needful Hours and that is Blessed are the Dead that dye in the Lord from henceforth c. The Words Logically considered contain First A Proposition Blessed are the Dead which dye in the Lord. Secondly A Limitation or Determination of the Time and Season of verifying it From henceforth Thirdly A Twofold Reason of the Truth of the Proposition First That they may rest from their Labours Secondly And their Works do follow them Which will be the Reasons of the ctrine and waving to speak to them now I may hope for room for some Application which is the thing I would aim at The Proposition in the Text then that I may for Brevity sake make it serve for the Doctrine is this Doct. Blessed are the Dead which dye in the Lord. I call it a Proposition and yet the accurate Logicians may quarrel at it because the Predicate is in the Place of the Subject But it is a Logical Proposition at least with very little Variation They that are dead and dye in the Lord are Blessed And so I must endeavor to explain the Subject and then the Predicate and though the Subject be last in the Text it is to be reckoned first in the Proposition and must therefore fall first under our Consideration First What are we to understand by The Dead that dye in the Lord There are two Senses that put in very fairly and both of them agreeable enough to the Original Some and Men of Value by Dying in the Lord do understand as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much as Dying For the Cause and Sake of the Lord as Martyrs do that seal their Testimony with their Blood The Preposition which we render In after the manner of the Hebrews signifying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as much as For and I must not deny but this Preposition in other Places of Scripture is so render'd as in the Margin and elsewhere and the Proposition Mat. 6. 7. Eph. 3. 13. is true take it in this Sense That those that Dye For the Lord are Blessed and it may be in a Degree above other Men that Dye only in the Lord. But I may not exclude the other Sense of it by this tho' there are great Authorities to countenance me in it because I think it is beyond Dispute that when the Apostle uses an Equivalent Phrase Them that sleep in 1 Thes 4. 14. Jesus Sleeping is allow'd to be dying in Jesus For after this he assures us The dead in Christ shall rise first Verse 16. There is nothing in the Context that I can discover should limit us to this Sense therefore it must not I think be understood only of those that Dye for him that suffered a Violent Death for him as many of our Brethren have done and now do in the Christian World The Translation hath a plain and sound Sense different from that for though it may be admitted to signifie Dying for him yet it doth not exclude but take in their Dying in him that dyed not thus for him 1 John 4. 13. Eph. 3. 17. Dying interested in him United to him by the Spirit on his part and by Faith on ours And the Proposition is true of these and all these so that in the same Rom. 8. 1. Rom. 16. 7. Joh. 15. 4. Sense they are said to be in Christ to abide in him and walk in him they may be said to dye in him Let me add that Dying in the Lord thus explain'd doth suppose Two Things First Their Being in him by their Coming to him and Receiving of him which are but two different Scripture Joh. 1. 12. Mat. 11. 28. Expressions for their Believing in him Secondly It is Supposed to Dying in him they did Abide and Walk in him from the time of their Coming to him and Receiving of him be it a longer or shorter time And pray Sinners you that make light of Christ that prefer your other things before him or turn your Backs upon him to serve divers Lusts and Pleasures instead of him that abandon your selves to a Carnal Interest Know that you cannot in this Case dye in him or be blessed in so doing and therefore bethink your selves how it will be with you if Death lay its cold Hands upon you O Get into Christ Get a saving Interest in him give up your selves to him that Death may not find you out of him for Woe to you if you dye and not in Jesus Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord. Let us now briefly see what we are to understand by the Predicate Blessed And of this give me leave to speak something First of the Name and then of the Thing for Names are to lead us to Things and I would I could tell you more of it I am ashamed to think how little I can tell you of the Blessedness of those Souls that Live and Dye in Jesus That I may borrow some Light from the Old Testament let me tell you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Hebrews have a Word Expressive of this beyond what our Language can fully reach it 's often Translated Blessed and this Word seems to be in that form which the Masters in Sacred Language call Forma Regiminis and may be turned from its concrete to an abstract Signification and therefore if I
