change more then wee looked for for as I said his disease seized on him with such violence and extremitie that he had no space for any thing but to pray us to pray with him and for him That which wee may learne from such examples as these is this That wee therefore bee good stewards in the time of our life Wee know not what violent sicknesse may seize upon us and how it may dis-inableus to expresse our selves to men or to set our reckonings even with God Bee serious therefore in the point while you have health and strength All of you are now called to a reckoning by the preaching of the Word and Gospell if this will not prevaile expect another calling by sicknesse by terrours of conscience by death You are not sure but that the next calling may bee by death as it was with this our brother let mee put this therefore as a remembrance to every one of you that you behave your selves as dying daily Remember thou art a Steward and must give an account of thy stewardship Alexander had his Remembrancer Saint Ierome had another Remembrancer Whether I eate or drinke saith hee or whatsoever I doe mee thinkes I heare the voyce of the last trumpet and of the Arch-Angell Arise you dead and come to judgement Let mee now bee thy Remembrancer Remember thou art a Steward and that thou must bee called to an account of thy stewardship When thou art in holy duties remember thou must give an account with what strength thou servest God When thou art in businesse in thy familie remember thou must give an account how thou hast walked toward thy servants toward thy children toward them that God hath given thee Thou that hast an estate remember that thou must give an account to the great Lord of the getting and of the spending of that estate Thou that art in places of authoritie over others remember thou must give an account how thou commest to them how thou hast behaved thy selfe in them Let every one remember that hee must give an account of what service hee hath done to his Master of what use hee hath beene unto God and what to others The more God hath beene glorified and others benefited the more shall our soules be comforted at that great day of appearance when the least smile of GODS countenance will bee worth a thousand worlds and the testimonie of a good conscience will bee preferred before all the treasures of the Earth FINIS THE PRAISE OF MOVRNING OR MOVRNING PREFERRED BEFORE MIRTH. I KING 14. 18. And they buried him and all Israel mourned for him according to the word of the Lord which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Prophet ECCLES 2. 2. I said of laughter thou art madde and of mirth what doth it LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE PRAISE OF MOVRNING OR MOVRNING PREFERRED BEFORE MIRTH. SERMON II. ECCLESIASTES 7. 2. It is better to goe to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting for that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to his heart IN the former Chapter the Wise man had beene shewing the vanitie and insufficiencie of all earthly things to make a man happie and how much the world is mistaken in seeking happinesse in any thing here below In this Chapter and those that follow he commeth to direct men in the right way to find it and sheweth them where they should seeke it and where they should finde it First he telleth them of a good name in the first verse A good name is better then precious ointment The second meanes is a good death the day of death is better than the day of ones birth The third is a right mourning it is better to goe to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting Afterward he proceedeth to other particulars But this he bringeth in upon the former to prevent an objection that some might make for having said that the day of death is better then the day of ones birth some might object What goodnesse can there be in death as for those that are dead they cease to be and they that are alive reape no benefit by it but mourning and there is little good little happinesse in this to exercise a mans thoughts about mournfull objects Yes saith he it is better to goe to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting 〈◊〉 the living will lay it to his heart And upon this he spendeth some time because naturally we are exceeding backward to beleeve that it is good for a man to be mourning upon earth Others make the dependance of the words thus That Solomon having before shewed the vaniâ—…ie of riches he doth in the six former verses of this Chapter preferre even death it selfe before wealth 〈◊〉 abundance And he sheweth wherein it is better First in the Adjuncts The Adjunct of death is mourning the Adjunct of wealth and abundance is feasting yet mourning is better then feasting And because it seemeth a Parradox to every naturall man he commeth to confirme and prove it By the Effects In the third verse Sorrow is better then laughter for by the sadnesse of the countenance the heart is made better Sorrow can doe that for us that wealth cannot it makes the heart better By the different subjects in which they are That same worldly mirth is in the heart of fooles In the fourth verse the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth but this mourning it is in the heart of the wise the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning By the Efficient cause One cause of mourning is the rebukes of the wise In the fifth verse It is better to heare the rebukes of the wise then for a man to heare the song of fooles And then in the sixth verse by a Prolepsis he prevents an objection that some might make For whereas he had said that mourning was better then joy some might say It seemeth otherwise there is delight in joy there is none in mourning Hee telleth them that that delight it is but a very short delight but as the cracking of thornes under a pot it is but vanitie As the cracking of thornes under a pot so is the laughter of a foole this also is vanitie We will not stand much about the matter So many severall men as handle this booke doe severally connect and joyne the words together according to their owne conceits and opinions of them It is evident that in this verse that I have now read to you the Wise man speakes of such a mourning as is occasioned by the death of friends And he saith of that mourning that it is better then to bee in the house of feasting That he speakes of such a mourning appeares by that which followeth first he saith that that is the end of all men he speakes therefore of such a mourning as is upon the end of men upon
that they were both deceived For how ever it cannot be denied but that riches and honours are the blessings of God yet againe they are no demonstration of a blessed man Lest any man should take them to be ill they are bestowed upon them that are good lest any man should reckon them for the chiefe good they are bestowed likewise upon the evill externall blessings are but common favours vouchsafed to good and bad Was Abraham rich so was Abimelech Was Iacob rich so was Laban Was David a King so was Saul Was Constantine an Emperour so was Iulian Salvation depends not on the multitude of riches or emminencie in place the tallest Cedar hath the greatest fall and the fairest houses many times the greatest ruine and outward prosperitie unguarded with inward sanctitie may soone lose the soule For first rich men are tainted with covetousnesse which is a kind of secret Idolatrie Collos. 3. and covetousnesse which is Idolatrie saith the Apostle If you would know the reason the more tenaciously a man loves his owne the lesse devotion he offers to God you cannot live in the service of Mammon and of Christ the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it you cannot serve God and Mammon If the young man in the Gospell have great possessions if Iudas carry the bagge if Demas imbrace the present world then farewell Christ farewell Paul and farewell soule too So true is the saying of the Apostle They that will bee rich fall into temptations and snares and many foolish and noysome lusts that drowne men in perdition and destruction Where hee saith not they that are but they that will bee rich It is not simply money but the love of money that is the roote of all evill Riches are good with a good conscience but if the soule be infected with avarice if it savour of that bitter Collaquintida Death is in the pot and how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdome of heaven For the desire of worldly men it is as the unsatiable thirst of a dropsie patient there is no meanes that they leave unattempted no policie unachieved for the accomplishment of their ends and advancing of their estate Balaam for a bribe will almost curse where the Lord hath blessed Ziba for an inheritance as much as in him lies will bring his Master within the compasse of treason Demostenes for a little more gold instead of pleading will pretend he hath a cold May not the Church have a Balaam And the Princes court have a Ziba and the barre have a Demosthenes There is no greedie Monopolizer wheresoever they be in Citie or Countrey but they are moralized Eagles and the coales that they carry shall fire their owne nest They shall have Ahabs curse with Naboths Vineyard and Gehezies leprosie with Naamans reward and while with an eager pursuit they hoord up unrighteous Mammon it is but wrath heaped up against the last day they heape up wrath to themselves against the day of wrath Secondly great men are in danger of ambition and a swelling inordinately upon their promotion And the ambitious man is so strangely dazeled with the beames of his owne lustre ut imperio c. that in the greatest of his power he thinkes of nothing but how to be greater hee forgets the Lord that made him and God that raized him out of the mire to set him with the Princes of the people And like that famous foole in his new coate once he knowes not himselfe So by meanes of this impediment though God have some Noble and some worldly-wise that hee hath drawne to himselfe yet by meanes of this impediment Not many mighty not many Noble are called The gates of heaven are too too straite for the swelling dimensions of ambition there is nothing so easie to pride as to purchase a fall and there is no fall so great as from heaven It is a signe that Lucifer if he long for dainties shall be cast out of heaven It is a signe that Adam if he desire the Apple shall be cast out of Paradise It is a signe that Nebuchadnezer if hee glory in Babell he shall be cast out of his Kingdome It is a signe that Haman by abusing his promotion shall be exalted to the gallowes To comprize it in a word the greater the dignitie of emminencie and honour the greater the execution of paines and horrour The summethen is this in a world of promotion and temporall advancement in worldly possessions and unmeasurable treasure the covetous and ambitious man may lose his owne soule Now for a word of Application if this bee so how taxable then are the thousands of worldlings in this kind that imagine the gaine of this earth to be the greatest happinesse That say to the Gold thou art my God and to honour thou art my glory That make Gold their God and Mammon their Mediatour Saith Saint Bernard Yee covetous generation that glorie in silver and gold in that that is not yours nor precious precious it cannot bee but by the avarice of the sonnes of Adam that prize them Againe if they be yours take them away with you when you goe hence Yet the children of the world are wholly for great Diana Gods of silver and gold multitudes of lands and revenues and advancing of their secular estate Many can complaine of the vaâ—…tie of this world and the deceivablenesse of it but few complaine of that Idolatrous confidence that themselves repose in this false world there are few that recount how in enjoying outward things Martha without Mary prosperitie without pietie they may lose their owne soules O let a word of exhortation prevaile against this sore disease if riches encrease take heed of covetousnesse be covetous of spirituall things for immortalitie there hoord up your treasure in heaven Againe for ambition take heed of it be honourable for humilitie and ambitious for heaven Love not the world and the things of this world exalt not your selves against the Lord of glory Thou knowest not what a day may-bring forth boast not of to morrow O foole this night shall they fetch thy soule And what is a man profited if he gaine the world and lose his owne soule So much for the third point the compossibilitie of outward prosperitie a man may lose his soule in gaining the whole world The fourth and the last is the wofull disadvantage by such an exchange What is a man profited You may call it not unfitly the account of the carelesse Merchant or a Summarie collection of gaines and losses For a little to countenance the allegorie every unsatiable worldling is but Merchant adventurer a ventrous Merchant he exchangeth his precious Soule for the deceivable riches of this world But when God in his judgement transports him to his owne place the unfortunate Iland of damned spirits then he begins when the time is past to cast up his doleful account to compare his gaines and his
our selves Surely this the ground of this life the grace of God What God doth hee doth for himselfe for his owne names sake Grace is free And these two joyned together give evident demonstration of God to be a God in the thing that he doth conferre upon thee and in his dealing of it the greatnesse of the gift that he doth give and the freenesse of it For who can give life but the God of life that hath life in himselfe And then againe to doe this altogether upon meere grace upon his owne good pleasure it is a divine propertie And this is it that doth incourage us to come unto God notwithstanding our unworthinesse And in this respect in the second place wee have here a Use of instruction to acquaint our selves with God with the freenesse of his Grace to plead it unto God when wee come unto him and notwithstanding our unworthinesse and our wretchednesse yet to presse this Lord what thou dost thou dost for thy owne sake out of thy meere grace this makes me bold to come unto thee Specially upon the consideration of that greatest evidence of Gods free Grace and rich mercy in giving his Sonne to doe whatsoever is requisite for the satisfaction of his Justice so that here Grace and Justice doe sweetly goe together for the strengthening of our faith Grace in regard of our unworthinesse Justice in regard of our rebellion God doth what he doth for his owne sake his owne Sonne hath made full satisfaction to his Justice And finally this should the more inlarge the heart to God againe a gift the freer it is the more worthy of praise it must needes be the more acceptable to him that receiveth it when hee receiveth it from meere Grace and he that giveth it is thereby the more worthy of praise so that lay these two together life and the grace of life and then tell mee what sufficient thankes can bee given to him who out of his grace doth bestow this life Thus from the priviledge in the second part thereof come wee to the partakers of this priviledge And first of the simple consideration of it Heires so that wee come to a right unto that eternall life by inheritance as we are Heires So doe the Texts before noted expresly set it forth Wee are justified by his grace that we should be Heires of eternall life Tit. 3. 7. And Saint Paul giveth thankes to God for the Collossians that he had made them partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light And our Lord when hee doth give us possession hereof inducts us thereunto with this inherit the kingdome prepared for you take it by inheritance Here is your right Now we may not thinke that this ground of right to our eternall inheritance commeth by our naturall generation for so wee are heires and children of wrath as the Apostle noteth in Eph. 2. 3. It cannot come by nature for so it is Christs prerogative the true proper naturall Sonne of God and thus as the Apostle saith God hath appointed him Heire of all things but it is by another grace whereby we are made children A double Grace in this respect a Grace of adoption and a grace of Regeneration A grace of Adoption for God giveth to us the spirit of Adoption whereby wee are moved to crie and call Abba Father and by this grace wee are children and being children wee are heires Coheires not only one with another but as it is there noted heires together with Christ Coheires with him by vertue of this grace of Adoption So likewise by the other Grace of regeneration wee are qualified hereunto Saint Peter in his first Epistle Chap. 1. ver 3. blesseth God Blessed be the God saith he and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercie hath begotten us againe to an inheritance incorruptible c. Wee are begotten to this inheritance This might againe be pressed as a further Argument against the fore-mentioned presumptious Doctrine of Merit that that commeth by inheritance commeth not by desert But I passe it over This doth afford to us matter of consolation for this Text is full of consolation every word of it against the basenesse whereunto in this world the Saints seeme to be subject that are scoffed that are despised howsoever they appeare here in mortall mans eye yet notwithstanding in truth they are Heires they have an inheritance And as it doth administer to us matter of comfort and a ground of holy boasting and glorying in the Lord so it affordeth to us direction to carry our selves as becommeth Heires not to set our love too much upon this world not to dote upon it but to bee loftely minded to have our heart and affection where our inheritance is namely in heaven to waite with patience for it bee followers of those saith the Apostle that though faith and patience inherit the promise And likewise to make sure to our selves our inheritance looke to our evidences Give all diligence saith the Apostle to make your calling and election sure Doe but make your Calling sure that you are truly and effectually called then it followeth by just and necessary consequence you were elected before the foundations of the world and shall bee saved Many other Meditations doe arise out of this right we have to that life which by Grace is conferred upon us Consider we the extent hereof Heires together joynt-heires so as all of all sorts have aright to the life of Saints I speake here of outward conditions whether they bee great or meane rich or poore free or bond whatsoever they be they have all aright they are joynt-heires they are heires together As it is with us in some places there is a title of Gavill kind that giveth a joynt-right to all the sons that a man hath and so for daughters all Daughters are coheires so this Tenour is as I may say Gavill kind all have a right thereunto no exception of any because God is no respecter of persons This my brethren serveth as an admonition to those that are great or may seeme to be higher then others here in this world if they be Saints let them not despise others who are Saints too they are Co-heires with them they are fellow-brethren there is not an Elder brother among them Christ only is the elder brother There may some have a greater degree of glorie there may some have greater evidences thereof in this world and greater assurance yet notwithstanding they have all aright to the inheritance they are all Co-heires And this againe is another comfort to the meaner and weaker sort that howsoever there may be some difference in regard of outward condition here yet notwithstanding in the greatest priviledge there is no difference at all and therefore to conclude concerning these and other consolations ministred to you I will use the Apostles words comfort
hang downe their heads that are godly with shame and griefe enough to themselves but it is here they set up their hope here they have hope but it is hope here for another life it is upon other things that their hope is fixed then are here below it is for things that they looke for it is not for things that they see for hope that seeth is no more hope but if wee with patience waite for the things that are not seene this is hope saith the Apostle Rom. 8. So that this is a very plaine case and might be further cleared and declared to us from the practice and common opinion of all the Saints of God in all Ages how they have hoped and how that their hope was in God that they should see the Lord but where in the land of the living here they have a sight too but the chiefest hope is on the Promise and that is not for the things of this life only but for the life to come Hee that putteth his trust in mee shall possesse the land and shall inherit my holy mountaine their hope is in the end that is of those things that they shall attaine in the end of this life The consideration of this Point that hope it is not onely for the things of this life may teach us to contend against death it selfe which is one of the strongest temptations against hope as I touched before and to contemne and dispise all the things of this life It teacheth a man to strive and wrestle and contend against death why because though a man doe die yet it shall not hinder his hope it shall not hinder him from that hee hopeth to attaine Death is the greatest amazement a man can meet withall in the World but what can Death doe well may it take away from a man his life but it cannot take away from him his love well may it take away from him the action of his hope here it shall cease but it shall never take away from him the object of his hope that which he hopeth for it shall continue well may it helpe him to it but it can never hinder him from it here is then comfort and courage in the very houre and power of death 2. A man learneth here to contemne and to dispise the things of this life specially if they be such manner of things as will come in comparison with their betters when baser things will compare with better things in this kinde of comparison now a mans hope should take him off and not so much as suffer him to leane to any kind of reasoning that is made against his hope Hope biddeth him not to trust not to looke to any thing that is in this life because it doth not at all concerne that which is the ayme he hath The very best things that bee in this life they are not worthie to bee hoped for after insomuch that even death it selfe it may be counted a remedie and not a penaltie God will have a mans life to be short and death to come soone because hee will not have his creature worne out with a tedious miserie and transitorie vanitie a vanity of miserie that is in this vaine miserable life of mortalitie I have done with the fourth A fifth thing that followeth in the Text that I may haste on we have Hope wee have Hope in Christ we have Hope in Christ in this life our hope in this life is not upon the things of this life for if it were in this life onely it were miserable Our life is a miserie There is the fifth And this is a certaine truth and it will plainely appeare to us in many passages if wee will beleeve either the Spirit of God or the experience of the godly I shall not need to stand to prove it You will aske me how it will be raised from this place Thus Wee are of all men the most miserable because that wee are mentioned amongst the number of those that are the more miserable it implieth that all the rest are miserable more or lesse the very comparison that is used doth manifestly declare unto us that there is a measure of miserie to every man living so then there is miserie 2 It appeareth out of the Text because here and else where you shall have man and miserie made termes convertible Man is named Enoch and Enoch is miserie Man and miserie so joyned together that there is no pulling them asunder till death parts them for then there is no more miserie 3 Because that miserie here our being miserable in this life is mentioned even with the very best things of this life the very best things that are in this life and of this life so long as they look to this life I say they are stiled miserable but the best things even Christ himselfe our Hope it selfe say what you can here is Hope and here is Christ in the Text and yet notwithstanding here is miserie too Now then wee reason thus that if the best things in this life bee miserable then the rest are no better then so that the best are no better it is plaine because let us have what wee would have in all the World yet so long as wee are here it is miserie If this bee so then wee must come to the conclusion wee have made and that is Iacobs conclusion Gen. 47. 9. Few and evill have the dayes of the yeares of my life beene it is Iobs conclusion too Mans life is full of miserie It is Davids in the Psalmes Mans life is full of labour and sorrow it is soone cut off and wee flie away our dayes come to an end as a tale that is told they passe away as a shadow and the beautie the best of them withereth as grasse It is Solomons hee was the Preacher and here is his Text all is vaine and vanitie Vanitie of vanities all is vanitie one thing and other every thing under the Sun our life it selfe our selves so long as wee are here wee are under the Sun hee calleth all vanitie And sayth the Apostle This I say Brethren the time of our life is short And what is our life sayth Saint Iames But a vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away it is a vapour that vanisheth a meoter of miserie What shall we say of this now to speak it in few words home to our selves somewhat may concerne our selves and somewhat as we respect and reflect upon others In regard of our selves it may have this double Vse First to weane us from the World Secondly to winne us to the Lord. 1 To weane us from the World The World considered in it selfe is so full of miserie that there is nothing to bee delighted in there is so much bitternesse that I warrant it will weane any Child from it that is not a worldling for hee indeed is at his own breasts with his owne
mercie and peace to those that are wicked and out of the way whereby some are converted and others convinced and prepared for the worke of Gods justice So this question need not trouble men or hold them off from a chearfull and fruitfull expectation of Christ though he come not in our age as he hath not in others before The use of the Point is this First if this bee the propertie of the godly to wait and earnestly to expect the comming of Christ then wee may observe the generall ungodlinesse of the World by the generall want of this expectation And if ye say but who is there that doth not expect the second comming of Christ and who doth not beleeve that hee shall come to judge the quicke and the dead I answer not withstanding that every man confesse this Article of faith with his mouth yet every man beleeveth it not with his heart for every man frameth not himselfe according to the faith of it Very few are those faithfull servants that waite and prepare for their Masters comming Christ when hee commeth he shall scarce finde faith on the earth What a number of Men and Women are there though they heare these things and they are beaten upon them upon many occasions and they are in their judgements convinced that it must bee so yet notwithstanding the faith of their hearts apprehend it not they doe not beleeve it they doe not listen and frame to it Wee like Caleb tell them of the good Land and the fat of the Land and the fruit of the Land and the fulnesse of the Land of Canaan but generally men like the unthankefull Israelites murmure and repine and rebell and scarce heare us or if they doe they doe not beleeve it For if men did beleeve it it could not bee that men should live like Saduces as they doe that neither beleeve the soule nor immortalitie neither that there are spirits nor Devills nor resurrection nor nothing the lives and conversations of men plainly bewray that they beleeve not this Doctrine though they can professe with the mouth that Jesus Christ shall come againe to judge the quicke and the dead but like the Cardinall of whom wee read that profest hee would not give his part in Paris for his part in Paradise so men live as if they would not give their part here on earth for a Childs part in Heaven Like that wicked Pope that we read of when he was about to dye now sayth he I shall know that which I never beleeved whether there bee a Heaven or Hell an immortalitie of the soule or no. So men live as if they never meant to know those things or beleeve them till they come to the tryall and experience of them And besides what a number of men and women are there that can professe these things with their mouth but they cast themselves into a fast sleepe in sinne and security and sleepe on both sides Gods Messengers and Ministers cannot awake them but as though their soules were to sleepe everlastingly so they sleepe on in their lusts and sinnes and will not bee awakened And my brethren who doth not observe that it is not the fashion of men even of those that professethemselves Christians to say come Lord Iesus till they bee on their death-beds and till â—…hey bee scarceable to speake or breath out a word they never say come Lord Jesus till they know not what to doe with themselves till they can enjoy their lusts and the World and their sinnes no longer they cannot tell how to bequeath themselves longer to the service of sinne and unrighteousnesse till then they never call after the Lord Jesus to come to them and when they doe it is not out of love and affection to Christ but out of selfe-love to helpe them out of the hands of death that is too strong for them and to fetch them out of that miserie they are too weak to sustaine Therefore they call Lord Jesus but as I sayd it is farre from the love of him in their hearts for were these men to live over their lives againe and to bee restored to health againe it would bee the last breath of their lives still to call the Lord Jesus My brethren whre these things are and wee finde them too generall every man that lookes into his owne heart may finde himselfe in some measure touched herein certainely it cannot bee that this same lively desire of a Christian can bee there and these persons can have little comfort in themselves they have few arguments to prove themselves Elect of God having the Spirit of God or to bee those that heare the promises with faith or those that thirst after Christ there is no argument in them that they are Christs because they long not and desire after him But therefore in the second place since this desire is so rare let us trie ourselves a little even those that professe better things and hope well that they are indeed the Spouse of Christ. Let us trie and search our selves whether this expectation bee with us or no that wee may finde comfort in our estate and in our union and conjunction with Christ. For tryall of this Point first wee must know that a necessary attendant and companion of this expectation of Christ and waiting for him is sighing and longing and a vehement desire after him It is no slight no superficiall desire but an inward vehement desire a sighing and panting after Christ as those that see the need of him And therefore as the Wise man sayth hope deferred paines the heart the godly desires of the soule bring paines to the soule for want of Christ in the absence of Christ. And as the Apostle expresseth it in Rom. the 8. Wee sigh in our selves sayth hee wayting for the redemption of our bodyes Wee sigh in our selves as men that are ficke or in paine or opprest with a heavie burthen sigh out their sorrowes and griefes so the godly soule must labour to finde this expectation in the sighing longing earnest desiring after Christ wee sigh in our selves sayth the Apostle this is an argument of true love to Christ indeed when wee earnestly desire him in his absence As a true faithfull Spouse enjoyeth not her selfe when she enjoyeth not her Husband so it is with the Spouse of Christ therefore the Apostle in the 2 Thess. 3. 3. joyneth them together The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient wayting for of Christ. As if hee should say there can bee no love of Christ if there bee no wayting for Christ and according to the vehemencie of your love will bee the vehemencie of your sighing and longing after him That 's the first attendant of this expectation whereby we may examine our selves A second attendant is a comfortable sweet joy in the soule a fruit of the spirit not a fruit of presumption or of the flesh but a fruit of the spirit as
judgement Abrahams Purchase Page 385. GEN. 23. 4. I am a stranger and sojourner among you give me a Possession of a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight Gods esteeme of the death of his Saints Page 401. PSAL. 116. 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints The desire of the Saints after immortall glory Page 415. 2 COR. 5. 2. For in this wee groane earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from Heaven The carelesse Merchant Page 437. MAT. 16. 26. What is a man profited if he shall gaine the whole world and lose his soule Christs second Advent Page 449. Behold I come shortly and my reward is with me to give every man according to his workes The Saints longing for the great Epiphanie Page 467. TITVS 2. 13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ. Lifes Apparition and Mans Dissolution Page 481. IAMES 4. 14. For what is your life it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away Saiâ—… Pauls Trumpet Page 499. ROM 13. 11. And that knowing the time that now it is higâ—… time to awake out of sleepe Tâ—… 〈◊〉 manâ—… resting place Page 51â—… GEN. 15. 1. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abraham 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward The righteous Iudge Page 335. IAM 2. 12. So speake yee and so doe as they that shall be judged by the law of libertie Sinnes stipend and Gods munificence Page 555. ROM 6. 23. For the wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. The profit of afflictions Page 571. HEB. 12. 10. For they verily for a few dayes chastened us after their owne pleasure but hee for our profit that we might be partakers of his holinesse Spirituall Hearts-ease Page 591. IOHN 14. 1. 2. 3. 1 Let not your hearts be troubled beleeve in God beleeve also in me 2 In my Fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I goe to prepare a place for you 3 And if I goe to prepare a place for you I will come againe and receive you unto my selfe that where I am there you may be also Faiths Triumph over the greatest trialls Page 611. HEB. 11. 17. By faith Abraham when he was tryed offered up his sonne Isaack and hee that had received the promise offered up his onely begotten Sonne The Priviledge of the Faithfull Page 627. I PET. 3. 7. As heires together of the grace of life Peace in Death Page 643. LVKE 2. 29. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word The vitall Fountaine Page 693. IOHN 11. 25 26. 25. Iesus said unto her I am the resurrection and the life he that beleeveth in me though he were dead yet shall he live 26 And whosoever liveth and beleeveth in me shall never die Death in Birth Page 713. GEN. 35. 19. And Rachel died The death of Sinne and life of grace Page 727. ROM 6. 11. Likewise reckon ye also your selves to bee deadunto sin bâ—…t alive unto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Hopes Anchor-Hold 751. I COP 15. 19. If in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable The Platforme of Charitie Page 769. GAL. 6. 10. As we have therefore opportunity let us doe good to all especially to them that are of the housâ—…ould of faith Death prevented Page 799. IOB 14. 14. All the dayes of my appointed time will I wait till my change shall come Iter novissimum or Man his last Progresse Page 817. FCCLESIAST 12. 5. Man goeth to his long home and the mourners goe about the streetes Tempus putationis or the ripe Almond gathered Page 835. GEN. 15. 15. And thou shalt goe to thy Fathers in peace thou shalt be buried in a good old age Io Paean or Christs Triumph over death Page 847. I COR. 15. 55. O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Fato Fatum The King of Feares frighted Page 859. HOS 13. 14. O Death I will be thy plagues Vox Coeli The Deads Herauld Page 869. APOC. 14. 13. And I heard a voyce from Heaven saying unto me write blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth c. Victoris Brabaeum or The Conquerors Prize Page 881. APOC. 14. 13. So saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their workes follow them Faith's Eccho or the Soules AMEN REVEL 22. 19. AMEN Even so come Lord Iesus The end of the TABLE The ERRATA PAge 825. line 15. read not posse p. 826. l. 30. r. summe p. 841. l. 4. r. â—…ror p. 839 put out the promise of p. 842. l. 29. r. Gibiline in marg r. hominis ultimam resurrectionem p. 843. l. 14. r. the Goats p. 846. in Marg. r. Poâ—…id p. 150. l. 34. r. â—…raines p. 853. l. 33. r. Anacreon p. 860. in marg r. â—…s venenati p. 870. l. 4. r. Emines p. 874. l. 44. r. nullas p. 879. l. 24. r. Lapide p. 885 l. 15. r. immunitie p. 886. l. 10. r. actually p. 887. l. 18. r. Hell p. 889. l. 13. r. can be in Marg. r. qui assignat singulos domicilio infra regno 〈◊〉 p. 891. l. 12. r. import no leâ—…e p. 892. l. 22. r. faithfull p. 894. l. 14. r. Eurypum Eurypuâ—… THE STEVVARDS SUMMONS OR THE DAY OF ACCOVNT MAT. 25. 19. After a long time the Lord of those servants commeth and reckoneth with them ROM 14. 12. So then every one of us shall give account of himselfe to God LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabb 1639. THE STEWARDS SVMMONS SERMON I. LVKE 16. 2. Give an account of thy Stewardship for thou maist bee no longer Steward IN the Chapter going before our blessed Lord and Saviour had preached the Doctrine of the free grace of God in the remission of sinne and receiving of repenting and returning sinners in the parable of an indulgent Fathers receiving of a prodigall Sonne The Pharisees were a people that hardned their owne hearts and scoffed at every thing that Christ delivered therefore now in this Chapter hee commeth to summon and warne them to appeare before God the great Master of the world to give an account of their stewardship that by the consideration of Gods proceeding in the day of judgement they might know the better how to prize the remission of sinnes in the day of grace This hee doth by presenting to them a Parable of a certaine rich man that had a steward who was accused unto him that hee had wasted his goods calleth him to an account and to the end that the Pharisees might not thinke that it was a matter to be jeasted withall and that such considerations as these were to
bones with strong paines What 's the reason of this but that man may come to this conclusion with himselfe that hee may bring his owne heart to a reckoning for his former cariage This is that the Apostle saith for this cause many are weake and sickly among you and many sleepe some were taken with sicknesse upon others there was a consuming weaknesse and others were strucken with death what is the end that God propounds in all this For this reason that wee should judge our selves for if wee judge our selves wee shall not be judged of the Lord but when wee are judged wee are chastned of the Lord that wee should not bee condemned of the world As if hee should say God now calleth you to a reckoning in this life to the end you may prevent that heavy and grievous one that comes after this life Againe when outward afflictions prevaile not God hath spirituall afflictions to awaken mâ—…n Thus David when hee was in a deepe sleepe of securitie God awakned him with a spirituall judgement see his speech in the 32. Psal. When I kept close my sinnes my bones were consumed and I roared for the disquietnesse of my soule what followed God by this meanes brought him to confession I will confesse my transgressions to the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquitie of my sinne Thus God in this life calleth men to a reckoning sometimes by â—…he preaching of the Word sometimes by judgements upon the outward man or by terrours upon the soule But if all this prevaile not to make a man reckon with himselfe in this life then God hath another reckoning after this life where every man must give an account and cannot avoid it and there hee must abide the sentence of the Iudge that would not prevent it before That there is such a Iudgement to come it appeareth By the equitite necessitie of it In respect of God the Saints the wicked Frst I say in respect of God there is a necessitie of it That his Decree may bee fulfilled and executed Hee hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousnesse And his counsell shall stand and hee will doe all his pleasure Secondly it is necessarie that Gods honour may be vindicated Now things seeme to goe in some confusion and disorder in the world Good men the children of God are not alwayes best in the place of judgement I have seene saith Solomon an evill under the Sunne that in the place of judgement wickednesse was there and in the place of righteousnesse that iniquitie was there this observation Solomon makes therefore I said God will bring to judgement every thing both good and evill for there is a time for every worke and every purpose God hath a time to doe that great worke that he hath now purposed What is that worke that is to bring every worke to judgement whether it bee good or evill I say if wee consider this it is necessary that there should come a judgement that shall set all right againe It is necessarie likewise in respect of the Saints The very tribulations of the Saints in 2 Thes. 1. 5. are called Indigma an evident demonstration or a manifest token of the righteous judgement of God There is a necessitie of it in respect of them in two regards First that their innocencie that is traduced here may bee manifest They undergoe many disgraces and hard censures amongst men the world accounts them proud hipocrites singular foolish vaine-glorious and I know not what now saith Iob my witnesse is in heaven and saith Saint Paul I care not to bee judged of you or of mans judgement hee that judgeth me is the Lord. The Word in the Greeke is mans day as if hee should say Men have their day here but God hath a greater day after the Lord will judge in another manner and upon other grounds then men doe Secondly it is necessary also that their workes may be rewarded When we speake of reward wee meane not the reward of merit wee meane the reward of grace called a reward because God is tied to it by his promise The servants of God though they serve him with all care they have not the fatte of the earth as sometimes the Ishmaels of the world have they doe not abound with outward things as many others doe nay sometimes they are in the worst condition and that makes Gods wayes the more despised as if God were not able to maintaine his servants in the world in his wayes and worke God therefore hath a time when his servants shall have full measure heaped up pressed downe shaken together and running over When God shall make up his jewels as hee saith in Malac. 3. then shall yee discerne betweene the righteous and the wicked betweene him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Marke yee shall discerne God will make it appeare to the whole world in the day when hee makes up his jewels that notwithstanding his servants are despised and lie here under divers pressures yet that they are a people whom he delights in and accounteth as his treasures Thirdly it is necessarie in respect of the wicked too that is First that Gods righteousnesse may fully be manifested Secondly that their unrighteousnesse may fully bee punished First I say that Gods righteousnesse may fully bee manifested therefore the day of Iudgement in Rom. 2. 5. is called a day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God As if hee should say As God will manifest his wrath against the vessels of wrath so hee will make it appeare to the world that hee proceedeth in a right manner and by a right rule in judging For wee must know that howsoever God cannot bee unjust and howsoever that the ungodly men in this life contend with their owne consciences such is the hardnesse of their hearts and abundance of corruption that they would faine justifie themselves amongst men and againe howsoever it bee true that the soule when it is departed out of the body is under Gods particular judgement by an intelectuall elevation of it that it may receive the sentence of the Iudge by an illumination and by such a spirituall and contemplative discourse and observation and understanding of Gods actions as that by reflection upon it selfe it may know it selfe to bee accursed or acquitted and accordingly is entred into the possession either of happinesse or miserie Yet all this is secret in the world till the day of Gods tribunall come wherein secret things shal be made manifest and things that have been done in darknesse shall appeare before men and Angels Secondly As Gods justice must be cleared and fully manifested so the wicked and unrighteous must bee fully punished They are not fully punished when they are under the sense of Gods wrath in this life or when the soule is judged at death there must bee yet a further degree for
