operae pretium and several such Latinisms there are in the New Testament and it signifies worth the while worth my labour And so the Sense of this Verse is this If I continue in this Fleshly Tabernacle is I yet live in the World it is worth the while it will not be altogether unprofitable to me nor to others because thereby I may gain some to Christ and as for you Philippians and other Christians I may be helpful to you and them for your and their furtherance and joy of Faith Vers. 25. It follows in the same Verse Yet what I shall choose I wot not There are weighty and pressing Reasons on both sides so that I know not well whether I should choose and desire to Live or Die if the choice of both were given me Vers. 23. For I am in a streight betwixt two Here are two different desires each have their Reasons to move on the one side Having a desire to depart I have a great desire to return home For so the Greek word should be render'd rather then to depart and the fitness of the Metaphor doth by the way suggest this to us That this Life is a State of Banishment or a Pilgrim-condition a State of absence from God 2 Cor. 5. and from our Fathers House and that Heaven is the proper Country and Seat of Souls it is their Home It follows and to be with Christ which is far better Our English Translation is not here so full and leaves out a word it is exactly thus for this is much better by far or this is far better by a great deal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And here by the way may be observed That the Soul hath a Being and doth also act and is capable of joy or pain and sensible of the good or evil condition she is in after the Death of the Body and that therefore she doth not fall into a deep Sleep and continue as the Body doth in a senseless condition for many Hundreds if not Thousands of Years till the sounding of the Shrill Trumpet of the Archangel at the great Day of Judgment Otherwise it had not been exceedingly much better for S. Paul to depart this Life but to have lived and continued in the Flesh till the coming of that great Day S. Paul had not been in a strait between two nor at a loss whether to choose but he would easily have preferr'd it as more desireable to be awake and alive here to the Service of Christ and to the endeavouring the good of others To act for God in the World and to be sensible of that satisfaction and to reap that joy and pleasure which would follow and did flow into his Soul upon such labouring and abounding in the work of the Lord being plainly more eligible and a better State And to fall asleep which is to be in a condition of doing nothing for Christ and of being uncapable of that joy and pleasure which accompanies the doing of good being as plainly a worse Estate If to be with Christ be to fall asleep to do nothing to feel nothing not to be sensible of his being there it were better for him to be from Christ and to be Ministring to the good of others in the World considering also that it was so needful for the Philippians and others that he should abide in the Flesh To live and to act and to enjoy the comfort of such acting being simply better then for the Soul to Sleep that is to do nothing to perceive nothing which is all one for the time as if the Soul were really Dead or did Sleep the Sleep of Death And whereas some as Grotius and others understand no more by this Phrase To be with Christ then this to be in Christi custodiâ quoad partenpotiorem i. e. animam to be received by Christ into safe custody to be committed to his trust and keeping I Answer First That so the Faithful were in this Life kept by him and by God Jo. 17. 11 12. and Chap 10. 28 29. 1 Pet. 1. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which implys a safe custody and Chap. 4. 19. which plainly is meant of this Life and therefore if this be meant by being with Christ they might be said to be with Christ here in this Sense Secondly That though the Souls of the faithful be after Death received into Christ's custody and keeping yet this doth not imply nor infer their falling into a senseless unactive dead Sleep In Jo. 12. 26. Christ promiseth to every one that serves him and follows him where I am there shall also my Servant be and afterwards him will my Father Honour that is reward so the Greek word imports So that the being where Christ is or the being with him and God's Rewarding go together When S. Stephen at his Death said Lord Jesus rceive my Spirit this doth no more prove that his Spirit fell asleep as soon as it was received by Christ into his custody then that the Spirit or Soul of Christ was asleep for three Days after his Death immediately before which he said Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit Luke 23. 46. Thirdly I add That this Phrase To be with Christ doth in the Style of the Scripture imply a State of Life and Sense not a senseless Sleep but such a State wherein the Faithful enjoy Christ and perceive the good of being with him As appears by comparing several passages of Scripture Thus in Jo. 17. 24. It is joyned with their beholding the Glory which God hath given him And it is made use of by Christ as an Argument to comfort his troubled Disciples Jo. 14 3. and by the Apostle Paul to comfort Christians when grieved for the decease of friends 1 Thes. 4. 