use them This was not the way of this Holy Woman our Deceased Friend She has I know during my Acquaintance with her exercised her self in finding out and laying up Marks and Evidences of her Holy and Happy State I have heard her mention with a peculiar Thankfulness the Labours of those Ministers that have been helpful to her in it and let me tell you that you and I have to speak modestly as much need to do it as she had If thou think'st so it were easie to put thee in a way to do it whilst thou hast Health and Strength of Body and Composure of Mind to attend to it with Application of Soul for now is the Time if indeed thou wouldest have it done effectually done and because the Time will not give me leave to set down such Marks as as thou mayest depend upon in particular Let me pray thee to reflect back upon what I have said by way of Exhortation and ask thy Conscience if thou have thus received Christ Jesus the Lord art thou united to him art thou thus in him dost thou thus walk in him and live to him And hear what a wakeful and well enlightned Conscience will give thee in Answer and judge of thy Case accordingly Or because it is so much better done by better Hands read over the Marks of Grace and Sincerity as thou findest them set down to thy Hand in Practical Books for the Examination of the Truth of Grace and mark what falls from the Pulpit on that Design put them in Writing under Two Heads 1. Put down such as Conscience is clearest in and look oft upon them that thou mayest keep them clear and avoid all that clouds them 2. In another Place Put down such Marks as are plain Scripture-Marks but not so legible to thee by reason of some prevailing Disease of Soul that gets Entertainment there and so renders thy sincerity in Grace suspected by thee now and will do it more in a sick and dying Hour for Conscience will then speak out and will be heard at another rate than now thou hearest it View these frequently lay them on thy Table for that purpose or carry them about thee that at leisure times thou may'st be working thy Heart up to them and plying the Throne of Grace for ability to do it and for the Witness of the Spirit that thou hast done it Find out what Sin it is thou art most indulgent to that gives cause of Fear it is in Dominion and what Duty and Service thou stickest most at and daily urge thy Heart to keep the greatest distance from the one and to set presently about the other But I may not enlarge on Particulars I must leave that to you Well Friend go Home then and say to thine own Soul this is a Matter of great Concernment of Self-concernment I have bestowed many an Hour on that which is of lesser Moment of more remote Concernment I have left this at great Uncertainties a great while but I will now bring it to Issue that I may know where Death will land me in this Happiness or that Misery And do not satisfie your selves with any Evidence of your Grace or Title to Glory but what will abide the Test at Death and Judgment go by true Measures rightly applyed that thou deceive not thy self in this important Affair Thirdly Lastly This Doctrine would afford abundant Matter of Support and Consolation to such as are United to and Interested in Jesus Is it so That they are Blessed that dye in the Lord do they rest from their Labours and do their Works follow them First Had I time to Open this Fountain of Consolation I might easily make it appear that this might support and comfort all those Souls that are in Jesus under all the Miseries and Calamities of this Life Secondly Against the Hurt and Horrour of Death First As to First The Calamities of Life it may be they are many and great too Sickness Pain Sorrow Disgrace Poverty Loss of Dear Râ—lations and what not Well were they worse than they are they shall all be fully and finally done away at Death these are not entailed on the Children of God for ever God loves them better than to permit them to abide in such a boysterous state of things for ever I must not Enlarge Briefly Secondly As to the Second The Hurt and Fear of Death which is so terrible to innocent much more so to sinful Nature you had need be well secured against them Sin hath put such a Venemous Sting into Death as fills it with just Horror But to a Soul in Christ this hurtful 1 Cor. 15. 55 56 Sting is taken out Death is become a Sleeping in Jesus the Evil of it which is destructive is done away it is now become the Passage into the Joy of your Lord as I have largely opened to you upon a late Occasion and may not add more now This well thought of may support and comfort thy Dejected Soul under the Nearest Views of thy Approaching Change Well Sirs tho' I must have done what once more say you There is a Blessedness is it like to be yours Will you take Care it may be yours Will you get Evidence it is yours in Title now and shall be yours in Possession when you dye that you may have Peace whilst you live and Comfort when you dye and this Blessedness after Death which all shall have that dye in the Lord For it came by a Voice from Heaven to John he had it in Command to write for our Support it is an Indubitable Truth Blessed are the Dead that dye in the Lord c. FINIS ERRATA PAge 3. Line 20. between and and to add should be pag. 11. lin 1. read Secondly It doth suppose their Abiding and Walking in him from c. pag. 47. lin 22. put one in the place of such and such in the place of one pag. 51. l. 26. dele not
