treasure that he doth glory in every man gloryeth in it every man values all other men according to that he makes his treasure and he that fails of that he looks upon him with an eye of scorn and contempt be it what it will I instanced before a man that makes riches his treasure let a person be never so honorable wise and learned he will despise him and so a godly man values himself according to his interest in God and all other men according unto it Tantus quisque est quantus est apud Deum every man is no more worth then he is of value in Gods account Christ doth so Psal 16. 3 4. The Lord is my portion the lines are fallen to me in a goodly place I have a goodly heritage the Lord is my portion the Saints glory in God and make their boast of him all the day long Lastly whatsoever is your treasure you must use all means that you may add unto it or your interest in it a treasure is increased by continual addition whatever therefore may give a man a further interest in God that is the way a man is to take and sell all to buy it for he is to sell all that buys the pearl that which is treasure as now it is the worship of God the fear of the Lord is his treasure Isa 33. 6. by the fear of the Lord is meant the worship of God why doth he lay up treasure in the fear of the Lord yes he gets a further interest in God why are good works a mans treasure because God rewards a man according to his works and he shall have a further interest in God and therefore the worship of God and all the works of obedience and the exercise of all grace a man is busied in all these because it adds to his treasure gives him a further interest in him Who is his God and his al-sufficient reward Fourthly and lastly to give some Arguments to inforce the Exhortation Is there a treasure to be had in Heaven and is it to be had in God do not be such enemies to your souls as to neglect it and that I may inforce this Exhortation take with you these few Arguments and pray mark them well Remember First no treasure below God will be lasting there will come a time when all treasure laid up below God will be expended and what will you live upon then the Apostle tells us the world passes away and the fashion thereof 1 Cor. 7. 29. He uses the expression the time is short what 's the meaning of it t is a Metaphor taken from things folded up there is very little part of it left it is come almost to the last fold which may help a little to explain that expression Psal 36. 10. Continue or draw out thy loving kindness to them that love thee The Metaphor may seem to be the same that is there is abundance of love folded up and but little winded off there is an eternity to spend but now for all these outward comforts there is a great deal worn out and but a little more behinde how many men have you seen already out-live them but to be sure they will out-live the lives of the best men therefore remember no Treasure below God will last Secondly consider this heaven is the place where you hope to go carry your treasures with you or send them thither before you there is no man will remove from a place and leave his treasure behinde him and poor soul thou leavest a great estate and a fine house behinde thee and thou hopest to go to heaven and thou hast no treasure there it s the observation of one upon this place Lay up treasures in heaven carry your provision carry your treasure with you you hope to go to heaven and if that be a true and lively hope you would endeavor to lay up treasure there Thirdly consider with your selves if you lay up treasure in heaven as God is a true Treasure so God is a faithful treasurer what thou dost commit to him he will keep safe and he is a treasurie able to supply all your wants and to make you happy for ever he is self-sufficient in himself much more will he be al-sufficient to thee do not rest in any thing that is below God but lay up treasure in him Nay let me tell you further and pray mark it any treasure here that is below God if it be thy treasure in this life it will be thy tormentor in the life to come Jam. 5. 3. ye have heaped treasure together for the last day he speaks it of rich men and he tells them that they have laid up treasure against the last day there is a double interpretation given of it some expound it of the last day of the world the day of judgement some of the last day the end and period of the Jewish state which the Apostle speaks of and St. John speaks of this is the last hour I conceive it spoken of the Judgement coming upon the Jewish State take it which way you will the thing leaves us a clear argument if you take it for the last day of the State when judgements come upon persons or people then when judgements come your riches shall be the greatest plagues you have but refer it to the last day of the world riches then take their leave of a man they cease then to be treasures but they will be tormentors the Apostle tels them the rust of them shall be a witness against them they have heaped up riches against the last day take heed therefore Take this for a rule That which a godly man hath wrought upon him at his conversion that a wicked man is sure to meet with at his destruction that which was his treasure before he then looks upon as his greatest plague and torment as Ephraim What have I to do any more with idols and saith to his idols Get ye hence Look upon Iudas his money was his treasure before when he comes to hang himself he casts that away and the word carries a great deal of displeasure with it this is the money that hath undone my soul and so many a one will say when he comes to die the love of an estate the things of this life the love of pleasure or honor this hath undone me for ever when it ceases to be your treasure then it becomes your tormentor I have one word more It is one of the great studies of the times what they may do now to keep what they have got Non minor est virtus quam quaerere partatueri What shall we do to preserve what we have got Truly let me speak plain unto you the only way to preserve our treasures on earth is to make sure of this treasure in heaven that 's the only way pray look into Prov. 15. 6. but in the house of the righteous is much treasure in the horn of the wicked is trouble