parts the maine matter whereof things were made and shall that be the destruction of that whereof it is made Yes saith the Apostle All things were made by water too and yet they were destroyed by water and why not then by fire But God deferreth the promise of his comming What of that He putteth it not quite off though he deferre yet it is not long with God for there is no time long to him that is eternall and in that he deferreth it is that some men may be brought to salvation and others made inexcusable Thus the Apostle takes off all objections of the Atheists of the world and sheweth that there shall be a day of Iudgement Secondly it serveth for instruction If there shall be such a Iudgement to come if God will have such a time of reckoning with all his stewards in the world Then it teacheth us first not to busie our selves in judging one another why because there shall a time come of Gods Iudgement Who art thou saith the Apostle that judgest thy brother wee shall all stand before the judgement seate of Christ. Asif he should say What a bold part what a presumptuous part is this that thou shouldst judge thy brother Dost thou not know that there is one that shall judge him and thee is it fit that he that is a prisoner at the Barre should come and leape up into the place of the Iudge and sit in his seat Yee are all fellow prisoners together and yee must all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. So in another place the same Apostle when hee would take men off from judging saith hee Iudge nothing before the time Why for the Lord will come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darknesse and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God As if hee should say Thou art not able to judge aright it may bee that man that thou dispraisest at that day may find praise with God Secondly Turne the judgement on thy owne heart bee more in judging of thy selfe that thou mayest not bee judged of the Lord. Will God call thee to a reckoning then begin to call thy selfe to a reckoning first How shall that bee done There is a double reckoning that every man must undergoe that will avoid this reckoning with God First hee must reckon with his owne heart Secondly with others First with his owne heart Every man must take all the advantages and opportunities that God hath given to reckon with himselfe Doth God awaken thy conscience by the preaching of his word Descend into thy owne heart It is that that the Lord lookes for that a man should say What have I done Doth God smite thee with someafflictions if with losses reckon with thy selfe how thou hast gained thy wealth If with disgraces reckon with thy selfe about thy pride and ambition and vanitie of thy heart If God smite thy body with sicknesse reckon with thy selfe about the imployment of thy health and the well usage of the times and seasons of grace Every evening call thy selfe to an account What have I done this day where have I beene In what company how have I carried my selfe there what good have I done what good have I received In the matters of thy calling reckon with thy selfe with what heart thou hast followed it with what care to conforme thy selfe to Gods word the rule of righteousnesse If thou hast been in pleasures whether they were lawfull and if they were whether they were lawfully used Thus must every man reckon with his owne heart as the Church in Lament 3. 39. Wherefore is the living man sorrowfull Man suffereth for his sinne let us search our wayes and turne againe to the Lord. There are many that thinke to out-face God and men in their sinnes but know this who-ever thou art that if thou forbeare to reckon with thy owne heart God will assuredly reckon with thee thou must reckon here or hereafter with thy selfe or with God therefore saith David Psal. 4. Commune with your owne hearts upon your beds that is bee sure to take time from your sleepe rather then to neglect this businesse of reckoning with your owne hearts Secondly Reckon with others too Let that man that is in authoritie a Magistrate so carry himselfe in his imployments that he may reckon with the people and give an account to them if need be as Samuel did Whose oxe have I taken or whose asse have I taken or whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith The Lord saith hee is a witnesse that yee have not found any thing in my hand And not only so but that they may bee able to witnesse that they have beene great instruments of Gods glory and of the good of others Let Ministers reckon with the people committed to their charge as Paul did when hee tooke his leave of the Ephesians and was to goe up to Ierusalem I take you to record this day saith he that I am pure from the bloud of all men for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsell of God and I have kept backe nothing that was profitable unto you but have shewed you and taught you publikely and from house to house And because I know that after my departure there will somewhat remaine to be done for Grievous wolves will enter in not sparing the flocke therefore I will be carefull that there be a succession of faithfull Ministers after me and therefore I give charge to the rest that follow that they take heed to themselves and to the flocke over which the holy Ghost hath made them overseers to feed the Church of God which hee hath purchased with his owne bloud Let Masters reckon with their Families their servants and children whether they have done their dutie as faithfull Masters not only in furthering the service of God but also in furthering of them by instruction and example to all good Let those that are in a way of traffique learne to reckon with those that they deale withall If thou hast wronged any by unjust gaine thou must reckon with him by restitution there is nothing that thou hast gotten unjustly for which thou dost not reckon now but as Saint Iames saith at that day shall eat thy flesh as it were fire Therefore Zacheus when salvation was brought to his house If I have done unjustly and wronged any I restore it Doubtlesse there are many men that cloathe themselves in Sattin and Velvet and abound in all varietie and bravery that would now be houselesse and monilesse and apparellesse it may bee if they should make restitution of their unjust gaine Well doe it as yee love your owne soules you shall reckon as you are Gods stewards with him how you have come by every penny that you have in
Let me have a place to burie my dead out of my sight It parteth father and child how unwilling soever they be see it in David and Absolom Oh Absolom my sonne would God I had died for thee and Rachel mourned for her children and would not be comforted because they were not It parteth the Minister and the people see it in the case of the people of Israels lamenting the death of Samuel and in the case of the Ephesians at the parting of S. Paul sorrowing especially when they heard they should see his face no more It parteth those friends who were so united together in love as if they had but one soule in two bodies see it in the separation that was made by death betweene David and Ionathan that were so knit together in their love that he bewaileth him Woe is mee for my brother Ionathan This is a necessary consideration for us that live that wee may learne to know how to carrie our selves towards our wordly friends and how to moderate our selves in our enjoyment of these worldly comforts Looke upon every worldly thing as a mortall as a dying comfort Looke upon children and friends as dying comforts Look upon your estates as that that hath wings and will be gone Looke upon your bodies that now you make so much of as a thing that must bee parted from the soule by death and that ere long See what advise the Apostle giveth 1 Cor. 7. 19. the time is short saith he therefore let those that marry bee as if they married not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it A man abuseth the world when he useth it beyond the consideration of the shortnesse of enjoying these things when hee lookes upon these things as things that hee shall enjoy alwayes But if we would use it aright looke upon things as things that we shall enjoy but for a short time This body that seemeth now to have some beautie in it yet it must die and be laied in the dust these friends that seeme now to haue some pleasure and delight in them yet I must die and be tooke from them this estate and wealth that now I set so much prize upon I must die and death will part me and it So I say lookeupon every thing as separable from us Moderate your affections likewise to them Vse them onely as comforts in the way as a traveller doth the pleasures of his Inne hee stands not to build himselfe houses against every pleasant walke he lookes upon he stands not to purchase lands and to lay them to every Inne he comes to lie at No he knowes that he is now but in his passage in his way he knowes that hee is not at home that is the place he is going to and after a time hee shall come thither So make account that you are not now at home it is death that must helpe you to your home Let this therefore take you off from all these things that are in the way It is a strange thing to see how Sathan besotteth and befooleth men They strive and labour to compasse many worldly things as if their happinesse stood in the enjoyment of them as if they should have their wealth and their comforts for ever What care is there amongst men to get wealth and many times lose their soules in getting the world Alas Death will part soule and body them and their wealth and all Doe wee not see this daily in the death of others before us such a one is dead where is his body now in the dust Where are his friends and his companions now Where is his wealth and his estate for which many flattered him and fawned upon him are they not all separated from him they have nothing now to doe with him he cannot dispose of one penny of his estate now it is left he knowes not to whom others now have the mannaging of it As now you can say this of others so there will a time come that other men will say the like of you I had such a friend but death hath parted him from me hee had such an estate but death hath parted him and his estate Let us therefore make this use of the death of others to conclude with our selves that there will be a parting of all those outward things that now wee are so apt to dote upon The third speciall thing considerable in the death of others that will be matter of profit and benefit to those that live and survive after them is the end and cause for which God sendeth Death abroad into the world with such a large commission that it goeth on with such libertie to every familie to every place that it seizeth upon every person What 's the reason of it You shall see in the severall deaths of men severall causes There is judgement and mercy sometime a mixture of both and sometime but of one of these Sometimes wee see an apparant judgement of God in the death of some A judgement of God upon themselves Thus the young Prophet that disobeyed the word of the Lord a Lyon met him in the way and slew him So those Corinths that did eate and drinke unworthily in the Lords Supper though they were such as were saved after yet neverthelesse for this very cause saith the Apostle some of them were sicke and weake and some slept they died they were judged of the Lord that they might not bee condemned with the world When you see death seizing upon men as an act of divine judgement of divine displeasure let it make you more fearefull of sinning against God lest you provoke against your selves the same wrath in the very act of sinne Sometimes againe it is a judgement of God upon others Thus God takes away divers of his servants because the world is not worthy of them And as this is an act of judgement upon the world so it is an act of mercie to them God in mercy taking of them away from the evill to come and from the evill present A judgement of God to others that are unworthy of them A mercie to themselves that they are tooke away from their owne evill from sinne from temptations from all the effects and fruits of sinne and taken away from the evill that is to come upon others An act I say of mercie to them So it was to the child of Ieroboam he should die and should not see the judgement that was to come upon his fathers house because there was found some good thing in him toward the Lord. So it was to Iosiah Hee should bee gathered to his fathers in peace and his eyes should not see all that evill which the Lord would bring upon Ierusalem and upon the inhabitants thereof An act of judgement to others Righteous and mercifull men are taken away and noman layeth it
crazie body or a full well-fed body is a hindrance to the soule because of that tie that is betweene the body and the soule and the spirit so there is a simpathy the soule is affected some what in this sense But it is not so then the soule shall bee loosed from the body and so freer for spirituall actions then now it is The soules under the Altar they crie How long Lord holy and just wilt thou not revenge our bloud upon them that are upon the earth The soules of Gods servants you see then are glorified when they are out of the body and therefore shall glorifie God more perfectly and enjoy God more freely and fully then now while their soules are in these mortall bodies And at that very instant when the soule of Gods servant is carried out of the body to heaven it more perfectly injoyeth Christ and is more sensible and more fit to answer the love of Christ to him then ever when it was in the body So then here is a cessation of baser actions and imployments to give place to more noble and heavenly and excellent actions wherein the soule shall bee employed in heaven There is then no losse of actions neither Againe there is no losse of company This is a thing that troubleth men husband and wife to part friends to part But we lose no company by death howsoever we lose the company of men that we cannot assure our selves are friends indeed for of all the friends we speake of in the maine point when they come to be tryed there are few to be found to be friends But then we goe to them whose love is perfect that you may be sure of and have the truth of their love Againe how little comfort nay how little have you company with those friends you desire Is not much part of our life spent without any fight of our friends is not halfe of it spent in sleep in the night and the other halfe in businesse and pleasure Alas how little time have we to enjoy our friends we rest on But then we shall perfectly enjoy them when there shall be no need of sleepe when there shall be perfection of love and freedome from distraction and imployment when the servants of God shall fully and freely and sweetly and comfortably enjoy one the other Abraham and Isaac and Iacob and the meanest of the Saints shall meet in the expression of love in such a perfection as we cannot speake of And this is certaine you shall goe to many Who can tell the dust of Iacob Now you have some one or two or three or a few men or women that you account friends and dote much upon but then you shall have ennumerable company a world of friends of men and women multitudes they cannot be numbred they are as the starres of heaven for number I say there is no losse of company by this meanes Againe you shall lose no pleasures by death it may be you shall lose some few sensuall bruitish pleasures a few mixed corrupt pleasures pleasures that have the mixture of sorrow and feare in them that imbitters them to the soule of a man but it shall not be so then you shall be freed from imperfect pleasures and have perfect ones at Gods right hand for evermore pure pleasures Againe you lose no necessary convenience neither the rich man loseth no riches by death he loseth his money doth he lose his riches therefore No The Angels are rich but they have no money the Saints are rich they want nothing but they have no money It may be thou losest a child thou shalt find a Father it may be thou losest a weake friend that loveth not long or it may be not so truly as thou thinkest he doth and thou findest friends that are many and perfect and pure in their love that love with a perfect heart And what then are all those losses when you enjoy that which shall make the soule happy for ever Thus I say you should rectifie your opinions concerning Death looke upon it aright have true apprehensions of it Get an intrest in Christ and looke on death through him get faith and then all these things that I haue spoken shall be your advantage so the Apostle concludeth Christ is to us in life and in death advantage If we live he is gaine to us in life and if we die he is advantage to us in death And death is reckoned amongst the speciall favours and priviledges Christ hath given to his Church All are yours what all life and death things present and things to come all are yours and you are Christs and Christ is Gods So we see that Death is amongst the priviledges that Christ hath given his Church therefore rectifie your opinions concerning Death make good that I spake before and you shall find this good that I now speake And for the last the unacquaintance with Death let not that trouble you none come from the dead to tell you what is done there but looke on the servants of God before and when they die and you shall find enough how they apprehended Death when they have looked on it in the glasse of the Gospell Looke upon them before death Iacob being to close up his dayes with blessing of his children Lord saith hee I have waited for thy salvation Hee looked upon Death through Christ the Saviour of the world that he should bee saved by him and though it be true that there is a further meaning for the Tribes in those words of Iacob yet this was proper to Iacob himselfe hee looked upon Death now approching as that that he was delivered from and set into that freedome purchased by Christ. So old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seene thy salvation Iacob accounted it his salvation old Simeon a departure from a worse place to a better from worse company and comforts to a better A change for the better still and a departing in peace Againe secondly looke on the servants of God in death see what they have said too Iosiah a man that was upright in heart he went to the grave in peace he was gathered to his fathers in peace that he should not see the evill that should come upon his people here is all it was but a peaceable taking of him away from a more troubelous condition if he had lived longer Beloved he died in warre yet it is said he was gathered in peace he had inward peace with God though he failed in that particular action And the Apostle in the 2 Cor. 5. 4. This is our desire that wee may bee clothed upon not that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortalitie may bee swallowed up of life A strange speech he counteth death life to him he counteth the death of this life to be the death of mortalitie by laying aside this earthly tabernacle as he saith in
sobrietie Every sinne beginneth in impatience when a man cannot beare with that abstinence and forbearance as formerly cannot keepe that strict course in his wayes but groweth impatient against the rule of God he runneth into a course of sinne presently So you see that for the very preserving the soule the subject of grace and grace the treasure of the soule it is necessary that wee should have patience And then againe thirdly It will appeare thus to you that a Christian cannot be perfect without patience because hee cannot doe his worke without Patience he cannot doe the workes of Religion the taske that God layes upon him without Patience Looke in what measure Patience is defective in that measure hee halteth in his dutie in the very actions of Religion hee goeth about Take any one duty of Religion that you can name see whether a man can doe that without Patience Suppose it be Prayer How can a man goe on in the duty of prayer without Patience Sometime God delayeth the grant of a mans petition A man will now sinke and give over in discouragement if hee have not Patience to support the soule The Canaanitish woman when shee came to Christ and spake once to him and hee did not answer a word she had so much Patience as to make her speake the second time to him then he answered her but churlishly but yet her Patience held her to the third tryall at last she received her desire had she not beene patient to goe on with her request shee had lost her petition The Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 12. for this thing saith he I besought the Lord thrice Hee would have given over at the first seeking of the Lord if he had not had Patience to uphold him to the second and third petition to the renewing of his suit twice nay thrice Come from praying to hearing the Word preached how can a man heare the word profitably without patience therefore the good ground is said to heare the Word and to bring forth fruit with Patience and it is the commendation of the Church of Philadelphia Thou hast kept the word of my Patience There is a necessitie of Patience if a man will profit by the Word For first if a man will obey the Word he shall be sure to have many set against him in the world he had need of patience then or else he will leave the rule of the Word because of the reproaches of the world Againe there are many secret corruptions in his owne heart that will be met with in the preaching of the Word which a man cannot abide to heare of but hee will be vexing and fretting and discontented at it as we see in Ahab and divers others unlesse hee have Patience to keepe him from raging against the Preacher and preaching of the Word You have need of Patience then â—…as the Apostle saith that you may beare the reproofes and exhortations of the Word Therefore saith the Apostle Iames Receive with Patience the ingraffed Word or receive with meeknesse the ingraffed Word that is able to save your soules There is no ingrafting the Word in the heart except those formes of impatience those hinderances of the growth of the Word be taken away But further there is yet a further end the whole life of a Christian is a continuall exercise of Patience there is a necessitie of it for he cannot persevere without Patience it is impossible for a man to begin in the spirit but he shall end in the flesh if he have not Patience to persevere in well doing Therefore saith the Apostle You have need of Patience that after you have obeyed you might receive the promise You have need of Patience for betweene the time of the making of the Promise and the time of the accomplishment of the Promise to the soule there is a great distance many times therefore yee have need of Patience to waite that after you have obeyed the Word you might receive the promise Let us runne with Patience the race that is set before us looking to Iesus the Authour and finisher of our faith Our Lord Jesus himselfe had not perfected the worke of our redemption if he had wanted Patience neither can we finish our course of Christianity wherein we must follow Christ and runne the race that is set before us except we have Patience added to other graces You see then a Christian cannot be perfect without Patience First because he cannot have all the parts of Christianitie that is one thing Secondly because he cannot keepe and preserve the graces he hath that is another thing Thirdly because he cannot act and worke according to the rule that is the third Lastly because he cannot persevere in the course he is in except hee have Patience There is a necessitie of Patience to the perfection of a Christian. Secondly the second point was that it is the duty of a Christian to strive to bring patience to the uttermost perfection to be as perfect in the degrees of patience as he can attaine to to make this the strife of his life that patience may have her perfect worke that there may be no defect in it The Apostle prayeth for the Collossians that they may be strengthned in the inward man to all long suffering And when our Saviour setteth God as a patterne before men Bee you perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect What aymeth he at in that place but this that we should strive to the uttermost extent and highest degrees of Patience for our Saviour intendeth of patience in that place This then is the dutie of a Christian. Why so First because a Christian is to follow the best patterne the best patternes are propounded in the Scripture And God doth not propound examples and Patternes to men in vaine but as he giveth them rules to tell them what they should doe so he giveth them examples and patternes to lead them to that degree and direct them in the manner of doing Therefore yee have God himselfe set as a patterne of Patience Follow God as deare children wherein In all those examples wherein you have a rule For all the examples of God and Christ and the Saints binde no further then there is a rule in the Word There are many things wherein we cannot follow God and Christ and we need not follow every one of the Saints but those things that are injoyned by the rule these examples are set to direct us in obedience to that rule Among other things the Patience of God is set forth as a patterne for us to follow In that glorious proclamation made of him in Exod. 34. 7. 8. Among other of his attributes hee is set out to bee a God long suffering and Patient You see how patient God is saith the Apostle And God that hee might shew his long-suffering and Patience bore with the world saith Saint Peter With
what world with the world of ungodly men God hath borne with the world many Ages of yeares many thousand yeares already and yet beareth still with the world The most holy God that perfectly hateth wickednesse yet to shew his Patience he beareth with ungodly ones Yea and he beareth with men too the mighty God that is able to destroy all the world with the very breath of his mouth that as with a word hee made the world so with a blast he is able to bring it to nothing yet this mighty God beareth with men this holy God with ungodly men yea and this God that might suddenly destroy the earth as hee did the old World with water he beareth so many thousand yeares with the world of ungodly men that his Patience and long-suffering may appeare You have God for an example then And Christ for an example too and you are predestinated for this very end to be like the Image of the Sonne to be made conformable unto Christ Wherein In all imitable and necessary graces I say in all those graces that are necessary by vertue of a rule and that are imitable wherein we may or can follow him Amongst the rest this is one his Patience See the Patience of Christ. In his carriage toward his Father how he bore the displeasure of his Father In his carriage toward men when hee might have commanded fire from heaven yet you see how hee bore with them and rebuked his Disciples You know not of what spirit you are Hee was lead as a Lambe dumbe before the shearers and hee opened not his mouth Againe you have the examples of the servants of God Take my brethren saith Saint Iames the Prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an ensample of suffering affliction and of Patience The Prophets suffered long and endured the frownes of the world and the rage of Princes they endured a thousand miseries and all to discharge their duty But amongst all the servants of God You have heard of the Patience of Iob and what end the Lord made with him Every man can speake of the patience of Iob but this was written for our ensample to teach us to be patient as hee was Whatsoever things were written afore-time were written for our learnings that wee through Patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Againe secondly as it is necessary for a Christian to strive for the perfection of Patience in the degrees of it because of the conformitie that should be betweene him and those examples of God of Christ and of the Saints betweene God the Father and beleevers his children betweene Christ the head and beleevers his members betweene the Saints of God children of the same Father and servants of the same Master that should honour him in the same grace of Patience So there is a necessitie likewise of it in respect of the tryals whereunto a Christian may be put you had need to strive that you may be perfect in Patience because you know not what tryals yee shall be put to what times yee are reserved to Every man must expect troubles and afflictions they are called Tribulations and you know what Tribulum was the Iron ball that was full of pikes round about so that wheresoever it was cast it did sticke an Engine used in warre Tribulations are unavoydable they will fall and sticke yee cannot escape them on any side by any turning to the right hand or to the left It is the will of God that through many tribulations wee should enter into the kingdome of heaven and whosoever will live Godly in Christ Iesus must suffer persecution Now beloved is this so that this is a Statute in heaven decreed and ordained by God and will not be reversed like the lawes of the Medes and Persians that every man must passe to heaven through tribulation and affliction upon earth then it concernes every one to be armed to get such a measure of patience as may support him in such afflictions Yee know not what afflictions yee may have what particular tryals God may put yee to In what a miserable case then is a man if he be to seeke of his armour when he is in the middest of the pikes if he be then to get patience when he is in the middest of tryals when he is disturbed and distracted with vexation of spirit What foolish disorderly speeches proceed from men in the time of affliction We may see it in David so foolish was I and ignorant and in this point a beast before thee What foolish sensuall beastly speeches unreasonable absurd passages proceed from men in those times of trouble if they have not got to themselves before hand this grace and are not fitted to a Christian caraiage in time by patience Thus yee see the necessitie of patience to the perfection of a Christian and the necessitie of the perfection of patience to the ornament of a Christian. Now we come to make use of both these together First it serveth for the just reproofe of Christians that are carefull for other parts and acts of religion and are not so seriously mindfull of this duty of Patience as they should be but are so farre from striving for patience that they seeme rather to strive for impatience that make their crosses more heavy and their afflictions more bitter then they would be Indeed we make Gods Cuppe that of it selfe is grievous enough to nature and to sense by putting into it our owne ingredients that are inbred in our owne passions and pride and selfe-will and our owne earthly mindes farre more bitter then else it would be But how doth a man make afflictions worse There are divers wayes that men take wherein they are so farre from perfecting patience in themselves that they wholly destroy patience The first is by their agravating of their afflictions by all the severall circumstances that possibly they can invent All their eloquence is used in expressing the grievousnesse of that crosse and affliction that is upon them They that in the times of mercy could scarse ever drop a word in thankfulnesse and acknowledgement of Gods goodnesse to them now they can poure out flouds of sentences in expression of Gods bitter and heavie dealing with them in such afflictions and crosses and distresses that befall them As the Church speakes in the Lamentations Consider all that passe by is there any Affliction like my affliction wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me The like speech you have ordinarily in the mouthes of persons Is there any affliction like mine there is no body so wronged in their name as I nor hath such paine in their body nor never went with such a heavy heart as I never any man suffered so many injuries by friends and enemies and all sorts of people as I have done as if all the afflictions in the world the flouds and waves of tryals were
remaineth unchangeable yet the sentence according to the externall expression seemeth altered to us so the change is in us and not in God Hence let us note something briefly for our selves and that is this First how to understand all those threatnings in Scripture that seeme peremptory and absolute by this rule A judgement is threatned against a nation against a person or family c. Yea and it is absolutely threatned in divers places because thou hast done such and such evils therefore such and such things shall come upon thee All such as these are to be understood conditionally though they seem to be expressed absolutely And the rule God himselfe giveth At what instant I shall speake concerning a nation and concerning a kingdome to plucke up and to pull downe and to destroy it If that nation against whom I have pronounced turne from their evill I will repent of the evill that I thought to doe unto them Whatsoever I threatned in my Word if they turne to me by true repentance I will turne all that evill from them that I have threatned against them and would certainly have brought upon them if they have not returned I say thus we are to understand all these and upon this ground we may build some further uses that I will but touch First to take off those discouragements that lie upon the hearts of many When they find themselves guiltie of a sin against God when they see that sinne threatned with severe punishment and judgement in the word of God now they conclude their case to be desperate it is in vaine to seeke further to use the meanes the Lord will proceed in judgement and there is no stopping of him This is an addition to a mans other sinnes to conclude thus Marke how the Lord expresseth himselfe in the 33. Ezekiel The people were much troubled about such things there say they Our transgressions and our sinnes bee upon us and wee pine away in them how should wee then live The Prophet had incouraged them notwithstanding their great sinnes to returne by true repentance and they should not perish neverthelesse they are muttering discouraged with feare breaking their spirits withdrawing themselves from God the judgements of God are begun upon us the hand of wrath is gone out against us wee are pining away in them though we are not wasted yet yet we are like a man in a consumption that wasteth by degrees how shall we live certainly wee shall die Saith the Lord say not thus among your selves but know if yee turne yee shall live As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turne from his way and live turne yee turne yee from your evill wayes for why will yee die oh house of Israel Beware of discouragements therefore it is Sathans devise that when once he hath drawne men from God by a path of sinne to hold them under discouragements that so hee may ever after keepe them from turning to God againe It was his devise whereby he would have kept Adam from turning to God after he had committed that great sinne in eating of the forbidden tree Hee thought of nothing but hiding himselfe from God and so he did hide himselfe amongst the bushes of the Garden I heard thy voyce and was afraid and I hid my selfe Marke here was a feare of discouragement in Adam that whereas he should have come and fell downe before the Lord and have begged mercy and said as David here Who knoweth whether the Lord will bee gracious to mee He ranne cleane away from God There is a feare of reverence that keepeth a man with God and there is a feare that draweth a man to God but this feare of discouragement driveth a man from God and that is the temptation of Sathan to keepe a man from God when once he hath turned aside from him Therefore that is the first thing take heed of such inward discouragements as may drive you quite off Secondly Take incouragement then to seeke the face of God in his owne meanes and way He hath threatned judgements against others for the same sinnes that yee find your selves guiltie of when they have returned to him they have found mercie Returne yee to him in truth and seeke his face aright and yee shall find the same mercie In the prophesie of Ioel yee shall see there that though God had threatned judgements nay though he had begun judgement for that was the case of those times judgement was begun upon them yet neverthelesse the Prophet calleth them to fasting and weeping and telleth them that the Lord is gracious and mercifull and ready to forgive and who knoweth if he will returne and repent and leave ablessing behind him Therefore let us doe our parts and seeke God in truth amend our lives and then no question of this but that God will returne It is an old device of Sathan to draw men in stead of Gods revealed will to looke to Gods secret will whether I be absolutely rejected or cast off or not But this is not the thought wherein a Christian should exercise himselfe his maine businesse is this to make his calling and election sure by all the â—…vidences of it by a holy life walke obediently to Gods revealed will and be certaine thou shalt not be rejected by Gods secret will He never rejecteth those by his secret will and purpose and decree to whom he giveth a heart to walke obediently to his revealed will So much for that Who knoweth that the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live The incouragement is this That the child may live But marke his expression Whether the Lord will bee gracious to me that the child may live If he had said no more but this Who knoweth whether the childe may live A man would have thought this would fully enough have expressed his mind but there is more in it that could not be expressed without this addition Who knoweth whether the Lord will bee gracious to me that the child may live The life of a child is a mercy to the father David expresseth herein both his Pitty and his Pietie His Pittie He accounteth all the good or ill that befalleth his childe as his owne if death befalleth it he accounteth it as a miserie that befalleth himselfe if sicknesse befalleth his child hee accounteth it as an affliction upon himselfe This is his naturall pittie that same naturall affection of a Father to his Child See such an expression of the woman of Canaan Have mercie on mee thou sonne of David my daughter is miserably vexed of a divell The Daughter was miserably vexed and the mother cryeth out Have mercie on me There is such a simpathy ariseth hence from the naturall and free course that love hath in descending from the Father to the Child There are not only morall perswasions that may invite and draw on
is that The time of death the heart of a man is put to it at such a time and now these shrinke nothing can inable a man against feare so much as sincerity and uprightnesse When the Prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah from God that he must die he flieth to this Lord remember how I have walked before thee with an upright heart and done that which was good in thy sight When Death commeth to a wicked voluptuous person and telleth him I am here come for thee thou must appeare before God what can this man say Lord I have lived before thee a voluptuous proud wretched life I was a scorner of thy Word a contemner and persecutor of thy people a swearer c. What though perhaps he can say Lord I have heard so many Sermons I have beene so much in conference and the like will this inable a man against the feare of Death No nothing but this that he hath a sincere heart that his heart is unmixed that sinne is not affected in his soule that there is no sinne that hee would live in no duty that he would not doe Lord remember that I have walked before thee uprightly I say nothing will inable a man more against feare then sinceritie and nothing disgraceth perplexeth the soule in an exigent more then hypocrisie It is sinceritie that takes away the sting of Death The Apostle in Rom. 14. saith he No man liveth to himselfe but if hee live hee liveth to the Lord and if hee die hee dieth to the Lord whether wee live or die wee are the Lords Here is the comfort wee are the Lords saith he How proveth hee that Wee live unto him That is the worke of a sincere heart A true Christian liveth not to himselfe but to Christ Now if thy conscience give thee this testimony I have lived unto Christ then whether I live or die I am the Lords the Apostle concludeth it So right is that of Solomon Riches availeth not in the day of wrath but righteousnesse delivereth from death Thy righteousnesse and sincerity delivereth thee not from dying but from death It takes away the sting and power of Death Death shall not be death to thee it is onely a passage to thee Therefore remember as to get a part in Christ so to get a perfect and sincere heart and then the sting of death is gone But a hypocriticall divided heart a heart and a heart that will sting a man That is the second Thirdly wouldest thou have the sting of death pulled out now Then mortifie thy sinnes now doe it presently Remember what Saint Paul saith but I thinke hee speakes it in respect of afflictions I professe by our rejoycing in Christ Iesus I die daily If it be meant of afflictions yet it should be verified of us in respect of sinne die daily to sinne and then the sting of death is gone Oh beloved our condition will be sad and discomfortable when at once we must enter into the field with Death and Sinne he that dieth daily to Sin hee hath nothing to doe with Death when it commeth Death may come to such a party but it cannot hurt him he may rest quietly when it commeth And observe it so much sinne as thou now sparest so much sting thou reservest for Death and is it not folly in a man to spare sinne that giveth a sting to Death But now as a man is to crucifie every sinne let me put in this caution and remember this advise As the sting of every sin is to be pulled out so pull out especially the sting of that Sin that now stingeth thy conscience that now lieth upon thy conscience for if it worke now it will worke fearfully at death Death doth not lessen the work of sin but inrageth it God wil then present and set thy sins in orderbefore thee perhaps God hath brought thee here to day to heare this Word getthee home and set thy soule in order The love of Sin and the feare of Death seldome paâ—…t and where Sinne is much loved Death will there be much feared Death is never more terrible then where sin is most delighted in Therefore crucifie sinne if thou wilt have the sting of death taken away It may be thou thinkest it is a troublesome worke but remember that those sinnes which thou now so much delightest in and lovest and livest in will then prove the sting of death to thee If a man would spend his time in the mortification of sinne when death commeth he should have nothing to doe but to let his soule loose to God and to give it up to him as into the hands of his most faithfull Creatour and Redeemer And is it not an excellent thing for a man to have nothing to doe with Death when it commeth Lastly here is a use of comfort If it hath pleased God to give any of us the grace to pull out the sting of death it is a great comfort But Death is approching you will say Oh but Death is disarmed the sting of it is taken away what a singular comfort is it then to you that Death is comming Indeed all the comfort that the soule is capable of is this that the sting of death is tooke away Now when Death commeth upon such a man it doth but free him from all that state of miserie hee is in here from all that extremitie of condition that he is put into from all those diversities of occasions pressing occasions of tumbling about in the world Death doth but put an end to all And which is an excellent comfort to a Christian Sin is ended with Death what afflicteth the soule of a Christian but that hee carrieth about him a body of sinne and of death This was a trouble to Saint Paul and is to every true Christian Now when Death commeth there is an end of this Body of sinne thou shalt never sinne more thou shalt never grieve the Spirit of God more thou shalt never be clogged with such imperfections and infirmities in dutie that death that commeth to thee shall passe thee to the fruition of eternall glory and what canst thou desire more then to be happy in eternall glory with God FINIS THE DESRVCTION OF THE DESTROYER OR THE OVER THROVV OF THE LAST ENEMIE PSAL. 9. 6. O thou Enemie thy Destructions are come to a perpetuall end ISAIAH 25. 8. Hee will swallow up Death in victorie LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE DESTRVCTION OF THE DESTROYER OR THE OVER THROW OF THE LAST ENEMIE SERMON VII 1 COR. 15. 16. The last enemie that shall bee destroyed is Death DEath is a subject that a Christian should have in his thoughts often and neither the hearing nor thinking nor speaking of it can be unseasonable for any place or person We have heard that the life of Philosophers is nothing but a meditation of Death and certainly the life of a Christian much more should abound in