A Funeral Sermon Occasioned by the DEATH OF M rs Jane Papillon Late WIFE of The Very Worthy Thomas Papillon Esq First Preached July 24. 1698. and now Published at his Request By JOHN WOODHOVSE LONDON Printed by J. Astwood for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey 1698. TO THE Worthy and Ever Honoured Thomas Papillon Esq One of the Representatives of the Honourable City of LONDON in the present Parliament AND The Deservedly Respected Philip Papillon His Only SON WHEN I had performed the Service which you were pleased to Call me to in the Preaching of this Sermon I had no Grounds of Fear you would Importune me to make it more Publick THERE are few can be desired to send their Pulpit Discourses to the Press upon greater Disadvantage than my self who have no written Hints to recollect what I deliver and must therefore be forced when urg'd to it to Desire Help from some of my Hearers and refresh my Memory with their Notes which alwayes labour under considerable Imperfections To this I was particularly forced in the present Case which I thought a sufficient Reason for my desiring as I did it might when committed to Paper be kept for your own Private Perusal THEY that know us will not expect I should say much of you when I write to you However I am bold to be your Remembrancer of what was your Deceased Consort ' s Satisfaction in her Languishing Hours because it may on equal Grounds be both yours To have about Thirty descending from you or nearly United to them that do and no One but what gives just Cause to all of us to believe the Root of the Matter is found and Christ formed in them is a Comfort many want after all their Pious Counsels Holy Examples and Care of their Disposal And tho' this be but one of the many Distinguishing Marks God hath Honoured you both with yet this alone should raise our Thanks and Hopes about them AND that God will continue them and especially You Sir his Worthy Son in the Steps of such a Father to fill up many of his Useful and Exemplary Posts both Religious and Civil is the Desire and shall be the Prayer of Your Affectionate Honourer and Faithful Servant in Our Dear Lord John Woodhouse Upper Moorfields Octob. 27. 1698. REV. XIV 13. And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write blessed are the Dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them I Need not tell you Beloved the sad Occasion of this Mournful Assembly The Design I shall mainly drive at is not the Celebration of the Deserved Praises of the Dead or the Revival of the Grief and Tender Sence the Living have of so great a Loss But if it were possible I would Endeavour to bring this Afflictive Providence so near our Hearts that we might not lose all that we might get some good by so great a loss the loss of so Excellent a Person I would render it as Instructive as I can to this great Assembly And that I may the more successfully do it will you lend me your Attentive Thoughts to that Passage of Sacred Writ that you have upon Record but now named to you Blessed are the Dead c. Scripture and Experience tell us that the Inhabitants of this lower World are Divided under two great Lords that have the Rule over them Christ and Satan the Flesh and Spirit and it is true it lyes at every Man's Choice whose he will be and whom he will serve the Devil cannot force Subjects and Christ will not he will Deal with us according to the Free and Noble Natures that he hath given us but hath from the Divine Pleasure and according to the Nature of the thing Purposed that what Sinners Choose that they shall have such as hath been their first such shall be their Final State the Way and End are inseparably Connected together The far greater part of Mankind Devote themselves to the Service of the World and the Flesh abandon themselves to a fleshly animal Life these they Choose and Follow And Verse 9. the Context tells you what will be the Dreadful Issue of this their Course They shall be filled with their own Verse 10. Wayes for they shall be Tormented with Fire and Brimstone A Dreadful Entertainment shall Sinners find when they come to Receive the Recompence of the Pleasures of Sin that they had for a short Season For they shall find the most Tormenting Element of Fire with Brimstone to give Heat and Horrour to it the Smoke of their Torment that 's an Verse 11. Awakening Word to them that feel and to them that do not yet feel it shall ascend for ever and ever and they shall have no Rest Day nor Night Sinners let me tell you from the Lord that there is not one of you that is yet a Slave to his Lust that chooseth and pursueth a Carnal Worldly Interest before all that God and Christ have offered to you but he is in a Case that doth certainly entitle him to this Torment tho' yet he is not in it I know Sinner thou fondly hopest it will be better but where is the Ground for it Either set thy self to Fear the Lord and Follow the Lamb or thou canst never escape and therefore whoever thou art that hast never been awakened to a Sense of thy Sin and Danger art thou yet in an Impenitent Christless State think what will the way I have taken bring me to this End God hath told me so and at my Peril I must believe it that I may prevent it Oh that God would give thee a Heart to it But as dark as that side of the Cloud is the Context hath a light side also and my Text leads me to a Better Sort of Souls And O that God would lead it to the Souls of all of you that are in such a State as will intitle you to this Torment that you may make your Escape and never know by feeling what it means There is a Generation that under the sweet Influences of Free and Powerful Grace follow the Lamb whithersoever Verse 4. he goes They had taken Christ and become Imitators of him and they would follow him through Tribulation and Persecution to Glory let it be how it would with them here they would follow Christ they had embark'd with him and they would adventure their all with him These are they that are devoted to God set apart for God and Holiness in their Hearts and Lives They keep the Commandments of God and the Verse 12. Faith of Jesus they follow Christ in a Life of Obedience and maintain the Faith of Jesus cleaving to abiding in and walking with him and these shall have the Recompence of Reward In the next Verse I heard 〈◊〉 Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the Dead Surely Sirs here is somewhat