17. Where to be for ever with the Lord that is with Christ is more then to be taken into his custody and is far from signifying for ever to be asleep In all these places it signifies a State of Activity and Sense and Perception and a Perception of that Joy and Happiness which being considered should fortifie Christians against all trouble and Sorrow And so to be with Christ is the same with to live with Christ 2 Tim. 2. 11. and to reign with Christ Vers. 12. And although their being with Christ after they have received their Spiritual and Heavenly Body at the Resurrection doth signifie a greater degree of Happiness and a fuller measure of Reward of which they are now more capable by reason of their Spiritual Body Yet their being with Christ in the intermediate space between their Death and the Resurrection or last Judgment is far from signifying nothing at all no lesser degree of Happiness no enjoyment of Christ no comfortable and joyous Perception of their being with him nothing but a being kept safe or kept in being nothing but being in a Dead Sleep in his Arms. But to return to the rest of the Paragraph Vers. 24. Nevertheless or but to
IMPRIMATUR Junii 19. 1689. Guil. Needham R. R. in Christo Pat. ac D. D. Wilhelmo Archiep. Cant. a Sacr. Domest THE DOCTRINES OF THE Resurrection AND THE REWARD to COME Considered as The Grand Motives to an HOLY LIFE Discoursed of from 1 Cor. XV. 58. BY The late Pious and Learned JOHN WORTHINGTON D. D. LONDON Printed for Awnsham Churchill at the Black-Swan in Ave-Mary-Lane 1690. To the Honourable Sir PAUL WHICHCOT Knight and Baronet SIR IAm emboldened by the singular Vertues and other worthy Endowments I have been an Admirer of in You to make choice of Yourself to be the Patron of the following Discourse And the Law of Gratitude commands me likewise to take this occasision of making a thankful Acknowledgment of the many Favours which as unworthy as I have been of them I have received from you As to this Treatise and its Authour Silence best becomes me in regard of the near Relation I bear to him Onely this I would suggest That since he had not prepared it for the Press that Accuracy and Exactness ought not to be lookt for in it which otherwise might be expected But I doubt not 't will have the Approbation of all good men as a Discourse well adapted to the Promoting and Furtherance of true Piety And that it may be successful to this best of Ends is the Hearty Prayer of SIR Your most Obliged Kinsman And Humble Servant John Worthington A DISCOURSE ON 1 Cor. XV. 58. Therefore my beloved Brethren be ye Stedfast Unmoveable always Abounding in the work of the Lord for asmuch as you know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. THESE words are a most just Inference from that great Fundamental Truth of another State another Life after the Death of this Body a reward and blessed Immortality after this present Life which grand important Truth the Apostle doth assert largely confirm and illustrate in this Chapter and that in opposition to those that denyed the Doctrine of the Resurrection or of any other Life besides this present Life as appeared by that wicked Speech of theirs mentioned in Vers. 32. Let us Eat and Drink for to Morrow we shall Die that is Let us live in pleasure be merry and delight our Senses let us take our fill of the good things of this World for to Morrow we Die for within a little while we shall be taken out of this World Death will come ' ere long and seize on us and then there will be an end of us This is at large and in very lively expressions described in the Book of Wisdom where wicked Men are brought in speaking out the inward Atheism of their Hearts Chap. 2. 6 7 8 9. Come on let us enjoy the good things that are present and let us speedily or earnestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 use the Creatures like as in Youth Let us fill our selves with costly Wine and Qyntments and let no Flower of the Spring pass by us Let us Crown our selves with Rose-buas before they be withered Let none of us go without his part of our Voluptuousness or jollity let us leave Tokens of our joyfulness in every place All this is a larger account of that briefly exprest by the Apostle Let us Eat and Drink And as it follows for to Morrow we Die so upon the like consideration do these in Wisd. 2. encourage themselves to a Sensual Life Vers. 1. Our Life is short Vers. 5. Our time is a very shaddow that passeth away and after our end there is no returning And the like in Vers. 2. 3 4. But let the Sensual ones those that are Atheistically disposed talk at this rate and rejoyce in their Youth let them walk in the ways of their Hearts and in the sight of their Eyes let them mock at the Righteous and account his Life Madness Wisd. 5. 4. They shall one day know That verily there is a reward to the Righteous and doubtless there is a God that judgeth in the Earth The Righteous shall live for evermore their reward is with the Lord and the care of them is with the most High they shall receive a Glorious Kingdom and a Beautiful Crown from the Lords Hand Wisd. 5. 