29. But the soul of my Lord shall be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God but the soul of thine enemies them he will sling out as out of the midst of a sling to have Davids soul bound up with God in the bundle of the living that you may a little understand but to have ungodly mens souls slung out by God out of the midst of a sling what is that to sling souls truly there are three things in it First it notes distance as when you sling a stone you cast it far from you The Lord shall put the wicked far from him Such expressions are frequent in Scripture Secondly it notes a distance in Judgement as the Lord binds up souls in the bundle of the living in mercy So in wrath he slings out the souls of ungodly men Thirdly it doth not only note distance but violence when the Lord will do it with a sudden violent motion as when stones are slung out of a sling when the souls of ungodly men have nothing to rest upon but yet some chief good they fancy to themselves which they think if they could obtain they would be at rest I am perswaded there is many of them do think if I had as much riches as much honors as much pleasures as I would my soul would then be satisfied and be much content as the fool in the Gospel Soul take thy rest thou hast goods laid up for many years thus every man hath some chief good or other to which his soul tends and till he attain it his soul is restless this is the first particular for the opening of the Doctrine Secondly every man hath some chief good in this life in regard of election my meaning is that there is some chief good he chooses to himself in this life I do not say he enjoys it in this life for the hope of the Saints is not in this life but yet for all that they choose it here below thou hadst in thy life time thy good things it s not only true of ungodly men but even of godly men only the one hath fruition in this life the other but election only the one enjoys his portion here the other hath it in the life to come but a portion he doth choose here the election is below the fruition is to come for remember that Solomon saith There is no invention in the grave whither you are going so there is no election in the grave the good that you choose here to your selves you must enjoy for ever some choose pleasures some choose wantonness some choose vanity Truly look to it that is no portion that which you have chosen here you will enjoy hereafter consider withall that after death is the Judgement Heb. 9. 27. the meaning is not the general Judgement though that be after death but a long time after death but the Judgement that passeth on every particular man when he dyeth that Judgement will be an eternal Judgement there will be no reversion for there is a gulph set between us and you an eternity of estate that follows this life therefore while you live here indeed there is a translation a man may change his chief good he that made wealth honour or pleasure his chief good he may by the patience of God choose the Lord for his chief Good but after this life there is no change that which is your chief good in this life you must content your selves with for ever every man hath in this life his chief good I mean not in regard of fruition but of election Thirdly every man in this life hath his own chief good it is your treasure that which is one mans treasure is not anothers thy good things and your treasure and their portion this the Scripture speaks of these things for you must know every man doth choose to himself a good that may properly be called his own As pray will you but observe in Isa 33. 6. The fear of the Lord is his treasure Mr. Calvin and some others do observe that this is peculiarly spoken of Hezekiah and in him of the Church of God and it s said wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times the fear of the Lord is his treasure Pray what is meant by the fear of the Lord I conceive these two things as usually the fear of the Lord carries with it this double sense 1. Reverential fear and awe of the majesty of God from a right apprehension of his greatness and holiness so Prov. 1. 17. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom that is God being rightly known and the soul thereby duely overawed a man had never any wisdom till this entred into his soul nay the word is the top of wisdom In this lies the perfection of all his wisdom if he had never so much Secondly by the fear of the Lord also is meant an awfull worship of God to worship God with reverence and godly fear the Prophet speaks Psal 19. 