that they may rest from their labours and their workes doe follow them THe Scripture will afford us many Texts for Funeralls Me thinkes there is none more fit nor more ordinarily preached on then two and they are both of them voyces from heaven One was to Isaiah the Prophet Hee was commanded to crie The voyce said Cry And hee said What shall I crie All flesh is grasse and all the goodlinesse thereof is as the flower of the field You will say That is a fit Text indeed So is this here A voyce from heaven too But Saint Iohn is not commanded to crie it as Isaiah was he is commanded to write it That that is written is for the more assurance It seemeth good to mee saith Saint Luke in his preface to his Gospell Most excellent Theophilus to write to thee of those things in order that thou mightest know the certaintie c. It did not please God for many generations to teach his Church by writing The Fathers before the flood he did not teach by writing They lived long their memorie served them in stead of bookes and they had now and then some Divine revelations They needed no writing But after that the dayes of man grew short as they did in the time of Moses the man of God the dayes of our yeares are threescore yeares and ten then I say when the dayes of man came thus to be shortned it pleased God to teach his Church by writing And although the whole will of God all things necessarie to salvation bee written yet God did appoint some speciall things above all others to be written some passages of divine truths As that same historie of the foile of Amalek in the wildernesse Scribe hoc ad monumentum saith God to Moses write this for a memoriall in a booke So God commandeth Isaiah to take to himselfe a great roule and to write in it with a mans pen. So to Ezekiel Son of man write thee the name of the day even of this same day the king of Babylon set himselfe against Ierusalem this same day And Saint Iohn to goe no further though he was commanded to write this whole Epistle and all the Visions he saw yet there is some speciall thing that God in a more speciall manner would have him to write And here is one Write this same voyce this voyce that came downe from heaven write it Though that writing addeth nothing to the Authoritie of the Word For the word of God is is the same Word and is as well to be obeyed and as well to be beleeved when it is delivered by tradition as when it is by writing yet notwithstanding we are to blesse God that we have it written How many Divine truths have beene turned into lies And how many divine Histories have beene turned into fables when things have beene deliuered by tradition from hand to hand and from man to man Tradition was never so safe a preserver of Divine truths Wee are to thanke God I say for the whole Scripture for every part of it for whatsoever is written is written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope But what comfortable thing is this that here Saint Iohn is commanded to write Write what Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord so saith the spirit they rest from their labours and their workes follow them In the which you have five things First you have a Proposition Dead men are blessed Blessed are the dead Now because this is not generally true therefore Secondly you have a Restriction all Dead men are not blessed But who are blessed then they that die in the Lord. There is the Restriction Thirdly you have the Time from whence this blessednesse beginneth From hence-forth blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Fourthly you have the Particulars wherein this blessednesse consists It is in a Relaxation of their labours and a Retribution of their workes they rest from their labours and their workes follow them Lastly you have a Confirmation of all this It is confirmed first by a voyce frm heaven A voyce from heaven said write And then it is confirmed by the Spirit of God Even so saith the spirit they rest from their labours You must not looke that in this shortnesse of time I should goe through all these And I doe not intend it It may bee only the first and second I pray let mee take some time to speake of the occasion of our meeting I would doe all within the houre I begin with the first Dead men are blessed Blessed are the dead Blessednesse is a thing that every man desireth Hee is no man but a monster that would live wretchedly Every man desireth to be blessed But that thing which wee all desire in common when it commeth to be determined most men mistake it Some place blessednesse in riches And some place it in honours Some place it in pleasures And some place it in health of body And some place it in civill vertues What need I tell you more S. Austin in his 19. booke DeCivitate Dei telleth us of no fewer then two hundred fourescore and eight severall places of blessednesse All determined in this life To let them passe Blessednesse consisteth in the enjoying of the soveraigne good That same soveraigne good is God Wee enjoy God both in this life and in the life to come From hence there is a double Blessednesse Distinguish them as you will Whether you call one Beatudo viae the other Beatudo patriae as some doe The Blessednesse of the way and the Blessednesse of the Countrey Or whether you call one Beatudo spei the other Beatudo rei The Blessednesse of expectation or the blessednesse of fruition Or whether you call them as usually you doe The Blessednesse of Grace here and the Blessednesse of Glory hereafter It mattereth not in what termes you distinguish them but so we know this have one and you are sure of both There is none have the Blessednesse of Glory but such as were first Blessed in the state of Grace And there is none Blessed in a state of Grace but shall be Blessed in the state of Glory There is a threefold condition of a Blessed soule It is here in the bodie as long as God pleaseth But then it is from the Lord. It is with the Lord but then it is from the Bodie There is a third Condition when it shall be in the body againe and with the Lord for ever Then is the full consumation of blisse when this same body of ours shall bee raised up and made like the glorious body of Iesus Christ. But our Blessednesse in this life though we have here a comfortable fellowship with God yet because that it is not per speciem it is not by sight it is but by faith wee walke by faith and not by sight Because
woman that doth that but shee may perhaps out-live her Husband A vertuous woman will doe him good and not evill all the dayes of her life And for this amongst many other things I doe commend this vertuous Gentlewoman I may almost say with the words there in the end of that Chapter Many daughters have done excellently but thou surmountest them all So I may say many women peradventure have done excellently in this kind but I doe not know of any one that ever hath done the like to her Husband I pray you heare it Her Husband had a brother that lived in Portugall at the time of his death who was there married he had there three children at least two sonnes and a daughter This vertuous good Woman would give her selfe no rest till she had these children out of Portugall shee got the two sonnes hither And what was her care here is another excellencie of hers her chiefe care was for their soules What did shee or rather what did shee not to winne those children from Poperie in which they have beene brought up and to bring them to the true service of God Shee obtained it she got it When shee had done that wonne them to our religion she had not done all one of these had a desire to exercise some Merchandise by Sea Shee furnished him to the Sea shee furnished him with money for his adventures The other shee bound Apprentise here in the Citie to an honest trade and shee hath given them a liberall childes portion I may say so A childes portion that they may thanke God and I hope they wil have the grace to do it that they had I do not say such an Aunt in law but such a Mother Here was not all Shee sent for the Mother too shee was but sister-in-law to her Husband she sent for the Mother she sent for the Daughter they were here Shee clothed them she fed them some moneths and if shee could have wonne them to our religion she would have maintained the Mother while shee had lived shee would have brought up the Daughter as her owne child But that could not be done it was a worke beyond her strength You see here a vertuous Woman that did good to her Husband not all the dayes of his life but all the dayes of her life To the very last day of her life shee never did cease to doe good to her Husband in his kindred and I thinke I may say that shee was more carefull of his kindred then of her owne But this is not all This kindnesse you will say was shewed to her Husbands kindred Heare a little more therefore Shee knew that there were many Ministers that had a great charge of children and peradventure would be very glad to have some of their children taken off of their hands Shee hath given to the putting out of five Ministers children to bind them Apprentices fiftie pounds Shee knew that there were some poore persons of the Palatinate here which stood in necessitie Shee hath given to the reliefe of them twentie pounds Shee knew that there were many poore soules that lay in Turkish slavery Shee hath given for the redeeming of them twentie pounds Nay yet more Shee considered that her Husband was sometime a poore scholler in the Universitie of Cambridge And shee considered too that there are many Ministers Widowes that lived well while their husband lived that are faine to crave reliefe the greater is the shame of some men when they are dead Shee hath therefore given five hundred pounds to purchase lands and with this land to maintaine partly two Schollers in the Universitie from their first comming thither till they bee Masters of Art And then with the residue to maintaine foure Widowes that have beene the Wives of honest preaching Ministers Zacheus his offer was but halfe of his goods Lord halfe of my goods I give to the poore For ought I can perceive and understand above halfe of her estate shee hath given to charitable uses I say no more of her These workes of her will praise her in the gates Shee died in the Countrey And I am sorry that I had not information as I did desire of her behaviour in her sicknesse I have it not I can say nothing of it but thus much It was not possible that such a creature that lived thus as we know she did in obedience to God in repentance in faith with invocation of Gods mercie in Charity in Peace but that her death was blessed Shee that lived in the Lord no question but she died in the Lord and shee is blessed for Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. God Lord teach us to number our dayes that wee may apply our hearts to wisedome and grant that as we grow in yeares we may grow in knowledge of thy truth in obedience to thy will in faith in thy promises in love toward thee and toward our neighbours for thy sake that when wee come to the end of our dayes wee may come to the end of our hope the salvation of our soules through Jesus Christ to whom with thee oh Father and thee oh holy Spirit three Persons but one true and immortall and onely wise God be given both from us and all thy creatures in heaven and in earth continuall praise honour glory dominion and power now and for evermore Let all those that heare the word of God depart from iniquitie Now the God of Peace that brought againe from the dead our Lord Iesus the great Shepheard of the sheepe through the bloud of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect to doe his will working in you that which is pleasing in his sight through Iesus Christ. Amen FINIS THE CHRISTIANS CENTER OR HOW TO LIVE TO GOD. PHILIP 1. 20. Christ shall bee magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death 2 COR. 5. 15. They which live should not hence-forth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose againe LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE CHRISTIANS CENTER OR HOW TO LIVE TO GOD. SERMON X. ROM 14. 7. For none of us liveth to himselfe and no man dieth to himselfe for whether we live we live to the Lord and whether wee die wee die unto the Lord whether we live therefore or die wee are the Lords THese words containe an Argument or reason which the Apostle useth to prove that the weake Christian should bee borne withall and that men should not judge because of the difference of meat amongst them Hee sheweth that they did not with the neglect of the knowledge of any truth keepe themselves ignorant in this particular but it was their weaknesse The strong should beare with the weake and the weake should not censure the strong the reason is because they agree in one end they propound one generall end to themselves that guides them in all their actions they walke in one way and in one path and
hee would not doe it his heart smo◅e him for cutting off the lappe of Sauls garment though he might have gained the kingdome of Israel by it hee would not lay his hands on the Lords anointed And what was the reason of it because he would not advantage himselfe by disobedience to God he would rather want himselfe What was the reason that Daniel when he saw hee was in an apparant hazard not only of the losse of honour but of his life and that for the performance but of one dutie prayer and that but for a short time yet would not omit it no not for a short time though he might by that not onely have saved his life but kept his honour in the Court he prayed to God even at that time when he was forbidden Why so because he lived to God and not to himselfe Had Daniel lived to and sought himselfe more then God he would have dispensed with this and saved both his life and honour though he had offended God in that particular of omission But this is the disposition of a heart that is faithfull and upright with God it will not dishonour God for the greatest advantage that can come to it selfe it will not neglect a dutie to God whatsoever losse it have in the world Thirdly Take another instance whereby we may see what we intend in this tryall Let the will of God and the bent of a mans owne will come in competition together God will have me leave this I will hold it God will have mee forsake this I will keepe it It is a comfort a worldly benefit I lose my comfort if I part with it He that now liveth to himselfe hee will please his owne will and be disquieted and vexed against Gods will that crosseth his But he that liueth to God will bee content that God should crosse him in his will because he would glorifie God in his owne will in his soveraignty in his puritie in his holinesse and justice c. See it in the case of Abraham Abraham had a strong love to Isaak and good cause yet neverthelesse though hee could see a comfort to himselfe in this sonne when God telleth him thou must sacrifice thy sonne Isaack when he had the revealed will of God Abraham now resolveth to shew that he lived to God and not to himselfe therefore he would part with any comfort of his life for God when he required it So David If the Lord will saith he hee can bring me backe that I shall see the Tabernacle and the Arke if not if he say I have no pleasure in thee lo◅ here I am let the Lord doe with me as seemeth good in his owne eyes When the case is this when the will of God crosseth thy will what now prevaileth Doth the desire of having thy owne will prevaile against the desire of submitting to Gods will Doth it raise murmuring and impatiencie of spirit So farre thou livest to thy selfe Therefore consider this Here is an occasion now for a lust and a sinfull affection to shew it selfe either a man may advantage himselfe in an evill course or he cannot but disadvantage himselfe in a good course or when God crosseth a man in that hee desireth and delights in in the world That is the first tryall whereby a man may know whether he liveth to himselfe Secondly another tryall will be this Consider if there be any part of the truth of God of his revealed will that for selfe-respects thou art willing to be ignorant of lest the knowledge of it should make thee doe somewhat to thy owne disadvantage in this thou livest to thy selfe See this to be true in all that lived to themselves Balaam though he profest that for a house full of gold hee would not goe beyond the word of the Lord yet notwithstanding he was willing not to take notice of Gods will but to goe on rather to curse Iohanan in Ier. 42. professeth deeply that he would obey the will of the Lord but when he understood the will of the Lord when it crost his will then saith he to Ieremy It is not the Lord that hath bid thee say this but Baruch When men cavill against any part of Gods word or hide any truth from themselves and with-hold the truth in unrighteousnesse Here is a man living to himselfe How many points are there in Religion that many men are willingly ignorant of And when they cannot but know them how doe they labour for distinction how doe they dawbe over the matter that they may hide the truth from themselves that it may not worke upon their consciences to make them leave their profitable sins Some would have the keeping of the Lords day according to Judaisme though it bee revealed to them that there is a broad difference between the Iews observation and the Christians keeping of it Another man he will not understand Usurie to be a sinne because his course is usurious he will not know this willingly because he would not disadvantage himselfe Another will not understand what hee is bound to doe to the glory of God with his estate in what measure according to all the good that God hath blessed him with to honour God and give the first fruits of all his increase nor in what manner that he should be ready to every good worke to contribute willingly to the necessities of the Saints what he should doe to pious and mercifull uses what for publike what for private occasions he would not willingly know these things he should have less ease he makes account Thus when a man is not willing to bee informed in any thing to sift the truth to the bottome to the uttermost to know any thing concerning a duty in any kind when he laboureth not to convince his heart to this end that he may be brought in every thing to obey God when he standeth out with God in any one point this man liveth to himselfe and walketh not as he should according to the rule of God Now then beloved let us be convinced of it I beseech you take it home and let every man consider of it with himselfe Sometime in the actions of religion there commeth matter of glory in the world this setteth me forward much when these things are spoken against and when I shal suffer disadvantages I cānot hold out At another time though all things be wel yet if it crosse me in such a course I murmure as if it were an unprofitable thing to serve God And then again when God revealeth his will my froward and rebellious heart hath hung backe and beene unwilling to submit to Gods wil in this point all this while I have lived to my self And if it be true if a man be in Christ he liveth not to himself then it follows if a man liveth to himself he is out of Ghrist If the weakest Christian live to Christ then the best that liveth to himselfe is out of Christ.
is the reason why infidelity doth presently bring judgements upon men The cause is apparant infidelity it draweth men from God An unbeleeving heart departs from the living God And when a man departs from Gods presence God pursueth him with his judgements All the judgements of God are upon that place where Gods presence in his grace is not If I goe saith David to the uttermost parts of the earth thou art there if I goe into the deepe thou art there And how there Not only as an observer but as a punisher that is when men come to this point to flie from God Now unbeleefe is a drawing of the soule from God to the creature therefore it provokes God for it sets up an Idoll in the heart of man and Idolatrie exceedingly provokes God and therefore he bringeth judgements upon it Beside that marke the threatning of the Word against this Deut. 29. When a man heareth the words of this curse and blesseth himselfe and saith I shall have peace though I walke in the stubbornnesse of my owne heart the Lord will not spare that man but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoake against him and all the plagues that are written in this booke shall be heaped on him When is that when is the time that the wrath of God shall smoake At that very time and instant when he flattereth himselfe with his vaine conceits that he shall have peace though God threaten judgement then at that very instant the wrath of God shall fall upon such a man In this manner did God deale with the Israelites in Isa. 6. 9 10. Make the heart of this people fat make their eares heavy and why so that they may see and not perceive that they may heare and not understand lest they should be converted and I should heale them How long shall this be saith the Prophet till the Cities be wasted without inhabitant and the houses without man and the land be utterly desolate When God giveth over a people to bee regardlesse in hearing the Word that they heare and doe not hearken they heare and doe not regard they doe not conforme and reforme according to the doctrine delivered then God intendeth to sweepe them away by judgement that they may be utterly left desolate as the Text saith You see then it must needs be a grievous fore-runner of a judgement upon a place or Citie or people or nation when they remaine impenitent in their sinnes and yet crie peace Againe secondly If you marke the concommitants what accompanies this carnall securitie in the hearts of men and it will appeare then that it must of necessitie bring a judgement upon a a Land and place What is that that accompanies it A disposition slighting of God himselfe When a man I say heareth the Word the judgements threatned heareth the Law warning him to take heed of wrath the Gospell alluring him to repent and yet all moveth him not but still hee flattereth himselfe I say here is a disposition slighting God himselfe God in all his Attributes is slighted His power his wisedome his justice his truth is slighted yea his mercy and patience and long-suffering all are slighted when a man in the course of sinne goeth on in carnall securitie Especially amongst the rest this is a slighting of Gods patience and long-suffering and forbearance of men Wherfore do men harden themselves against exhortations to repentance but because they presume upon the continuance of Gods long-suffering toward them Marke how the Lord takes notice of this Rom. 2. 4. The forbearance and long-snffering the goodnesse and mercy of God should lead thee to repentance and therefore God hath for bore thee all this while that he might bring thee to repentance But what if hee doe not Thou after thy hardnesse and impenitent heart heapest up as a treasure to thy selfe wrath against the day of wrath What day is that The day of the revelation of the righteous judgement of God As if hee should say Now you obscure Gods justice and righteousnesse from others and from your selves Well God therefore will take a time to declare his righteous judgement for that purpose God hath a day of wrath and thy daily going on in sinne against the long-suffering and patience of God it doth but adde wrath to that day Thus it is when God hath borne with a man his owne selfe So it is likewise when God warneth a man by his patience toward others What hardneth men in securitie Doe wee not see God hath beene mercifull to many sinners why may he not be so to me too Hee gave them repentance after many sins committed why may he not doe so to me Marke what Solomon saith Eccles. 8. 11. Because sentence against an evill doer or an evill worke is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sonnes of men is set in them to doe evill This they purpose they resolve upon they venture up on God hath beene thus and thus to others patient and long-suffering and why may hee not be so to them Well yet I know saith Solomon that it shall not goe well with them in the end neither shall the wicked prolong his dayes Why because he feareth not before God They are not awakened by the example of his judgements on others they are not allured by his patience and long-suffering it doth not make them to feare him therefore it shall not goe well with them in the end Thirdly Looke to the end what the consequence of this carnal securitie is what followes upon it Where there is carnall securitie there must of necessitie be an increase of sin and consequently a hastening of judgement for the more sin hastneth to ripenesse the more judgement hasteneth also upon the sinner God hath set unto particular men a certaine stint and it is not knowne to them what that stint limited is Gen. 15. 16. The iniquitie of the Amorites is not yet full They were a sinfull people at that time but the neerer they came to that fulnesse and stint and limitation that God intended to be the immediate fore-runner of the judgement the faster judgement hastned upon them So for particular persons there is a certaine stint limited Let every man looke to it The adding of one sinne more may be thy uttermost stint that shall bring the last stroke of judgement and destruction upon thee Now I say this carnall securitie is that that increaseth sinne upon a man Wee know how the securitie of the Israelites increased their sinne upon them And the securitie of Sodome their pride and idlenesse increased the rest of their sinnes and consequently hastned on their judgement In Rom. 3. when there was no feare of God before their eyes when there was a neglect of that there was abundance of wickednesse amongst them and what followes then there was nothing but destruction and calamitie in all their wayes I could give you sundrie
he 〈◊〉 the hand of God was upon thy father for this and this yet thou hast done the like and hast not humbled thy heart So may I say You have knowne what God hath done to your brethren in other countries yet you doe still the same your selves for the which they have beene punished Is not this security Looke likewise upon our selves and wee shall see a generall neglect of those judgements of God that have beene upon our selves How hath God smitten this Land this Citie especially with the Pestilence and may we not say wee have beene smitten and yet have not felt it is not this securitie and a dead sleep God threatneth those in Ier. 31. 9. That escaped the pestilence that they should fall by the sword by the hand of Nebuchadnezar Why so because they did not reforme and amend by the pestilence What cause have we then to feare lest wee fall into the hands of the sword of some Nebuchadnezar or other when the pestilence hath done no more good among us when it hath not awakened and reformed us Looke upon your selves upon your houses upon your dealings your company your conversations see if there be any reformation since there was such a mortall calamitie as drove you from the Citie and frighted you from your owne houses and from the house of God Well these are fearfull prefages that when former Judgements prevaile not worser are a comming I have smittenthem saith God in the fourth of Amos with cleannesse of teeth and yet they have not returned unto me What then I have smitten them with blasting and mildew and yet they have not returned unto mee What then I have smitten them with the pestilence after the manner of Egypt and yet they have not returned unto mee What then Therefore I will come against them and because I will doe this prepare to meet thy God Oh Israel As if hee should say I have now stood out and tried you at one or two weapons and found you obstinate and rebellious I have stroke at you with the sword of Famine I have shot at you the Arrowes of pestilence I have smitten you with other judgements You should now meet me if not I have more weapons yet I will come and bid the battell against you and it shall appeare who is the stronger you or I And since you will stand out against me notwithstanding the Judgements executed upon others and afflictions upon your selves see if you can stand out against my last stroke you have escaped some lesser sicknesses upon your owne bodies you have escaped the Pestilence already but you shall find it a hard taske when God biddeth battell to escape his last stroke if you will not now be reconciled and come in and seeke his face This is the first demonstration whereby it appeares that we are sinfully secure which is a fore-runner of Judgement because we are not awakened by the judgements of God upon our selves and others Secondly another signe is this The contempt of Gods ordinances the slighting of the Prophets This is an evident demonstration that wee are under this carnall security I now speake of Marke how the Lord describeth a people whom he meaneth to destroy Zach. 7. 11 12. They refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their eares that they should not heare Yea they made their hearts as an Adamant stone lest they should heare the Law and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former Prophets therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts A great wrath what is that Therefore vers 13. it is come to passe that as Heecryed and they would not heare so they cryed and I would not heare saith the Lord of hosts Well beloved little doe you know what time and wayes God hath to make you cry and roare in the anguish of your hearts because of Judgements and afflictions when you will not now heare God that striveth with you and cries unto you with the voyce of his Spirit in his Prophets from day to day When men will not heare God speaking to them in his Word it is alwayes a fore-runner of judgement In the sixth of Amos the Lord challengeth his people and telleth them that hee had used many meanes for their reclaiming but nothing would doe them good well now saith he heare the rod and him that hath appointed it As if hee should say there is no more dealing with you with the Word but I must come with the rod with judgement Is it not thus with us at this day May not the Lord say of us as hee did of the people in Ieremies time You have forsaken my law which I set before you and have not obeyed my voyce neither walked therein but have walked after the imaginations of your owne heart And then what followes Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts Behold I will feed this people with wormewood and give them water of gall to drinke and I will send a sword after them till I have consumed them Doe not many cry out as they in Ier. 23. 33. What is the burthen of the Lord Where is it that the Ministers have not beene threatning judgement and telling you that God is comming out to bee avenged upon a sinfull nation have they not beene crying thus this seven ten twentie yeares Where is that burthen of the Lord Well you shall find what it is when the day of the Lord commeth a day of blacknesse and terrour it hasteneth and this very security is an evident signe thereof even as in the dayes of Noah that preacher of righteousnesse and in the dayes of Lot that vexed his soule with the uncleane conversation of the Sodomites they would not beleeve their words but they seemed unto them as if they mocked and then came the judgement of the Lord upon them If this bee not the estate of this Land at this day what meanes the complaints the heavinesse of the spirits of the Prophets What meanes their teares and cries and prayers because of the obstinacie and hard-heartednesse of people that will not be drawne from their sinnes by any meanes This is a second evidence or signe when all this crying and calling will not awaken that we are in a deepe sleepe of security Thirdly another evidence is the vaine hopes of this Land It is a signe of carnall security and that we are all in a dead sleepe when we have such idle dreames out of idle fancies and vaine confidence that delude and deceive men What doe men rest on to secure and perswade themselves of imunitie from wrath and impunitie Certainly this that we have the ordinances of God amongst us Oh the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord. Alas had not the people of Israel the Arke and yet the Philistims tooke the Arke and slew the sonns of Eli. Had they not the Temple and yet the Lord in
out came to passe And I have accordingly pitched uponit not only to satisfie her desire in a just thing but especially because I approve her choyce of a fit Text there being not in the whole Scripture a portion that will afford a fitter Character in my apprehension for her person as you shall understand in the close to which therefore I shall deferre the speaking to the present occasion The truth is I have handled a good part of this chapter formerly and in this place but now wee shall cleane goe another way then then I did and then I usually doe I shall only desire to present so much out of these words without any curious observation or division as may represent to us a perfect character of a sweet Christian-minded man or woman which may bee of singular use and very profitable There be onely two things that I shall observe in the whole words I shall but goe them over briefly taking out the maine points as I conceive for that purpose I shall mention them We have here propounded to to us the compleat dutie of a Christian And wee have here some effectuall motives intimated to stirre Christians up to the performance of that duty There is a generall dutie to begin with that first that belongeth to Christians at all times And there are some speciall duties which concerne Christians in some speciall times Both contained here The generrll dutie I shall not as I said handle it in my former way of observation but only explicate the very words of the Text and that will be enough for me The generall duty I say of a Christian and what should bee the temper of his heart and spirit at all times we may find expressed at least intimated very sweetly with some excellent directions in the Text in these three circumstances First we may see here what is the true Object upon which a Christian soule should be fixed Secondly we may see the Latitude of the Acts which a Christian must exercise upon that Object Thirdly we may take notice of the manner and of the degree in which every one of those Acts must bee exercised I shall but touch these briefly out of the words and then come to the speciall duties belonging to speciall times First to begin with the Object The desire of our soule is toward thee and to the remembrance of thy Name God and the name of God is that which should be printed in the heart of a Christian should be that to which the byas and streame of his whole soule runnes First I say it should be fixed upon God Wee are here in the world placed as it were betweene heaven and earth Now all the matter is how our Byas is set which way that turnes As the Byas is of the heart so the man is Our hearts may bee turned downwards to the earth and to earthly things and so wee shall runne a course of ruine and destruction our hearts againe the Byas of them may be set toward heaven and heavenly things and so we shall runne the right course that wee ought It is God that our soules should breath after Fecisti nos Domine propter te saith a Father thou hast made us O Lord for thy selfe and our soules are restlesse till they returne againe to thee As they say of Circles The Circle the round figure is the most perfect figure and the most capacious figure because there the line that beginneth in one point goeth round till it returne into the same againe So this is the greatest perfection of a man when he returneth to his beginning he had all from God and when he reflects himselfe altogether backe againe unto God hee attaineth his greatest perfection And indeed there will bee no more rest for the soule in any thing out of God then there is for a stone or a weighty body in the liquid ayre Hang a stone in the Ayre and doe but once remove the â—…orce that holds itthere will it nill it give but a way to it and it will cut through and never rest till it come to a sollid substance till it come to the earth if it may to the Center of the earth It is so with the soule of man trie it in all the fortunes and states and conditions in the world as a great Emperour said I have runne through all things and my spirit will rest in nothing and as Solomon giveth us this observation out of all his travell and experiment that he had made Vanity of vanity all is vanity and worse then vanity too vexation of spirit this is the summe of all feare God and keepe his commandenents as he concludeth This is the Object upon which our soule should bee set wee should have an eye to God labouring to approve our selves to him making our approaches and adresses and returnes to him that our soule may reâ—… with him that we may enjoy the light of his countenance here and the fulnesse and brightnesse of his glory hereafter This is the first thing in the Object Now if a soule be carryed toward this Object toward God and we can out-goe and out-grow these worldly things looke abovethem and looke downe upon them with scorne then the very name of God will be sweet and precious to us To thee and to thy name Every thing which is a memoriall a remembrance of God Every thing by which God may be knowne will be taken notice of All his Attributes his Word and Ordinances and all other things which come within the compasse of his Name as I suppose there are not many here but know according to the ordinary explication of Divines of the third commandement Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine and the first Petition hallowed be thy name What is meant by the name of God When the heart I say is set upon God it will even leape for joy at the very name of God the very name of God will bee sweet to him To enjoy God is sweet and to have but a glimpse of him to have him but represented by name is sweet too As it is reported of a Father that was a godly man and a Martyr in his time that he was so frequent in roling the name of Christ the name of Jesus in his mouth that when hee died it is reported that in his heart there was ingraven and written the character of that Name in golden letters And as Saint Austin speakes of himselfe Time was saith he that I found infinite sweetnesse it was honey to mee to reade a peece of Tully there was so much eloquence in it but after I came to bee a Christian to be acquainted with God and with Christ then me thought the leaves were drie and the beauty withered I found no such sappe nor rellish in them And he giveth the reason Because saith he I did not there find the
hath not bid him as any the Question is what principle sets him aworke if it be an inward principle of life out of a sincere affection and love to God and his ordinances that carrieth him to this it argueth that man hath some life of grace But if it bee some wind that bloweth him on the wind of State the wind of Law the wind of danger of penaltie the wind of fashion or custome to doe as his neighbours doe if these or such like bee the things that draw him thither this is no argument of life at all it is a cheape thing it is counterfeit and poore ware Thirdly that which I have often said to be the principall and the most considerable thing that I know in all practicall Divinitie and which is the most Charactaristicall of the truth of Grace and of the life of Pietie in any one our spirits and soules and affections towards God must be advanced to this height to be carried toward God aboue all other things I beseech you seriously thinke of it I have often spoken of it but it may be there may be some roome left for the mention of it now and some necessitie of pondering it well It will bee the Charactaristicall thing by which a man may most certainly discerne himselfe And I would desire to know wherein my defect of understanding is if I be mistaken but it seemes to me as a cleare thing that every one here that hath not a mind to affront the mind of God he dares not contest this argument that it is a rationall thing that if God be the best of Beeings he should have the best portion in our love All reason commands us to love that best which is best and to dispense our love according to the degree of the excellencie of the thing There is no man but apprehendeth this clearely A man may say that he loves his Wife and he will prove it and this shall be his argument I love her aswell as I doe another woman Is this the proofe of conjugall love was this the covenant made betweene them hath hee fulfilled it in this case to her or she to him There is no man but seeth that there is more required there is a peculiarity and proprietie of love required in this case It must certainly be so here for we contract and espouse our soules to Christ and upon those very termes for better and for worse to forsake all the world and to cleave to him alone and if our spirits be not raised and advanced to that degree of affection that Christ and God be so lovely and beautifull in our eyes and so good for I name one sometime and sometime another it is all one upon the point if I say they be not advanced thus high the conjugall knot was never tied betweene Christ and the soule it is impossible therefore that such a one should have to plead the benefits that flow from a Conjugall union neither can hee have title or right to any thing that issueth from a marriage with Christ whose soule did but equivocate and would never speake out the words and who never answered the interrogations of a good conscience as Saint Peter speakes in another case that when the soule in the contract should say that she takes him for to love and honour and obey him and to make him her Lord and Saviour if the soule doe not yeeld to this which it cannot doe if it doe not esteeme him the best of all others and that all others are to bee thrâ—… away and to be forsaken in comparison of him This is the tâ—… circumstance I have noted hence which I suppose is intimated in these words Though I have not said it is exprest here yet it is so carryed with such a fulnesse the desire of our soule is to thee and to the remembrance of thy name as if it were to God only or at least to him principally But I must hasten In the fourth place It must be a universall love and so a universall obedience which is the fruit of it which must justifie the truth of our affections towards God and set the heart in a right frame and temper Except a man love God and love all the wayes of God and all the ordinances of God and yeeld himselfe in subjection and resigne himselfe in obedience to them all if he doe but reserve and make choyce of any one sinne to lie and wallow and tumble in he doth evacuate all the other good hee throweth downe all the other good with that one evill Will you come and plead with God that there is but one sinne that you have defiled and polluted your soule with and wallowed and tumbled in all your life and I hope God will never refuse me or barre me out of his presence and fellowship and communion with him for that Yes you are as filthy all over as filthy and defiled and abominable and odious to his eye and to every other sense aswell with one as if you had beene in ten thousand slowghes one after another And as the Philosopher speakes a Cuppe or some such thing that hath a hole in it is no Cuppe it will hold nothing and therefore cannot performe the use of a cup though it have but one hole in it so if the heart have but one hole in it if it retaine the divell but in one thing as we use to say In law one man in possession keepes possession and a man can never have true possession till he have voyded all so except all be rooted out and exterpated and a man commeth to yeeld a full and absolute subjection to Christ universally Christ hath no part or portion in us nor we in him Lastly there were divers other particulars that I thought to have added in this but I see I must passe them over It is not every affection that may seeme to have some height and universality though I doe acknowledge that they will in some measure characterise out the truth but yet there must be this addition as it was with the feed that was cast into the good ground it had depth of earth so this must have depth in the heart it must be well rooted and fastned for perpetuity it must be a constant affection grounded and established in the heart The Ayre you know is light and yet we call it not a lightsome body because it is lighted by the presence of another and when that light body is removed it is darke you may say it is darke for the Ayre is darke in the night when the Sunne is absent as it is light when the Sunne is present those we call lightsome bodyes whose light is originated and rooted in themselves So it is in this case such are not godly persons that may have some injections of godly thoughts and godly affections cast into them and be in them for a spurt and for a brunt and for a little flash like