must render it I must do it as I can because I can do it no better Viz. Oh the Blessednesses of that Man not Blessed Adjectively and in the Concrete but Blessednesses Substantively and in the Abstract not Blessedness in the Singular Number but Blessednesses in the Plural and O the Blessednesses A compleat Complication of them in that Soul that lives in Christ walks in him and dyes in him and though Philologers are not certainly agreed Whether it be a Noun Substantive or Adjective Plural containing all kind of Felicity or an Adverb or Interjection Well is it for that Man Happily is he Provided for Yet they seem agreed that which soever it be and one they generally think it must be it hath the force Habet affluentiam omnium bonorum vel omnium bonorum aggregatione perfectus Modis omnibus accumulate beatus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multum gaudens Others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à vehementiore gaudio of a Pathetick Joyful Acclamation and then they come much to one as the Learned Drusius hath it He is abundantly and every way blessed beyond Expression I have the rather Noted this because the Seventy Translate the Hebrew Word which we render Blessed by the very Original Word in my Text which Philologers derive from Words importing Great Joy Joy unspeakable and as I may say full of Glory It does denote that a Soul in Christ when he dyes shall have such a Blessedness and Joy such a fulness of Joy and Pleasure that he shall neither want nor wish for more But not to stay upon the Name which was to lead us into the Thing Let us see what we can say of it And O! how gladly would I commend the Blessedness of this State to you that I might commend this Dear and Blessed Jesus to you Verily Sirs you could never set so light by this Jesus as you do if you did but know the Worth of him if you knew your Need of him and what you should have by him If I fail in this I shall avail you little The dead that dye in the Lord are blessed Which does denote First A Separation a Removal of all that is Evil and Distressing There shall when thou dyest in the Lord be a Separation from all Evils Natural and Moral that are so great a part of thy Distress here Every one feels the Evil of Afflictions every one can complain of this Plague of the Heart every one hath his own Body of Sin and his own Burthen I do not know any is without one you do not feel mine nor I yours but I feel one and you another Oh! what a Complaining World is this Sickness Pain Calamity Losses of Relations Crosses on the one Hand and Moral Evil which is the greater Evil on the other Hand the Evil of Sin Dwelling and Working in us The Tender-hearted Soul that hath a new Nature in it that is set against Sin hath a very tender Sense of the Evil of that Sin that dwells in it and is an implacable Enemy to it I am sure it made Paul pour out more Complaints than all his Stripes and Stoning Irons and Imprisonment did Where do you hear him complain how adverse how miserable soever his Case was as he does on this Occasion O wretched man that I Rom. 7. 24. am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Sin fate uneasie upon his Spirit tho' it was not Reigning and Allowed but Unallowed and Hated Well Soul bear up if thou be but heartily come to Jesus if thou art but one of those that are willing to follow this Lamb whithersoever he goes I can tell thee Good Tydings of Great Joy it cannot be long e're thy Blessed Jesus will deliver thee from all this thy Anguish Vexation and Miseries shall all be done away All thy Sweat thy Labours shall cease all Tears be wiped from thine Eyes and all Sorrows done away with the Causes of them and though thou art now conversant with a Sluggish and Sleepy and Hypocritical Heart thou knowest not what to do with it thou bringest it to Ordinances and God in them to better it and this without any great and good Effect hitherto Bear up Soul this Holy Jesus hath undertaken for thee thou art in him and thou shalt dye in him from henceforth thou shalt not feel the Temptations the sinful Workings of a Naughty Heart Oh! that will be a Joyful Change to a Holy Soul that is under the Tender Sence of these things here This is one part of the Blessedness as it denotes an Abolition of and Separation from the Evils of this Life both Natural and Moral from that of Affliction and that of Sin which tho' it be rather Negative than Positive yet it is that without which positive Blessedness cann't be enjoyed None can be fully happy with so much Misery hanging about him and pressing upon him