9. The fear of the Lord is clean he speaks it of the worship of God compare the true Religion with all Religions in the world all their worship is defiled they be the more defiled for all their worship whereas they that worship God in his way they be the more holy now will ye set what was Hezekiahs great treasure the fear of the Lord is his treasure that is in the holy awe he had of God and the constant worship he performed to God in these lay his treasure but is this every mans treasure No I can tell you a great many account the worship of God their burthen look on it as their misery not their treasure How comes it to pass that every man hath his own treasure On these three accounts a treasure or chief good may be said to be his own 1. From the differing lights men have some men see good where other men see none 2 Cor. 4. 18. We look upon things that are not seen Some men have such eyes other men can go no further then the sight of their eyes and so some men have the eyes of their understandings inlightened to know what is the riches of glory in the Saints Ephes 1. 17 18. other men cannot see so far off neither the riches and glory the Saints have in their salvation nor Christ in them but 2 Cor. 4. 4. the god of this world hath blinded their eyes that is they look upon every thing as the Devil represents them you know when Satan tempted Christ he shewed him all the Kingdoms in the world and the glory of them The Devil represented them in his own glass Take a poor creature that thinks riches a gallant thing and honors a very fine thing hee sees these as the Devil represents them But for the duties of Gods worship the word of God and a regular walking he sees no excellency in these Why Because these are represented in a glass that makes them
you estates on earth they are your plagues your curses and yet how many poor souls do we hear say as those in Zach. 11. 6. Blessed be God for they are rich Notwithstanding they hope God will be good to them but never hear them say blessed be God for I am gracious or blessed be God I am converted these are things their souls savor not But rather as that poor wretch that Cardinal said I would not leave my part in Paris for my part in Paradice Now do not you thus lay up treasures on earth but lay up treasures in heaven and thus I have given you these Cautions for the right understanding of the phrase Let us now improve the Exhortation that hath been laid before you which was this Seeing every man in this life hath a treasure some do lay it up upon earth and some do lay it up in heaven be you exhorted to lay up your treasure in heaven now that we may gain the more benefit by it we shall open it a little For the more distinctly you understand spiritual truths the more profit you get by them and the more sweetness you taste in them that I will tell you Therefore there are four things I shall speak to briefly in the prosecution of this Use First what is meant by heaven and why we are commanded to lay up treasures in heaven Secondly what are those treasures that a man may have in heaven Thirdly how can a man lay up treasures in heaven or what is it for a man to lay up treasures in heaven seeing no man in this world ever was in heaven How is man said to lay up treasure there while he is in this life how a man can lay up treasure on earth we can understand Lastly give some Arguments to press and inforce the Exhortation on every one of us as the Lord shall bless them unto us First what is heaven what is meant by heaven And here I meet with a double interpretation and we may make improvement of both of them and therefore I shall give them both unto you for all such things tend to very great advantage to the opening of Scripture First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Heaven some expound it of God apud Deum lay up your treasure in God as Grotius lay up your treasure with God and so they take heaven for him that is the God of heaven the possessor of heaven this will help you to explain some other Scriptures Matth. 21. 25. The baptism of John was it from heaven or of men The proper opposition lies is it from God or man Was it from mans authority or from Gods And so Luke 15. 18. I have sinned against heaven and before thee Why it is the God that dwelleth in heaven Why so lay up your treasure in heaven that is place your happiness in God alone be satisfied in nothing below himself Let him be who hath promised to be your portion and your exceeding great reward lay up treasure in heaven that is lay up treasure in God for you are to consider that Though the Scripture do speak of some other treasures in heaven as in Luke 12. 33. men are exhorted to give alms and they should have treasures in heaven Good works are treasures in heaven But how only as the Lord doth give himself there to the soul as a rewarder pray observe that you may not mistake that your treasure in heaven is God as after I shall shew Why this is very true the exercise of every grace and the performance of every duty all these are said to be treasures in heaven Why because they stand upon record in heaven and because the Lord himself in Heaven will be the rewarder and therefore lay up your treasure in God let him be your chief good and for all good duties lay them up wiâ—â— God that so he of all these may be your great rewarder Lay up therefore your treasures in Deo in God that he may be your eternal portion your good works apud Deum with God that he may be your exceeding great reward This is of great Use Secondly in Coelum others take heaven here For that which we commonly read of in Scripture the third heaven that is called commonly by the Schoolmen the highest heaven the habitation of Gods majesty and glory It is the place where the Saints shall be glorified with God when they shall enter into their masters joy This third heaven that was the first of the Creation of God for so I conceive the highest heavens with its inhabitants were first made and the first day In the beginning God created the heavens the highest heavens with its first inhabitants for though it be true God from eternity was his own heaven as I may so speak and though he hath created the highest heaven yet he is not included and comprehended there for he fils heaven and earth Jer. 23. 