15 16. or as the Apostle here their Labour is not shall not be in vain in the Lord. The Words may be easily resolved into these Propositions 1. Christians must be Stedfast well-grounded and rooted in the Faith Established in the Truth 2. Christians must be Vnmoveable in the Profession of the Truth particularly in the Profession of the Faith of the Resurrection and a Life to come 3. Christians must always Abound in the work of the Lord. 4. Christians have good ground to be assured that their Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. They that abound most in God's work in the Labours of Religion may perswade themselves that they shall not lose their Reward their Labour is not lost is not fruitless but shall certainly be rewarded In speaking to which Propositions we shall not need to seek for Proof elsewhere then in the Text For the following Proposition doth fully and pertinently prove the former as thus Christians must be Sted fast for else they cannot be Vnmoveable Christians must be both Stedfast and Vnmoveable for else they will not they cannot be Abounding always in the work of the Lord. Christians must Abound in the work of the Lord for their Labour will not be in vain in the Lord. PROPOSITION I. Christians must be Stedfast well-grounded and rooted in the Faith Established in the Truth That the Soul be without knowledge it is not good saith Solomon Prov. 19 2. Here is a Litotes not good i. e. it is a sad and miserable condition But in Heb. 13. 9. It is a good thing that the Heart be established with Grace that is in the Gospel be grounded in the Truth of the Gospel which is frequently called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace in the New Testament in opposition to the Mosaical Law which is here described by Meats and in Chap. 9. 10. 't is said to stand only in Meats and Drinks and diverse Washings c. It is S. Paul's advice to Timothy Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me 2 Tim. 1. 13. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a short form or draught a summary no long and tedious business for the Memory nor made up of many Nice and subtle Speculations The main Substantials of Religion lie in a little room they should be delivered briefly and in an easie and evident way not clog'd with obscure and intricate Notions with unnecessary or doubtful Opinions sound or wholesome words and Doctrine and what that is is plain in 1 Tim. 6. 3. where wholesome words and the Doctrine which is according to Godliness are the same That Doctrine which is proper and powerful to beget and to encrease a Godlike disposition and Life this is sound Doctrine and it makes sound and
of Life and Immortality Immersion or a being sunk into the Body Sensuality eagerly pursued as if there were nothing higher nothing better then what is common to Man and Beast as also those more dry and seemingly cleaner sins viz. Earthly-mindedness Anxious cares and busie endeavours about geting and encreasing and keeping much of the things of this outward World a Spirit of Earthy self-seeking Policy an Ambitious Spirit after Glory and the Splendours of Titles and Places these and the like make Men that they cannot Relish or Tast so neither clearly apprehend what is Heavenly and Spiritual they cannot receive the things of God Such Sensual Epicureans and also Worldlings are great Strangers as to Heaven so to any clear and full apprehensions of what is Spiritual and Immortal Of such there is this account in Wisdom 2. 21 22. Their own wickedness hath blinded them as for the Mysteries of God they knew them not nor discerned they a Reward for blameless Souls Men must live better Lives if they would know these things as they ought to know 3. Be not moved by the Apostacy and falling away of others That some even in the Apostles times were moved and fell away from the Stedfast Belief and Profession of this grand Fundamental Truth the Resurrection and Life to come appears by some passages in S. Paul's Epistles Three are mention'd by Name Hymenaeus Philaetus and Alexander who as they are said concerning Faith to have made Ship-wrack 1 Tim. 1. 19. and in 2 Ep. 2. 18. to have Erred concerning the Truth particularly that great Truth and Article of the Resurrection and any future State or Life for they said that the Resurrection is past already And thus as they were far from being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stedfast and Vnmoveable so did they unsettle others and cause them to back-slide overthrowing the Faith of some Vers. 18. For their words their Speech or Discourse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did Eat or spread as a Canker or Gangrene their wicked Principles did spread and corrupt many Vers. 17. and therefore the Apostle bids Timothy to shun to look to and avoid them Vers. 16. That which the Apostle did fear and warn the Christians of in those times is still very seasonable and it is strange that many who are otherwise shy and wary are not aware of the Devils cunning and devices It is the great Policy of the Devil to amuse the World with things of less moment and consequence and about these things to provoke the Zeal enflame the Passions and Choller of Men and heighten differences about things either more obscure or less necessary and that into such heats as if the whole Stress of Religion or Salvation were to be laid upon such or such Notions and Opinions as if the Kingdom and Honour of Christ and Glory of God were mainly concerned herein And all this the Devil is so busie at that so some more dangerous principles might be more secretly and undiscernably