Methinks therefore it should be Joy to Holy Souls to wait for and expect such a day when Sin and Sorrow shall be fully done away and shall be known no more for ever Secondly I must tell you it does denote A fruition of the most felicitating Good the best Good that the Soul is capable of the Blessed God that Summum Bonum that the blind Heathens fought after so long to so little purpose Eustachius in his Excellent Ethicks and our other Masters in Ethicks when they write of this tell us that Felicity or Blessedness is either Objective or Formal Objective Felicity denotes no more but God the Object but Formal Felicity denotes more Some kind of Union to Communion with and Injoyment of this Felicitating Object and this is as it were to be made one with it They commonly place it in two things give me leave to put it in three or four 1. It lyes in the Contemplation of this delightful Object 2. In a Delightful Love of it 3. In a Participation or Enjoyment of it 4. In a Contentation in it When the Soul shall be let into this State it will be a State of Possession and Fruition which as far as I can understand is imported in these four Words First Knowledge or Contemplation The People of God shall know him in another manner than now they do It is called Seeing of God and the Beatifick Vision What sensible Views God will give them to gratifie their Bodily Eyes when they are re-united to their Souls we cannot tell tho' it seems rational to think all our Powers even the lowest of them shall be suitably employed but it will be an intelligible or an intellectual Vision a rational Discovery of the Excellency of this God and his Christ which gives Rise to this Happiness which the Spirits made perfect shall be everlastingly employ'd to view and contemplate with intense and pleasurable Applications of Mind I dare not herd with those bold Presumers that dare to determine whether it be the Divine Essence that is thus view'd immediately or some Created Glory flowing
low as the Learned Grotius does that their Good Works Nay add the Influences they shall have on others shall follow them be notify'd to them with Sweetness and Joy in the Reflection upon them I say though this be true it is not all because I find Holy Men shall have a Recompence according to what they have done Christ hath told us He that giveth a Cup of cold Water in his Name shall not lose his Reward O holy Soul I tell thee to thy Comfort that many of those Works of Piety and Charity that have made thee to abhor thy self for the Meanness and Imperfection of them where the allowed Hypocrisie of thy Heart spoiled them not these shall be set in an acceptable View And therefore that Soul must needs be blessed that hath been doing and getting Good in this imperfect state and now shall be crown'd with a Recompence according to what it hath done tho' not for it in a Meritorious Sence And then shall you discern the difference between him that is righteous and him that is wicked him that serves God and him that serves him not Maâ— 3. â—â— And thus much for Explication To show what it is to Dye in the Lord for him or interested in him what you are to understand by Blessed both as to Name and Thing and for Confirmation shewing what Reasons and Evidences there are in the Text that such shall be so blessed and must needs be so Time calls me to the Application Is it so my Friends Come Stâ—â— up your Thoughts a little Is it 〈◊〉 that They are blessed that dye in thâ— Lord That the dead that dye in thâ— Lord as well as those that dye foâ— the Lord are blessed from henceforth Blessed in the Removal of all Evâ—â— in the Enjoyment of all such Goodâ— Felicitating Good such a Good in sucâ— a manner that is beyond Expressionâ— beyond Conception and full of Glory Is this that which belongs to everâ— one that dyes in Jesus that they reâ—â— from their Labours and their Workâ— do follow them How Easie and Natural would the Application of it bâ— to our Deceased Friend a Person 〈◊〉 that Excellent Spirit one that wâ—â— so early in Christ a young Disciple one that walked so closely with Christâ— in the Course of a Useful and Wellâ— ordered Conversation one that diâ— drive on Designs for live to him as well as in and upon him and one that took so much care with so good Effect to clear up her Evidences and Title to him in whom she lived and in whom she hoped to dye But how Natural and Easie soever this might be I must restrain my self wholly in it since if I should speak but what I know I should militate against the settled Opinion of the Dead declared to me and often to others against Elegies and Funeral Encomiums as things that seldom do good but often harm and against the Desires and especial Directions of the Living which I have a just Deference for who know her Works praise her in the Gates and know she 's above our Praises and also in some Degrees against my own Sentiments and Ordinary Practice as you know and therefore being herein restrained let 's try if we can make any other Improvement of it if not to the Honour of the Dead yet to the Advantage of the Living And pray let not any of you thaâ— stand so uneasily here have cause to say when you go away Well I have got no good by this Providence by this Sermon I have heard the Funeral Sermon of a very Useful Person a good Woman who lived desired and dyed