23. He is God every where present yet the highest heavens are the place of his Throne the place where his honour dwels Where he is pleased to shew forth his majesty and glory in a most eminent manner and the place that he hath appointed where his people shall have both vision and fruition of him to eternity called therefore their fathers house called therefore the City whose builder and maker is God called therefore an inheritance immortal uncorruptible undefiled reserved in the heavens for us Now this being the place of the Saints happiness when they shall ever be with the Lord they are exhorted to lay up their treasures there for the time will shortly come when all the Saints of God shall remove for you have here no continuing City you seek for a countrey the time will shortly come when you shall leave all your treasure here behinde you for you shall carry nothing away with you for their happiness is in heaven to enjoy God and Christ unto all eternity for this cause they are exhorted to lay up treasure in heaven Where they shall receive the end of their faith and the fruit of their obedience the salvation of their souls which consists in the enjoyment of God in heaven then take either of these for heaven t is true of both either God lay up your treasure in God who is the God of heaven or lay up your treasure in heaven where your eternal enjoyment of God shall be That is the first what is meant by Heaven But Secondly What treasures may a man have in heaven I have spoken a little of that already but give me leave to explain it a little more unto you There are great variety of interpretations what a mans treasure in heaven is and truly almost every Interpreter differs some speak of the word some of the promises some of graces some of duties some of alms but we shall easily understand what must needs be meant if you observe but the opposition there is a treasure in earth and a treasure in heaven what is a mans
should most of all take comfort from Now t is in reference to comfort as it is in reference to duty there are many commands and all of them are to be obeyed but yet there are great commands and these are to have the first place in our obedience This you ought to have done and not to have left the other undone So there is variety of comforts but there are some great grounds of comfort and these are to have the chief place in our hearts and from these in an especial manner should our comfort come in As there be some grand promises those three I have often mentioned I will be thy God That 's the bottom of all the promises I will give thee my Son I will send my Spirit The great Comfort should come in from the great Promises and so t is here and pray observe it If a man be much in the lesser duties of Religion and neglect the greater he hath just cause to suspect the truth of his obedience So if a man take much comfort from lesser grounds and neglect the greater he hath great cause to suspect the truth of his comforts and his right to them This is the great reason why I press it so earnestly that as I would have the people of God take their portion in comfort so I would have them take it in an orderly way But now let us come to particulars You will say Why is a godly man so happy in this that he hath not erred in his chief good There are seven grounds of the greatest comfort that I know in all the book of God arising from this consideration I have not mis-placed my treasure my treasure is in heaven I have not erred in my chief good And the first is this Hereby the soul may see the riches as well as the freeness of the love of God that in my chief good I have not miscarried This is the great error of the world they do mis-place their treasure and by this means they have their portion in this life only with Dives their good things here Now is this the great error of the world as it will be found to be at the last day is it a great mercy to be delivered from lesser sins and judgements how much more is it to be delivered from that which is the greatest judgement in the world Did Noah finde grace in the sight of God and was delivered from that deluge that swept away the world of the ungodly To misplace a mans chief good is the greatest sin and greatest judgement that can possibly fall upon a man This is delivering a man to Satan indeed delivering to Satan with a witness The Scripture speaks of a double delivering of a man to Satan There is Traditio Sathanae tanquam Domino tanquam lictori delivering a man to Satan as a Lord delivering a man to Satan as an Executioner as an Officer There is delivering a man to Satan as a Lord so the Lord Jesus delivered Judas to Satan by the sop After the sop the devil entred into him that is as a Lord to rule over him But there is another way of delivering to Satan 1 Cor. 5. 