conveyed and spread amongst Christian Professours viz. such principles as tend clearly to the advancing of his Kingdom of Sin to the bringing in and cherishing of all ungodliness and unrighteousness to the eating out and consuming of any good principle left in the Conscience which testifies for God in a word such as tend to the corrupting of good Manners to the debauching of the World such as strike at the Fundamentals of Religion and Christian Life as Gnosticism Sidducism Atheism do that these may be more secretly conveyed and spread in the World Is it not matter of just wonder That amidst the many animosities and eager contentions and bitter strifes amongst Christians about the Externals or Extra-essentials of Religion for which they Un-saint and Un-christian one another that they are so little sensible of that Gnosticism that Sadducism that Atheism that hath grown and spread in the Christian World But to speak more particularly such Doctrines and Notions as these That the Soul is extinguished and perisheth with the Body That there is no other State or Being but in the World That there is no Angel nor Spirit no Immaterial or Spiritual Being nothing but Body or Matter That there is no Resurrection no Judgment to come and therefore no Punishment or Reward hereafter which Doctrines are the Leaven of the Sadducees of old and the modern Sadducees Sowre and unwholesome Sadducism as also those corrupt Doctrines viz. That nothing is intrinsecally good or evil That Religion is onely a Politick device a trick of Polititians to keep People in awe These Doctrines and Opinions as well as those that deny there is a God as the Atheists do or if there be a God That he sees no sia in such who conceit themselves to be his People to be nearly allyed to him as the Gnosticks of old and the Ranters of late That Men may be free to any thing Such Doctrines and Principles as these tend clearly to the advancing of the Kingdom of Sin and Satan to the bringing in and cherishing of all ungodliness c. And therefore there is good Reason for the Apostles advice That every serious Christian that minds the Salvation of his Soul would take heed and flee such keep at a distance from Men of such corrupt minds and beware of the Leaven of the Sadducees And if others go a Whoreing after such Doctrines pleasing to Flesh and Blood if others Apostatize and fall away from the Truth yet as S. Peter speaks do ye beware lest ye be led away with the Errour of the wicked and fall from your own Stedfastness 2 Ep. 3. 17. Reason Christians must be Stedfast and Vnmoveable in the Belief and Profession of the Truth those great things of the Christian Faith the Resurrection and Life to come Because else they cannot they will not be always Abounding in the work of the Lord. Clear and strong persuasions of the Resurrection of the Dead and of a future State are a Root and Principle full of sap and lise and Holiness is the kindly Fruit thereof Whereas on the contrary the denial of the Resurrection and Judgment to come is the principle of sin and disobedience and opens the way to all manner of wickedness They that banish out of their Minds all sense of a future State will instead of abounding in the work of the Lord abound in every evil work all that being taken away which onely is able to lay a powerful restraint upon the unbridled Lusts of Men. And here I may Appeal to the experience and observation of discerning and serious persons Let it be considered and observed whether those that can hardly imagine or cannot conceive any thing but Body Flesh and Matter those that slight the Notion of Spirit Immaterial and Immortal Substance Whether the Commandments of God are not grievous and Religion a burden something to them whether it be not more desireable to them to be Epicuri de grege porci to wallow in the
Reward where it follows what is said in Vers. 34. A better and an enduring Substance or being in Heaven we may well here also understand it in the same Sense But had it been onely an Earthly Canaan that Moses had respect to we may hence argue If an Earthly Inheritance which is uncertain and short as our Life is and not secured from troubles and crosses could thus far affect Moses and prevail with him to do and suffer all this and secured him against the Tentations of the Court and made him to choose Piety with afflictions rather then Pleasures accompanied with Sin How much more should the Heavenly Inheritance the Land of the Living as Heaven may be better call'd so then Earth as being the Land and Country of the Living to Eternity how much more should the upper Canaan of which it may be rather said then of the lower and Earthly Canaan Deut. 8. That it is a Land wherein thou shalt Eat Bread without scarceness thou shalt not lack any thing in it a Land that floweth with what is sweeter and better then Milk and Honey How much more should it prevail with us to deny our selves and to overcome the Temporary delights of Sin 4. This Doctrine of the Resurrection and the Life to come makes the Spirit of a Believer Impregnable when assaulted with the greatest difficulties and dangers from without It Arms and Fortifies him against the most threatning Terrours of the World as well as against the most alluring Tentations an instance and eminent proof whereof we have in the Seven Brethren and their Mother who