hee be a Lord and Commander also But you see I cannot stand to insist upon this The occasion of our meeting at this time is to commit to the Earth the body of our sister departed Shee hath now the termination and conclusion of all her wayting and expectation And after so long a wayting there remaineth a sleeping in the Grave a while when the soule resteth in the hands of Christ and waiteth for that great day when body and soule shall be joyned together I perswade my selfe well of her that Shee was one of the number of those wayters that shall have joy at the comming of Christ I had not much knowledge of her only I observed in her sicknesse a good purpose and desire of new and better obedience and performing better service to Christ then shee had done if God should have spared her longer And shee expressed also a great desire of Christs second comming a desire that hee would receive her to himselfe and that these dayes of sinne might bee finished Much she was in these desires and she had good warrant for it for shee was carefull as I am informed to set up the kingdome of Christ in her Family It is the dutie of a good Wife to be a helpe to her Husband especially in matters of piety and the worship of God and therein her example should teach wives to strive herein Shee was alwayes stirring him up to prayer in his Familie to a more carefull sanctifying of the Lords day herein Shee was frequent Shee was much mortified to the world for some late yeares as it was observed in her daily course by those that knew her Thus she laboured to fit her selfe and her Familie that shee might have comfort in the great Day of the appearing of the Lord Jesus I speake upon information for your edification to stirre you up to labour to fit your selves for Christ by purging out of sinne in your hearts and lives Labour to fit your Families for Christ that when you and your servants and children shall appeare before him you may looke on them and looke on Christ with comfort as men that before have prepared themselves for the comming of Christ and as those that then shall lift up their heads because the day of their redemption draweth nigh FINIS CHRISTS PRECEPT AND PROMISE OR SECVRITIE AGAINST DEATH LVKE 9. 44. Let these sayings sinke downe into your eares PRO. 23. 14. The law of the wise is a fountaine of life to depart from the snares of death LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. CHRISTS PRECEPT AND PROMISE OR SECVRITIE AGAINST DEATH SERMON XVII JOHN 8. 51. Verily verily I say unto you if a man keepe my saying hee shall never see death IT is not long men and brethren since Death rode in triumph thorow this Citie and did beare downe all before him hee locked up your houses pulled downe your windowes and made the wealthiest among you put upon them the semblance of Banckroutnesse by locking up their dores and turning their backes to their houses and running away so it played the Tyrant then there died thousands a-weeke and the Grave that alwayes cryeth Give give was almost cloyed with carkasses Death served himselfe so fast that the Prison could scarse hold the Prisoners It might almost have beene said then of this Citie as once it was of Egypt There was scarse a house wherein some were not dead at least where there was not the feare of Death Now it hath pleased God to shew you more favour and men now die but by scores Death goeth his old pace and takes away a few secretly without observation But Death is amongst you still and still will be so long as sinne is among you and therefore it will not bee unseasonable upon this occasion for mee to speake and you to heare somewhat that may arme you against this last and and worst Enemy Death which though hee make not such a stirre in these times of lesse Mortalitie yet hee will certainly take us all away one by one And who can tell but hee may be amongst the number of the hundred or fewer hundreds that die now as no man could tell whether hee should be amongst the number of the thousands then Since Death therefore is alwayes an enemie and alwayes fighteth against us though not alwayes with like furie and violence it is a part of wisedome in us alwayes to heare and to practise that which may secure us against the danger of death And that is taught in this Text. Verily verily I say unto you If a man keepe my saying hee shall never see death Wherein not to speake any thing of the Context I pray take notice who speakes the words The Authour of truth the Death of Death hee that can best tell by what meanes a man may shun the hurt of it hee that hath vanquished it and overcome the uttermost of his assaults Our Lord Iesus Christ that hath slaine death and brought life and immortality to light Hee giveth us this direction for the avoyding of the hurt of Death Then observe the manner of his speaking Verily verily I say unto you with an affirmation earnest and redoubled Hee never affirmed any thing untrue therefore that which hee speakes is an undoubted verity Hee never spake any thing rashly therefore that which hee affirmed so earnestly is a weighty thing and of great consequence And lastly observe that which I only shall insist upon the matter of his direction here comprehended in a hypotheticall proposition which hath as all such have two parts An Antecedent and a Consequent In the one hee sheweth the Dutie to bee done as a necessary condition for the obtaining of that which is specified in the other The first hath the Dutie The second the benefit that floweth from the Dutie These two are knit together in a most necessary consequence If a man keepe my word hee shall never see death You see now the only and perfect remedie against the evill of Death that is to keepe the saying and word of Christ. If any would know by what meanes he may bee secured against the terrible of all terrible things as one calleth Death here is a sure and certaine rule for him and hee need not doubt of it it commeth from the mouth of Christ let him keepe his saying and then Death shall never doe him harme I will first interpret these words unto you and then make them good by Scripture and Reason and then apply them and commit my selfe and you and all at last to the blessing of God First then when our Saviour Christ saith If a man wee must conceive him to meane generally at least indefinitely If any man whatsoever for so it pleaseth him to inlarge his promise in the redoubling of the word that no man may have cause to say hee is excluded except hee exclude himselfe Keepe my sayings Here first I must shew you what is meant by sayings and
on his thigh and saith with Ieremie Woe to mee because I have sinned Secondly to this Sorrow must bee joyned acknowledgement and confession of sinne to Almighty God for so witnesseth the Wise-man Prov. 28. If wee confesse and leave our sinnes wee shall have mercy So David saith Psal. 32. 3 4. I said I will confesse my sinnes and thou forgavest the iniquitie of my sinne And Saint Iohn telleth us in his 1. Epist. 1. 9. If wee confesse our sinnes God is faithfull and true to forgive us our sinnes So you see Confession as well as sorrow absolutely required to obtaine remission A man must even Arraigne and as it were indite himselfe before God plead guiltie acknowledge his trespasse whatsoever it bee and judge himselfe worthy to bee destroyed for them or else hee repents not though he weepe out his eyes with mourning and lamentation The third thing requisite is a firme purpose of amendment of life Whosoever will have God to accept his teares and bend a favourable eare to his humiliation and acknowledgement he must so acknowledge what evill hee hath already done that he put on a stedfast purpose of doing so no more according to the direction that our Saviour Christ giveth to the man that hee had healed Ioh. 5. Goe thy way and sinne no more and as Saint Paul speakes Let him that stole steale no more And therefore the Wiseman putteth on this part to the former in the before alledged place If wee confesse our sinnes and leave them wee shall find mercie There must be I say a settled purpose and a fixed flat determination in the soule of every man to cast off those transgressions that hee hath confest and to returne no more to commit them atleast not to allow those sinnes that he hath acknowledged Lastly there must be added to the former three or else they will not availe neither an earnest supplication to God for mercy and forgivenesse through the mediation of his welbeloved Son Jesus Christ which was wont to bee craving mercie without this mentioning of Christ before hee was offered and revealed to the world But now it must be so done as wee must specially and particularly preferre our thoughts and desires to him in begging mercie at his Fathers hands for his sake alone So David after the numbring of the people I have done exceeding foolishly but Lord blot out forgive the sinne of thy servant So God commandeth Hos. 14. 2. Take to you words and say to the Lord receive us graciously So did David when he renewed his repentance and so must all men doe when they begin to repent Have mercy upon mee according to the multitude of thy mercies and blot out my transgressions c. These are the parts of repentace And this is the first thing required at our hands as the condition of the Covenant of Grace without which wee can never obtaine life eternall And this repentance consisteth of sorrow for sinne and acknowledgement of it to God with a firme purpose of amendment and earnest petition of pardon for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is such a Doctrine as the Covenant of workes the Law never taught to the sonnes of men Nay verily it will not admit it the Law scornes as it were to admit repentance for it excludeth sinne Repentance implieth sinne in all the degrees and kindes therefore it is farre from accepting Repentance If thou hast once broke the Law repent or not repent Amend or not amend be sorry or not sorry thou shalt never be pardoned or forgiven It is a rough and sterne Schoolemaster that will whip and scourge offending children though they crave pardon never so much It is a rough Creditour that will throttle the Debtour and cast him into Prison though he confesse the debt and be never so importunate in asking favour and patience But the Covenant of Grace it is a sweet Doctrine a comfortable Doctrine Thou hast sinned oh man and broken the Law and fallen from the favour of God and all possibility of salvation in thy selfe but come be sorry for thy sinne acknowledge it to thy Maker resolve to runne on in it no longer crie to him for pardon of it hee will graciously pardon thee This is a sweet Doctrine you see full of comfort and consolation yet it is a Doctrine that tendeth to the honour of the Justice of God as well as to the honour of his grace and love the Lord could not prâ—…cribe other conditions for receiving us to favour but that wee shâ—…ld repent What Judge would so abuse mercie as having past the â—…entence of death upon a Malefactour will yet pardon him 〈◊〉 save him from the halter if he be not sorry for his crime and â—…me and intreat for mercie and favour and confesse that hee hath offended and promise never to doe so againe there is no mercy and pardon for such a one because mercie must not oppose Justice though it may somewhat as we may say mittigate Justice The bloud of Christ if it were shed tenne thousand times over it could never corrupt the Justice of God it may satisfie it but not corrupt it now the Justice of God were corrupted if it should admit an impenitent and hard-hearted sinner to favour and bestow upon him remission of sinnes and life everlasting that would never leave it nor forsake it nor bee sorry for it but still goe on to offend God and trample under foot his authoritie this being contrary to Justice in the very nature and essence of Justice it cannot possibly bee effected no not by the shedding of the bloud of Christ the bloud of Christ is of that value that it satisfieth the Justice of God and causeth him upon the penitence and humiliation of a sinner to receive him to grace and favour You see now what is the first part of the Condition required on our side for the obtaining of life by Christ that is Repentance The next is Faith in Christ. This wee are taught every where If thou beleeve in the Lord Iesus Christ saith the Apostle to the trembling Jaylour thou shalt bee saved And saith our Saviour this is the worke of God that yee beleeve on him whom hee hath sent This beleeving on Christ is I suppose nothing else but a staying and resting and depending and relying upon the merits and satisfaction of our blessed Saviour by the vertue and merit thereof to obtaine remission of sinnes and eternall life and all good things promised in the New Covenant at the hands of God He that goeth quite out of himselfe forgetteth all his owne actions casteth behind him whatsoever seemed good in him and wholly claspeth on Christ and cleaveth to him staieth on him resteth on him for the remission of sinnes and for the favour of God and for grace and salvation this man beleeveth in the Lord Jesus Christ and this man performes that dutie which makes him one with
in respect of the former societie and converse they had but now he speakes to the point she is no more his Wife but his dead It is translated by all in the Neuter Gender not my dead shee but my dead simply in the Neuter gender as a thing which now had not so much relation So it is true when men and women are severed by Death they are no more man and wife but one anothers dead For as the Apostle saith Doe you not know that as long as a man liveth his wife is subject to him and shee must not converse with another So likewise for men againe but when God dissolveth the contract by Death then as she is free for another man so she is no more his Wife so long as she was alive upon the ground she was his Wife but now when she is to goe into the ground he calleth her his dead but not his Wife The substance and summe is this That Matrimonie is Gods blessing for present use of mankind for the propagating of the Species to continue the seed of man to the worlds end that there may be still a generation to praise God their Creatour and so being a temporall thing ordained for the office of this life it ceaseth when Death commeth there is nothing but Death and that which Christ speakes of in the Gospell can make a separation when Death commeth all relations cease and a wife is no wife and a husband is no husband Behold out of thâ—… the infinite love of God in Christ that hath made all things all unions and contracts hath made all to be void but his owne for our Lord Jesus in life and death is our Husband our Lord our Master our Father as well in the one as in the other whereas by the intercourse of Death all things are dissolved two of the best friends that are may part upon discontent and body and soule must part at Death and Husband and wife the Symboll of Christ and his Church must part one from another yet when all societies and contracts part Christ doth not part from us but he is in the Grave as well as in the highest heavens our Husband and Lord and Spouse and wee are his Church still we keepe the same relation and as strong bonds in death as in life My Dead Yet notwithstanding though she was not Abrahams Wife yet she was Abrahams dead This must teach a man after he is freed by Death from the combination and contract yet that there is a care remaining to the Dead a love to that though not as to a Wife the respects of Man and Wife are carnall and fleshly Death commeth and cutteth downe the flesh therefore cutteth off that respect too but because she was dead and there was such bonds betweene them formerly therefore a man is bound to lament and sorrow for his dead as Abraham did here to love the memorie of the dead to speake well of the dead when occasion serveth to commend them for their vertues to use the friends of the dead as farre as is in their power with all courtisie to bee good to the children of the Dead those that the Mother hath left and not to cast them into the hands of a furious woman a new Wife that neither careth for dead nor living but to have a speciall regard to the bonds and familiaritie and that spirituall acquaintance that God made in this life and so to be good to all that come of that issue for their sakes Let me bury my dead Lastly it followeth why hee would burie his dead Out of my sight A strange thing Out of my sight Was his griefe so aggravated as hee could not still behold her face or was it necessary that the carkasse it selfe must be conveyed away must it needs be that the body being now no way amiable but noisome must be conveyed out of a mans sight The best friend in the world cannot endure the sight of a dead body it is a gastly sight especially when it commeth to that dissolution that the parts begin to have an evill savour and smell as all have when they are dead then to keepe themselves in life and health it is necessary to avoid them to burie their dead out of their sight And what so sweet a sight once to blessed Abraham as Sarah What so sweet a spectacle to the world as Sarah The great Kings of the world set her as a Parragon and shee came no where but her beauty enamoured them shee was a sweet prospect in all eyes every man gazed on her with great content to see the beautie of God as in so many lines marked out in the face of Sarah Yet now she is odious every eye that looked upon her before now winkes and cannot endure to looke upon her shee must bee taken out of sight Oh bethinke your selves of this you that take pride in this fraile flesh that pranke up your selves to make you gracefull in every eye you that studie to please the beholders you that are the great Minions of the world you that when age beginneth to purle your faces begin to redeeme your selves with paintings thinke of this Mother Sarah the beautifullest woman in the world is loathsome to her husband her sweetest friend therefore I beseech you in the feare of God leave these fooleries and vaine fancies remember what danger Sarahs beauty cast her into though it were a great gift of God yet shee had better have beene without it then to have that hazard of soule and body that shee was brought to by Abrahams travels and necessitie and know it that your best beauty is to please the eye of God to looke beautifull in his sight for the sight of God is never weary the sight of men will bee weary of you the best friends you have will loath to see you dead you will then be grisly in the eyes of men but the eye of God it is all one even in the dust and nothing can make you so ill-favoured but God will like you therefore labour to please Gods eye that never ceaseth nothing will make him alter his affection whereas the eyes of men this life is so full of foule alterations as the least sicknesse bringeth an abomination unto them I see the time prevents me I will speake a little to the present occasion We have here a depositum a gage a pawne of a deare Sister of ours a woman knowne to you all to be of a holy Christian conversation a neighbour full of peace and quiet and of good workes according to her calling Shee was also in the spirituall part a woman of a very good inclination loving the Word of God curious and attentive in the hearing of it Shee was much delighted in it and desired to communicate the knowledge she had in the Scriptures to others and to speake of it as often as occasion permitted By this studie it pleased the Lord to worke a constant and lively faith in
her to put all her trust and confidence in him She was now taken upon the sudden therefore the Lord hath left her as a patterne for us to looke upon to take heed to our selves that we may make our peace with God and looke for death every moment because wee know not how soone wee may be arrested Shee was indeed a woman of great trust and faith in God and one whose mouth was full of his praise still admyring and recounting the wondrous grace of God to her in all the course of her life in sparing her in giving her comfort in her conscience concerning the pardon and forgivenesse of her sinnes and providing for her worldly helpes which she thought never to attaine to and in many other particulars Shee did open the grace of God according to her best understanding still giving the praise to his holy Name and no doubt it the stroke upon her had not beene so fatall and as deadly as now it was wee should have had the like fruit more abundantly at this time Howbeit shee was not as one altogether destitute but she called for and craved the prayers of Gods people that they would lift up their hearts and hands and voyces to the Lord to looke upon her and release her of her miserie and trouble either by life or death for shee was content either way Shee had some touches also of Divine Scripture as occasion offered themselves As when the light was brought in shee desired to have the light of Gods countenance to shine upon her And when her eye-strings were broke that the teares did distill downe she desired the Lord God to put her teares into his bottle and many such Luminations there were that came from her Her surcharged spirits were so taken and strucken as a man might perceive at the first there was no way but one her selfe drawing her selfe within as though that in the outward man there were no roome for the soule to dwell there or to have a fit and opportune habitation I must needs advertise you of one thing that this custome of praysing and commending of the dead is very full of danger because a man may bee a lyer and a flatterer besore hee be aware when he never intended it But truly for ought that I could discerne this Sister of ours was one that was very well deserving of a quiet and moderate spirit intentive and carefull to governe her house and children and no way exorbitant for any thing that I can heare It is true that all are not of one Modell as the bodies of men and women are not of one height and colour so the soules and spirits are not all of one elevation neither but wee esteeme the children of God according to that they bave received and not according to that that they have not received as the Apostle speakes I say therefore according to the grace shee had received I verely beleeve shee was faithfull and true to it that shee received not the grace of God in vaine she sought by all meanes to nourish and cherish it from one degree to another and to proceed from grace to grace And therefore I conclude in the judgement of Charitie that we have very strong hopes and great probabilities of her happy translation Shee was a Daughter of Sarah as Saint Peter speakes of women that he would have them demeane themselves as Daughters of Sarah and such a one shee was in her habit and attyre in the manner of her life and societie and company and therefore I doubt not but shee inheriteth with Sarah the place of blessed mansions that the Lord hath made infinite spacious and wide and capable for all blessed soules that put their trust in him Now this let us make use of to our owne soules In that shee had not that largenesse of time shee supposed to have had but was surprised so soone and vehemently as shee could not dispose of her selfe in that manner as wee know by experience she would have done it should be a lesson to us to be ready for God to bee acquainted with God Wee have had two Corses one after another one a man another a woman both taken suddenly in respect of the time though they had thought to have made an overture of themselves to the world and thought to have made all things faire and easie by the confession and expression of their faith to the world but they were not suffered to doe it So all presume to have time to make the world know that they be humble and penitent and to make their confession but many put it off till it be too late Let us not be put off with vaine presumptions the Lord giveth and the Lord takes wee know not how soone Wee were borne wee know not when we shall die we know not when The Lord prepare us all for it FINIS GODS ESTEEME OF THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS PREACHED AT THE FVNERALL OF Mr. IOHN MOVLSON OF Hargrave at Bunbury in Cheshire By S. T. REVEL 14. 13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord c. LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. GODS ESTEEME OF THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS SERMON XX. PSAL. 116. 15. Pretious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of his Saints THe Psalme was composed by David to be an acknowledgement of that favour and grace of God which himselfe had experience of at some time or other but when or what the particular occasion of it was we are uncertaine Some referre it to that escape which he made when Saul and his troopes had compassed him about upon the discoverie of the Ziphites 1 Sam. 23. 26 27 28. Others because Ierusalem is mentioned in the Psalme and Ierusalem at that time of Saul was not built as they conclude well against the time of the penning of it so they find also another occasion his escape from Absolom and that great plot 2 Sam. 15. 14. Others include also his spirituall Conflicts his combattings with Gods wrath and his despaires because of his sinnes together with some sicknesses and strong diseases accompanied with griefes and anxieties of minde In all which he found God benevolous and mercifull unto him in the sense of which hee rejoyces and as it was his dutie gives thankes and praises unto God Hee saith in the fourteenth verse hee would make publique businesse of it and would pay his vowes corum populo in the presence of all the people and good reason hee had for God hath oft releeved him and taken much care to preserve his life as hee is ever tender of the safety of all his people for Pretiosain oculis Iehovae c. Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints The words are a Simple universall affirmative proposition wherein 1. The subject or thing spoken of is The death of Gods Saints 2. That which is spoken of it is That it is pretious in the sight of the Lord. Which
and douleia to little purpose doe it roundly enough and the people in their practice But wee give them their due and as much as themselves would be willing to receive as wee gathered from the behaviour of the Angell that was sent to Iohn Apoc. 19. 10. But in the meane time while they make a thriving trade of the flattering of the Dead they neglect and abuse the living Saints not only writing a Dele in their Indices expurgatory upon the testimonie of Pius or Prudens given by some more ingenuous men of theirs to some of our Divines in particular but also traducing the whole estate of our reformed Churches for schismaticall and hereticall Use 4. If there be some Saints of God here let us choose to be of their acquaintance and keepe their company because they doe best of all know the way to heaven and it is good to goe safely that journey by direction of the best and most skilfull guides lest we misse it in those places where the way turnes or where the path is not so well beaten as the other Roade 2. Gods Saints doe also die The Death of his Saints Holinesse frees not from death Abel Noah Abraham Moses David the Prophets the Apostles the Fathers are all dead Your Fathers where are they and the Prophets doe they live for ever Zach. 1. 5. God cuts off both the righteous and the wicked Ezek. 21. 4. The righteous perisheth and the hhasidim the mercifull men or the men of godlinesse are taken away Es. 57. 1. Yea and often-times as Menander was able to observe it Whom God loves best hee takes soonest An observation much like that in 1 King 14. 12 13. That sonne of Ieroboam who only of that family had some good thing in him was taken away young But whether sooner or later their holinesse frees not from death rich gilding upon an earthen pot keepes it not from breaking They are made of the same mettall of the same clay with other men The Apostles that brought the treasures of grace to the world were themselves Testacea vasa so Saint Hierome Vasa fictilia so Saint Gregorie but only earthen vessels 2 Cor. 4. 7. Clay in the hand of the potter Es. 64. 8. And therefore all things in this respect come alike to all Eccl. 9. 2. Use 1. If such die then Death is not alwayes evill for sure it is not evill to them to whom all things worke for good Rom. 8. 28. The sting of it is gone And though it have not a pleasant looke to entertaine us with it is but as a rude groome that opens the gate by which we must passe to a better place and to better company The godly have many advantages by death 1. Rest from their labours 2. A Crowne when they have finisht the race 2 Tim. 4. 7 8. 3. Freedome from danger of sinning any more Rom. 6. 7. 4. Death frees from a possibilitie of further dying 2 Cor. 5. 1. Let mee die saith Seneca and what hurt comes by that I can bee bound no more I can bee sicke no more I can die no more 5. They goe presently to God While we are at home in the body wee are absent from the Lord Wee are willing rather to be absent from the body and to bee present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 6. 8. I desire to bee dissolved to bee with Christ Phil. 1. 23. 2 Tim. 4. 6. Wee wrong death when we call it horrid it is sinne which makes it to be so else it is but conceit There is often more paine in a tooth-ake then in dying Teares and blacke cloth and the tremblings of the guilty doe disguise Death and make it looke terrible Hee that said it was of all terrible things the most terrible was himselfe an Heathen and knew not what Christ had done to alter the property Once indeed it was uncouth and hideous but since Christ dyed it hath a more faire and pleasant face There can bee no danger in that way which all the Saints have gone As Phocion said to one that by the same sentence of the Judges was to dye with him Art thou not glad to fare as Phocion doth So are wee not glad to fare as the holy Patriarkes Prophets and Apostles have done and to goe after them Hee that went this way the first of any man-kind was holy a Saint it was Abel whom God accepted Wee use to call those passages and Streights which have beene first found and discovered by any by the names of the first Discoverers as the Streights of Magellanus and that a little lower Schouten Streight or Fretum le maire So if it may afford us any comfort for the passage let us call Death no longer Death but Abels streights Let us learne if not to love yet to contemne Death that so wee may have the more easie conquest over all other hard things It was a bravery in Damindas an heathen which Christians should be ashamed to come short of When Philip had broke into Peloponesus and some Lacedemonians said They were likely to sustaine much evill unlesse they could reconcile themselves to Philip Damindas said O Semi-viri quid nobis poterit acerbè accidere qui mortem contemnimus Ah poore spirited men what can be sharpe or hard unto us who have learned to despise death it selfe Use 2. Because Saints or holy men doe also die let us make the best use of them while they are with us To benefit and profit ourselves by our religious friends acquaintance neighbours and kindred When God raises up some man eminent for wisedome and a godly life hee is set up as a light for the towne or neighbourhood to walke by Yet oft-times such as dwell neere are carelesse and neglect their benefit when strangers farther off draw neere unto the light and gaine by it as wee use to let our owne bookes lye by and rather make use of such as we borrow to take notes out of them because we know not how soone they may be called for by the owners and presume that the other will still be in our keeping Wee should improve our good acquaintance and walke by the light while we enjoy it because many times the Sunne sets and it is night in a neighbourhood or a family when a good friend a good Parent or a good Master dyeth Remember Ioash and Iehojada 3. The Death of Gods Saints is precious in Gods sight When David was opprest with griefe it seemes hee had such thoughts as these Surely man is res nihili a vaine and worthlesse thing too low and too unworthy that God should take any notice of him or bee carefull of him But at last he overcame such thoughts when hee had found the experience of Gods tendernesse towards himselfe in particular and towards all his people and now resolves That God neglects not his as if hee were not affected with their miseries but their soules lives and safeties are deare and
tender unto him as a treasure which hee will not carelesly lose or suffer men or divels to take away by force or treachery Their Death is pretious Iakar the word of the Text is in pretio fuit magni estimatum est God sets them at an high and deare rate The Septuagint renders it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Noune by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pretiosus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 probatus and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multi pretii God honours and accounts well and hath high thoughts of the sufferings of his See how the word is translated in other Texts 1. Honourable Esa. 43. 4. Jakarta Thou wert pretious in my sight thou hast beene honourable 2. Much set by 2 Sam. 18. 30. His name was much set by 3. Deare Ier. 31. 20. An filius Jakkir pretiosus mihi Ephraim Is Ephraim my Deare sonne 4. Splendid cleare or glorious Iob 31. 26. Si vidi lunam Jaker pretiosam abeuntem The Moone walking in brightnesse Put all these expressions together and then wee have the strength of Davids word The death of the Saints is pretious that is 1. Honourable 2. Much set by 3. Deare 4. Splendid and glorious in the sight of the Lord. God is so tender of his people that 1. Hee will not have them take wrong hee orders their death he takes care for them he visits and comforts and assists them in their dying he helpes them with strength with memory in their understanding their senses c. 2. Hee takes much delight in their sweet holy calme deaths and resignations of their soules 3. Hee takes care of their very bodyes too to lay them up sweetly to rest in Repositories or Dormitories as the Ancients were wont to call Church-yards and Graves 4. Lastly he entertaines their soules immediatly when they are breathed forth and places them In Sinu Abrahae in Abrahams bosome wheresoever that is to possesse present joy and quietnesse And no wonder that hee doth all this because hee hath bought them and redeemed them unto himselfe with so great a price as his Sonnes bloud and hath graced them with so many gifts and priviledges and hath made over unto them as coheires with Christ so great and large benefits Wee may make this Use of it to serve for the establishment of us in our beliefe of him and our wayting on his providence If their Death be so pretious their sufferings also in any kind are deare unto him That word in the Text which is Death and which by the Seventy is ordinarily turned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet is taken in the Scripture sometimes for sicknesse or any affliction Exo. 10. 17. For infection 2 King 4. 40. For wounds Prov. 26. 18. and sometimes in the Septuagint for the soule The very sicknesses and afflictions and dangers and wounds and griefes of his holy ones are deare unto God But especially their soules their lives their good and safety God writes a Ne perdas Touch not Destroy not as a notable caueat for the safetie as of Kings most particularly so also of all that feare him and that trust in his mercy I have hastened over these points that I might come to the testimonie that I am to give to our deceased Brother Master Iohn Moulson which I may not omit nor to be particular in it having never such a subject of discourse before such an exemplary man I would not be bought to flatter a prophane and wicked great one but here Gods glory in this his Servant and the edification of you that are present require of mee that I speake fully for hee was Vir nec silendus nec dicendus sine cura Hee copyed out in his life the old way of Christianitie and writ so faire after those Primitives that few now can imitate his hand And truly as in a garden in which there are variety of flowers we know not where to pick so in those many commendable parts of his I know not which to choose to present unto you or in what method But you may take notice I. Of his morall parts where I commend foure things 1. His calmenesse and moderation of affection No passion was observed to be a tyrant in him they had an aequipoise 2. His sober taciturnity an imitable wisedome in this age of talke and pratling 3. His affable cariage and easinesse of accesse by which like an other Poplicola hee gained reputation and the loue of the neighbourhood where euer he dwelt Some are so hairy and rough like Esau that they may be discerned by their handling and some so churlish as Nabal that a man cannot speake unto them Which sourenesse and clowdinesse of spirit I wish were not a blemish to many that give their names unto religion He honoured it by his sweetnesse and affability 4. His grave deportment and cariage As nothing is more contemptible then a light youthly wanton old man so the gray-head and wrinkled cheekes accompanied with sage gravity commands respect from the beholders as that old grave Bishop Paphnutius though he had lost an eye did from the Emperour Constantine Gravity dwelt in the face of this man and his very presence was such as would discountenance the rude and prophane But all these are but meane commendations in respect of the next II. His practice of holinesse Where I will observe and commend unto you 1. His unoffensive youth of which they that can remember him since that time are confident to say of him as the Emperour said of Piso Hujus vita composita à pueritia His life was composed and settled even from his very child-hood and then began to sort himselfe with the gravest company chiefly with that learned and godly Master Christopher Harvy sometime incumbent in this Church to whom he was deare Hee was observed to be so sober and modest in his youth that hee was desired to accompany and attend an honourable Nobleman to Oxford where hee was very watchfull and carefull of him and prayed twice a-day with him in his chamber So ready was he to beare the Lords yoke from his youth 2. His unmaried estate which was chaste and modest Hee lived aboue fifty yeares unmarried and in that state expressed two vertues his wisedome not bee rash and his care to keepe his vessell cleane 3. His married estate and course of house-keeping 1. When it pleased God to dispose his heart to mariage he married in the Lord. 2. When God gave him Children hee nurtured them and his Familie in Gods feare 1. He prayed foure times a-day 2. Hee read three chapters in the Old Testament and three in the New every day 3. After dinner he called not for game for digestion but read a Chapter before he rose from table 4. Hee catechised his children and servants constantly according to some plaine forme 5. Hee usually rose early on the Lords day which time he gave to meditation and prayer and what he could remember
of the Sermon he usually repeated to his people 4. His exemplary vertues in his whole course of life 1. His meeknesse and peaceablenesse of disposition A grace which in the sight of God is much set by and a notable testimonie of inward holinesse according as it runnes Iam. 3. 17. Pure then Peaceable Hee was not apt to quarrell matters that concerned him not never being observed to beare a part in any faction a favourable interpreter of things not evident readier to reconcile then to make differences and choosing rather to part with his right then with peace as appeared in a suite knowne unto many here 2. Though he were meeke in his owne cause yet hee was zealous in Gods Hee could not endure any thing repugnant to holy Scripture nor would he neglect either seasonably to admonish or reprove the faulty that were within the compasse of his admonition or to whet on and exhort others to love and good workes 3. Yet his Zeale did not miscarry being allayed and tempered with wisedome as the heart is by the braine and as the conceit is of the Primum mobile with the Chrystalline heaven neere it His wisdome appeared first in his discreetnesse in his undertakings and all affaires an argument of which some take to be this That hee was never troubled nor so much as questioned in any Court concerning any fact Second in his observing a fit season when and a fit decorum in speaking Third in his choyce of company and specially of such acquaintance as hee would be neere with and intimate which were only such as might be able to afford him spirituall assistance in a time of need 4. His freenesse from worldlinesse and contentednesse with his estate not as those in Horace Quocunque modo rem but hee would not improve his estate by the raysing it as haply hee might have done and as others doe upon his tenants Hee counted himselfe rich because hee needed not all that he had but could have lived with lesse for hee that can make a little to bee his measure all else that hee hath is his treasure which was the observation of a good Poet but a better and a more mortified Divine 5. His humilitie and even among the very temptations to pride It is an hard thing to be humble in an humble and low estate but much more difficult in the affluence of outward things You know his kindred and his relations yet as he manifested this grace in his whole cariage so in particular in not being puffed with his brothers and sisters greatnesse or the advancement of his children 6. His diligence in the use of the meanes of grace 1. Hee had a right conceit of Sermons most relishing such as were most wholsome and usefull for edification 2. Hee tooke paines to heare Hee was often knowne in his younger time to goe ten miles on foot in those times of greater scarcitie 3. His behaviour in the Church in the time of prayer and in hearing was very observable for his reverend attendance and devotion 7. His answerable practise fitted and proportionable to his exterior profession 1. Hee was much in private prayer If you would have a tryall of sinceritie follow a man home and to his closet and see what hee doth within dores for there may bee many respects that may set a man on worke coram populo Secret prayer if it bee constant cannot lodge long with hypocrisie in the same heart 2. Hee was often as they say in secret fasting by himselfe alone a Dutie not only lamentably neglected in these lazie times of easie Christianitie but ill spoken of too as a character of a Pharisee by such as are loath to be at the paines of subduing their bodyes and yet are desirous to come off with the credit and reputation of religion 3. Hee was temperate in his dyet and in his habit sober and grave as counting wisedome and grace a better and trimmer dresse then Lace or the fashion and so hee was in his recreations though constantly chearefull yet a man of little mirth or delight in any thing but spirituall 4. Hee was full of charitie which appeared in these particulars 1. Alwayes upon the Lords day he had sixe poore at dinner to every one of which hee gave a piece of beefe away with them besides and at night hee sent what was left to other poore Besides what hee gave at his dore and what hee gave privately to the poore houshold of faith 2. His hospitalitie according to his ranke was such as Peter Martyr reported of Martin Bucer whose table was ever open to any good people especially to Ministers whom he much respected 3. Hee sate up many nights for the comfort of thesicke not thinking that worke of mercy sufficiently performed by an How doe you or a cold visit 4. Hee had a Sympathie with the condition of Christs Church abroad 5. In the last place let us view him in his last act his sicknesse and death which as the Text hath told us is pretious in the sight of the Lord. 1. Hee prepared himselfe to die not only being willing but desirous also to bee set at libertie being often at S. Pauls Cupio dissolvi which they that were with him say was much in his mouth 2. Hee was very thankfull for Gods assisting him with memorie and understanding to the very last for the continuance of which he prayed and desired others that were about him to pray 3. Hee employed both his memorie and speach for the comfort and counsell of such as visited him 4. Hee made a confession of his faith but chiefly in the matter of Iustification by faith which an eminent Roman Prelate called a good supper doctrine and in the comfort of that point hee resigned his soule to Christ and slept sweetly in the Lord. Thus as his life was holy his death was pretious Hee made no great noyse in the world nor raised greater expectations of himselfe then hee could well manage like many exhalations that rise out of dunghills as if they meant to reach the skie but presently fall downe againe and wet us But as a taper hee gave light till hee went out and now hee is gone wee will leave upon his Grave Memoria ejus in Benedictionibus and apply to him the words of the Text Pretiosa in oculis Iehovae Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints FINIS THE DESIRE OF THE SAINTS AFTER IMMORTALL GLORY PHIL. 1. 23. I desire to bee dissolved and to be with Christ which is farre better LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE DESIRE OF THE SAINTS AFTER IMMORTALL GLORIE SERMON XXI 2 CORINTHIANS 5. 2. For in this wee groane earnestly desiring to bee cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven WHen I reade these words I am in a great doubt whether I should rather admire the excellencie of the temper of these Saints or deplore the vilenesse of ours so celestiall the one so
dignitie of thy soule iâ—… 〈◊〉 the breathing of God the Image of God he created it with 〈◊〉 Word redeemed it with his Sonne and in whomsoever his gâ—…e abides he will crowne it hereafter with his glorious presence What then remaines but that we esteeme our soules accordingly as God values them Let us not with the unhallowed voluptuous in these times make lords of our bodyes and slaves of our soules Let us not spend our dayes in providing for the lusts of the flesh Let us not in affectation of faire possessions of able servants of hopefull sonnes and good friends content our selves with bad soules A mans soule is himselfe saith Plato And O wretched wight saith Saint Austin how hast thou deserved so much ill of thy selfe as among all thy goods to be only thy selfe bad O remember the sublimitie of thy precious soule thou knowest not what a precious pearle thou hast in thy body like the hidden treasure in the Gospell it is of greater worth than the whole field I say not as he did know that thâ—…â—…ast a God in thee yet know that in that better part of thy nature thou art like to God for he hath given thee a soule of his owne breathing and stamped it with the impresse of his owne Image 〈◊〉 created it capable of the fruition of his owne presence in endlesse glorie In the consideration whereof walke worthily of this precious divine inspiration Thy Soule is a spirit let thy thoughts bee spirituall Thy Soule is immortall let thy meditations be of immortalitie and renounce thy body and good name â—…d gifts of the world for the gaining of thy soule For what shall it profit a man to gaine the whole world and to lose his owne soule So much shall serve to be spoâ—…n of the first point the surpassing excellencie and dignitie of the soule it is valued and prized here above the whole world Now the next is the possibilitie that a man may lose his owne soule The mention whereof causeth me to remember 〈◊〉 passage betweene Christ and his Disciples Mat. 24. Thâ—…â—…ples point Christ to the stately buildings of the Temple but they were soone damped when Christ told them that after a while there should not a stone bee left upon a stone So perhaps you are takeâ—… with admiration at the former part of the discourse concerniâ—…g the excellencie of mans soule but are damped to consider â—…at a man may lose it It is a substance immortall in respect of the being of it but defiled with sinne it is adjudgeable to death in regard of the well-being and a possibilitie so to die is nothing repugnant to the immortalitie of the soule The damned spirits they are alwayes dying anâ—… aâ—…e never dead they are alwayes deprived of Gods comfortable presence and are never released of their hellish torments As the Apostle saith in another case as dying and yet behold they live as living and yet behold they die The soule expiring is the death of the body and God forsaking is the death of the soule But you will say how is it possible The question is soone resolved if wee ponder the causes of death A thousand mortall maladies there are to kill the body and there are a thousand deadly diseases to destroy the soule There is no sinne so small but in the rigour of Gods justice and in its owne nature it may damne the soule When God in the beginning stated man in Paradise hee gave him a speciall caveate about the tree of knowledge he gives him a command thus In the day thou eatest thou shalt die What for bare eating No beloved but for the sinne for transgressing so small a Commandement of so great a God Sinne alone makes a separation betweene God and the soule and causeth the death of the soule The soule that sinnes the same shall die It may teach us that for the time that we live in this world there is nothing easier then to sinne There is a tree of Life and a tree of Knowledge and by eating of the tree forbidden commeth death there is a way of felicitie and a way to destruction there is a God of salvation and a ghostly enemie and by adhering to the principalitie of sinne a man may lose his owne soule Is it possible then that a man may lose his soule that is so precious and have we not great reason to try and to suspect our selves touching our standing towards God Is there not a maine necessitie to seeke the meanes to preserve us in the compasse and seales of grace It is lamentable to consider how in bodily diseases men can open their griefe and seeke for helpe and send to some learned Physitian Wee can goe to some noble learned counsell in case of law But alas the soule lies wounded in the way overladen with the grievances and pressures of sin distracted with the affrightings of a troubled conscience as if there were no balme in Gilead no Physitian there as if there were no Minister to afford helpe There is no seeking abroad a Lyon is pretended to bee in the way and Solomons sluggard folds his hands to sleepe O let not these things be so Be not as the horse and mule that have no understanding Neglect not the helpes of your preservation in grace but be continually watchfull with suspition and jealousie and abstaine from fleshly lusts that fight against your soules The Poet could say Theeves rise by night to robbe and kill and steale and wilt not thou wake to save thy soule God for the most part saith Saint Chrysostome hath alotted to nature all by twos two hands two eyes two feet two eares eares eyes hands feet two of all that if we chance to mayme one we can helpe to relieve the necessitie of it by the other but hee hath given us but one soule if we lose that what shift shall wee make for another soule a piercing contemplation if wee had grace to consider it Therefore O my soule tender thy selfe as my owne happinesse if thou be translated to heaven the body in time shall come thither this corruption shall put on incorruption this mortall shall put on immortalitie Againe if thou be haled with the fiends to the nethermost hell the body in time shall be â—…ormented with thee It is altogether just with the righteous God that they that meet in sinne should also consort in suffering Save thy selfe and save all and by wofull consequence lose thy selfe and lose all For what is a man profited if hee gaine the whole world and lose is owne soule So much for the second point the possibilitie of losing a mans soule Come we to the third the compossibilitie of outward prosperitie he may lose his soule in gaining the whole world In the diversitie of opinions concerning the chiefe good some there were that placed it in riches others in honours and how ever they differed in their judgements yet both agreed in this