5. When you are met together in my Spirit deliver such a man to Satan How is that for the destruction of the flesh when the Lord shall be pleased in an Ordinance to give over a man so to the power of the devil that he shall afright his conscience and terrifie him for sin committed and for that end this means shall have its due work and power upon the man but in this Satan is but an executioner A man is never delivered up to Satan as a lord untill he be given up to him so as that he shall deceive him in his chief good then the devil is the lord of the man When the Lord delivers a man to Satan so as that the devil cheats him in his chief good then the man is delivered to Satan as a lord Now for a godly man to be able to look into his own condition and say when I look abroad in the world and see one man place his chief good in this another in that one in riches another in honors another in pleasures but in the midst of all these though in many things I miscarry and therein I was as a beast before God yet blessed be his name here is my comfort I have not miscarried in my chief good there is not any thing stays the soul like this when a godly man is in the greatest affliction when he comes to look death in the face nay when Satan shall triumph over the most of the world as he will do for as he is subtle so he is envious and therefore an insulting spirit when he shall insult over most in the world then that poor soul shall be able to triumph over all the powers of darkness It s true I am weak indeed and I am ignorant poor and mean and low in the world yet in this the devil can never deceive me through grace I have so far obtained mercy that the devil is never able to cheat me of my chief good herein will lie the wisdom at the last day herein will lie a mans glory for t is a mans chief good that will be his glory or his shame to eternity herein will be his wisdom or folly to eternity do you not remember that expression Luke 10. ult Mary hath chosen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the better part or the good part I shall not inquire what the meaning of that is the good part but the word there used signifies not only partem sed portionem part but portion Mary hath chosen that good portion and herein lay her wisdom in a mans election his wisdom lieth And above all choice in the world is that which he makes his chief good true saith the soul I have bin foolish in many things in many things I have erred but yet blessed be the name of my God the true treasure was not hid from me And when a man shall come to appear before men and Angels at the last day those that are now the fools of the world that are derided for their godliness that are mockt in their choice as men that are not able to set themselves in the face of the times so as to be some body in the present Age. But when they shall appear before the Lord Jesus to judge the quick and dead in his Kingdom then these will be esteemed of all others the only wise men this was the soul that was directed by wisdom from above that carried him still to the right chief good if this will not stand by you in your greatest troubles there is nothing in Religion will do it Secondly There is this ground of comfort I have chosen the true chief good the true treasure that shall never be taken from me You know the expression of Maries better part Luke 10. ult She hath
chief good therefore the soul breaths no other breath My soul pants after God gasps after God breaths after God saith David Psal 42. 1. In this the soul lives this is the breathing place of the soul Lastly here only is animae requies the rest of the soul Return unto thy rest oh my soul Psal 116. 7. Now it is only the chief good that the soul rests in this is only the object of fruition the soul is restless until it come to this but it is ever moving towards it these be the reasons why the heart of man must of necessity be where the treasure is But now the next thing is how is the heart of man carried after its treasure doth it always go after it that the heart is where the chief good is continually how is it carried after it Here give me leave to lay down six Conclusions which are of marvellous great use and great truths every one of them I shall but name them though they need a great deal of explication First the heart goeth after the treasure continually the soul of man is always active never idle and what 's the reason of all its motions truly t is well observed by the Schools that Summum bonnum est omnium operationum origo The chief good is the reason of all the motions of the soul the soul moves continually after it now from thence all motions do arise Eccles 2. 23. he speaks there of a covetous rich man whose chief good is his wealth there is his treasure his heart takes no rest at night saith he his boâ—iâ— that is necessitated to take rest but his heart is restless because still it is carried after its treasure and therefore day and night is never at rest always moving what is the reason because still it is carried after the treasure continually Secondly The heart goes after the treasure infinitely unsatiably that where a mans treasure and chief good is there the heart is never satisfied but it is going out after it without measure those that place it here below you know the expression Habbak 1. 15. they imarge their defires as hell and can never be satisfied true the chief good indeed gives measure to all subordinate things but it is without measure it self so that he that hath a treasure his heart is infinitely carried after it whether it be below or above he is never satisfied oh the infiâ—iâ—e dis-satisfaction in the soul that hath once set the Lord and chosen him for his chief good he is always growing gasping crying mourning walking after God Thirdly a mans treasure or chief good the heart takes fast hold of and possesses it for his own pray observe it there be other things indeed that the heart looks upon as other mens goods but his chief good he possesses as his own t is his own t is his treasure so observe Iob 8. 