suffer'd under Antiochus of which we spake before 5. It enábles Christians to take patiently the Loss of Friends the Decease of nearest and dearest Relations that die in the Lord and sleep in Jesus As knowing that God will bring them again with Christ at the last Day God will raise them out of their Graves and they shall as soon be with Christ when he Descends from Heaven with a Shout with the Voice of the Archangel and the Trump of God as those that are alive upon the Earth at his coming who shall not prevent them which are asleep but the Dead in Christ shall Rise first and so all of them both the newly raised Saints and the then living who shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an Eye 1 Cor. 15. their Bodies being to be made Incorruptible and Immortal and so qualified for Heaven as well as the Bodies of them that were raised from the Dead I say all of them shall at once be taken up in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air to attend upon the Judge the King of Glory and so shall they ever be with the Lord. All this we have in 1 Thes. 4. And are not these words of comfort in the case of Christian Friends Deceased And it enables also to take patiently yea and joyfully the spoyling of their Goods the loss of their Worldly Goods their Estates and Possessions as it is expresly said of the believing Hebrews in Chap. 10. 34. Where also is mention'd that which enabled them to such a joyous patience for it immediately follows in the same Verse knowing in your selves that you have in Heaven a better and more enduring Substance better Treasures and such as cannot be taken away none can spoile them of and that for their losses and sufferings here they shall be Infinitely Rewarded and Recompensed at the Resurrection of the Just. 6. It makes Believers more mindful of and faithful to the great ends of Life and Being in this World It melts them into softer Compassions to the Souls of others and enlarges them into greater desires of and endeavours after the good of others every way That they also may with them be the Children of the Resurrection and accounted worthy to obtain that World and the Resurrection from the Dead Luke 20. 35. and to stand before the Son of Man Chap. 31. 26. These are those that love the appearing of Christ as it is in 2 Tim. 4. and prepare for it and they would fain have others also so minded and therefore while they are in the World they endeavour to do what good they can These long and look for the Blessed Hope and Glorious Appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ Tit. 2. Then shall the shadows of this dark Life flee away Then shall the Day break and the Night be gone Then will the Eyelids of that Morning begin to open when they shall awake and see the Face of God in Righteousness The Morning to that calm and fair Day of Eternity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 3. ult the Day that shall have no Sun-set no Evening the Day which the Lord hath made we shall rejoyce and be glad in it Psal. 118. To these Children of the Resurrection is that encouraging passage of Scripture in Luke 23. 28. where after the mention of Christs coming in a Cloud with Power and great Glory it is said and by Christ himself When these things come to pass then look up and lift up your Heads for your Redemption draweth nigh The Phrase is like to that in Rom. 8. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exerto capite facta expectatio Creaturae Where the Apostle by a Pathetical Elegant Prosopopeia brings in the whole Creation expecting looking and longing for with Head lifted up the Manifestation and Vers. 21. the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God and to be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption and the being subject unto Vanity under which it groanth and travellèth with pain until now But the word in Luke respects rather the then becoming temper os the Mind then any gesture of the Body it imports the greatest longing and most joyous expectation And therefore the Syriack attending to the Sense of the place rather then to the letter doth not unfitly render the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Look up by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be of goood Cheer have a good Heart But this comfort is onely for the Children of the Resurrection for those that love the appearing of Christ as the Apostle Characterizes those Christians to whom God the Righteous Judge will at that Day give the Crown of Righteousness and such onely can love the appearing of Christ his Illustrious appearing his coming then with Power and great Glory who have already endured and felt with patience the Day of his coming and the Power of his Spiritual appearance within them when he was not disturb'd nor opposed in his Refining and Spiritual Work for he is like a Refiners Fire and he shall Sit as a Refiner and Purifier of Silver as it is in Mal. 3. PROPOSITION III. 3. Christians must always Abound or Excel in the Work of the Lord. The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies not onely to Abound but to Excel So in 1 Cor. 14. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that ye may Excel And Matth. 5. 