howsoever here we vanish as a vapour yet one day wee shall become as fixed starres in the right hand of Christ wee shall shine as starres for ever Thus I have shewed how the life of man is compared to a vapour that appeares for a little while and then vanisheth away Beloved I pray let not this Sermon passe as a vapour let not all of it passe away in the sound you heare but fix it as a naile in a sure place in your understanding in your memorie in your affections and remember how short and sudden every mans end and life is or may be O that my people were wise they would understand this they would consider their latter end Wee have a spectacle here before us that was a reall comment upon this Text She did understand the Doctrine of it and was excellent in the practice of it A Gentlewoman that deserved a better Orator to commemorate the vertues that were in her and to give her praises due it had beene a fitter worke for your reverend and worthy Minister whose absence at this time I supply he could have spoken more fully of her then I can because he was acquainted longer with her then I was I account it a part of my unhappinesse that I knew her so little a while and peradventure you will say it is a part of her unhappinesse that this office is done by one that knew her so little a while It is true indeed I am not able to say much of her for my knowledge of her was but a few weekes or moneths by reason of our neighbourhood in the Countrey but then I observed her to be one of the ornaments of her sexe and every thing that came from her was gracefull and comely the sweetnesse of nature and grace in my opinion concurred in her But I must deliver the most that I have to say from the report that I have from others yet from very good hands Solomon saith A good name is as a good oyntment poured forth like the precions Alablaster-boxe that Mary broke on the head of our Saviour the smell of it perfumed all the house I may say of her as the Apostle saith of Demetrius She was well reported of by all and I am perswaded she was reported well of the truth it selfe shee had a name answerable to her vertues Solomon saith A prudent wife or a good wife is the gift of God shee was a Theodosia that was her name The gift of God and a gift God bestowed to the comfort of him that had her Shee was constant both in the performance of publike duties and private in hearing Gods word not only on the Lords day but as occasion gave leave on the weeke-dayes and she was not only constant at good exercises abroad but which was the crowne of her commendations she was so at home also shee was constant in reading the Word I am credibly informed that shee read over the Bible seven times in the seven yeares that shee was married Shee constantly made use of that shee heard I my selfe saw no lesse then two quires of paper writ out with her owne hand collected partly out of other bookes but principally out of Sermons not noted at Church when shee heard them but when she came home being in this like Mary that layed up the sayings of Christ in her heart her daily spending of her time was commendable and exemplarie in the morning up to prayer with her familie and then unto private prayer by her selfe from prayer to reading and then to worke and then to prayer and to dinner and then to worke this was her continuall course of life without interruption Shee was a Sarah for obedience Rebecca for wisedome Mary for pietie Martha for houswiferie a true Lidea shee heard and God opened her heart that shee attended to those things she heard A true Dorcas full of good workes they that knew her knew her so farre as wisedome and discretion dictated to her full of charitie of good workes and almes-deedes But her life was a vapour that appeared for a little while and then vanished away Shee verefied my Text too truely in that it pleased God suddenly to call her even in the prime and strength of her yeares she was but a young woman and shee died in Child-bed You that are Child-bearing women I wish you to set this patterne and example before your eyes and learn by this spectacle to see how neere you walke to the brincke of your grave when you come to be delivered of childe I wonder therefore by the way that any should find fault with that solemne thanks-giving that is appointed by the Church to be rendred to God for women for his preserving them from the great danger of Child-birth there is but a step betweene you and death you should then have a care to prepare for your death I see a great deale of time spent to prepare all brave and fine God may quickly turne all your chambers and hang them with blacke and turne your jollitie into mourning therefore you should rather prepare for your winding-sheete and for your grave for undoubtedly she did so and I may in some sence apply that literally of the Apostle to her In bearing of children shee is saved It is true the Apostle gives that as an argument of comfort to women because before hee had preached obedience to them a doctrine that they doe not well relish yet he gives two reasons because Adam was first made and she first sinned that is another reason yet lest shee should bee too much discouraged with that of the Apostle and because the paine of child-bearing was threatned to women for a part of their curse the Apostle addes that as a comfort In bearing of children they shall bee saved Notwithstanding the paine and sorrow of child-bearing was inflicted as a punishment upon them yet under that curse there is a way of salvation opened if they be such women saith the Apostle as continue in faith and charitie with holinesse and sobrietie These vertues being eminent in this deare Christian sister of ours no doubt but in bearing of children shee is saved that is she found under that curse a way to a blessing an everlasting blessing of salvation How shee disposed her selfe in the time of her sicknesse those of the family well know truly I have not oft scarse ever heard of a woman of her ranke and quality for shee was a woman well descended and well bred and yet I never heard of a woman more beloved and more bewayled her Husband complaines of his losse never man lost a better wife all the servants never any had a better Mistris and all the neighbours never any had a better neighbour Concerning her in the time of her sicknesse they can give a better and more particular testimonie then I I only did one office and service to her when in the absence of your reverend Pastor I was called I visited her an houre or
if they had knowne what they had beene about Againe further as the sleepe of the body bindes up the senses and makes a man senslesse of that which is good or evill he that sleepes offer him a Kingdome it moves him not threaten him draw a sword offer to stabbe him he stirres not he is not sensible he is unmoveable a man that is asleepe where you left him there you shall find him still So it is in the sleepe of sinne it bindes up all the spirituall senses that a man that is in this sleepe he wants a seeing eye and a hearing eare he knowes nothing he sees nothing of God but that which will make him in-excusable he tastes not he feeles not how good God is to him Offer him the kingdome of heaven and grace in the meanes it moves him not threaten him draw out the sword the weapons of Gods wrath against him he feares nothing As he is insensible in these courses so he is immovable looke where he was at the first there you shall find him still there is no difference but he is as a dead man as long as he sleepes thus in sinne To conclude this point sixtly the sleepe of the body deludes a man with many vaine dreames and foolish conceits false joyes and false feares and false hopes c. which are nothing true So the sleepe of sinne in the soule it hath the same effect it feedes a man up with false joyes and false hopes it casts him downe with false feare where no feare is A man in the state of sinne hee feares the face of man the eye of man the word of man the hand of man he feares not the eye of God nor the word of God nor the mighty power of God So likewise for false joyes a man that is a begger he dreames that he hath gold enough that he tumbles in it So beggers in grace those that have not a ragge of righteousnesse upon them they dreame that they are rich and increased in goods and that they have need of nothing when they know not that they are poore and beggerly and naked as the Church of Laodicea So this spirituall sleepe it fills a man with false conceits A man sometime when he goes to sleepe hee thinkes not to sleepe long but to take a nappe and wake by and by yet it may be he sleepes beyond his compasse sometime he wakes no more So it is with a man in sinne he hopes to wake he thinkes to sleepe but a little but sometime he sleepes long and sometime he never wakes So we see how aptly the spirit compares the estate of a man in sinne to sleepe This is the first thing in the meaning of the words Now the second thing is what is meant by waking or arising out of sleepe To wake or to rise out of sleepe is for a man to doe in the matter of Christianitie as a man that awakes out of sleepe And for a man that wakes out of sleepe there are three things he doth and so out of the sleepe of sinne First there must be an opening of the eyes and a beholding of the light And this is the first thing in awaking out of the sleepe of sinne and securitie a man must labour to open his eyes to behold the light of Gods word and that shining grace that the Lord propounds to him in the Scriptures he must open his eyes to behold the light and that will discover such objects as will keepe him awake Therefore men sleepe so much in the night because they are in the darke and not in the light they see objects in the day time that keepes them awake So for this sleepe of sinne if we would keepe awake let us open our eyes to behold the light of grace and in the light of the Scriptures wee shall see objects that will helpe to keepe us waking we shall see Gods displeasure the wrath of God we shall see those things that eye cannot see nor eare heare nor hath entred into the heart of man Wee shall see them in their beginning and degrees though the full degree cannot enter into the heart to conceive and this will helpe to keepe us waking Then in the next place when a man hath opened his eyes to see the light then there must be a rouzing of the senses This awakes a man when his senses that were bound up by sleepe are loosed that now hee is able to see and to move and to talke c. What unbindes the spirituall senses of a man in this sleepe of sinne only faith in the Sonne of God that opens the eyes of them that were dead in sinne it restores new senses and life that they are able to walke in the wayes of God and to move in the actions of godlinesse and Christianitie Therefore the second thing that a man must doe to awake himselfe out of sleepe is to get faith in his soule that he may sucke vertue from Christ and to get his senses loosed that he may see and taste and feele the goodnesse of God which without Christ he cannot attaine Thirdly and lastly a man must get out of his bed to awake him out of sleepe when his eyes are open and his senses loosed leape out of the bed that is by repentance this is to cease to doe evill Therefore when the Apostle exhorts to rise out of sleepe these are the three maine things the Apostle aymes at wherein hee expresseth it plentifully First to get the true knowledge of God to see those objects that may allure and draw our mindes And then labour to get faith in the Sonne of God whereby our senses may be unbound And then to get out of the bed of sinne by repentance to cease to doe evill and learne to doe well this is to awake out of the bed of sleepe Thirdly who they are that must arise out of sleepe Every man for so the Apostle plainly expresseth it Ephes. 2. Awake thou that sleepest whosoever thou art that sleepest awake and rise out of sleepe But who are they that sleepe Two sorts of men all sorts of men may bee reduced to two heads The Naturall regenerate man And both sleepe The naturall man is in a fast dead sleepe you shall as soone get a ribbe out of his side as God did out of Adam when hee was asleepe as wake him You shall sooner drive a nayle into his temples as Iael did to Sisera then awake him Hee is in a fast dead sleepe in the sleepe of death as a man in a Lethargie that never wakes againe Therefore this man had need to arise to bee called upon and to be rouzed out of the sleepe of death Awake thou that sleepest stand up from the dead that Christ may give thee light Arise as a man ariseth out of the Grave out of the bed of sleepe This is the man that is in a dead sleepe But not only
or his daughter till the Lord also cast them upon the bed of shame and sorrow and scorne and curse from which they shall never rise It is a lamentable thing that a mans conscience hearing this should not apply this to his heart that he should dare to shut his eyes and dare still to cast himselfe on this bed not thinking what will be the issue of it And so likewise a monstrous generation of Drunkards monsters in nature for no unreasonable creature so much extinguisheth the gifts of nature as they These cast themselves upon the bed of vomiting and filth that no covering is large enough to hide their shame Let a man speake to them and advise and counsell them there is no hearing of him in their cups as Abigaile observed in her husband Nabal Nay let God speake to them and pinch them in their bodies in their strength in their estates let the Lord make them feele the smart be their dangers never so neere as Solomon describes them notably in Prov. 23. a drunken man is as hee that sleepes on the top of a Mast in the middest of the Sea in most extreame perill yet saith he they have smitten mee but I felt it not they have beaten me but I discerned it not therefore when hee awakes he will follow his cups still The like we may say of a number of Sabbath-breakers that cast themselues upon the bed of prophanenesse and Atheisme sometimes for forme and fashion they will come to the Temple perhaps and listen a little to the word spoken but presently you shall see and observe them that they cast themselves fast asleepe as Eutichus when at midnight Paul was preaching hee falls from the loft and his life was gone from him But there is this difference that was at midnight these will doe it at mid-day So little have men gained of instruction and of the knowledge of the feare of God of all that they have heard that they can scarse keepe their eyes and their eares open a quarter of the exercise to heare what God saith to them for their owne good What shall I speake of those unjust injurious usurious persons whose jawes are as knives to cut those that they deale with those that use injustice in their weights in their wares in their lights that use any manner of deceit for the defrauding of their brethren And these cast themselves upon the bed of their mischiefe and solace themselves in their present unjust gaines in getting unjust riches Let a man speake to these and tell them their estate out of the Scriptures alas they heare not deale with them as wee deale with men in a swoone rubbe them and chafe them and if that will not serve the turne pinch them pricke them and wring them and make them smart if it be possible to make them feele alas such a man dies in our hands there is no life to be got in him All that we can get from such a wretch for our love to him and our testimonie of him it is some brush or blow This senslesse man layes about him he knowes not upon whom In one word when I consider the secure course of a multitude of men amongst whom we live it seemes as if they had found that Cave of sleepe which the Poets faine and speake of a place very fit for these persons A Cave of sleepe as they describe it where never Sunne shines a place farre remote from all companie a place where the houses have no doores for feare the hindges should wake them a place where they suffer no cocks nor clocks nor nothing that may hinder them from sleepe And the Generation of men that I speake of they seeme to descend from Severats a kind of people that are loose and lazie and sleepie and lascivious that will not indure any Clocks or any Artificers that use tooles and hammers to knocke that they should not trouble them But why doe you speake these words they seeme strange to us But yet truly your selves shall say they bee true in the Application For first doe we not see most men in generall except some few whom the Lord hath taken into his owne teaching that they cannot abide the place of the Sun-shine the place where the Sunne of the light of grace shines they remove themselves from it they absent themselves upon any occasion as if a man should set himselfe to run from the light of the Sunne So likewise doe we not see that men cannot abide the societie of godly men of religious men fearing God that deale truly with them in exhortations and admonitions and loving rebukes c They will none of this So doe we not see how readie and willing naturall men are to chase away if it were possible all the Lords Cocks and all his servants that they might not crie against their sinnes that they might not awaken them nor come neere them They are set so fast asleepe that they cannot abide any servant of God And for the ministerie of the Law which Ieremie calls as a Hammer to breake the hard heart and to knocke and rappe the sleepie soule it is an intollerable thing they cannot indure this hammer they cannot abide these dogges that barke against their sinnes whereas dumbe dogges that can neither barke nor bite those they can like well enough Somewhat they would have they are content with a formall fashion but these men that speake against their sinnes that discover their estate in sinne these they cannot induue Now tell me if these men live not in a carnall sleepe and are found in the Cell and Cave of darknesse wherein they desire to sleepe for ever To come from these in the second place let us consider that not only these naturall men and worldlings are cast into a dead sleepe but would not a man marvell that even Christians should sometimes bee cast asleepe Would not a man wonder that the Disciples of Christ that were so neere to the side of their Master that were following their Masters exhortation in the former Precept that he taught them that were so neere temptation that the yoake was even upon their necks would not one thinke it a wonder that they should not watch one houre with Christ Therefore Brethren let us take notice of our securitie much more that are infinitly behind the Disciples in grace let us rate our selves for the heavinesse and dulnesse of our hearts But because we are Baptized and heare Sermons c. we can make no man beleeve that he is asleepe Therefore let us trie and consider whether those that heare the Word and are Professors of the life of grace those that are alreadie awakened be not in such a fearefull slumber as may well be called a sleepe First of all therefore this is one marke of a man that is asleepe he heares not he understands not the things that are spoken to him so it is a marke of a
experience every where how few there be that in their life time deserve the praise of Religion in their death For my part I never did nor never will gild a rotten post or a mudde wall or give false witnesse in praising to give the praise of Religion to those that deserve it not I desire those of my congregation would make their owne Funerall Sermons while they be living by their vertuous life and conversation As the Apostle saith Hee hath not praise that is praised of men but hee that is praised of God FINIS THE RIGHTEOUS MANS RESTING PLACE OR A FENCE AGAINST VNNECESSARIE FEARES PROV 18. 10. The name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth into it and is safe PSAL. 27. 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I feare the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE RIGHTEOUS MANS RESTING PLACE OR A FENCE AGAINST VNNECESSARIE FEARES SERMON XXVII GEN. 15. 1. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abraham saying Feare not Abraham I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward THE tender mercie of God is seene in nothing more then in afflicting his owne people for hee proportions his chastisements not to our deserts but to our strength and you shall ordinarily observe where Almightie GOD layes a heavie affliction hee gives an extraordinarie assistance when he leades any of his people through a hote fire hee is with them in extraordinarie manner This holy Saint Abraham as hee was the Father of the faithfull so he was a Patterne to all the faithfull in both these both in his tryalls and in Gods assistance There was never any man called to more tryalls then he to leave his Countrey and his Kindred and his Fathers house and after to sacrifice his owne sonne And there was never any man more assisted from God as we see in those many apparitions that God vouchsafed him Comforting him sometimes in dreames and visions Sometimes hee appeared to him in an admirable and most friendly manner talking with him as a man doth with his friend One of them are in this Chapter The Lord appeared to Abraham and comforted him in the middest of his tryals and troubles Where you may see an admirable incouragement that God gives to his servant Abraham You may note First the incouragement it selfe that is not to feare Secondly note the time when God gave him this incouragement when he had encountred with those Kings immediatly before as we see in Chapter 14. And when hee was to encounter with many evils and troubles after then the Lord appeared to him Thirdly note the manner how God is pleased to reveale this comfort that is by way of vision God appeared by vision Fourthly note the ground of this comfort and incouragement that God gives him and that is taken from a twofold Argument First what God was to him in regard of any evills that hee did feele or feare he was his shield to beare them off Secondly in regard of all the good things that Abraham could lose in the world an exceeding great reward hee would bee to him all in all So you see this portion of Scripture affords plentifull matter for instruction and consolation All that I will speake of at this time I will wind up in this proposition that is that They that are in covenant with God and labour to keepe his covenant as faithfull Abraham was and did they may be a people without all carnall and inordinate feare For Abraham felt much and had just cause to expect more but in the middest of all God appeared to him and bid him he should not feare And what was spoken to Abraham is spoken to us for he was the Father of the faithfull and they that are of the faith with Abraham are blessed with him So then the blessing of Abraham and all the incouragements that were given to him they belong not to him only but to all that are the spirituall seed of Abraham to all the faithfull so that the Proposition is not limitted to him but extends to all A Doctrine if ever needfull it is now Wee know how it is with all men that are out of Covenant with God Adam as soone as he had sinned he runnes from God he was afraid and hid himselfe from the face of God so every unregenerate man is except his conscience be ignorant in a dead sleepe and cauterized for he seeth God on the one side a revenging Judge and hee knowes himselfe on the other side to be guiltie and therefore hee cannot but with amazement and feare continually tremble before God and he desires if it were possible that there were no God at all that he might never be called to account for his doings But now the child of God a faithfull Abraham that is in covenant with God he may in the middest of all evills lift up his head with joy and comfort even when wicked men are at their wits end and know not whether to turne themselves It is I say a point needfull to urge in these times wherein we heare abroad of warres and rumours of warres and so many distractions and what they feele we have cause to feare but now it is seasonable at this time when we see the King of feares act his part before our eyes hee that the Philosophers call the most terrible of all terribles that is Death that tends to the extirpation and abolition of nature in regard of our being here I say there cannot be a better argument treated of then somewhat that may fence us against the feare of this evill Now for the opening of this point First consider what feare is And then what feare a Christian should be freed from And then how it comes to passe that a Christian is exempted from all slavish and inordinate feare And then come to make some Use of it to the present occasion First that we may know the point the better let us consider what feare is in generall And feare beloved is such an affection or passion of the soule that is stirred up with a through apprehension of some future evill that is very difficult to be resisted by the partie or patient It is an affection or passion of the soule for it makes a reall transmutation in the man It is such an affection as is stirred up with the apprehension of evill for evill is properly the object of feare we doe not primarily feare any thing that is good except the losse of it and it is ill to lose any good thing Againe it is evill future for if the evill be present we grieve and not feare And it is such an evill as is difficult and hard to resist and overcome with patience for if it be a small evill that is easily conquered you contemne it you feare it not You see then what feare is in generall Is all
to make the straight wayes of God crooked to make that that God accounts straight to be crooked this is a setting against God therefore Peter saith to Simon Magus pray if it be possible that the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee So you see Saint Paul speakes to Elymas the sorcerer upon the same ground Act. 13. Thou child of the divell and enemy to all righteousnesse wilt thou not cease to pervent the right wayes of God Now I say here are the words and speeches that men speake against the wayes of God these are speeches that argue men in a state whereby they are lyable and open to judgement and exposed to wrath therefore wee should take heed of such words The use may be to condemne those that make light account of words they thinke they may speake it may bee in rashnesse and hastinesse and they may be excused for uttering them it is their hastinesse and their passion and it was done unadvisedly c. I but the Law of God is transgressed the Majestie of God is offended the anger of God is provoked You know what old Eli sayd to his sonnes My sonnes if a man sinne against a man man may plead for him but if he offend against God who shall plead for him I say who shall take up the matter with God in such a case as this when the offence strikes against God and his ordinances and his worship Therefore take heede there is much evill there is life and death as Solomon saith in the power of the tongue that is a man may utterly destroy himselfe by the very words he speakes unadvisedly as hee thinkes and will plead for himselfe or passionately and rashly Againe much more doth it concerne those that proceede to other kinds of wickednesse in the tongue we instanced in some particular instances then that we cannot now stand on We came to direct men to carry themselves in their speech as David to set a watch before the doore of their lippes he prayed to God to doe it And Psal. 39. I sayd that I will take heede to my wayes that I offend not in my tongue And then he prayes to the Lord Psal. 131. to keepe a watch before the doore of his mouth Hee knew well enough that there will be a time when the words that we thinke are sleight and vaine shall be brought to judgement idle unprofitable frothy talke much more rayling and reviling speeches most of all the highest blasphemies and execrations these shall most certainly be brought to a greater censure at the day of judgement But I will not stand on that I then handled Now there remaines three things more The first is this that in the day of judgement God will proceed according to his Law So speake and so doe as those that shall bee judged by the Law I say In the day of judgement God will proceede with men according to his Law Hee will proceede according to his word written therefore labour that your speeches and actions may bee such that they may be agreeable to that Iohn 12. 48. The word that I speake to you saith Christ shall judge you at that day There is not a word that Christ speakes but it shall judge he speakes not in vaine he is the judge that speakes Now you know Christ speakes two wayes Eyther in himselfe Or by his Ministers In himselfe and so eyther that that hee spake when hee was on earth in his his owne person then all the words that hee spake at that time are those words by which he will judge men as farre as they concerne morrall actions by those words he will judge men at the great day for he spake nothing but what was according to his Law Or else that which he spake in his Apostles immediatly by a certaine and infallible worke of the Spirit directing them to such truth as that they could not erre in speaking now in this Christ still spake in them The same way Christ hath in speaking to this day therefore saith he he that heareth you heareth me and he that heareth me heareth him that sent me That which he spake to them hee spake in them concerning all the Ministers of the Gospel What we speake as Ministers that is as men that looke to the direction of our Lord for we are but Embassadours and our words are so far of value and power as they are the speeches of our Lord and as we speake the word of him whose Embassadours we are Now I say looke what the Minister thus speakes as the Embassadour of Christ to the people that Christ will confirme at the day of judgement Now it will appeare what wee speake as Embassadours if we speake nothing but what is agreeable to the text of Scripture rightly understood Therefore marke it whatsoever sinne wee denounce the judgement of God against and urge Scripture for it it is the very rule that Christ will observe in judging men Or else that speech could not stand what yee loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven and what yee bind on earth shall be bound in heaven Wee bind when by declaring of mens sinnes wee denounce the judgement of God against such sinnes and so pronounce men to stand under the wrath of God that remaine in those sinnes saith Christ what you thus binde on earth shall bee bound in heaven that is Gods act shall ratifie and confirme the same sentence in heaven which we denounce here upon earth by vertue of this word So when wee come to distressed soules and declare to them that they stand acquitted and that by the Word of God and so as Ministers of the Gospell by vertue of the truth revealed to us declare that they are freed from the bond and guilt of their sinnes upon those evidences of repentance that they manifest I say it is ratified in heaven Therefore you see there is no other way of proceeding but looke as Christs owne words when hee was upon the earth so the same that are as his owne words that is those truths that are drawne from Christs truths have the same power upon the hearts and consciences of men now to command them and shall have after to judge them as ever they had But here it may be objected it should seeme that all men shall not be judged by the Law because there are some men to whom the Law hath never beene published for what shall wee say to a great part of the world that have not yet received the Scriptures we know that the Scriptures have not beene published to a great part of the world at this day there are many Heathens many Pagans that never had the Scriptures therefore how shall they be judged by the Law except you say that onely those shall bee judged by it that have beene under the preaching of the Gospell and have had the helpe of the Scriptures We answer that all mankinde and every particular man is under
survivers and attendants upon this sad occasion but in these administrations hee intendeth his peoples profit as wee may see in the case of Iob the Lord takes away all his children but saith the Apostle yee have heard of the patience of Iob and have seene the end of the Lord hee was no looser in the conclusion but God returned at length all into his bosome againe nay double In a word for this very purpose it is even for their profit for alas it is not Gods owne benefit hee seekes after but his peoples in all his administrations that they live that they doe that they suffer that they dye their death is in order to their gaine as the Apostle saith to me to live is Christ and to die is gaine To make some application of this and so to proceede First let us here take occasion as many as are the called of God according to his purpose and implanted in this glorious relation of children to a father let us learne to advance his name and according to his name let his prayse be in all the Congregations of the Saints Truely as Moses sayd once their Rocke is not as our Rocke So may wee say other fathers are not as this Father our Father is set for the good and profit of his children The divell is a father so our Saviour speakes you are of your father the divell hee hath children and he studieth nothing so much as that they may live all their daies in pleasure striving to leade his followers altogether in pleasant paths But alas hee hath no ayme at their profit it is their losse hee seekes and therefore at last hee makes them pay full deare for all their pleasure and content But now God hee is a wise Father and in all his dispensations to his children though they seeme for the present unpleasant hee hath an ayme at their profit Let this be for his prayse Secondly let us labour to beleeve this that God in all his dealings and administrations towards us hath an eye to our profit How hard soever the condition be that he putteth us into if he take from us the desire of our eyes the delight of our hearts our liberties our estates our children yet be perswaded of this that God doth it for my good and benefit And thirdly labour to reape the fruit and benefit that God aymeth at and intendeth and would have us receive from all his administrations When we are called together to give attendance upon the preaching of the Word then thinke what am I come hither for is it not for my profit would God have me trifle out my time surely the Lord would never have singled out a day of seven for himselfe but that hee might likewise make his people partaker of spirituall advantages and heavenly benefits and therefore I lose a day and never heare well except I heare to profit And thus what I say of this Ordinance I might likewise speake of the rest before named And so for this present occasion the Lord now you see is pleased to call us to the house of mourning Was it thinke yee the purpose of God that wee should meet together here in a customarie complimentall manner to doe things in a common garpe only to eate together and drinke together No the Lord calleth us to a house of mourning for our profit that we might consider the end of all men and that wee that are living might lay the thing to heart And for you that are in present distresse in regard of this particular affliction reckon upon this that God hath done this for your profit labour yee therefore to reape the fruit of it bee not so much poring upon the affliction and altogether complaining of the bitternesse of the cup but follow on after the profit and benefit that God intendeth you thereby And let every one labour to improve all administrations of God to this purpose that as he in them all intendeth our good so let us pursue after the benefit Secondly let it instruct us further concerning our dutie even to walke worthy of such a God as many of us as are in relation to him as children to a Father and servants to a Master How should this first of all winne us over to such a Father to such a Master and to make it our highest ambition to be the people of such a God the children of sucha Father that is devoted to the profit and advantage of his children and servants This is the gracious goodnesse of God he takes pleasure in the prosperitie of his servants their profit is his pleasure Let us therefore walke worthy of such a Father of such a Master And seeing he intendeth our profit and that wee cannot profit him let us labour to walke in all well-pleasing Wee cannot profit him let us labour to please him Lastly here is a word of instruction for Ministers wee should in this case as those that are intrusted with the sacred ordinances of God labour to put on the minde of God so the Apostle we have saith he the mind of Christ. Wee in the course of our Ministerie as God aymeth at his peoples profit so should wee not ayme at our owne praise and at our profiting by them but that we might profit their soules O blessed Preaching when people profit by our preaching when they are by that increased in knowledge in love in faith in every grace Such a Preacher was Saint Paul I please all men saith he 1 Cor. 10. ult but how not seeking mine owne profit but the profit of many that they may bee saved Oh labour to preach profitably that our people may thrive under our ministerie This is that which God aymeth at and this is that which we should ayme at too And thus I have done with the first and more generall proposition arising from the words of Text. I come now to the second and more particular thing that we are to consider hence and that is that As God graciously setteth himselfe to procure his peoples profit in all his administrations so this is that hee aymeth at in all the afflictions and chastisements he exerciseth them withall It is no pleasure for him to be lashing and whipping his people to hold them under such sharpe discipline it is for the profit of his children so the Text expresseth it but he for our profit Which first of all implieth that Afflictions and chastisements are a meanes conducing to the profit of those that undergoe them A point plaine in the Text and the Scripture abundant in the proofe of it and the experience of the Saints in a plentifull manner confirming it It is good for mee saith David that I have beene afflicted And Ioseph giveth this honourable testimonie of God The Lord saith he hath caused mee to be fruitfull in the land of my affliction and thereupon giveth his child a name suteable Afflictions and chastisements they
become profitable as the furnace to the gold to purge out the drosse to make a separation betweene the pure mettall and the ore Profitable as physicke to the body to purge out the malignant humours Profitable as sope to the cloth to fetch out the staines to take out the greasie spottes it is the Scripture expresion their hearts are as fatte as grease to make them white Profitable as the Thunder to the Ayre to purge it to make it more commodious to breathe in Profitable as the wind to the water to make it the purer by its ventillation Profitable as the pruning knife to the tree to make it more fruitfull These and the like metaphors we have and by them wee are to conceive of the good and benefit that comes to us by Gods castigation and fatherly exercising of his people with his discipline and rod of Affliction But what are these blessed fruits what is the profit accruing to the soule of the people of God by this meanes I can but name part of them Besides that which is exprest in the Text that we might bee partaker of his holinesse there are these gracious effects of afflictions Weaning from the world a bringing us into more acquaintance with God Manasseth when hee was in affliction hee besought the Lord his God and humbled himselfe greatly before the God of his Fathers and prayed unto him and then saith the Text he knew that the Lord hee was God God by this meanes makes us know our selves the vanitie of the creature the sinfulnesse of sinne the sweetnesse of the Word the excellency that is in the promises makes us more compassionate to others keepeth us from hell and many other fruites there are of afflictions But to passe this A second thing implied in the Doctrine is this that as afflictions are meanes conducing to our profit so God in exercising his people with them mainly intendeth it The Lord saith Moses led thee through that great and terrible wildernesse wherein were fiery Serpents and Scorpions and drought where there was no water suffered thee to hunger brought thee into hard straites but what was Gods ayme in this that hee might humble thee and that hee might prove thee to doe thee good at the later end By this saith the Prophet speaking of the afflictions of the Church shall the iniquitie of Iacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sinne This I say is that which God intendeth by the afflictions of his people and this is that which the servants of God by faith have beene able to apprehend and to interpret the Lords meaning in all his sharpe dispensations towards them As the Prophet Habakkuk having made a terrible description of the Babylonish rod hee concludes in the twelfth verse of his first Chapter Art not thou from everlasting O Lord my God Wee shall not die O Lord thou hast ordained them for Iudgement and O mighty God thou hast established them for correction This is that likewise which the Saints of God have looked for and expected that while the windes of afflictions have beene blowing some ship or other should come home richly fraighted So David when that storme of cursing came from the mouth of Shimei Oh saith David let him alone let him curse it may be that the Lord will looke on mine affliction and that the Lord will requite good for his cursing this day So when Rabshaketh came up against Ierusalem Let him alone saith Hezekiah answer him not a word it may be the Lord will heare the words of Rabshaketh whom his Master hath sent to reproach the living God and will reprove the words which the Lord hath heard It may be the Lord will open his eare upon this rage and blasphemie and consider his people and doe them good The Saints of God I say have expected good and benefit from Gods afflicting of them For the use of this and so to draw to a conclusion In the first place Seeing this is Gods intent in all his administrations to his people especially in his castigations of them and reaching out unto them such sharpe and bitter potions It may serve to checke and controule all those hard thoughts that wee are apt to suffer to lodge within us concerning Gods dealing with us in the time of our distresses Apt we are to speak foolishly and unadvisedly concerning God and to misconster his administrations This hath beene the frailtie of Gods dearest servants in their affliction I shall one day said David perish by the hand of Saul Woe is mee saith Isaiah for I am undone because I am a man of uncleane lips The Lord saith the Church hath broken my teeth with gravell stones and covered me with ashes he hath removed my soule farre off from peace and I said my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. The Lord hath forsaken me saith Zion and my Lord hath forgotten mee Iob though for a good while hee carried himselfe very fairely and demeaned himselfe very warily toward God yet when he began to be wet to the skinne then he speakes foolishly and unadvisedly falleth to the cursing of his day not to the cursing of his God as Sathan thought he would but of his day though that was too much and ill beseeming so holy a man The Saints I say are apt to mistake themselves this way and to overshoote themselves in this case We should therefore humble our selves before the Lord for this distemper of soule and labour to keepe downe such unquiet thoughts and hard disputings that are apt to rise within us against God and his dispensations And consider that whatsoever our thoughts are yet the Lord knoweth his owne thoughts concerning us as he himselfe speakes in Ier. 29. howsoever saith he you may thinke that I intend to cut you off for ever yet I know my thoughts that I thinke towards you even thoughts of peace and not of evill to give you an expected end Againe secondly it may serve to comfort the godly concerning all the meanes and instruments of their sufferings whether they be men or divels Wicked men and divels whom God useth as a Rod to chastise his people their malice is great and their rage violent and they march on with much furie against the godly they intend their utter ruine and devastation and purpose nothing lesse But O Assyrian saith God the rodde of mine anger and the staffe in their hand is mine indignation howbeit hee meaneth not so neither doth his heart thinke so but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off But saith the Lord whatsoever his meaning is I know what my intentions are hee is but the rodde in mine hand and I will give such strokes with it as my people may beare and such as may bee for their profit This I say should comfort us concerning all the instruments of our suffering whatsoever they be The Phisitian