15. the place I cited before he shall not only lean upon his house but hold fast his house the Text saith take â—ow a poor covetous wretch whose money is his treasure an ambitious man his honor is his treasure take a poor proud woman and vanity in apparel is her treasure Let the judgements of God be denounced and the Ministers of God strive to take off the men they hold it fast and will not let it go they will contend for it and look upon them as the worst enemies in the world that labour to pull it from them pray observe it for in this way the heart goes out to the treasure he holds it fast and this is the true cause why conversion is a work of Almighty power because as Prosper well observes Summum bonum nemo perdit nisi volens no man loses his chief good but by his will therefore he that shall change a mans chief good must change his will which all the Angels in Heaven cannot do till God change his will he never lets go his chief good and this is the marriage of the soul that which is a mans treasure it is his marriage t is an Almighty power must break that band men are said to be married to sin upon that account Rom. 7. 5. purely because it is a mans treasure thus the heart goeth out to it the heart holds it fast take another man that makes God his Treasure and spiritual things God in Christ and what then why come temptation the man holds his treasure come desertion the man holds his treasure look to Heman Psal 88. I am free among the dead like those that lie in the grave whom thou remembrest no more yet saith he My God I cry day and night â—is God is his treasure if he lose that he is undone take God from me and I am undone or else you can never undo me the soul holds it fast he stays upon his God and leans upon his beloved this is another way how the heart goeth out to the treasure it holds it fast Fourthly if at any time the heart be shaken to its treasure and chief good it returns again shake it while you will thither it will return again take an unregenerate man and his beloved sin shakes him many times his knees shake and his bowels tremble within him yet after this the man returns to his vomit again still he returns to his treasure as the unclean spirit that goes out of the man returns so a man returns to his treasure again and so a godly man let him be by temptations shaken off from God yet notwithstanding for all that the soul returns to God again that as when you throw a bowl it may seem to run strait for a time but after the force that was put upon it is spent the biass takes it and carries it another way so it is here whiles the violence of temptation lasts the soul seems to be carried away from God but the biass of the soul takes it and carries it to the chief good again so that a godly man though his soul be shaken from God never so much hath a principle within him that reduces him again I will return to my former Husband Hos 2. 17. Somewhat will bring about the soul again as by that ordinary similitude As the needle toucht with the loadstane will come about again to its own posture so it s with the soul that hath the true touch from heaven Fifthly the change of a mans chief good is a godly mans first change t is his great change it is his chief change the great change to destruction what is that they have forsaken me as the chief good Jer. 2. 13. and digged to themselves broken Cisterns Now to return to God again is the first and chief change and that 's another reason why conversion is a work of Almighty power Who is able to exalt God in the soul as the chief good none but himself the Sctipture speaks frequently of exalting God and of the Lords exalting himself exalt thy self in thy own strength and
world and are the off-scouring of all things to this very day Men do affront and contemn they do revile and reproach they do oppose and contradict they do threaten and persecute the faithful Prophets of God and those of them who are most faithful and most zealous are most hated and most persecuted Now the Lord will not bear with this odious ingratitude and with this barbarous injuriousness done unto his faithful servants he is extreamly sensible of all the evil done unto them of all the evil words spoken against them and of all the evil counsel and devices taken against them and of all the evil works done against them Touch not mine Anointed and do Psa 105. 15. Act 9. 4. my Prophets no harm saith God Saul Saul why persecutest thou me saith Christ And therefore he takes away his choice Prophets and Servants in Judgement from such an ungracious and ungrateful people in effect saying unto them thus much Ye will not be taught and you shall not be taught any more and you will not hearken unto my messengers but mock and despise them therefore they shall speak no more unto you in my name your house shall be left unto you desolate Ye shall not see me henceforth said Mat. 23. 39. Christ till ye shall say Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 4. The fourth and last reason why the Lord takes away his most eminently faithfull and zealous Prophets from a people is this To shew unto a people the uncertainty and instability even of spiritual opportunities that they are but a season which is pretious but unsure that they are a short day and a Sun that may set at noon day There are four things which do admit of much uncertainty 1. One is all our earthly possessions and comforts wilt thou set thine eyes on that which is not saith Solomon Prov. 23. 