greatly lamented but I am never the better for it I know here is one thing wanting that we cannot have in our Assemblies that is very affecting to many the sight of the Deceased's Hearse and that we do not follow them to the Grave and see them laid in the silent Dust and left there which often begets very serious Thoughts how certainly we must shortly follow after them and be used as they are used And tho' these Thoughts wear off too soon with the most yet they have some Influence for the time and give the Word deeper Impressions on the Hearts of Careless Professors However under all the Disadvantages we labour let you and I joyn let 's do our Parts ot make some good use of this Useful Doctrine and this Doleful Providence First By way of Information Secondly By way of Exhortation Thirdly By way of Consolation As Time will permit First Then is it so that They who dye in the Lord are blessed do rest from their Labours and have their Works thus following of them First See here a High Demonstration of the Divine Good-will to such Souls It was an amazing Kindness God should employ his infinite Wisdom in Contriving a way to raise up fallen Man to himself by Jesus Christ to fit and succeed Means of Grace to bring them into Christ to make them meet for his Blessedness Oh! but what was it to admit them into it fully and satisfyingly to possess them of it and that too when Death had done its worst What Dye and yet be blessed this had need be told from Heaven that it might gain Credit What to Rest from their Labours and receive Recompence of their imperfect Works who cannot read Matchless Love in all this and who that lays it to Heart can choose but adore it and study to make Returns for it Canst thou repent of any thing thou hast done and suffered for him that hath so loved thee Canst thou think any thing too hard too Self-denying he puts thee upon who will treat thee thus Some of thy Work is now thy Wages but who can tell what thy Reward shall be when fully possest Oh! the Kindness this springs from Oh what manner of Love is this Labour to love as thou art loved Secondly See here a Demonstration of the Wisdom of these Holy Souls that live in Christ that live to him that they may dye in him and be blessed by him Let the foolish World that makes light of Christ that prefers present perishing Trifles to a Saving Union to him and Interest in him put the Brand of Fools and Fanaticks upon them for making so much adoe about these Matters yet these Men shall shortly see and say your way was not your Folly but Wisdom was with you tho' they themselves had played the Fool and shall have Cause and Leisure to tear and torment themselves for ever for this their Folly Nay Madness of Folly in neglecting this Blessedness and abandoning the way to it Lift up thy Head O thou Revil'd Soul that which these Men call thy Folly shall be found by God and Men by bad as well as good Men to be thy truest Wisdom that on which thou mayest justly value thy self under all the Contempt they pour upon thee Abide by thy Wisdom tho' Fools call it Folly better be called a Fool than be one to
12. as received him that is believed on his Name When I receive him as God offers him and to the Ends and Purposes for which he offers him to do that for me which God hath appointed him and which he hath undertaken to do for me in the Gospel to be a Prince and Ruler as well as a Saviour to give Repentance as well as Remission of Sin to bless me Acts 5. 31. in turning me from my sins Is not this a Controversie between thee and thy Christ Sinner it hath been a Cause of parting betweeen him and many a Soul and is like to be so to many more Thou hast the more Reason to look diligently to it that it be not thy Case It is a common Case and a dangerous one see to it it be not thine own If thou name the Name of Christ in reality art indeed a Christian more than in Shew or Livery thou must thou wilt depart from Iniquity not only leave it in Affection and Conversation but fight on Christ's side against it as 2 Tim. 1◠16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Word signifies This will this must reach to thy Constitution-Sin thy Calling-Sin which perhaps thou thinkest thou livest by thy Darling Sin that is Peccatum in delicijs One Reservation one Exception from Christ's Terms will not be born by him If thou dispence with thy self in any allowed way of known Iniquity he will not dispence with thee and such one Leak will sink thy Vessel He will not I had almost said he cannot indulge thee in one of these He will save thee from thy sins not in them how vainly soever thou flatterest thy self in the Matter He is the Author of Eternal Salvation but Heb. 5. 9. to none but those that obey him in whatsoever he Commands Yea even when he Calls them to cut off a right Mat. 5. 30. Ch. 18. 8. hand pluck out a right eye to mortifie sins that are as pleasurable and as useful as these I know but one Place in the whole Bible that seems to give Countenance to any thing cross to this and I think with Submission it is the Translation not 2 King 5. 