you know applieth the horseleaches to his distempered Patient the Horseleech intendeth nothing but the satiating and filling himselfe with the blood of the sicke partie but the Physitian hath another ayme even the drawing out of the putrified and corrupted blood God suffereth wicked men and divels as Horseleeches to suck his people to draw their blood but it is in order to their good it is no matter what wicked men thinke though Ashur thinke not so yet God purposeth it and aymes at it and in conclusion effects it and then saith hee it shall come to passe that when the Lord hath performed his whole worke upon mount Sion I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of his high lookes Againe in the third place Seeing this is Gods ayme in all his afflictions whatsoever the instrument be how sharpe soever the castigation be or of what nature whether it be in a spirituall way by sore temptations and buffetings of Sathan or outwardly by losses in our estate or death of friends c. seeing I say this is Gods purpose and intent that his people may be profited Let us quietly and patiently apply our selves unto God and expect the quiet and peaceable fruit of righteousnesse that shall spring up in due time to those that are this way exercised by the Lord Looke for it and presse on to this quietly to waite on the Lord our God for a blessed fruit of such administrations An argument ab utili is an argument of great prevayle what will not men doe for Profit It is for profit that men rise up early and goe to bed late and eate the bread of carefulnesse The Husbandman takes much paines and plowes his ground indures many sharpe stormes and piercing winters the Machant runnes divers hazards abroad and all for profit so should we be willing patiently and quietly to submit to Gods dealing humbly to apply our selves to his wise and fatherly administrations seeing hee intendeth by it our profit And take heede of murmuring and repining against the Lord this will make him indeede to lay heavier blowes upon us an impatient Patient makes the Physitian deale more harshly and a strugling child procureth for himselfe the more and sorer stripes what though our potion bee bitter so long as it is wholesome have wee not reason to submit our selves But here is the mayne thing wee sticke at You may happily reply Indeed if we could see our corruptions subdued our hearts humbled the pride that is within us abated and that God would be pleased to bring us more nearer to him and make us more heavenly minded and weane our affections from the world if wee could see this fruite of all our sufferings and temptations and crosses it would be an abundant satisfaction to our soules but alas alas wee cannot see this profit our hearts are still full of many spirituall distempers and great prevaylings of evill there is upon us notwithstanding all these Stormes and Frosts and tempestuous hard Winters yet these weeds of wickednesse grow and are marvelous lively this is the bitternesse of the cup and this is that which sinketh the heart most under all those pressures which lye upon us To which I answer first wee must judge rightly and wisely and consider well whether it be the time for the fruite of affliction to spring forth No affliction for the present seemeth joyous and no affliction it may be for the time of its working appeareth commodious But saith the Apostle they doe bring forth the quiet fruite of righteousnesse Againe secondly wee may perhaps beare too much upon the physicke alas afflictions and crosses of themselves they will rather drive us further then draw us nearer unto God wee are therefore to submit our selves unto God in his way of administration and to intreate his blessing upon them that through that they may be made successefull As every creature so every condition both of prosperitie and adversitie is sanctified to us by the Word and by prayer And take heede of disputing against the Lord as wee are apt to doe he is wise above all that wee can conceive he is wonderfull in working and knoweth how to bring about the good of his people in a wonderfull way what if he will plunge thee into the mire in order to holinesse what if Christ will put clay upon a mans eyes in order to sight a medicine more likely to put out his eyes Considering therefore that God is wise and wonderfull in his working let us apply ourselves to him and in due time wee shall see the fruite and benefit of all his administrations I should now have come to the third and last proposition and that was That this profit that God aymeth at in all his castigations of his children is to make them partaker of his holinesse And this is profit indeede when God thereby draweth us from the world and makes us more heavenly minded and more dead to the creature purgeth away our drosse and takes away that filth and corruption that is in us oh this will I quit all the cost and make amends for all the labour and paines and hardship wee have beene made to endure But I shall forbeare to insist upon this So much for the Text. There is a word to be spoken according to custome with respect to the occasion of our meeting I have done the maine part of my taske which was to present to you a word of instruction and therefore for the occasion concerning this young gentleman disceased whose Funeralls wee now solemnize I shall but speake a few words and so conclude I neede not to speake any thing concerning his parentage and discent nor much concerning his education I am confident that that was religious and gracious and such as wherein there was a second travell in order to his spirituall birth that Iesus Christ might be formed in him For his owne particular though I can speake nothing upon my owne knowledge being a meere stranger yet I have such a testimony concerning him from those that deserve credence both of me and you as that I shall conclude that of him as may give us good hope concerning his finall and eternall estate If so be contrition of heart and sorrow for sinne If earnest and constant prayer unto God If lamenting of youthfull miscariages and the not answering of time and meanes and opportunities and religious education and that godly care that was exercised in order to his spirituall welfare and building of him up in the knowledge of God and of Christ. If I say the lamenting of the neglect of opportunities of this kinde If soâ—…e the desire of the prayers of others for him and that out of a sense of his owne disabilitie to plead his owne cause If so bee a gracious communication of God unto him in wayes of comfort in the time of his sicknesse supporting him under divers
excellencies diminished by all his sufferings you see Christ in the dayes of his flesh he cast divells out of men and they obeyed him The divells were subject unto him when he conversed among men in the body nay on the Crosse he saved the Thiefe that confessed him in the sight of all his enemies when he was a crucified Christ at that instant he triumphed on the very crosse and saved a sinner that beleeved at that time to shew that he was as mightie on the Crosse as he is now at the right hand of the Father Now I say is not Christs glory a whit diminished in his abasement why should our beleefe bee abated for all the scorne and despite of the world that is cast upon the profession of the faith of Christ Now briefly some application of this and so to take in the rest without amplification because the time is past It should teach us in all disquiet to know what course is to bee taken every one will say I rest upon God there is sufficient in him to make me happy But how shall I come to have interest in God The well is deepe where is the bucket what is the meanes to relieve my soule and to supply my wants Beleeve in me saith Christ let the soule looke on Christ immediatly as the Mediator betweene God and us this is that I should have spoken of and a word of exhortation to the purpose You will say what is it to beleeve in Christ. The first thing that is done in this is receiving Christ upon Gods offer of him God offers Christ in all his offices as King Priest and Prophet as a Lord and Saviour to the Church and hee would have men take whole Christ or no part of him Now if the soule answer to this offer of God he shall be my Lord to rule me my Prophet to instruct me my Saviour upon whom my soule shall rest for salvation this is the answer of the soule to God this is the receiving Now you must know there must be a right propounding and a right apprehending of Christ. You must know first what it is to receive Christ as a Prophet as one that will instruct us in the truths that are contrarie to naturall principles in the corrupt understanding of man he will leade you now in the way of the Wildernesse in by pathes in crooked rough wayes he will teach you to deny your selves The first rule that he gives is for a man to deny himselfe as if he should say that is the first worke hee died to pull downe all the old frame and to set it up againe For what is the understanding of man but a frame of false principles for the naturall minde of man it is nothing but a habit a heape a pile of false principles that every man perisheth by the delusion of his owne understanding now the first worke of Christ is to dissolve this frame and to blot out these rules wherby men walke when they are led by sence and naturall reason and observation of the world now these must all be taken away and a man must resolve all now into the authority of Christs speaking A word of Christ is enough against a thousand examples in the world and against a thousand reasons of a mans owne corrupt heart This is to receive Christ as a Prophet when I will not walke by the rules of my deluded reason and corrupt minde after which I was carried before but the Word of Christ shall carry mee in all things here is obedience of faith in matter of Doctrine And so to receive Christ as a King would you know what a King he is hee is a holy King whose lawes are all right the Law of Faith is a righteous Law and the obedience of Faith must be obedience to righteousnesse that is righteous obedience wherein a man labours more and more to perfit holines in the feare of God Hence comes all that care to mortifie corruptions and to frame the inward man to conforme to those rules that are taught by Christ as a Prophet the soule receiving Christ as a King gives it self to obey all the rules and directions that Christ in his Word as a Prophet hath left and this it doth in faith that is looking upon his authoritie that hath commanded it for that is properly an act of faith when things are done upon this ground upon the authoritie of him that hath revealed it I beleeve it to bee his will because hee hath revealed it and it is my dutie because it is his will Thus the soule resolves all to Christ as a Prophet and a King And then it rests on him as a Priest and comforts it selfe in Spirit now for a man when he wants comfort hee must not seperate the offices of Christ and say I will rest on Christ as a Priest these are errours and delusions Shall a man be saved by a halfe Faith by a peece of Faith To looke on Christ in one office and to thinke to bee saved onely by that without concurring and concomitating in the other offices Beloved as Christ is intire in all his offices so the faith of a beleever is intire looking upon all his offices therefore wee must receive him as King Priest and Prophet that hee may be wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption that he may bee all to the beleeving soule for present and for future happinesse else if Christ bee not all he will be nothing men must not please themselves to looke upon one office of Christ and to neglect all the rest When this is done come to the maine matter the soule is beaten off as when a man is in a Boate getting to land after shipwracke there comes a storme and beats him backe againe when he thinkes hee is even at the shore but still hee takes hold on the Boate and keepes his eye upon the shore So the soule when it comes to this to be beate off againe still it keepes the shore in its sight and directs it selfe towards Christ that should bee the end and ayme of all a mans indeavours the true object of faith I beseech you consider this point But a man will say though I be carefull to receive him I speake of weake Christians or of strong Christians that are weakened by temptations Alas what hope have I in Christ Christ is in heaven and I am upon the earth Did Christ when he was upon the earth so tender the trouble of his servants at that time as that when hee himselfe was to suffer yet he tooke care to comfort them be not you troubled but beleeve in me As if hee should say though I bee exposed to a world of trouble and at this time my soule is heavy unto death yet be not troubled was he so carefull when he was in his owne troubles on earth to comfort them and will he not now be so in heaven when hee is in blessednesse
vertues and speciall effects that faith workes in the soule which will inable us to goe through great tryalls and therefore wee should labour to get this grace of faith into our soules First faith gets assurance Secondly breeds submittance Thirdly dependance and lastly conveyance First faith gets assurance it can eye God as our God though the stormes be very great yet God can quiet it When a man though hee sees his outward comfort dead yet Faith sees it in the hand of a living God Faith assures the soule God will put an end to the tryall though there bee a changeablenesse in the outward condition yet there is safetie in God and setlednesse in God Though a man may looke with a dull eye upon his losse yet if hee can looke upon God with the eye of faith as his God the absence of a poore creature cannot so much trouble him as the presence of a gracious and a glorious God can comfort and support him Secondly submittance is another effect of faith which faith workes in the soule our outward condition is subject to many changes and many times we meet with them and we are hindered in our comforts and naturally we grow impatient and murmure and quarrell with Gods providence but now there is a vertue in faith it fashions the heart and the mind to the condition faith makes a man submit to God in all estates to make us stoope to our burthen it is the Lord saith Ely 1 Sam. 3. let him doe what seemes good unto him and in the 39. Psalme saith David I was dumbe and opened not my mouth because the Lord did it Observe this unbeliefe makes a man dumbe and faith made David dumbe Zachary because he beleeved not the word that the Angell spake hee was dumbe and David because he beleeved the word of the Lord he was dumbe unbeleefe procures dumbnesse as a judgement from God but faith makes a Christian dumbe from complaining it quiets the soule in silence from murmuring against God it doth not make a person dumbe as not to pray and to praise God but dumbe in complaint Good is the word of the Lord saith Faith A third effect of Faith is dependance it will make a man trust God in frowning dayes though hee kill me yet will I trust in him saith Faith we can never lose any outward comfort but Faith can find a better in God though an outward losse may come yet Faith can make it up in God in the want of an outward comfort it will trust God Lord what waite I for saith David truly my hope is in thee Though the Christian estate may be at some time monefull yet at no time it is hopelesse A fourth effect that Faith workes is conveyance it can convey something to inable the soule to beare it up in all tryalls as Faith is an active grace to inable the soule to the performance of duty so Faith is a passive grace to strengthen the soule to suffer and beare affliction To yoâ—… saith the Apostle it is given not onely to beleeve but also to suffer for his Name Faith will call in strength enough to beare affliction wee see many times a poore Christian by the strength of faith is able to beare a great losse and undergoe a great tryall God is pleased to exercise a Christian with great affliction but Faith carries the soule along through all remember this Faith beares Gods tryalls with Gods strength there is a power in Faith which exceeds all outward crosses and losses Faith drawes strength from thâ—…â—…mise for there is no crosse nor affliction but Faith can find a support in the promise of deliverance Faith makes a man see the affliction as it were come out of the hand of the Lord out of the hand of Mercy Faith can convey comfort to the soule in affliction by making it see the chastisement delivered from the hand of a wise and loving Father that our chastisement is for our profit for our future advantage and that this is sent for our personall good if thou couldest get but a sensible denyall of thy selfe and by faith see all things measured out by the Lord this would make us with patience take from God what hee imposes upon us Faith will make a man conquer himselfe it will silence all murmuring and make the Soule beare its crosse with patience FINIS THE PRIVILEDGE OF THE FAITHFVLL OR THE JOYNT-INHERITANCE OF ALL BELEEVERS GAL. 3. 9. So then they which be of Faith are blessed with faithfull Abraham ACT. 2. 39. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are a-farre off even as many as the Lord our God shall call LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 163â—… THE PRIVILEDGE OF THE FAITHFVLL OR THE IOYNT-INHERITANCE OF ALL BELEEVERS SERMON XXXIII 1. PET. 3. 7. As heires together of the grace of life TO let passe all by passages you have in this Text the priviledge of Women which is the very same with that of Men especially in relation to the greatest priviledge that belongeth to either of them The very priviledge it selfe as at the first view of the Text may appeare to you affordeth a fit Theame for such an occasion as this is which is the solemnization of the Funerall of a Grave pious and prudent Matron who was indeed while she lived a Mother in Israel in the Church of God who in her life-time testified much love to the Saints of God and in that respect I may say deserved now shee is taken away this respect of Gods Saints and children which by you is now shewed to her in accompanying her to her Bed of rest The forenamed words of my Text doth branch it selfe forth into two parts One setteth out the priviledge it selfe The other the partakers thereof The Priviledge therein you may observe two points First the kind of it Life Secondly the ground of it Grace The partakers of this priviledge are set forth in a compounded Article Ioynt-heires Co-heires heires together having relation to Women The simple consideration of the Word shewes the right they have to the forenamed priviledge they are heires The compound shewes the extent of it Co-heires one with another Men and Women heires together of the grace of life That yet you may a little more distinctly discerne the scope of the Apostle in this Text in a word note the inference of it upon that which goeth before or the connection of it therewith Lift up therefore your eyes but a little higher to the words going before and you may observe the Apostle giving a direction to men to honour Women notwithstanding they are the weaker vessels Vessells they are therefore capable of that which God shall bee pleased to infuse into them his grace they are weake vessells so are men also they are earthen vessells these are the weaker these comparatively may bee said to bee as glassie vessells and yet notwithstanding you have a common saying that
your selves with these things And particularly concerning the Female sex because the Apostle here applieth it to them and saith of them as well as of men that they are heires Co-heires of the same inheritance this therefore is to be applied to them for when the Apostle makes distinction of outward conditions in Gal. 3. 28. hee putteth in this Male and Female and of these and those hee saith all are one in Christ no difference for the Female at first were made after the same Image that the Male were Hee made them Male and Female in his owne Image Gen. 1. 27. Both sorts have the same Saviour and are Redeemed by the same price A woman said My soule rejoyceth in God my Saviour they are both sanctified by the same Spirit the Apostle saith that when an unbeleeving Husband is knit to a beleeving Wife the husband is sanctified by the wife as well as in the other case the Wife is sanctified by the Husband And this my brethren giveth a checke to the undue the unjust censure that many doe give to this weaker vessell that this Sex is as it were the imperfection of nature and I know not what I will not stand upon it as most unworthy the confutation But for the Sex it selfe it is a particular consolation against that matter of griefe which it might conceive through Eves first sinne not onely in sinning her selfe but in taking Sathans part to tempt her Husband whereupon followed subjection to the Man and likewise paine in travell and bringing forth of children But notwithstanding saith the Apostle of that Sex they shall bee saved if they continue in faith and charitie and holinesse with sobrietie So that you see they have a right too And the truth is that God hath graciously dealt with them in making them the meanes of bringing forth the principall ground of this right of the one and of the other which is the Lord of life the Saviour of the world who was borne of a Woman Now this Sex is to comfort themselves in this that notwithstanding there bee some differences in outward condition yet they are made partakers of the greatest and best priviledge alike joynt heires of the grace of God I find but two things that in Scripture are exempted from that Sex two priviledges one to have jurisdiction over the Husband another publikely to teach in the Church of God But yet notwithstanding marke a kind of recompence made for this The former is but particular betweene Husband and Wife but in lieu thereof a Woman may reigne over many men yea over Nations Queenes shall bee thy nursing mothers saith the Prophet Isaiah to the Church And for the later to recompence that they may bee and have beene endued with the gift of prophesie so that wee see how God doth every manner of way incourage them One word more concerning men and so I will conclude this point Namely admonition to them answerably to respect the other Sex as those that are Co-heires with them and therefore while they live according to their places according to their gifts according to the bond of relation that is betweene them to respect them and to shew the same when they are dead by a decent comely Funerall and maintaining their credit and giving of them their due praises Thus much for the Text. And now my brethren give mee leave I beseech you to steppe a little further and to speake a word concerning this object before mee Howsoever I am not over-forward at any time to speake much on such occasions yet at this time I suppose I should doe much wrong to the partie in concealing those things that are meete to be made knowne to the honour of that God who bestowed those excellent endowments upon her and also injurie to those that knew her I doe not feare to be accounted a flatterer by any that heare mee and if any else shall imagine any such thing it may it must needs bee their envie in that they censure what they know not My feare is lest those that did know her should thinke that wrong is done to her by that little that shall be spoken for enough cannot be spoken of her You see here a blacke Herse before you a body in it deprived of life and within these few dayes animated by a divine soule now as we have just cause to beleeve glorified in heaven The body of Mistris I. R. in regard of Mariage being the Daughter of Master I. B. a Gentleman in C. It seemed that as God endowed her with excellent parts every way so shee had good education Shee was married to Master I. R. a grave prudent man that lived in the fore-named place who had beene twice Major there and long continued Alderman still relyed upon when any matter of employment was to bee performed and therefore oft chosen to be a Burgesse of the Parliament out of that Corporation In the beginning of her mariage shee attending to the Word as Lydia did God was pleased to open her heart and that specially under the Ministrie of a reverend Pastour now some yeares with God faithfull painfull powerfull in his place while he lived who yet liveth in the many workes hee published in his life time I say by his Ministrie being wrought upon she wonderfully improved the grace that was so wrought in her and used all meanes for the growth thereof by continuall applying her selfe to the publike ministrie of the Word conscionably on the Lords day frequently also on other dayes both in that Citie and in this also whither she came oftentimes upon sundrie imployments both while her Husband lived and likewise since she hath beene a Widow which hath beene about the space of five yeares Now I say as shee did thus helpe on the growth of grace by this publike meanes so also by private diligently reading the Word not contenting her selfe with a coursorie reading it over by taske as some doe but shee had a Paper booke by her and in reading would note downe particular points note speciall duties that belonged to such and such persons to Magistrates to Ministers to Husbands to Wives to Masters to servants Generall duties that belonged to Christians as they were Christians and that in such a manner as if so bee they had beene the Common places of some young Divine And here by the way let me tell you what my selfe have seene of an Alderman of this Citie some while dead who left behind him Volumes of bookes written with his owne hand his manner was first he would reade and after that he would walke up and downe and meditate upon what he read and write downe the summe and particulars of it as he conceived by which meanes hee made himselfe excellently skilfull as in Divine so in humane learning Thus did this grave Matron hereby she came to much knowledge shee gathered also many signes whereby she had evidence of the truth of grace and
there yet remaine divers such heads noted by her with her owne hand signes of Grace signes of the truth of it of the growth of it of the effects of it meanes to grow in grace c. An excellent course Thus she shewed pietie in reading of the word of God the like shee did in prayer hearing others performe that dutie in her Familie but specially when shee was both husband and wife both master and mistris Death making a division betweene her deare Husband and her selfe shee used to pray her selfe and those that heard her and have given testimonie thereof admired her gifts that way Frequent she was as appeared in her often retyring her selfe to her Closet in her constant and secret devotion yea also shee tooke occasion of much fasting specially when shee heard of the troubles of the Church The cause of the Church much affected her either in matter of rejoycing or griefe shee continued it till her dying day and still her heart was upon the peace of the Church praying for it As thus she exercised her selfe in this holy manner so shee did likewise wonderfully respect those that were the Ministers of God Amongst many others I have heard long agoe that worthy Minister before mentioned from whom I have received most of what I have now related speake much of her and of her worthy Husband in this respect The feet of those that brought the glad tydings of salvation were beautifull to her And as shee was carefull to testifie her respect to them so shee her selfe gained no little recompence thereby for shee was still asking them questions still desiring to have such and such doubts resolved by them As thus her pietie was manifested so likewise was her Charitie constantly every weeke giving reliefe to the Poore ready upon all occasions that she was moved to to open her hands and to open them wide and that againe and againe not wearied in doing good Sober and grave she was in her cariage and attyre and therein a good example to the younger sort And thus shee continued even to her dying day full of sweet meditations upon her death-bed my selfe partaked of some of them Being asked what evidences she had for her salvation she answered good whether she doubted not shee replyed no though shee were of a tender conscience yet she had laid such a foundation as her faith remained firme Shee sweetly ended her dayes with prayers of her owne with desire of the prayers of Ministers still as they came to her for as she hearkened to and desired the benefit of their counsell when she lived so she desired the comfort of their prayers now in her death thus I say with a sound testimonie of her faith and of her good estate she ended her dayes and we may be assured that she is in the Number of those that are Co-heires of the grace of life I remember the Philosophers make mention of a word which containes in it a kind of collection or combination of all in one I may say of her that the graces and vertues and ornaments of others seemed to be gathered together and to meet in her And so her pietie toward God resembleth her to the two pious Hanna's the one the Mother of Samuel the other the Daughter of Phanuel Her charitie resembleth her to Dorcas Her love to the Ministers of God to the Shunamite that provided a Chamber a Table and a Candlesticke for Elisha In her relation to her Husband she shewed her selfe a true Daughter of Saraah In her relation to her children which she had a Bathsheba and Eunice To others a Priscilla the Wife of Aquila ready to instruct as occasion was offered And so my brethren she hath shewed her selfe a follower of those that through faith and patience inherit the Promise It remaineth to us to set such examples before us and to bee followers of them as they have beene followers of others and as others have beene followers of Christ that so walking in their steps wee may also bee in the number of such as have the comfort of this Text to be Co-heires of the grace of life which that you may doe c. FINIS PEACE IN DEATH OR THE QUIET END OF THE RIGHTEOVS PSAL. 37. 37. Marke the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace NUMB. 23. 10. Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. PEACE IN DEATH OR THE QVIET END OF THE RIGHTEOVS SERMON XXXIV LUKE 2. 29. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy Word IN the Text it selfe to let passe other things you have First a Request and secondly a Reason upon which the Request is grounded Of each of these in order and first of the first The Request The summe whereof is That he may die Where is considerable First the disposition of the servants of God in respect of death viz. 1. A desire and longing after it 2. A care to be alwayes ready for it Secondly the warrant or guide of that desire according to thy Word Thirdly the nature and qualitie of the death of the Righteous adeâ—…e in peace Of each of these apart The point that ariseth from the first branch of the first geneâ—…all part viz. the desire and longing of the Saints for their day of death is this that The servants of God have in them a contented comfortable and willing expectation of death The rise of this Observation is obvious enough one spirit workes in all Gods servants and brings forth like effects though not alwayes in the same measure that therefore which is true in Simeon which the very first view of the words import that the comming of Death was expected and desired by him is in some degree verefied sooner or later in all that are the Lords Hereunto agrees that of Saint Paul I desire saith hee to bee dissolved c. And hee averres the same of all true beleevers viz. that they groane earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with their house which is from Heaven and that they are willing rather to bee absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. The foundation of this desire is the knowledge and right understanding of the truth of that speech of Solomon to wit that the day of death is better then the day of a mans birth They have learned to know that the day of death to Gods servants is the day of freedome from all miseries and of entrance into eternall happinesse The miseries of this life which even the best are subject unto are many Losse of goods losse of credit losse of friends aches paines diseases fevers consumptions c. bondage under originall corruption and the fruits thereof as unbeliefe pride of heart ignorance covetousnesse distrustfulnesse hatred lust c. the buffetings and temptations of Sathan societie with the wicked all these miseries even
these things shew that thou art Gods servant and that by Death the Lord will draw thee to a place of rest If these thoughts which I have now named bee strangers to thy heart and thou dost not love to trouble thy selfe to studie about Death it is an evill signe The servants of God are not wont to be so secure in matters of this qualitie And thus much for the first particular in the first generall part the desire in the godly of death the second is their care for it the point thence is that It is the care of Gods servants to bee alwayes so prepared for death as at what instant soever the Lord shall send it they may bee comfortably ready to entertaine it So much may easily be gathered out of Simeons words here Nunc dimittis Now let thy servant depart He did not as it were take a day over in which and against which to be provided as though he should have said Lord now will I settle my selfe to make provision for my last end but even now Lord at this very instant if thou wilt Death hath beene my ordinary meditation and if thou wilt now call me home to thee I am ready to depart As in the former point I shewed you how Saint Pauls longing agreed with Simeons Oh let thy servant depart saith Simeon I desire to bee dissolved saith Paul So here I will shew you that there was the same care in respect of Death in Saint Paul as in Simeon Now if thou wilt saith Simeon I am now ready to bee offered saith Saint Paul And else-where I die daily I am ever thinking upon death and daily making provision for my end This was holy Iobs mind All the dayes of my appointed time will I waite till my change come there was a continuall expectation So teach us to number our dayes prayeth Moses that wee may apply our hearts to wisedome And what wisedome did hee wish hee might apply his heart unto but this a holy care to make provision for another world seeing in this there was no continuance The same in effect the Authour to the Hebrewes professeth touching himselfe and those that were like to him that they had here no continuing Citie but did seeke one to come Wee know saith he here is no abiding wee dwell in tents which must remove in houses of clay which will be broken therefore wee desire to bee ever ready for that place which is of more perpetuitie And so much may bee gathered from that which is upon record concerning Ioseph of Arimathea he did not onely make ready his Tombe in his life-time but in his garden his place of solace and delight and how could so good a man so often thinke on death without labouring and caring to be ever provided for the same and therefore our Saviour Christ compares his faithfull servants unto those which daily wait for their Masters comming Now the reason which so much prevailes with the godly in this particular and which ought to be of sufficient force with every one is first the certaintie and uncertaintie of death Morte nihil certius As sure as Death is an ordinary Proverbe What man is hee that liveth and shall not see death saith the Psalmist That all must die it is Heavens decree and cannot be revoked The thing it selfe we see is most certaine yet for some circumstances most uncertaine for first Tempus est incertum No man knowes when he shall die in the night or in the day in Winter or in Summer in youth or in his latter age Secondly Locus est incertus None know where they shall die whether at home or abroad in his bed or in the field who knowes but that he may die in the Church of God even while he is asleepe at the Word Thirdly Mortis genus est incertum No man can determine how hee shall die whether suddenly or by a lingring sicknesse whether violently or by a naturall course These things the servants of God know full well and seriously weigh the same and that makes them to make conscience of continuall preparation that whensoever or wheresoever or howsoever they die they may with comfort commend their soules into the hand of God as into the hand of a faithfull Creatour Secondly they know the miserie of being taken by Death unprepared put case a man should die as Ishbosheth lying upon his bed at noone or as Iobs children while they are feasting or that a man like the rich man in the Gospell should have his breath taken from him at the very instant having made no provision for another world what hope can there be that such a one should be saved They know thirdly that the time of sicknesse is the most unfit time for this businesse of preparation the senses are then so taken up with the paine of sicknesse that a man cannot thinke seriously upon ought else and besides it is not in our owne power to turne to God when we will ordinarily God forgets those in sicknesse that forget him in health And it is commonly seene that that preparation for Death that begins but in sicknesse is as languishing and faint as is the partie from whom it comes And although Vera poenitentia bee nunquam sera yet sera poenitentia est rarò vera Though I say true repentance bee never to late yet late repentance is seldome true when men leave their sinnes because they can continue to practise them no longer what thankes have they or what can that repentance be These things worke with Gods servants to studie to be ever ready for the Lord not to delay preparation but to seeke continually to be provided My Exhortation hence shall begin with that speech of Moses Oh that men would be wise to understand this and that they would consider their later end I would there were a heart in us to entertaine this doctrine in our best thoughts I remember the Complaint of old that men had made a Covenant with Death and were at agreement with Hell Death indeed will make truce with no man but here is the meaning Evill men perswade themselves that they are in no danger of hell or of the grave Death will not come yet thinketh the oldest man and when it comes I hope I shall doe well enough thinketh the most godlesse man Thus men couzen themselves with their owne fancies and so Death steales upon them at unawares and becomes Gods Sergeant to arrest them and to carry them away to eternall condemnation Who amongst us is able to say truly and upon good ground as Simeon Now Lord if thou wilt now command Death to seize upon mee welcome shall it be unto me I am even now ready to receive it How many are there that are extraordinary ignorant in the meanes how to escape the sting of Death How many extreamly secure that never in their lives yet thought earnestly
upon this how they may die with comfort and end their dayes in peace How many prophane ones that set light by Death being apt to say like those Epicures Edamus c. Let us eate and drinke for to morrow wee shall die How many that doe put all to a desperate adventure God made us and hee must save us and wee shall doe as well as please God and there is an end How many are there whose hearts albeit they be in the house of God and in his presence are notwithstanding fraughted with malice with envie with worldlinesse with disdaine with secret scorning repining at the Word which they heare with wearisomenesse with spirituall sleepinesse and securitie You that are such as I have now said thinke in your consciences what would you die if God should now stop your breath and ascyte you by Death presently to appeare before his Majestie being thus full of ignorance of securitie of presumption of unsanctified of vicious of malicious of covetous thoughts could you find in your hearts to say Lord now let us depart Sure wee could not but Death must needs be to us as it is said to be to the wicked Rex terrorum the King of terrours if it should come upon us and find us in this case And yet what know wee how soone how suddenly wee may be overtaken some of us drop away daily some young some old some lie sicke longer some lesser time and how soone it will be our turne wee cannot tell Our breath is in our nostrills wee are all as grasse If the breath of the Lord blow upon us we doe suddenly wither as the flower of the field and returne agaâ—…e to our first Earth Why will we not labour to be now ready sith it may be alwayes truly said We may now depart either while we are here or in our way home or in our beds or at our meat Who can truly say to himselfe I am sure I shall not die this houre It may be now thou wilt demand of me What shall I doe that I may be ready To insist upon particulrs would be too long onely therefore in a word The best preparation for death is are formed life He that lives religiously cannot but die preparedly And it is a thousand to one if a wicked liver make a gracious end The Scripture makes mention of a double Death and so likewise of a twofold Resurrection the first Death is the death of the body which is the separation of it from the soule The second death is of the soule which is the separation of it from God The first Resurrection is the rising from the Death of sinne to a new life the second is that which shall be of the body out of the Grave at the day of Judgement Now what saith the Scripture Blessed and holy is hee that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no power Wouldest thou then bee freed from the second Death hell and destruction when thou art dead Now that thou art yet alive labour to have a part in the first Resurrection Note what Saint Paul saith of the wanton widow that shee is dead whilst shee lives So he that lives in the pleasures of sinne and in the wayes of his owne heart and after his owne lust hee is dead in soule though hee be alive in body and if hee seeke not to come out of this grave eternall death shall be his portion Well then wouldest thou prepare for Death wouldest thou be able alwayes to say Lord now now I am ready labour to know God our of his Word that is eternall life Labour to feele Christ live and reigne in thee by his Spirit labour to renounce every sinne doe not goe on in any knowne sinne against conscience renew thy repentance daily and still survey the state of thy soule that wickednesse may not get dominion over thee Let Death come when it will though the Lord should so visit thee that thou shouldest drop downe suddenly yet it shall not find thee unprepared thou hast a part in the first Resurrection there is no feare of the second Death But if thou wilt cherish thy heart in evil thou wilt goe on in thy ignorance in thy carelesse worship of God in thy prophaning the Sabbath in thy whoredome oppression malice drunkennesse excesse voluptuousnesse thou makest ready for hell and it is not thy Lord save me or I cry God mercy c. that shall serve thy turne I will tell thee who thou art like unto even to a man appointed after a yeare or two to be burned and in the meane space must carry a sticke daily to the heape so thou heapest up wrath against thy selfe and makest thy score so great that when Death comes thou shalt not know how to be prepared And thus have I finished the first generall part of my Text touching the disposition of the godly in respect of Death I proceed now in a word to the second the ground rule or warrant of this desire and preparation for death according to thy word as if Simeon had said this desire that I have now to end my dayes proceeds not from any carnall discontentment because I am now old and can take no great comfort in worldly things but the ground of it is thy Word and Promise thou Lord hast revealed unto thy servant that I should not die before I had seene my Saviour This word is now fulfilled and the sweetnesse thereof hath given mee that encouragement that I doe even long to bee dissolved and to be united unto thee Or againe thus Oh Lord this care that I have had to provide thus for Death and to be alwayes in a readinesse it hath not come from my selfe nature never taught it mee but thy Word hath instructed mee If I had not proceeded according to thy Word I should never have knowne how to have prepared my selfe to the time of dissolution This is the meaning of the words and so the Doctrine is plain viz. that Men ignorant in Gods word can never take comfort in death nor bee truly prepared to undergoe it This is plaine if we consider the Exposition which I have already given of that part of Simeons speech It is a generall Rule that of our Saviour Yee erre not knowing the Scripture A man ignorant in the Scripture can never rightly performe any spirituall dutie Hence was that of David Thy testimonies saith he are my delight and my counsellours If any matter came in hand that concerned his soule straight to the word of God went hee to know thence how to doe it as a man for his Lease or conveyance goeth to a Counsellour for direction So againe he confesses that if Gods Law had not beene his delight hee should have perished in his afflictions And so no comfort no true quiet in any trouble much more at Death without the guidance and information of the Word The