5. There is no earthly comfort whatsoever which is not altogether uncertain nay altogether uncertainty it is but as the shade on the Dyal on which you look and may be gone before you turn back to look on it again 2. The second is The gratious motions of the Spirit of God working upon our spirits My spirit shall not always strive with man Gen. 6. 3. Rara Hora Brevis mora saith Bernard The dealings of Gods Spirit with us are many times like Peters vision of the sheet which was let down but quickly drawn up to heaven again and indeed there is no man who resists or neglects any one motion of Gods Spirit but he puts it upon an uncertainty whether he shall meet with any other motion more 3. The third is the day of Grace our Gospel-day wherein Christ reveals himself and offers himself and mercy and peace and salvation this is a day for eternity but it is not an eternal day It may quickly be lost and for ever lost O if thou hadst known said Christ to Jerusalem even Thou at the least in this thy day the things which concern thy peace But now Luk. 19. 42. they are hid from thine eyes q. d. Thou hadst thy day and now thou hast lost thy day 4. The fourth is all the lifes and pains and labours of the Prophets and Ministers of God they are all fluent and uncertain This day the Minister lives and preaches the next day he is sick and dyes you cannot say of the best Minister on earth he shall be ours for ever or long or a week or a day such an instability is there not only in the best of our outward comforts but also in the best of our spiritual helps And there is much of the wisdom of God in this very particular contingency he hath his good ends in it to awaken the hearts of people from carnal security and presumption from all carelesness and neglects and to stir and quicken them to all heavenly seriousness and wise carefulness both to know the day of their visitation and likewise to improve the light whiles they enjoy the light There are two works upon which all spiritual uncertainties in Friends or Ministers should put us 1. One is therefore to prize what is present there is no certainty but in that which is present that is ours and nothing but that is ours the present Sermon that is ours and the present offer of Christ prize what is present for the future is uncertain 2. Another is therefore to act with all our power to do as much in a little time as others are doing in a long time Nay to be striving and treasuring up in a little time so fervently and so diligently as if we had no more time There is an uncertainty in the lives of Gods Prophets therefore people should ply their doctrine and their help with all their strength hear them as if they should never hear them more and confer and draw from them as if they should never speak with them any more but more of this in the Uses now following May and doth God translate Vse 1. A double advertisement even an Elijah doth he take away the most eminently faithful and zealous Prophets Hence a double advertisement 1. One to Ministers 2. The other to People First to Ministers loyter not lose no time stand not idle at all up and be doing your Masters work do not talk of this pain and of that ach nor of this weakness nor of that indisposition but spend and be spent be instant in season and out of season watch and labour pray and instruct reprove and comfort pull down and build up always abounding in the work of the Lord. O said that eminently religious and judicious Calvin who had worn himself to the very bone with often praying and studying and preaching and writing and therefore being entreated by his friends a little to spare himself no saith he but I desire that when my Master comes he should finde me working And so that precious Jewel his desire Nec propter vitam vivendi perdere finem was that he might die preaching And learned and pious Reynolds he would not lose time he lookt at the end of life more then at life it self O Brethren Ye also have but your day ye have but your day to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and ye have but your day to save your own souls and ye have but your day to save the souls of them that hear you And your day of working seems to be more variable and contingent then the day of other men for if ye be impartially faithful and zealous ye shall be sure to meet with all discouragements and oppositions from all sorts of ungodly men who if they cannot stop your mouths will yet do all they can to break your hearts And besides that your constant studies and diligent labours and publike preachings and private conferences and several other imployments will weaken your spirits spend your lungs consume your strength and hasten your death However the Lord will take you