18. the Original which affords the Umbrage to it Where Naaman taken to be a true Convert seems to ask and have a Grant to continue his Honourable and Gainful Post Bowing down in the Idolatrous Worship in the House of Rimmon Had it been translated The Lord pardon thy Servant when I have bowed down in the House of Rimmon as the Rules ◠Conversivum about the Conversive Particle in the Original and the Rules of the Accents some say do warrant tho' not fit matter for such a Discourse as this he had been brought in begging Pardon for what he had done not begging an Indulgence to go on in his Idolatry which seems inconsistent with his Sincerity and the same would be inconsistent with thine And when this is truly done thou must further add Thirdly A firm Affiance in and Recumbence on him Thou must rest upon him and him alone for all he hath undertaken to do for thee This in Scripture Language is called Staying on him and trusting in him Isa 26. 3. This is a special Exercise of Faith Paul trusted him committed his all 2 Tim. 1. 12. to him Trust to him for Grace all kind of Grace for Justification Sanctification yea and Eternal Salvation 1 Tim. 1◠16. Look unto him and Lean upon him as one that hath satisfied Divine Justice for thee merited that Divine Grace that is sufficient for thee Expect all from him and from none but him who is all to thee Trust not to thy Duties nor thy Graces for any thing Christ hath undertaken to do for thee Neither trust to Christ to repent believe and obey the Gospel for thee because he requires this of thee tho' he affords the help of his Grace to thee without which thou canst not thou wilt not do it Well Sirs will you see this be done that you may get into the Lord in Order to dying in him and being blessed with him Nothing short of this will do it Oh! live not short of this Nay let me beg of you this further 4. That you would when thus got into him Abide in Jesus dwell in him cleave unalterably to him never think of quitting him Whither canst thou go Is there Salvation in any other Canst thou have Salvation by him in any other way on Col. 2. 6. any other Terms As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him Let him be the Principle Pattern and End of all when the Flesh and the World court thee to turn aside from him when Satan puts in to offer better things to thee for he will promise thee fair as he did thy Lord say No I see my need of him my lost Estate without him I cannot be better I am for my dear Lord he hath Dominion over me and he shall have it I have been am and will be govern'd by him that I may be saved by him I will follow him fully I will follow him whithersoever he goes I will do any thing suffer any thing rather than forsake him I will never leave him nor forsake his Ways nor reject his Terms his Righteous his Reasonable Terms Fifthly Above and besides all this Pray labour to get Evidence and Assurance of all this that you are got into him that you abide in him dwell in him and walk in him and so shall dye in him and be blessed by him There is a Blessedness some shall share in they have a good Title to it now and shall shortly have possession of it Can you produce a good Title to a share in it Sirs Do I speak all this to you as to Persons unconcerned about this Matter What will you not purchase a Farm or House without looking into the Title to see it be indefeasable And will you when any Doubts arise review and clear up the Title to it Will you in such a Case sit down without searching into the Matter and say I hope well Where is there a Fool of this Size to be found in City or Country And is a Title to Blessedness and Unspeakable Glory the only thing that is not worth Minding thy Clearing up What hast thou no Evidences for Heaven no Scripture Grounds for thy Hope of a Future Blessedness and wilt thou be at no Pains to get any 'till Sickness Old Age and Death overtake thee Wilt thou not get them 'till thou hast such Occasion to use them Alas Christians this is the Common Folly how many that hear such Things from us with little regard in times of Health cry out to us on their sick and dying Beds when indisposed and disabled by Sickness and Pains of Body and Anguish of Mind for such solemn and important Business Oh! what shall we do for cleared Evidences for Heaven and have them to seek when they should
Participation and Fruition of that which is called the Felicitating Good the best Good I did not say an adequate Good for that strictly taken does sometimes denote that which does but just correspond to the thing But O! the Happiness the Blessedness of the Soul that is interested in this God and this Christ There shall be more than he can receive more than enough for him a fulness for all the rest of the Heavenly Society Fourthly The last thing I shall mention as Consequent upon and perhaps Constitutive of this Blessedness is a full Contentation a Complacential Repose of Soul in the Delights which arise from all this to a Holy Soul My Friends when the Soul hath a View of God of his Holiness Purity and Goodness that doth enamour it that doth draw out and enlarge the Affections towards him when this Soul is grown up hereby unto a resemblance of God and perfected Participation of him can it choose but have Rest and Repose in him The School-men are puzzled for a Notion of this Rest this satisfying Repose as I understand it here they can get no higher than an Acquiescence or Resting of the Appetite in the appitible thing and such a pleasedness in its Portion that it will look no where else for another a better O my Friends the Blessedness of this state which our Lord is gone to prepare for us and which they are received into that dye in him hath all this and a great deal more than this that might be expressed and yet at last our highest Expressions nay our most refined Conceptions are at a loss in this Paul that was there was not able to utter what this Blessedness was which some translate not fit not lawful to be spoken and 2 Cor. 12. 