assurance that the sting of Death is plucked out that Gods wrath is appeased that sinne is pardoned that Heaven gate is opened whence shall wee fetch these but from the Scripture the directions for a holy life which is the best preparation for Death where shall we find them but in the Scripture Here then we see is a Caveat to all that have no will nor desire to be acquainted with the Scripture Divers thinke they should have done well enough though wee had no such Booke as we call the word of God To bee a Scripture-man is a by-word a reproach a matter of disgrace and sooner will men listen to some idle Pamphlet then to a matter of Scripture Well beguile not your soules with these vaine conceipts with your Popish and carnall imaginations I say and testifie from this place that that man or woman which careth not to be taught out of Gods booke cannot die like a Christian Who can teach thee the way to dye well but God And where doth God teach but in the Scripture If our thoughts of Death if our provision and preparation for Death be not warranted and guided by Gods word it is all in vaine Lord saith Simeon my desire of dissolution is according to thy Word my care to be prepared hath beene ordered by thy Word hee cannot die with comfort that cannot make the like profession And this may serve for the next generall part the the ground of this desire and preparation for Death it is Gods word Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart according to thy Word The third and last part followes the nature and qualitie of the death of the Righteous A departure in peace or a peaceable dismission Here are two things first a dismission secondly a dismission accompanied with peace The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated Let thy servant depart may well be Englished thus Let thy servant loose Lord free mee enlarge mee set mee at libertie Hence wee learne that The servants of God doe by Death receive a finall discharge from all manner of miserie This is evident out of the force of the phrase here used Simeon knew that so long as hee lived his soule was as it were imprisoned in his body and in it hee was held in bondage under the remnants of Originall corruption subject to the assaults and temptations of Satan in continuall and daily possibilitie to trespasse and sinne against God beside other afflictions and grievances in the body and estate but hee had withall this knowledge and understanding of the nature of Death that it was an enlargement to the soule and a freeing of it utterly and finally from all those and the like incumbrances The same may be gathered from the phrase used by Saint Paul I desire saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bee dissolved and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read the time of my departure the words shew that there comes a liberty by death to the soules of Gods servants The phrase that Saint Peter useth is worthy our observation for this purpose First hee tearmes death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the laying downe of a burden and by that meanes the soule is lightned and eased Secondly he tearmes it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a going out from a place and condition of hardship The second booke of Moses which relates the departure of the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage hath the same name Exodus As for the point it selfe namely that the death of the Righteous is to them a discharge from all miserie the Scripture beares witnesse to it Blessed said he are the dead which die in the Lord even so saith the spirit that they may rest from their labours As long as they live here they are diversly troubled when they die their labours are at an end and they are received into rest Saint Iohn tells us that in his vision he saw the soules of them that were slaine lye under the Altar Now the Altar in the time of the Law was a place of refuge and safetie and thence it appeares that by death the servants of God are eft-soones received into a place of holy securitie where there is no expectation of any further miserie They are said to be received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into Abrahams bosome into the fellowship of the same happinesse with Abraham the Father of all true beleevers The Doctrine in the first place makes against those of the Church of Rome which maintaine a place of torment even for the servants of God after this life where they must bee tryed for a time before they can enter into Rest and happinesse This place they terme Purgatorie the torment here they hold to bee unspeakable and farre surpassing any torment which the wit of man is able to devise But this place among others is sufficient to overthrow this dotage for how were death to the Righteous a dismission a loosing a freedome from miserie if there followed after it a torment of farre greater extremitie then at any time before was ever tasted of So that the death of the servants of God being as I have proved it to bee an enlargement from misery certainly the soule is not bound in any new Prison whence it must expect and await and pray for a second dismission In the next place this Doctrine makes much for the comfort of Gods servants the face of Death to the wicked is very dreadfull the day of it is to them the beginning of sorrowes their soules are instantly arrested by the damned spirits and kept in everlasting chaines of darknesse but to those that are the servants of God it is otherwise I may by way of allusion to the phrase of my Text compare their day unto that which happened unto Ioseph in which hee was brought out of prison to bee Ruler over all the land of Egypt So is their death unto them a day of Bailement out of prison a day in which all teares shall be wiped away In which they shall have beauty for ashes and the oyle of gladnesse for the spirit of heavinesse and the long white robes of Christs Righteousnesse by which they shall be presented blamelesse unto God That day shall be to them even as was the day of escape to the Jewes a feast and a good day in which they shall see God as hee is and know him as they are knowne of him But hapily thou maist say how shall I know that the day of Death is the day of dissolution and this kind of dismission A very necessary quaere indeed this is for every man almost is ready to challenge to himselfe a part of this happinesse and it is a matter presumed upon by many which shall never enjoy it I will therefore give you one certaine marke by which wee may know assuredly that the day of our death shall be to us a day of enlargement and of finall discharge
shee desired him to be a carefull Father over them all shee prayed to God devoutly to send a blessing both upon him and them Much shee could not then speake because of her paines that now began still to increase upon her When shee was in the extremitie of her labour he being absent as it was fitting she sent downe to him to desire him to pray to God on her behalfe that he would ease her of those grievous paines and preserve her in the great paine and perill of Child-birth The propitious God it seemed heard him and granted his request for presently to the thinking of the standers by shee was well delivered Not satisfied with this having received so great a blessing from God shee sent downe againe to desire him to give God thankes for her safe deliverie But God that had determined to take out of this miserable life quickly turned that hope of the standers by into a feare and suddenly shee changed which perceiving as long as shee was able to speake shee cried Lord Jesus have mercy on my soule Lord have mercie on mee Lord pitty mee poore miserable wretch and when she could not speake shee held up her hands to heaven as desirous to make her peace with that God whom shee knew shee had highly offended I make no question but God hath translated her from the valley of teares to the Mount Sion of blessednesse whether God of his infinite mercie bring us all FINIS THE DEATH OF SINNE AND LIFE OF GRACE EPHES. 2. 1. And you hath hee quickned that were dead in Sinnes and Trespasses LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. THE DEATH OF SINNE AND LIFE OF GRACE SERMON XXXVII ROM 6. 11. Likewise reckon ye also your selves to bee dead unto sinne but alive unto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. THe intent of this Chapter is to take off an abuse of the Doctrine of the Gospell which publisheth the free Grace of God to great sinners The Apostle had sayd in the latter end of the 20. verse of the former Chapter where sinne abounded Grace did much more abound From hence some did inferre that therefore under the Gospell they might take liberty to sinne the more their sinnes were and the greater they were the more they should occasion God to manifest his abundant Grace upon them This the Apostle answers in this Chapter and he answers it two waies First by way of detestation Secondly by way of confutation By way of detestation in the first verse and part of the second What shall we say then shall we continue in sinne that Grace may abound God forbid Secondly by way of confutation the argument whereby hee confutes it is by a necessarie consequence of our justification that is our sanctification these are so inseperably united together all that are justified are sanctified And upon this ground the Apostle frames two arguments to confute this errour taken from the two parts of sanctification The first is from our mortification from the third verse to the end of the seventh and the argument runnes thus Those that are dead to sinne cannot sinne that Grace may abound but all that are in Christ are dead to sinne therefore they cannot sinne that Grace may abound Now that all that are in Christ are dead to sinne he proves by their union with Christ testified in Baptisme and by the effect of that union which is conformitie to Christ that as Christ was dead for sinne so they are dead to sinne The second argument is taken from the second part of our sanctification which is our quickning to a new life and that he handles in the 8. 9. 10. verses and that argument runnes thus Those that are quickned by Christ to newnesse of life cannot sin that Grace may abound but all that are in Christ are quickned by Christ to newnesse of life therefore they cannot sinne that Grace may abound That all that are in Christ are quickned to newnesse of life he proves in verse 8. If we be dead with Christ we beleeve that we shall live with him still by our union with Christ whereby there comes a conformity to Christ in his resurrection as well as in his death And from these premises hee inferres by way of application the conclusion that is here in the words of the Text I have now read to you likewise reckon ye also your selves dead unto sinne but alive to God through Iesus Christ our Lord. As if he should say doe not rest your selves satisfied in the bare knowledge of these things in the discourse of them in generall but bring them to particular application make the case your owne what wee say of death to sinne and of newnesse of life wee speake to you if ye be in Christ therefore you must make account of it to bee your case likewise reckon ye your selves dead to sinne but alive to God through Iesus Christ our Lord. We see now the coherence of the words with those that goe before and the maine intent and scope of the Apostle in the Chapter wherein we might note divers things The first is out of the very connexion that by vertue of the union of beleevers with Christ there is in them a conformitie to Christ. They are made like unto him he had sayd before that Christ dyed and rose againe likewise reckon ye your selves like him in this Every one that is in Christ is conformable to Christ and made like him Then againe secondly wee might note hence this also that Rectified and sanctified reason ever concludes to God and for God Reckon yee make account conclude this so the word signifieth reason thus conclude thus as it is used Rom. 3. 28. Wee conclude saith the Apostle where the same word is used That a man is justified by Faith without the workes of the Law So conclude this rest on this conclusion do not make it a matter of conjecture and opinion onely but when you consider things wisely when you weigh things seriously you shall see great reason to inferre those things from these premisses that God would have you inferre Therefore whatsoever reasoning is against the Word whatsoever disputes the mindes of men uphold against any truth in Scripture it is but the reasoning of corrupt reason If reason were sanctified it would conclude as 2 Cor. 5. We judge if one dyed for all then they that live should not live to themselves but to him that dyed for them When men come to deale judiciously and advisedly when they come to conclude of things wisely they will conclude then that what use the Word and the Gospell would have them make of any truth that they will make of it Likewise reckon ye judge thus Thirdly we might note hence thus much also that The best and most profitable knowledge of the Scriptures is in applying it to a mans owne case and person and condition Reckon ye also your selves saith the Apostle make account of thus much that
taken from our union with Christ We are planted into Christ sayth the Apostle Rom. 6. 4. 5. 6. By being planted with Christ there growes a similitude betweene Christ and us Wee are baptized and buried by baptisme sayth the Apostle into his death and wee are raised and quickned sayth hee by the resurrection of Christ that like as it was with Christ â—…o it is with us Hee was dead and raysed so wee are first dead to sinne and then alive to God Secondly it must be so from the nature of contraries for these two things are contrarie one to another there is an immediate opposition betweene them so as there must bee a removing of the one if there bee a possession of the other and there must bee first a removing of the one before the other can be in the soule As you see in sicknesse and in health there must first bee a removing of sicknesse before the bodie bee in a right state of health And as in life and death this is the order they are brought first from death to life and then one necessarily followes the other as life necessarily followes upon the removall of death and health upon the removall of sicknesse Thirdly it must bee so or else if both these were not and in this order wrought what difficultie were there in the life of a Christian what singular thing were there in a Christian above any man in the world Every man in the World doth outward actions if there were not such a change as from death to life there were no difference at all where were the difficultie The Scripture sayth The way is narrow and straight that leades to life and few there bee that finde it what narrownesse or straightnesse were there in the way to life if there were no more but thus that a man might settle upon some actions of Religion and so bee effectually changed If this were all what great matter were there in Religion what need Agrippa stand out in the mid-way what need hee be but halfe perswaded to bee a Christian hee might easily be perswaded to be a Christian if he might hold his Heathenisme and be a Christian too What need Faelix tremble to heare Paul dispute of righteousnesse and judgement to come if hee might be unrighteous and a Christian too What need the young man be sorrie when Christ bade him sell all and follow him if he might hold all hee had and be worldly affected and be a Christian too what need any of the labours of a Christian to what use were a power of godlines spoken of in Scripture What powerfull matter were there in Religion if a man might hold his sinnes and yet bee a Christian and a beleever and be in Christ too a drunkard and yet bee saved a prophaner of the Sabbath and yet bee in Christ what great matter were there it were nothing to bee a Christian nay who would not bee one What need Saint Paul expose himselfe to such watchings and fastings and sufferings if hee might have gone on in the way of the World and yet bee in Christ too No beleved it is another-gates matter to bee a Christian then for a man to hold his old customes and waies and courses and yet hope to bee saved too Let no man deceive himselfe â—…th this the matter of Christianitie it is a laborious worke Religion is a very serious thing A man that indeed will bee Religious hee must follow Christs rule first deny himselfe and take up his Crosse and follow him what need a man deny himselfe if hee might hold his sinnes and yet follow Christ Well know this the ground is cleare there must bee a turning from sin as well as a turning to God if a man have union with Christ. Now to conclude with a word of application First if it bee so It serves to convince us this day in the presence of God the multitude of us now before the Lord to heare the Word and professe our union with Christ and yet there is no such matter If wee were united with Christ there would bee living to God by vertue of that union with Christ. It is living to God in the course of our life that gives us comfort of our union with Christ. Deceive not your selves wee may say of many as the Lord sayth of Sardis Thou hast a name to live but art dead There are abundance that have a name to live but are dead A man would wonder at it that wee should say to a Congregation of so many people that there were few alive among them all that the most whose eyes are now upon the Minister and whose eares are open to the Word yet they are but dead they are not alive though they walke and though they speake and doe the actions of a naturall life they live naturally but are dead spiritually they have a name to live but are dead The Lord tells Ieremie Ierem. 5. That there was such want of good men in Ierusalem that hee might goe up and downe the Streets of Ierusalem and not finde a man A man would wonder that the Lord should use such an expression Hee might have said hee should not finde a good man a just man a godly man but not finde a man sayth hee as if hee were not worthie the name of a man in the Streets of Ierusalem that was not appliable and conformable to Gods will That a man should goe in the Streets of London and not finde a man that hee should goe into Moore-fields on the Sabbath day and see a multitude of dead Ghosts walking there that hee should goe in the Streets and see a multitude of dead persons sitting at their doores that hee should goe up and down to the houses of men and see a multitude of dead creatures talke of worldly things on the Lords day a man would wonder hee should finde so many dead men eating and drinking and talking and walking and yet dead still The Text makes it cleare here If wee bee not dead unto sinne wee are not alive to God there is no being alive to God except a man be first dead to sin Shall wee come to the tryall Beloved there wee shall finde among the many of you that heare the Word many are dead in sinne What meanes the prophanation of the Sabbath what meanes the great neglect of Familie-duties Come to your houses there bee not the prayers of living men there there bee not the meditations and conferences of men that are spiritually alive in your Families and shall wee thinke you are alive Come to men in their shops and dealings and see them dead in their worldlinesse and covetousnesse and shall we say they are alive to God Alas beloved goe to the particulars of mens lives you shall heare them speak the words of dead men spiritually dead in swearing and cursing and reviling and blaspheming and bitternesse and yet shall wee say that they are alive Looke upon
be as a naile fastned in a sure place and thinkest thou shalt never bee moved from this condition Thou knowest not how soone God may turne his hand upon thee when thou maist bee as Iob was on the dunghill deprived of all comforts What will be thy consolation then that when thou hadst wealth thou didst good with it It will adde to thy affliction that thou hadst great possessions and didst neither glorifie God nor doe good to men So much for the opening of the point I come to apply it First then it serves for the reproofe of many to whom God hath given the price in their hands But they want hearts to embrace the opportunities of doing good They pretend to doe good and have a mind inclining to good But they have no heart to take the opportunities and advantages of times and meanes which God hath bestowed on them for the same purpose they want hearts to embrace those Remember what Solomon saith Say not to thy neighbour goe and come againe to morrow if it bee now in thine hands to give him The Lord will not only have a man not denie to doe good but besides that hee would not have him delay to doe good put him not from thee till to morrow if his helpe remaine in thine hands to day yea though thou have a purpose to doe it to morrow if it be in thy power to day doe it and deferre it not till to morrow But what shall we say to those who doe not only delay their purposes but by protracting lose their purposes There is nothing more ordinarie then in some cases for men not only to purpose truly but to promise heartily to God that they will performe these and these acts of mercy if God will dâ—…iver them from such feares and dangers as they at such times are incompast with A man that endures extremitie of weather in a tempestuous Sea if happily hee may attaine the land in safetie a man that is diseased with sicknesse if now he may recover his health againe or one that suffers imprisonment if he may procure his libertie or a man that is in feare of the losse of his estate by the meanes of some unhappy casualtie if now hee may escape that losse hee will bestow a great deale on God and on the servants of God nay hee promises and vowes unto God in his extremitie But how many of those promises as well as those other purposes come to nothing they have libertie they receive health they enjoy safetie and have the full fruition of all their desires but alas how short come their vowes of peformance not one of many of them but turnes God away without his bargaine Remember how the Lord taxeth the people of Israel In the day of their distresse and the Lord reckons up divers and sundrie troubles they were in then they spake good words to God they would cleave to him and promised to doe thus and thus But thus saith the Text They flattered the Lord with their lippes and were false in the Covenant with God Is not it so beloved with many of us Oh that your hearts might smite you this day before the Lord for many purposes and promises that you have made of doing this or that for the glorifying of God and the discharge of your dutie One man hath promised restitution of unjust gaine another to become more liberall and bountifull towards others And the Lord hath waited weeke after weeke moneth after moneth and yeare after yeare and yet neverthelesse you continue the same men either unsensible or carelesse to accomplish your promise to God or rendring unto him his due That is the first Use. Secondly let it stirre up every one of us to a care of his dutie of embracing opportunities And when wee perswade you to take opportunities wee would draw you a degree higher not only to take them but to seeke them for how shall a man obtaine the advantage of taking opportunities if he first seeke them not and therefore we perswade you to that Wee see Abraham sitting in the dore of his Tent that hee might observe opportunities of doing good hee stayed not till the men knocked at his doore for reliefe but tooke notice of their passing by that he might call them Wee see a good old man in Iudges 19. As hee perceives a stranger passing the streetes first takes occasion to question his wants and forbeares not till the man complaine so willing was hee to administer to his necessities and to embrace a fit opportunitie of doing him good Wee see David expressing his thankfulnesse to God and to Ionathan Hee enquires if there were any of the house of Saul that hâ—… might shew him kindnesse for Ionathans sake So should we doe Is there any of the houshold of Faith as the Text saith and as the Scripture calls them unto whom I may shew kindnesse for the Lords sake Hee hath beene better to us then Ionathan was to David and yet wee are much more backward to Retribution and expressions of thankfulnesse then David was to Ionathan But the Scriptures are plentifull in this wee need not stand on it I say this is a dutie that every one should discharge this taske not to stay and forbeare till the reports of mens wants are brought to them but to bee circumspect and seeke for all occasions that may deserve the extent of their goodnesse If you live in a Parish wherein happily there remaines not many poore yet you live in a Citie there are many there if there bee not many in the Citie you live in a Country in a Kingdome doubtles where there are many if there bee none there yet thou hast further meanes to extend thy charitie Thou livest in a Church is there any member of the Church in all the World dispersed in Bohemia in the Palatinate in any place of the earth where the poore abide enquire after them that you may know their wants and relieve their necessities I come now to the second from the determination of time to the declaration of dutie while wee have time Let us doe good I told you what this goodnesse is in the intent of the Apostle in this place Doing good is a releeving those that are in necessity for that is the Apostles meaning as we may see in the context and coherence of these words with the former So then the maine Point is no more but this It is the dutie of Gods servants as to make advantages of their times so to employ themselves in releeving of others Take it more briefly It is a doing good to releive others that is the dutie of Gods servants and it well becomes them to be employed in this work while we have time on earth and meanes to doe it to employ our selves in doing good and releiving others And there is familiar appearance of this in Scripture and by reasons also By Scripture it is commanded in precept and
more then that such a numbring as is joyned with an applying of our hearts to wisedome and the reason is because wisedome it directs to the choyce of such particular actions and works as tend to happinesse so should a man after his serious consideration of death applie himselfe to such wayes and such actions by which hee may comfortably close up his life with death it is a great point of wisedome to sute actions with their ends to fit and square the wood before wee build the house to learne and discipline a troope before they goe to battell to rigge and trimme and furnish the shippe before wee launch to sea this is preparation indeed Now this preparation for death consists in two things First in an undoing of that which unfits us to dye Brethren hee who is not fit to live hee is not yet fit to dye and that which ever masters the life will be of greatest force in death The Father spake it boldly on good grounds I am not ashamed to live nor afraid to dye now that which unfits a man to dye is sinne it makes him finde a bitter enemie of death Oh when this King of terrours shall present himselfe by thy bed side with his arrowes in his hands I meane thy sinnes hee will wound thee with infinite amazement and horrour the sting of death is sinne saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. Thou dost not prepare thy selfe for death if thou dost not undoe thy sinnes which thou hast done in thy life the which consists First in a narrow search of thy sinfulnesse both of nature and practice Secondly in a secret humbling of thy soule for them Thirdly in an unfeigned repentance and forsaking of them Fourthly in a constant imploring and obtainig of mercie for them in the bloud of Christ. If thy soule doth give sinne its discharge now death shall give thy soule a discharge hereafter Secondly in the quallifying our persons for the conquest of death there are three things by which wee shall bee able cheerefully to meet and assuredly to conquer death First by having interest in the Lord Jesus The sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law but thankes bee to God who hath given us victorie through our Lord Iesus Christ. If thou hast gotten Christ into thy armes by faith thou carriest thy peace strength and advantage both through life and death For wee are more then conquerours through him that loved us sayth the Apostle Rom. 8. 37. And to mee to live is Christ and to die is gaine sayth the same Apostle Phil. 1. 21. if thou hast a good Christ thou mayst bee confident of a good death Secondly renewednesse of our nature What Saint Iohn spake of the Martyrs as some conjecture Blessed and happie is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power that say I of a person renewed by the sanctifying qualitie of Gods Spirit I happie is hee hee shall have power even over the first death The Spirit and the Bride sayth come if a man hath gotten the heavenly Spirit which beautifies the soule with the ornaments of Grace as the Bride is with her ornaments hee is a fitted person hee may well say to Death come and to Christ come Lord Iesus come quickly Thirdly uprightnesse of conversation Righteousnesse delivers from death sayth Solomon and the righteous hath hope in his death if a mans worke be Christs service if hee have a heart enclined to keepe a good conscience in all things to keepe himselfe exact to the rule and to walke with God Blessed is that servant which his Master when he commeth shall find so doing that man that hath looked to Gods Word to guide his life may confidently look up to Gods mercie to comfort him in death Remember O Lord sayth Hezekiah Isa. 39. how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart Now all this doth the wayting for our change import in the Text to wit a serious expectation of it first by undoing those sinnes of ours which else for ever will undoe us and by interesting our persons into Christ from whom we must likewise receive the Spirit to change our hearts and uprightnesse to forme a-new our conversation But then you will say Why must there be such a wayting for this these grave clothes are too sadde for the freshnesse of our life and would you have us be like the mad-man in the Gospell who lived among the Sepulchres Nay I beseech you let us consider and settle our thoughts a little and you shall be stayed with reason there are many strong Arguments and reasons why we should thus waite both by expectation and preparation First it is the maine errand of our life God did not send us into this world to sinne and to adorne our selves with the creature but to bring him some honour and then to dye the factor is not imployed to take his pleasure abroad but to doe his Masters worke and then to returne home Tertullian confesseth he was a great sinner and therefore borne to repentance therefore doth God give us life as the Master allowes the servant a candle to worke by that we may repent of our sinnes and get our hold in Christ and worke out our salvation and doe the great businesse of beleeving to be good and to doe good and so by Death to goe up to heaven Secondly death is but once and that needs to bee well done which can be but once done if there might be another space after death a second edition to correct the faults and escapes of the former then a present and speedie preparation were not altogether so necessarie but saith the Apostle It is appointed for all men once to dye and after death to come to judgement Heb. 9. 27. no more but once Wee usually shadow out Death with an houre-glasse A fit Embleme but that when an houre-glasse is runne out it may bee turned againe but this once out can be set up no more thou shalt never live to amend thy errours in dying O then how needfull is it before-hand to prepare for Death Thirdly when death hath done with thee then God will begin with thee thou must once die and after this come to Judgement Heb. 9. 27. To judgement what is that thou must bee presented before the holy and just and great God who is the Judge of the quicke and the dead and with all that thou art and with all that thou hast done there must appeare then before him all the courses of thy life all the bent of thy affections all the secrets of thy heart shall then be pulled in peeces and opened and all thy workes and all thy words shall bee exhibited scann'd and surveyed and that with severity and righteousnesse how say you then is it not fit to be preparing for Death to fit thy soule to reforme thy heart and life wilt thou
an Icon or lively expression to the eye sicut galina congregat pullos suos As the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings Where are now our Anabaptists and plaine pack-staffe methodists who esteeme of all flowers of Rhetoricke in Sermons no better then stinking weedes and of all elegancies of speech then of prophane spells For against their wills at unawares they censure the holy Oracles of God in the first place which excell all other writings as well in eloquence as in Science doubtlesse as the breath of a man hath more force in a Trunke and the winde a lowder and sweeter sound in the Organ-pipe then in the open ayre so the matter of our speech and the theame of our discourse which is conveyed through figures and formes of Art both sound sweeter to the eare and pierce deeper into the heart there is in them plus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more evidence and more efficacie they make a fuller expression and take a deeper impression Secondly where are our prophane Criticks who delight in the flesh-pots of Egypt and loath Manna admire carnall eloquence in Poets and heathen Oratours and taske the Scriptures for rude simplicitie and want of all Art and eloquence It is true the Scripture is written in a style peculiar to it selfe the elocution in it is such as Lactantius observeth that it befitteth no other bookes as neither doth that wee find in other bookes befit it As the matter in Scripture so the forme is divine nec vox hominum sonat which consisteth not in the words of mans wisedome but in the evidence of the Spirit Yet is there admirable eloquence in it and farre surpassing which we find in all other writings Wherefore Politian the Grammarian who pretended he durst not touch any leafe in the Bible for feare of defiling the puritie of his language or slurring the glosse of his style is condemned as well by learned humanists as Divines And Theopompus who went about to cloath Gods word with gay and trimme phrases of heathen Oratours and Poets was punished by God with losse of his wits Thus have we viewed the forme let us now have an eye to the matter our Lords conquest over Death and the Grave There are two things most dreadfull to the nature of man Death and the Grave the one severeth the soule the other consumeth the body and resolveth it inâ—… dust the valiantest conquerours that with their bloody flags and colours have strucke a terrour unto all Nations yet have beene affrighted themselves at the displaying of the pale and wan colours of Death the most retired Philosophers and Monkes who have lived in Cells and Caves under the ground yet have beene startled at the sight of their Grave How much then are wee indebted to our Christian faith that not only overcommeth the world but also conquereth the feare of Death and the grave and dareth both in the words of my Text O death sting mee if thou canst O grave conquer mee if thou bee able O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victorie In which words the Apostle like a Cryer calleth Death and the Grave into the Court and examineth them upon two Articles first concerning the sting of the one secondly concerning the victorie of the other Will it please you then to fixe the eye of your observation upon the parts of this Text as they are layd before you in termes of Law 1 A Citation 2 An Examination In the Citation upon 1 the manner of it 2 the parties cited 1 Death 2 Grave In the Examination 1 Upon the first Interrogatorie put to Death touching the ledging of his sting 2 Upon the second Interrogatorie put to the Grave touching the field of his victorie First for the manner of Citing it is by an Apostrophe a figure often accurring in holy Scripture as in the booke of Kings O Altar Altar O ye mountaines of Gilboa and of the Psalmes lift up ye gates and bee ye lift up you everlasting doores and of the Canticles Arise O North and blow O South and in the Prophets O earth earth earth In imitation of which strings of rhetoricke the Auncient Fathers in their funerall Orations many times turned to the dead and used such compellations as these audâ—… Constaâ—… 〈◊〉 Paula heare O 〈◊〉 farewell O Paula From which passages our adversaries very weakely if not ridiculously inferres the invocation of Saints departed making weapons of plumes of leathers and arguments of ornaments and which is farre worse Divinitie of rhetoricke and articles of faith of tropes of sentences By a like consequence they might conclude that hills and trees and the earth and gates and death and hell have eyes to looke upon us or eares to heare us or that we ought to invocate them because the Holy Ghost maketh such Apostrophes to them as the Fathers doe to the soules of Saints newly departed out of their bodies Secondly for the parties here cited and called in their order first Death and then the Grave Death goes before the Grave because men dye before they are buried and the Grave is properly no Grave till it bee possessed by a dead bodie before it is but a hole or pit O Death In Hebrew Maveth from Muth whence mutus in Latine is derived and mute in English because Death bereaveth us of speech and for a like reason the Grave is tearmed Domus silentii a house of silence In Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 snpple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either from a word signifying to stretch because death stretcheth out the bodie or from words signifying to tend upwards because by death the soule is carried upwards returning to God that gave it In Latine Mors either quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our fatall portion or as Saint Austine will have it a morsu because the biting of the Serpent caused it The letter or word is but like the barke or rinde the sense is the juyce yet here wee may sucke some sweetnesse from the barke or rinde From the hebrew Muth we learne that our tongues must bee bound to their good behaviour concerning the dead we must not make them our ordinarie table talke or breake jeasts upon them much lesse vent our spleene or wreake our malice on them wee must never speake of them but in a serious and regardfull manner de mortuis nil nisi bene From the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mutando Ï„ tenuem in Θ aspiratam wee must learne to extend our hands to the poore especially neare death which stretcheth out our bodies and to send our thoughts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the things that are above whether if wee dye well the Angells shall imediately carrie our souls From the Latine mors so tearmed quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
it is justice suum cuique tribure to give every one his due it is charitie to propose eminent examples of heavenly graces and vertues shining in the dead for the imitation of the living Such jewells ought not to bee locked up in a Coffine as in a Casket but to bee set out to the view of all and surely they deserve better of the dead who set a garland of deserved praises on their life then they who stick their Hearse full with flowers Tapers made of pure waxe burne clearely and after they are blowne out leave a sweet savour behinde them so the servants of Christ who have caused their light so to shine before men that they may see their workes and glorifie their Father which is in Heaven leave a good name like a sweet smell behinde them and why may wee not blow it abroad by our breath Deo Patri c. The rest concerning the life and death of the party is lost FINIS VOX COâ—…LI OR THE DEADS HERALD SERMON XLV APOCH 14. 13. And I heard a voyce from heaven saying unto mee write blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence forth c. VBi Vulnus ibi manus From whence wee tooke our wound from thence we receive the cure a voyce from heaven strucke all the living dead saying All flesh is grasse and the glory or goodlinesse of it is as the flower of the field The grasse withereth c. But here a voyce from heaven maketh all whole againe and representeth all the dead in the Lord living yea and flourishing too â—…aying Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord. To give a touch at the wound that the smart thereof may make the sense of the cure more delightfull Omnis caro foenum omnis homo flos All flesh is grasse and â—…very man is a flower There is difference in grasse some is longer and some is shorter so some men are longer lived some shorter Some grasse shooteth up with one leafe some with three some with five or more so some men have more in their retinue some fewer some none at all Some grasse withereth before it is cut as the grasse on the house toppe some is cut before it withâ—…reth as the grasse of the field so some men decay before the Sythe of death cutts them all other after Likewise there is a great difference among flowers 1. Some are for sight only not for the smell or any vertue in medicines as Tulips Emims and Crowne Emperials 2. Some for sight and smell but of no use in Medicines as Sweet-williams the painted Lady and Iuly-flowers generally 3. Some are both for sight and smell and of singular use in Medicines as Roses and Violets So some men are of better parts and greater use in the Church and Common-wealth others of lesse Some flowers grow in the field some in the garden so some mens lives and improvements are publike others private Some flowers are put in Posies some in Garlands some are cast into the Still so some men are better preferred then others and some live and die in obscuritie Lastly some flowers presently lose their colour and sent as the Narcissus some keepe them both long as the red Rose So some men continue longer in their bloome grace and favour others for a short time but all fade and within a while are either gathered cut downe or withered of themselves and die And for this reason it is as I conceive that we sticke herbes and flowers on the Hearse of the dead to signifie that as we commit earth to earth and ashes to ashes so we put grasse to grasse and flowers to flowers For omnis caro foenum All flesh is grasse and all the goodlinesse thereof as the flower of the field the grasse withereth and the flower fadeth away But the comfort is in that which followeth But the word of the Lord endureth for ever and this is the word which by the Gospell is preached unto you Whereof this verse which I have read unto you for my Text is part Which Saint Iohn inferreth as a conclusion or corrolarie upon the conclusion of the Saints and Martyrs lives this conclusion is inâ—…erred upon two premisses 1. The end of their labours 2. The reward of their worke The Syllogisme may be thus formâ—…d All they who are come to an end of their labour and have received liberally for their worke or are paid well for their paines are happie But all the dead that die in the Lord are come to an end of their labour for they rest from their labours and receive liberally for their workes follow them Ergo all the dead that die in the Lord are happy As in other Texts so in this wee may borrow much light from the occasion of the speech which here was this Saint Iohn having related in a vision a fearefull persecution to fall in the latter times whereby the earth should bee râ—…aped and the Saints mowen like grasse and true beleevers like grapes pressed in such sort that their blood should come out of the wine-presse even to the horse bellies breaketh into an Epiphonema vers 12. here is the patience of the Saints that is here is matter for their patience and faith to worke upon Here is their patience to endure for Gods cause whatsover man or divell can inflict upon them to part with any limbe for their head Christ Jesus gladly to forfeit their estates on earth for a crowne in heaven chearefully to lose their lives in this vale of teares that they may find them in the rivers of pleasures that spring at Gods right hand for evermore Here is worke for their faith also to see heaven as it were through hell eternall life in present death to beleeve that God numbreth every haire of their head and that every teare they shed for his sake shall bee turned into a pearle every drop of blood into a Rubie to be set in their crowne of glorie To confirme both their faith and patience Christ proclaimeth from heaven that howsoever in their life they seemed miserable yet in their death they shall bee most blessed and that the worst their enemies can doe is to put them in present possession of their happinesse Blessed are the dead c. So saith the spirit whatsoever the flesh saith to the contrarie Here wee have 1. A proposition De fide of faith 2. A Deposition or testimonie of the spirit A Proposition of the happy estate of the dead A deposition of the holy Ghost to confirme our faith therin 1. Saint Iohn sets downe his relation 2. A most comfortable assertion 3. A most strong confirmation The relation strange of a voyce from heaven without any speaker The assertion as strange of a possession without an owner a blessed estate of them who according to the Scripture phrase are said not to be The Confirmation as strange as either by an audible testimonie of an invisible witnesse So