several duties of a Father As first Instruction and Direction Secondly Repro of and Correction Thirdly Compassion and Comfort Fourthly Provision and Expences In all these doth every faithful and zealous Minister of God abundantly appear and put forth himself He instructs the ignorant directs the doubtful warns reproves the unruly pitties the weak comforts those that are cast down provides food of all sorts for his people milk for Babes and meat for those of full age Heb. 5. 14. 2 Cor. 13. 11. lays out himself spends and is spent lays out all his received treasure and stock of spiritual goods amongst them is grieved if his children walk unworthy of the Gospel and nothing doth more rejoyce him then to see them walking in the truth and prospering in Christ As his first great desire is to match every one of them to Christ so his next great endeavor is that they may abound with all the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ Now judge what the loss of such a person is It is sad to lose such a faithful friend as Jonathan and such a loving and â—ender father as Jacob was much more sad and heavy is it to lose such a father whom God hath made an Instrument to regenerate our souls to rescue us from the power of darkness to bring us unto Jesus Christ and unto salvation by him When a person can say of a Minister Had not the Lord sent such a one I had for ought I know been damned I had gone on in my sinful cursed ways and had everlastingly perished But it pleased the Lord by his Ministry to open mine eyes and to awaken my conscience to make me to see my sins and all my spiritual misery and to humble and break my heart and to direct me in the way how my poor soul might be brought in to Christ Yea and did work so effectually that at length I did by faith close with Christ and since that my soul hath been refreshed with the joys and comforts of the Holy Ghost And besides all this I have received at several times special directions for my walking singular helps against doubts fears and temptations c. Truly the loss of such a Minister of such a Father will distress us will melt us will make our hearts to mourn and lament 2. In respect of the Publique Civil State Unto which faithful and zealous Prophets are the Charet of Israel and the horsemen thereof some render the words Currus Israelis militia ejus Faithful and zealous Prophets of God are useful and serviceable not only for the spiritual estate of mens souls but also for the temporal interest of a Civil State Micah said Now I know that the Lord Iudges 17. 13. will do me good seeing I have a Levite to my Priest I dare confidently affirm that the faithful Ministers of God are so far from being a curse and detriment unto a Nation that they are a blessing unto it and a strength and safety unto it Nay let me speak truly They are of more strength and safety then all Charets and horsemen There is I confess some strength unto a people by them and so there is some strength unto a people by wise Counsellors and so there is some strength unto a people by Unity and Concord at home and so there is some strength by consederations abroad but the chiefest strength of a state under God lies in faithful and zealous Prophets and in faithful and godly persons Quest You will say how can this be what are they but a company of weak men and commonly despised men what good can they do to a Civil State or for it Sol. It is granted they are but weak men and they are despised men in the world yet it was the poor man whom no man remembred who did by his wisdom deliver the City and you read that by a Eccles 9. 16. Hos 12. 13. Prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and by a Prophet was he preserved But I shall by a few Arguments demonstrate that the faithful and zealous Ministers of God are the greatest strength and safety unto a Nation 1. There is no greater Rom. 8. 31. strength and safety for a people then this that God owns them and God is present with them the greatest people on earth are nothing if the Lord leaves them and departs from them therefore said Moses unto the Lord If thy presence goes not with us carry Exod. 33. 15. us not hence q. d. Lord We are nothing without thy presence we cannot be a sufficiency to our selves nor a safety to our selves at all thy presence is all in all to us and for us But the faithful and zealous Prophets or Ministers of God are a special means of Gods presence with a people which may thus appear 1. They are a means to engage a people unto God to bring their hearts unto him and to acknowledge and own him only you read this in Elijah who brought back the hearts of the people of Israel unto the Lord and they cryed out The Lord is God 1 Kin. 18. 37 39. the Lord is God 2. They are a means to keep the worship of God and his Ordinances pure and remember this that as long as a people do own God and as long as his worship and Ordinances are preserved pure amongst them so long God is present with them who is their only rock and safety 2. They are the special instruments which God doth use to keep a people from sin and to bring them unto repentance in case of sinning they warn and threaten them from the Lord and testifie and cry aloud against their transgressions and will not suffer them to go on in wickedness but strive with them and exhort them daily and press upon them all sorts of Arguments from Judgements and mercies to cease to do evil and to learn to do well to forsake their evil ways and to turn to the Lord this we finde in Scripture and this we finde in experience and therefore they are the most eminent means of safety unto a people Beloved they are our sins and they only are the fountains of all our miseries our sinful evils bring upon us all our miserable evils thy ways and thy doings have procured these things unto thee this is thy wickedness i. e. the fruit Ier. 4. 18. and effect thereof And if sins be removed then miseries are removed and all danger is over God is again wel-pleased and returns with loving kindness and much prosperity unto a people as you may read in the times of the Judges and of the Kings 3. They are the choisest instruments which God doth 1 Sam. 12. 23. I will teach you the good and the right way use to teach a people his will and ways by them doth God make known his Laws and Statutes and ways this is the way walk ye in it in these paths you shall finde rest unto