4. others not possible to be spoken to us in our imperfect state it doth not appear yet what we shall be No not to inspired Men but we shall be like him resembling God and Christ in their imitable Perfections Wicked Men are so Foolish that though they walk after the Inclinations of their own Hearts they think they may go well enough to Heaven but it is far otherwise If these Men were not Fools to themselves they would think it so but it is otherwise Philosophically speaking since there is no proper suitableness between the Faculty and Object which can only yield Pleasure between God and Men and so there is no Capacity in them for this Blessedness Though I have spoken to the Name and Thing which we call Blessedness as it does cannote an Abolition of all Evil Natural and Moral and of that satisfying Repose or Felicity in its several Ingredients which either constitute or at least result from the Fruition of this Blessedness 2. Let us a little consider the Determination or Limitation of it the Word we translate From henceforth from the different Position of it in various Copies hath caused a considerable Variation in the Sence Those that make it the last Word of the first Clause with our own Translation Blessed are the Dead that dye in the Lord from henceforth would have them Blessed from the Time and Season of their Death Others that make it the first Word of the next Clause From henceforth that they may rest from their Labours and their Works follow them would have them blessed from the Sufferings they endured The Traceing this in all its Niceties is not to be entred upon before this Assembly and it would signifie little if I may bring it which way soever taken to much the same Sence The Word Henceforth may refer to the Calamities and Persecutions under which they were or it may relate to the Death of those that dye in the Lord and why not to both and if it were reckoned to the latter it will still I conceive come to the same thing That they may cease from their Labours and their Works do follow them from henceforth from the time of their Departure that are in Jesus not to exclude the other they are blessed in him Next that they are so blessed the Spirit of God hath given two Evidences which I left for Reasons of the Proposition they are blessed and cannot but be blessed when they dye in Jesus For First They Cease from their Labours The Translation seems perplext That they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them It looks not at first view very like a Reason But if we may take the Greek Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text which we Translate That they may for a Conjunction Causal as Grammarians and Lexographers allow us to do in other Cases and Translate it Because both Clauses run smooth as Reasons of the Doctrine They are blessed because they do or may rest and because their Works do follow them Man that is born of a Woman is of Job 14. 1. very short Continuance of few days and full of trouble They often have sighing sobbing Hearts grieved Souls this is a sighing sobbing troublesome World and they have it from within from rebelling Passions they feel it is Labour and Sorrow to grapple with these What from Afflictions and what from Sin it 's all Labour and Sorrow Now for a Man that is deeply afflicted by these Calamities whether of Sin or Afflictions it 's a comfortable thing for the weary to be at Rest Come Souls take Courage remember that though you walk with many a sorrowful Heart after your Lord groaning under an Evil Nature of your own and the Evil Influence it hath upon you your Devotions to God and Conversation with Men yet you shall be blessed when you dye in the Lord all this shall be done away at once Secondly Their Works do follow Acts 10. 4. them Indeed they go also Before them but I say their Works do follow them not barely to be their Continued Imployment there though that may be true the Change of their Place will make but a Gradual Change of the most Noble Part of their Imployment here they shall Love and Praise God there as they did here but at a more Easie Elevated Rate They must needs be blessed upon that account the Nature of this Blessedness as far as we can pry into it tells you that they cannot but be happy Men that see that love and enjoy God and rise to such a satisfaction of Mind therein that they want no more than what they have they drink of such Rivers of Pleasure that they are satisfied with them There is somewhat Emphatical in the Text Their Works do follow them their Works shall follow with them as the Original is more strictly rendred A Metaphor taken from People that are crouding in at some Narrow Passage they that are coming after press and croud in with them there is a kind of Struggle among them O the Works of Humanity Charity and Piety which they have exercised themselves in shall follow them they shall croud in with them Neither bring I it so