print that the Apostles and Evangelists had no command from God to write their Gospells or Epistles but that they wrote upon the entreatie of some friends or some emergent occasions Were there no other Text in all the holy Scriptures but this nor word in this Text but this one Write it were alone sufficient to convince him of grosse ignorance if not rathâ—…r giving the lye to his own knowledge But yet farther rather to confound him with shame then convince him with evidence doth not the Apostle affirme in generall of the whole Scripture that it is given by Divine insâ—…iration and what is inspiring but a kinde of dictating to all the Pen-men of the holy Ghost and doth not hee that dictateth to another both tell him what hee shall write and bid him write it Besides in the 1. of the Apocalypse vers 10. 11. Saint Iohn heard a great voyce as of a trumpet saying I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last and what thou seest write in a Booke Thirdly besides the generall command of committing the whole Word of God to writing and a speciall mandate for the writing the Apocâ—…lypse wee have a singular precept for the writing the precise words of this Text and must not that needs bee thrice worthy our observation which is written by a threefold command and what is that Blessed are the dead If the dead are blessed the dead are for â—…n argument à tertio adjacentâ—… ad secundum ever holdeth if the teaâ—…es bee taken in the proper sense The Metaphisicks demonstraâ—… non entis nullus esse affectiones that such things as have no existence have no qualities nor reall attributes but blessednesse is here attributed to the dead the dead therefore are And the Philosopher who being demanded whether the living or the dead were more in number answered that doubtlesse the living quia mortui ne sunt quidem because the dead were not to bee reckoned upon inregard now they are not at all spake without booke and uttered that which is most false as wee learne from the mouth of Truth himselfe who not onely affirmeth that the dead are but that they are also living though dead to this World yet not to the World to come dead to men but not dead to God have yee not read sayth our Saviour what is spoken unto you by God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaack and the God of Iacob God is not the God of the dead but of the living for all live to him but are all the dead blessed the Text answereth all the dead that die in the Lord That dye in the Lord Yea but you will say those that are already dead cannot dye what then is the meaning of this phrase the dead that dye in the Lord Saint Ambrose answereth hee that is dead alreadie cannot dye in the same sense that hee is dead but hee that is alreadie dead in one sense may bee sayd to dye in another hee that is dead to the World as all the regenerated who have mortified the deeds of the flesh may afterwards dye to the bodye and so dye in the Lord that is breathe out his soule into the hands of the Lord. This is sound Divinitie and a true proposition but no true exposition of this place in which the latter seemeth to bee a limitation of the former as God is neare to all that call upon him yea all that call upon him faithfully so here blessed are the dead what all dead howsoever they dye no but all that dye in the Lord. There is much varietie among the interpreters about the interpretation of this phrase to dye in the Lord. Some will have the meaning thereof to bee those that dye for the Christian faith and seale the truth thereof with their bloud And they alleage for themselves first paralell texts of Scripture wherein the preposition in is put for pro for as Gen. 18. 13. omnes in tâ—… benedicentur all Nations shall bee blessed in thee that is for thee and in thy seed that is â—…orthy seed and Gen. 28. 18. servivi Berachel word for word I served in Rachel that is for Rachel Next they alleage the anteâ—…edents together with the occasion of these words verse 12. here is the patience of the Saints here are they that keepe the Commandements of God and the faith of Iesus Christ and truly the maine scope of the Text seemeth to bee to arme the godly with patience and to encourage them to fight against the Beast upon whom before God execute vengeance if it so fall out that many of Gods faithfull servants loose their lives Yet that none should be dismayed therewith because all that so dye are blessed for they exchange a temporall life in this World for an eternall in another Thirdly say they it cannot bee well conceived how any can dye in Domino in the Lord who is the Lord of life if wee take the preposition in the proper sence for though in the naturall bodie a member may bee cut off and dye the head being alive yet it is not so in the mysticall bodie of Christ no true Member thereof can bee cut off much lesse dye while it continues in that bodie by dying in the Lord therefore wee must understand dying for the Lord so they Others will have the words not to bee restrained to Martyrs onely but to belong to all that die in the feare of God and the faith of Christ. And they alleage for themselves also a paralell Text 1 Cor. 15. 18. where to fall a sleepe in the Lord is spoken generally of all true beleevers departing this life Besides Saint Bernard and other of the Auncients apparantly distinguish these phrases mori in Domino mori propter Dominum to dye in the Lord and to dye for the Lord mori pro Domino martyrum est mori in Domino omnium confessorum si beati qui in Domino moriuntur quanto magis qui pro Domino moriuntur to dye for the Lord is the glory of martyrs but to dye in the Lord the glory of all Confessors if they are happy who dye in the Lord how much more they that dye for the Lord Thirdly the reward here promised is common to all beleevers and not peculiar to the Martyrs for all true beleevers when they dye rest from their labours and their workes follow them If the Spirit had meant Martyrs onely hee would rather have sayd they have ease from their torments then rest from their labours and their trophies and victories follow them All that dye for the Lord dye also in the Lord but all that dye in the Lord doe not necessarily dye for the Lord wee denie not that the Martyrs have the greatest share in this blessednesse but all Confessours have their partsalso the Martyrs Crowne is beset with a Rubie or some richer jewell then ordinary their Garland hath a flower or two more in it to
wit some red flower as well as white yet the Crowne and Garland of all Confessours are compleat And therefore not onely Beda and Bernard and Richardus and Andreus and Primasius and Haymo and Ansbertus and Ioachimus but also the Greeke and the Roman Church yea and the reformed also understand these words of all that dye in Gods favour for they read these words at the Funeralls of all the dead and not onely at the Funeralls of Martyrs Yea but how can any bee sayd to dye in the Lord that is continuing his Member sith Christ hath no dead Members I answer that the faithfull dye not in the Lord in that sense in which they live in him but in another they die not spiritually nor cease to bee his mysticall Members but naturally that is they continuing in Christs faith and love breathe out their souies and so fall asleepe in his bosome or dye in his love laying hold of him by faith and relying on him by hope and embracing him by charitie All they dye in the Lord who die in the act of contrition as Saint Austin who reading the penetentiall Psalmes with many teares breathed out his last gaspe sighing for his sinnes Or in the act of charitie as Saint Ierome who in a most fervent or vehement exhortation to the love of God gave up the ghost Or in the act of Religion as Saint Ambrose who after he had received the blessed Sacrament in a heavenly rapture and a holy parley with Christ left the body Or in the act of Devotion as Aquinas who lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven pronouncing with a loude voyce those words of the Spouse in the Canticles Come my beloved let us goe forth went out of this world Or in the Act of gratulation and thankes-giving as Petrus Celestinus who repeating that last verse of the last Psalme Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum Let every breath or every one that hath breath praise the Lord breathed out his soule Or in an Act of divine contemplation as Gerson that famous Chancellour of Paris who having explicated fiftie properties of divine love concluded both his Treatise and his life with fortis ut mors dilectio Love is strong as death To knit up all six sorts of men may lay just claime to the blessednesse in my Text. First Martyrs for they die in the Lord because they die in his quarrell Secondly Confessours for they die in the Lord because they die in his faith and in the confession of his name Thirdly all they that love Christ and are beloved of him for they die in the Lord because they die in his bosome and embracings Fourthly all truly penitent sinners for they dye in the Lord because they dye in his peace Firthly all they who are engrafted into Christ by a speciall faith and persever in him to the end for they die in the Lord because they die in his communion as being members of his mysticall body Lastly all they that dye calling upon the Lord or otherwise make a godly end for they dye in the Lord because they dye in the workes of the Lord and happy is that servant whom his Master when hee commeth shall find so doing From hence-forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beza and some other render the word in the originall perfectly because the dead obtaine the blessednesse they hoped for but this Exposition cannot stand unlesse wee restraine this blessednesse to the soule For the perfect and consummate happinesse of all that die in the Lord consisteth in the glorification of their bodyes and soules when they shall see God face to face and the beames of his countenance directly falling upon the soule shall reflect also upon the body and most true it is which Paraeus observeth the deads blessednesse farre exceedes the blessednesse of the living for here wee have but the first fruits of happinesse but in heaven wee shall have the whole lumpe here wee hunger and thirst for righteousnesse there wee shall be satisfied To this we all willingly assent but it will not hence follow that they have their whole lumpe of happinesse till the day of Judgement Blessed they are from the houre of their death but not perfectly blessed but not consummatly blessed intensive as blessed as the soule by it selfe can be for that state in which it now is not blessed extensive not so blessed as the whole person shall be when the soule shall bee the second time given to the body and both bid to an everlasting feast at the mariage of the Lambe Others therefore more agreeable to the Analogie of faith render the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from hence-forth and referre the hence-forth not to the time of the uttering this Prophecie as if before it none were blessed for before this prophecie all the Apostles Saint Iohn only excepted and thousands of Saints and Martyrs had died in the Lord and were at rest from their labours but to the instant of their dying in the Lord they no sooner lost their lives for Christ then they found happinesse in him So soone as Lazarus dyed his soule was carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome So soone as the Thiefe expired on the Crosse hee aspired to Paradise and was with Christ So Nazianzen teacheth concerning every religious soule I beleeve saith he that every noble soule which is in grace and favour with God presently as soone as shee hath shaken off the body which kept downe her wings flyeth joyfully streight up to her Lord and Saint Cyprian Death to the godly is not a departure but a passe from a temporall to an eternall life and no stay by the way as soone as we have finished our course here we may arrive at the goale there And S. Bernard The infidels call the parting of the soule from the body Death but the beleevers call it the Passeover because it is a passe from death to life For they die to the world that they may perfectly live to God To strike sayle and make toward the shore if all that dye in the Lord are blessed from the very moment of their death and this blessednesse is confirmed by a voyce from heaven let us give more heed to such a voyce then to any whisper of the flesh or divell Whatsoever Philosophie argueth or Reason objecteth or sense excepteth against it let us give more heed to God then man to the spirit then the flesh to faith then to reason to heaven then to earth although they who suffer for the testimonie of the Gospell seeme to be most miserable their skinnes being fleyed off their joynts racked their whole body torne in peeces or burned to ashes their goods confiscate their armes defaced and all manner of disgraces put upon them yet they are most happy in heaven by the testimonie of heaven it selfe the malice of their enemies cannot reach so high as heaven it cannot touch them there there much lesse awake them out of their
sweet sleepe in Jesus Secondly if the dead are blessed in comparison of the living let us not so glew our thoughts and affections to the world and the comforts thereof but that they may bee easily severed for there is no comparison betweene the estate of the godly in this life and in the life to come for here they labour for rest there they rest from their labour here they expect what they are to receive there they receive what they expected here they hunger and thirst for righteousnesse there they are satisfied here they are continually afflicted either for their sinnes or with their sinnes and they have continuall cause to shed teares either for the calamities of Gods people or the strokes they themselves receive from God or the wounds they give themselves there all teares are wiped from their eyes Here they are alwayes troubled either with the evills they feare or the feare of evill but when they goe hence Death sets a period to all feare cares sorrowes and dangers And therefore Solon spake divinely when hee taught Craesus that he ought to suspend his verdict of any mans happinesse till hee saw his end Thirdly if those dead are blessed that dye in the Lord let us strive to be of that number eamus nos moriamur cum eo Let us goe and dye with him and in him And that we may doe so wee must first endevour to live in him For Cornelius à Lapida his collection is most true As a man cannot die at Rome who never lived at Rome so none can dye in Christ who never lived in him and none can live in him who is not in him first then wee must labour to be in him and how may wee compasse this Christ himselfe teacheth us I am the Vine and my Father is the Husbandman every branch that beareth not fruit in me he taketh away and every branch that breareth fruit he purgeth that it may bring forth more fruit as the branch cannot beare fruit of it selfe exceept it abide in the Vine no more can yee except yee abide in mee Hence wee learne that wee cannot beare fruit in Christ unlesse as branches we be ingrafted into him now that a graffe may be inoculated 1. There must be made an incision in the tree 2. The graffe or syence must be imped in 3. After it is put in it must be ioyned fast to the tree The incision is already made by the wounds given Christ at his death many incisions were made in the true Vine that which putteth us in or inoculateth us is a speciall faith and that which binds us fast to the tree is love and the grace of perseverance If then we bee engrafted by faith into Christ and bound fast unto him by love wee shall partake of the Iuice of the stocke and grow in grace and beare fruit also more and more and so living in the true Vine we shall die in him and so dying in him wee shall reflourish with him in everlasting glorie Fourthly if wee are assured by a voyce from heaven that none but they are blessed who die in the Lord all Infidells Jewes and Turkes yea and such hereticks too as denie all speciall faith in Christ are in a wretched and lamentable case for it is cleare that unbeleevers cannot live in Christ for the just liveth by faith and though hereticks and among them our Adversaries of Rome have a generall faith yet because they want a speciall faith in Christ whereby they are to be ingrafted into him and made members of his mysticall body they can make no proofe to themselves or others at least unlesse they renounce some of the Trent Articles that they live or dye in the Lord. Lastly if all that dye in Christ are blessed as a voyce from heaven assureth us we doe wrong to heaven if we accompt them miserable we doe wrong to Christ if we count them as lost whom he hath found if wee shed immoderate teares for them from whose eyes Hee hath wiped away all teares to weare perpetuall blacks for them upon whom he hath put long white Robes Whatsoever our losses may be by them it commeth farre short of their gaine our crosse is light in comparison of their super-excellent weight of glory therefore let us not sorrow for them as those that have no hope Let us not shew our selves Infidells by too much lamenting the death of beleevers Weepe wâ—… may for them or rather for our losse by them but moderatly as knowing that our losse is their gaine and if wee truly love them wee cannot but exceedingly congratulate their feasts of joy their rivers of pleasures their Palmes of victory their robes of majestie their crownes of glorie Water therefore your plants at the departure of your dearest friends but drowne them not For whatsoever wee complaine of here they are freed from there and whatsoever wee desire here they enjoy there they hunger not but feast with the Lâ—… they sigh not but sing with Moses having safely passed over the glassiâ—… sea they lie not in darknesse but possesse the inheritance of Saints in light They have immunitie from sinne freedome from all temptations and securitie from danger they have rest for their labours here comfort for their troubles glory for their disgrace joyes for their sorrowes life for their death in Christ and Christ for all Cui c. FINIS VICTORIS BRABAEVM OR THE CONQVEROVRS PRIZE A SERMON PREACHED at Rotheriffe at the Funerall of M ris Dorothy Gataker Wife to the worthie and Reverend Divine Master Thomas Gataker B. D. SERMON XLVI APOC. 14. 13. So sayth the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their workes follow them THe longer a man enjoyeth the benefit of life the more cause he hath to desiredeath for cares grow with years and sins with cares sorrows with sins and fears with sorrowes which trouble the quiet and confound the musicke and blend the mirth and dampe the whole joy of our life so that hee who spinneth the thred of his life to the greatest length gaineth nothing thereby but this that hee can give a fuller and clearer evidence of the vanitie of the World and yeeld a more ample testimonie to the miserie of man during his abode in the flesh whom if wee take at the best advantage of his worldly happinesse hee must needs confesse that hee hath nothing of all that is past but a sad remembrance nor of that which is to come but a solicitous feare As after a great feast at which a man hath glutted his appetite nothing remaineth but lothsome and stinking fumes ascending from the stomacke to the head and offending the brain so of all the pleasures of sinne past nothing remaineth but a bitter taste in the conscience or rather to use Saint Bernards Metaphor amara foeda vestigia foule and stinking prints left in the flore where hee daunced after the Devills pipe sorrow and shame for what hee
at her death Her life was well knowne to most of this place and her death was every way answerable to her life all that visited her in her sicknesse might behold with sorrow a pittifull anatomie of fraile mortalitie and yet with joy a perfect patterne of Christian patience and a heavenly conversation and though shee were full of divine conceptions and shee had a spring by her of the waters of life in the devotion of her dearest helper especially in the best things yet when I came to her shee desired shee might be partaker of some of my meditations they were her owne words and when I prayed with her and for her shee joyned not so much with me with her tongue as her affections and answered more in sighes and teares then in words often shee complained of her tuffe heart that would not yeeld to her dissolution and long long sheethought it till shee should come to appeare before the God of Gods in Sion Her last words were sweet Father helpe me and shee had her request for presently hee helped her both by the zealous and most feeling prayers of her Husband and by the holy spirit assisting her in her owne prayers with sighes and groanes that cannot be expressed and immediatly her swâ—…et Father released her of her pangs and received her to himselfe on his owne day On the Lords day morning before the morning watch I say before the morning watch shee entered into her rest and began to keepe her evarlasting Sabbath in heaven where shee reapeth what she sowed and seeth what shee beleeved and enjoyeth what she hoped for and is now entered into those joyes which never entered fully into the heart of any living on earth nor shall into ours till wee with her be made perfect and all of us come to Mount Sion and the heavenly Ierusalem and innumerable company of Angels and to the Congregation of the first-borne whose names are written in heaven and to the spirits of just men and women made perfect Whether the God of peace bring us in our appointed time who brought againe from the dead the great sheepheard through the bloud of the everlasting Covenant To whom with the holy Spirit c. FINIS FAITHS ECCHO OR THE SOVLES AMEN ISAY 64. 1. Oh that thou wouldest rent the Heavens that thou wouldest come downe IER 11. 5. So bee it O Lord. Printed by Iohn Dawson for Ralph Mabbe 1639. FAITHS ECCHO OR THE SOVLES AMEN SERMON XLVII REVELA 22. 19. Amen Even so come Lord Iesus THese words they afford to us a comfortable and sweet argument to bee conversant in From the sixt verse of this Chapter is set down to us the confirmation of the whole Prophesie and booke of the Revelation partly by the affirmation of God as likewise of Jesus Christ and of Iohn himselfe that heard and saw all these things and likewise of the Church of God in the 17. verse it is likewise confirmed by the promise of blessing and happinesse pronounced upon them that shall doe all these things and shall faithfully expect the accomplishment of them This verse a part of which I have read to you is the repetition in few words of all that matter that goeth before from the 6. verse to it and hath in it First an attestation of our Lord and Saviour Christ in the former part of the verse Behold I come quickly Secondly an acclamation of the Church in the latter part these words I have read to ye Amen even so come Lord Iesus In the attestation of Christ hee promiseth hee will come to his Church hee will come shortly both for the accomplishment of all his promises and likewise for their safety and deliverance from all enemies and all miseries and molestations whatsoever To this the Church makes an acclamation and saith Amen even so come Lord Iesus In this acclamation of the Church to which wee must now come we are to consider First the person of the speaker whose words they bee Secondly what is the matter or substance contained in them Yee shall see whose words they bee if ye looke backe but to the 17. verse of this Chapter there ye shall finde that first it is sayd the Spirit sayth come By the Spirit is not meant the third Person in Trinitie the holy Ghost because hee is not subject to these passions to these desires but hee resteth himselfe in the execution and present disposing and dispensing of things according to his owne will and pleasure Neither by Spirit here is meant any wicked spirit or Angell for they doe with feare and horrour expect the same comming of our Lord and Saviour Christ because his comming shall bee the accomplishment of their miserie and eternall infelicitie But by Spirit here is meant the spirit in all the Elect and holy people of God in whomsoever the Spirit of God is that Spirit doth say come and doth wish the accomplishment of all these most gracious promises For this is not the desire of the flesh or of nature but an earnest and vehement desire of the Spirit of God in the Elect that saith come Againe secondly the same verse telleth us that the Bride sayth come That is the Church of God in generall the Catholike Church the whole Church of God being now hand-fasted to Christ and entred into a spirituall contract with him Shee desireth the consumation of the Marriage the solemniation of the Marriage which is alreadie begun in the contract of it and not onely every particular member of the Church in whom the Spirit of God is saith come but the Church of God in generall the Bride sayth come the whole Church saith come wishing and desiring the accomplishment of the Marriage which is already begun In the third place the same verse telleth us that as the Spirit and the Bâ—…ide say come so hee that heareth saith come that is not onely the Church of God that is now present here upon the face of the earth but the successive parts of the Church in all future Ages they are all of the same minde having received the same Spirit they all say come Whosoever heareth this Prophesie whosoever heareth of these promises in any Age or Countrey of the World all they having the same spirit they must needes say come hee that heareth sayth come hee that is acquainted with the promises that commeth to the knowledge of them and doth mingle them with the faith of his soule this man must needs say come to the accomplishment of them And lastly Hee that is a thirst sayth come too that is whosoever hath tasted of the sweetnesse of Christ in any measure whatsoever and therby hath wrought in him a vehement thirst after more this man will say come Whosoever hath such a sence of Christ in his promises as to taste of the sweetnesse of these never so little as hee that hath tasted a droppe of honey wisheth for more so hee that hath tasted of the sweetnesse of Christ a
droppe of his grace and mercie this setteth upon his spirit a heavenly thirst he sayth come hee would have more hee is never quiet till hee have the promise accomplished to him These are the persons every particular member of the Church that hath the Spirit the whole Church in generall not onely the particular part of the Church now in the World or in any Age but the severall parts of the Church in severall Ages whosoever is a thirst that hath tasted of Christ must needs say come Even so come Lord Iesus These are the persons The second thing is the matter of this acclamation of the Church First the matter contained in it it is a vehement and earnest desire of the people of God after Christs most happie returne in these words Amen even so come Lord Iesus The matter of it therefore is either infolded and implicite in the word Amen even so or unfolded and explicite in the latter words come Lord Iesus It is infolded I say in the word Amen This word signifieth in the Scripture either the Author of the truth himselfe or else it is an affirmation of the truth In the Revelation thus sayth the Amen the faithfull and true witnesse here Christ himselfe is called Amen because he is the Authour of all truth and veritie the faithfull and true witnesse Sometime this word is used and most frequently in Scripture for the affirmation of the truth either witnessing of the truth or wishing the truth For the witnessing of the truth as in all those vehement speeches of our Lord and Saviour Christ Amen Amen I say unto yee or verily verily I say unto yee this is a vehement asseveration and a witnessing to the truth which a man ought to beleeve or would have to bee beleeved Or otherwise for a wishing and earnest desiring of the truth to bee accomplished So in the conclusion of the Lords prayer and all our prayers we adde this word Amen that is So be it or Let it be so we wish it with earnestnesse of affection and desire and with a confidence and faith of our hearts wee hope and beleeve that this shall bee so This is that wee professe when wee say Amen In this place this word is used both for affirmation and witnessing of the truth and likewise it is a vehement wish and desire of the accomplishment of these promises with an earnest and certaine hope and expectation of faith that all these promises and good things shall bee accomplished to the soule of a Christian. Againe the matter of this Acclamation is unfolded and explained in the latter words Come Lord Iesus Where there is both the Action and the Person to be considered The Action Come Christ commeth to his Church many wayes Hee commeth in his Word Hee commeth in his Spirit He commeth in his mercies He commeth in his Judgements and Justice None of these are here meant But he commeth to his Church in person and appearance even in the appearance of his body and humane nature Thus Christ commeth two wayes to his Church in person First in his Incarnation he appeared to the world in the similitude of sinfull flesh he came in humilitie he came to suffer to die That is not here ment for that was past when as the Evangelist Saint Iohn wrote this prophesie But the Second comming in person of our Lord and Saviour Christ is his comming in the flesh in glorie in exaltation to judge the quicke and the dead to shew himselfe a mightie God from heaven This is the comming which is here meant Christs second comming to Judgement in glory That is the Action The Person is described by these two Titles Lord Iesus Wherein the Church desireth that he may come both as a Lord and as a Iesus That hee may come as a Lord to vindicate the Church and revenge him upon his enemies to destroy the kingdome of darknesse the kingdome of the Divell the kingdome of Antichrist which hath beene a great argument in this booke of the Revelation And not only come thus as a Lord but as a Iesus to save his Church to vouchsafe to her comfort and peace and joy that he would come to cloath her with immortalitie and glory which she cannot expect on earth in a mortall state This is the summe and substance of this Petition and request that the Lord would come in Majestie and glory both as as a Lord against the enemies of the Church to destroy them utterly and as a Saviour to bestow upon the Church even all saving mercies especially that great mercie of everlasting blessednesse that is not mixed with sinne and corruption that is not mixed with any infirmitie and defect whatsoever This is the summe and substance of the Text which I have in few words shortly explained to yee Whence the point I observe wherein wee will insist by the grace of God at this time is this That it is the nature and propertie of every true member of the Church of God earnestly and longingly to desire the second comming of Christ for the full redemption of his Church The Spirit saith Come and the Bride saith Come and whosoever heareth saith Come whosoever is a thirst saith Come therefore every godly man that hath the Spirit of God that is a part of this Bride that is partaker of those promises that hath a taste of Jesus Christ every one of these most necessarily say Come Even so Come Lord Iesus This is so proper to beleevers and to every one of them as they are all of them described by this propertie in Scripture 2 Tim. 4. 8. The Crowne which the righteous Iudge shall give mee at that day and not only to me but to all them that love his appearing The Apostle he might have said to all Saints and godly whatsoever and to all faithfull beleevers but he makes choyce of this Epithite hee describeth them by this that they are such as love his appearance Heb. 9. 28. Unto them that waite for him shall he appeare the second time for salvation The godly are there described by this very propertie they waite and long and desire after his appearance the second time In the 24. of Saint Matthews Gospell it is made the propertie of a good and faithfull servant there that he waiteth for his Masters comming and prepareth all things in a readinesse it is opposed to the slothfull servant that doth cleane otherwise Yee see the truth of it in Scripture But yee will say Is this the propertie of the Elect and faithfull Doe not ungodly men and sinners beleeve the comming of Christ and that he shall come to judge the quick and dead Doth not every man make this profession of his faith I beleeve that Iesus Christ shall come to judge the quick and the dead Why then doe yee make it the propertie of Beleevers since every man beleeveth and lookes for it To this I answer There is a twofold expectation of Christ his returne to
Judgement The one An expectation with desire and with an earnest longing the expectation of the faithfull of a Lord of a gracious Redeemer nay of a loving Husband Therefore every faithfull soule cannot but waite upon him As a faithfull servant that hath done his worke longeth for his Masters comming home that hee may give an account of his faithfulnesse and may bee acceptable ◅o his Master for his faithfull service that hee hath done in his absence that hee may expect his Masters remuneration But there is annother expectation of Christ to come that is not with desire but with horrour and dread and feare out of guiltinesse of conscience This is the expectation of a Malefactor in the Jayle he wayteth and lookes for the comming of the Judge to passe sentence on him and so to bee dragged to execution thus wicked men expect Christ thus wicked Angells expect him But the expectation of the godly is an expectation with love and desire an expectatiō not of a severe Judge but of a loving husband of a faithfull Master that hath promised a recompense to the service of beleevers even the least and lowest if it bee the gift of a cup of cold water in his name Therefore ye must take knowledge of the expectation here meant This I say is proper to beleevers Let us see the truth of the Doctrine in the Reason of it why every faithfull soule must needs long and desire the second comming of Christ. First because it is a part of Christs gracious promise which the faith of the soule leaneth on The proper object of faith is the promise of the Gospell this yee may see in the Text Christ had promised to come Amen even so here is the reason of this desire because his promise goeth before it The faithfull soule apprehendeth every other inferiour promise and every lesse promise much more this maine promise the very knot of all the very complement of all faith must needs expect and claspe fast hold upon this promise and give assent and acclamation to it as in the word Amen even so come as thou hast sayd and promised Many promises to this purpose hath our Lord and Saviour Christ pronounced for the stirring up of our faith and affection as namely that in the 14 of Saint Iohns Gospell toward the beginning where hee comforteth his Disciples in his absence If I goe I will come againe And so in Acts 1. 11. As yee see him ascend with your bodily eyes in his Person and flesh so yee shall see him descend But wee need not goe far for promises for immediately before the words and two verses besides in this Chapter the 7. and 12. Behold I come shortly This is the property of every godly man having the promise of the comming to leane upon it and to desire the accomplishment of the promise In the old Testament they had the promise of the first comming of Christ that they earnestly desired as Iacob Gen. 49. Lord I have wayted for thy salvation and Abraham saw Christs day afarre off and rejoyced And in the New Testament wee read of Anna and Zacharias and Elizabeth and the faithfull that waited for the consolation of Israel they waited for the accomplishment of this promise the comming of Christ in the flesh his first comming Shall they waite and earnestly desire the first comming of the Sonne of God in humilitie and humanitie and basenesse and shall not we earnestly expect his second comming in glory to manifest not only his glory but our glory shall not wee expect that comming of his wherein we shall be married to himselfe and whereby we shall be tooke up to himselfe Thus yee see the promise of Christ is one ground yea and a principall ground of this expectation of the faithfull The second Reason is drawne from the Union and conjunction betweene Christ and the faithfull soule That is in the Text too the Bride saith Come Now there is a neere union and conjunction in this same conjunction of Mariage amongst men wherein the love must needs be imperfect and but a-drop of that Ocean and wherein the love of the parties must needs be finfull yet notwithstanding wee see how vehement it is In the absence of one another the one longeth and pineth after the other and one partie enjoyeth not himselfe without the other Much more ought it to be so here in this heavenly contract betweene Christ and his faithfull Spouse should not here the Spouse bee sicke of love as the Spouse professeth of her selfe in the second of Canticles This vehement desire must needs arise out of the neerenesse and undevidednesse of that conjunction that is betweene Christ and a Christian There is little love where there is little desire of the thing beloved when it is absent Why doth the member of the Bodie desire immediate conjunction with the head but because it knows that the separation from the head is the death of the member So it is in this neere conjunction betweene Christ the head and his members the Church they must needs desire immediate and inseparable conjunction with the head because the separation from the head must be the death of the members That is the second Reason The third Reason of the Point is this because the Saints of God they know that the accomplishment of the full happinesse of the Church of God and likewise of themselves that are members of the Church it consisteth in this in Christ his second comming againe to judgement therefore they doe earnestly desire it and affect it and say Amen even so Come because I say they know this is the comming that perfects the Church of God perfects their glory in the state of happinesse which the Church and every member thereof doth expect they know that that is the time which shall be the Revelation of the sonnes of God who are here obscure and shall be till that day come They know well that all the graces and perfections that the child of God can attaine to in this imperfection all is but the first fruits all is but a tast and therefore they cannot possibly but lift up their heads and raise up their hearts to the expectation of that day wherein these first fruits shall bee perfected with full measure shaken together and running over whereas there shall be an absolute freedome from all sinne and from all the appurtenances of it an absolute perfection not of grace only but of glory which is the highest grace They shall be one with the head this is that which makes them looke for it Heb. 9. 28. the place I named before it is said Christ shall appeare to save them that waite for him Hee shall bring a full horne of salvation he shall perfect the salvation of the Saints till that day there is no perfection in the salvation of the Saints No though they goe to heaven yet before that day there is no perfect salvation because their bodyes are not joyned to
the Holiest and dearest servants of God are exercised with and divers of these doe make them many times mourne exceedingly and to cry one while O wretched man that I am and to groane out another while Woe is mee that I am constrained to live in Mesech and to have my habitation in the tents of Kedar of all these miseries Death is the end to Gods servants And so also it is an entrance into happinesse for albeit their bodyes rot in the Grave and bee laid up in the Earth as in Gods store-house untill the last day yet the soule forthwith even in an instant comes into the presence of the ever-living God of Christ and of all the Angels and Saints in Heaven the spirits of just men made perfect to Abrahams bosome to bee with Christ quanta haec felicitas What greater happinesse It was much that Moses obtained to see the back-parts of God but how much greater favour is it to see him face to face to have eternall fellowship with God the Father with Christ the Redeemer with the Holy Ghost the sanctifier The knowledge of this benefit of Death makes the face of it comfortable to Gods servants and causes them to strive with their owne naturall weaknesse that so they may even long for their day of dissolution But now against this point divers Objections may be alledged For first the Apostle Paul sayes that Death is the wages of sinne And else-where hee stiles it Christs enemie the last enemie that hee shall subdue is Death How should not death then be rather a day of misery to bee trembled at then a day of happinesse to bee longed for To this I answer that wee are to distinguish touching Death for it must be considered two wayes First as it is in its owne nature Secondly as it is altered by Christ in the first sence it is true that Death is the wages of sinne and the very suburbs and the gates of hell But in the second taking of Death it ceases to be a plague and becomes a blessing inasmuch as it is even a doore opening out of this world into Heaven Now the godly looke not upon Death simply but upon Death whose sting and venome is plucked out by Jesus Christ and so it is exceeding comfortable But then secondly it is objected that wee reade of many that have prayed against death as namely first David Returne O Lord saith he and deliver my soule oh spare mee for thy mercyes sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee Secondly Hezekiah when the message of death was brought to him Thirdly Christ himselfe Father if it bee possible let this cup passe from me To all these I answer first touching Daâ—…d that when he composed that sixt Psalme hee was not only gâ—…vously sicke but also exceedingly tormented in mind for he wrestled and combatted in his conscience with the wrath of God as appeares by the first Verse of that Psalme therefore wee must know that hee prayed not simply against Death but against death at that time in asmuch as the comming of it was accompanied with extraordinary apprehensions of Gods wrath for at another time hee tells us that hee would not feare though hee walked through the valley of the shadow of Death And the like I say touching Hezekiah that his prayer proceeded not from any desperate feare of Death but first that he might doe more service to God in his Kingdome And with such a kind of thought was Saint Pauls desire of dissolution mingled Secondly hee prayed against Death then because he knew that his death then would be a great cause of rejoycing to evill men to whom his reformation in the State was unpleasâ—…ng Thirdly because hee wanted issue God had promised before to David that there should not faile a man of his seed to sit upon the throne of Israel so that his children did take heed 〈◊〉 their wayes Now it was a great discomfort to him to die childlesse for then he and others might have thought that he was but an Hypocrite inasmuch as God had promised issue to all those Kings that feared him and for this cause God heard his prayer and after two yeares gave him a sonne Maâ—…asseh by name And so I say the same touching our Saviour Christ that hee prayed not against Death as it is the separation betwixt Body and Soule as appeares by what the Apostle saith that hee was heard in that hee feared for hee stood in our roome and became a Curse for us it was the Curse of the Law which went with Death and the unspeakable wrath and indignation of God which hee feared and from this according to his prayer he was delivered But thirdly wee see in most good men a feare of Death and a desire of life and I my selfe may some godly man say doe feele my selfe ready to tremble at the meditation thereof and yet I hope I belong unto God I answer that there are two things to bee considered in every Christian Flesh and Spirit Corruption and Grace and the best have many inward perplexities at times and doubtings of Gods favour Now it is a truth which our Saviour delivers that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weake And as in all other good purposes there is a combat betwixt the flesh and the spirit so is there in this betwixt the feare of Death and the desire of Death sometime the one prevailes and sometimes the other but yet alwayes at last the desire of Death doth get the victory Carnall respects doe often prevaile farre with the best care of wife children and the like Thâ—…se are their infirmities but as other infirmities die in them by degrees so these also at last are subdued and the servants of God seeing clearely the happinesse into which their Death in Christ shall enter them doe even sigh desiring to bee clothed upon with their house which is from Heaven Here then is a good Marke by which we may know our selves to be Gods servants viz. by the state of our thoughts and meditations touching Death I will so deliver it as may bee most for the comfort of those that truly feare God I demand therefore of thee Dost thou know that the confident and comfortable expectation of Death is the worke of the Holy Ghost in Gods servants Dost thou desire unfeignedly that the same may bee wrought in thy heart Dost thou labour to know what happinesse comes by Death to those that feare the Lord Dost thou grieve at thine owne weaknesse to whom the thought of Death is sometime troublesome and unsavourie Dost thou pray the Lord so to assure thee of his favour in Christ that death may bee desired before it comes and welcome when it is come Dost thou when thou hearest this speech of Simeon wish that thou wert able to use the like words with the like resolution Surely