47. saith Christ to his Disciples 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What Excellent or what Singular what Extraordinary thing do ye Both come much to one Christians must Excel others or Abound more then others and they must Excel themselves or Abound more then themselves in the Work of the Lord. And what herein S. Paul exhorts others to he himself practised He excelled others he abounded more then others so he saith of himself in 1 Cor. 15. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I Laboured more abundantly then they all then the rest of the Apostles and in 2 Cor. 11. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Labours more abundant Witness his Preaching from Jerusalem and round about even unto Illyricum Rom. 15. 19. Three Hundred and Fifty German Miles as Paraeus upon the place observes particularly in Arabia Gal. 1. 17. at Damascus Gal. 1. 17 at Antioch Acts 13. 1. at Seleucia Acts 13. 4. in Cyprus Acts 13. 4. in Pamphilia Acts 13. 13. in Pisidia Acts 13. 14. in Lycaonia Acts 14. 6. in Cilicia Acts 15. 41. in Phrygia Acts 16. 6. in Galatia Acts 16. 6. at Troas Acts 16. 8. at Athens Acts 17. 15. in Achaia Acts 18. 1. in Macedonia Acts 16. 10. besides other places and those places especially where Christ was not Named for to Preach here was his Holy Ambition Rom. 15. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which made his labour the greater which would have been far easier if he had onely Preacht where others had laid the Foundation of Christian Knowledge And as he excell'd others so he excelled himself also So he saith of himself Phil. 3. 3. Forgeting those things which are behind not looking at that which was behind to see how much of the Race I have passed or how much others are behind me and reaching forth unto those things which are before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stretching as hard as I can to get to the end of the Race which is before me and to overtake and out-run others I press towards the Mark or Goal for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Thus we see what the blessed Apostle Taught and what he Practised and in Conformity to his Doctrine and his Example 1. Christians must Excel themselves must Abound more then they have done in the Work of the Lord Their last Works must be more then the first as it is said of the Church of Thyatira in Revel 2. 19. They must not be weary in well-doing but go on and mend their pace still making a sarther Progress in Religion and going onto perfection Heb. 6. 2. And the nearer they are to the Goal the end of their Race the faster they must Run Thus the same Apostle writing to the Thessalonians Chap. 4. 1. doth beseech and exhort them by the Lord Jesus that as they had received had been taught how they ought to walk and to please God so they would Abound more and more And truly the more Excellent Christians have a Spirit of great Ingenuity in them For 1. They are Sensible of the much God hath done for them already He hath Blessed them with all Spiritual blessings in Christ Ephes. 1. and Spiritual good things are the choicest of Blessings And they judge themselves less then the least of Gods Mercies as Jacob did Gen. 32. 10. I am less then all the Mercies and then all the Truth which thou hast shewed unto thy Servant which the Chaldee Paraphrast fitly renders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My deserts are less then all the Mercies and all the Benefits which thou hast done to thy Servant 2. They are Sensible of the much more he hath promised to do for them and is reserved for them in Heaven 1 Pet. 1. 4. They have cause to say with David Psal. 31. 19. O how great is thy Goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee As they have cause also to reckon with S. Paul that the sufferings of this present time all their labours and services are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed 3. They are Sensible of the little they have done for God what mean and poor returns they have made to God who hath dealt bountifully with them None are more deeply sensible of their Omissions none are more apt to judge themselves unprofitable Servants Luke 17. then they that have abounded most in the Work of the Lord. It was the Speech of that Holy and Learned Bishop Bishop Vsher not long before his Death Lord forgive me my Omissions And yet he was a most Industrious and Diligent Labourer in God's Vineyard Admirable is the humble Ingenuity of those good and faithful Servants of God who when Christ at the Day of Judgment before Angels and Men doth remember to their Honour what they had done for Him in their life time reply Lord when saw we thee an Hungred and fed thee or Thirsty and gave thee drink or a Stranger and took thee in or Naked and clothed thee or Sick or in Prison and came unto thee A Lover of God who serves him not out of Mercenary regards but from an Ingenuous Spirit doth not score up his Duties and keep an account of his Performances does not Register and then reckon how many good Offices he hath done for the Cause of God in the World he keeps no Catalogue of his Services and then sits still and applauds and pleases himself in what he hath done But he forgets the things which are behind he is as little elated as if he had done nothing and therefore presseth hard forward and reacheth to the things that are before Whereas on the contrary Formal meer Outward Christians being of a Pharisaick and Servile Spirit they that are far from serving God acceptably Heb. 12 they set an high value upon their Performances and like the shallow Streams which are most loud they boast of their Outward Services and please and pride themselves in their often reflections upon what they have done and they would also be applauded by others for all their Works they do for to be seen of Men Matth. 23. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used here and in Matth. 6. 5. is very proper and fit to express Hypocrites Stage-Players and Actors of a Part in Religion and it imports such a seeing such a looking on by Men as in a Theatre or Stage a looking on with Admiration and Applause And to this purpose is that other word in Matth. 6. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they may be Glorified or Honoured of Men Yea and of God too And yet it is but some Outward Service void of Inward Life that they perform to God But it is their All it is All that they will part with and they would have it valued at no mean rate they have no small opinion of their Lip-devotion and the Bodily exercise of Religion their Honouring God with their Lips some good words or some good works not proceeding from
Lord. We must not be Slothful in Business 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to diligence and industry in our Calling and what concerns us Whatsoever thy Hand findeth to do as the occasion shall offer it self and the thing shall require so the phrase is used in Judg. 9. 33. and 1 Sam. 10. 7. do it with thy Might do it as well as thou canst As we have opportunity let us do good unto all Men or as we have Ability Gal. 6. But especially do not the Work of the Lord negligently Jer. 48 be not negligent and lazy in Religion make that thy business let it be thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make it not thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if the Work of the Lord were to be done onely by the by be serious and in good earnest in it it is for the Life of thy Soul We must be Fervent in Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the like is said of Apollos Acts 18. 25. burning in Spirit not coldly affected towards God's Service and Honour but with enflamed affections and earnest endeavours ever following that which is good this the Apostle calls in Titus 2. Zealous of good Works It follows Serving the Lord or the Season or Opportunity that is before us for not a few Greek Copies instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the time or season embracing and emproving all the advantages that present themselves to us for procuring the good of others and winning others and doing Honour to God And this indeed is a good Time-serving free from the least Self-seeking and we serve the Lord when we serve the time or season that is lay hold on and improve the present opportunity and every advantageous occasion of doing good And indeed the more excellent Christians such as are more emproved in Grace and Spiritual Wisdom account themselves more obliged to this Abounding in the Work of the Lord from the consideration of what the Apostle intimates in Rom. 13. 11. that our Salvation is now nearer to us then when we believed when we were first called and converted to the Faith of Christ we are now nearer to the end or reward of our Faith the Salvation of our Souls we are nearer to the Coal and end of our Race and consequently nearer to the Prize of our high Calling in Christ Jesus This Life of Action draws nearer to its Period and the Life of Reward is more near the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand and therefore knowing the time that this is the season of loving our Neighbour of doing all the good we can to others of which the Apostle speaks in the foregoing Verse it is high time to awake out of Sleep to shake off all drowsiness to awake out of a Lazy Profession to be up and be doing For we have not long to live in the World and e're long we shall lay hold on Eternal Life and receive the Reward far beyond all our Services infinitely above all our Labours here And here it may not be unfit to take notice of a Three fold Self-denyal full of Nobleness and Ingenuity in the more Excellent Christians 1. Though they are Sensible of a Better State in the other World of better Enjoyments and Satisfactions more pure and permanent then in this present Life and though they are full of comfortable hopes of their safe arrival and happy entertainment in that World of Souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Jews call it when they shall be gathered to the Spirits of Just Men made perfect Yet they are not unwilling nay rather desirous to stay longer for their Reward so that they may do more Service here and Minister to the good of others they would Labour more in God's Vineyard they would Abound more in the Work of the Lord. They are not over-hasty to receive their Wages their Penny for Labouring in the Vineyard They do not complain of their bearing the Burden and Heat of the Day They are willing with Jacob to serve Seven other Years for Rachel They are not impatient of the length of the way to Canaan nor do they murmur that they are kept from tasting the Fruits thereof They are not eager to enter upon the full pleasures of the Heavenly Jerusalem They are content with some Clusters of Grapes here to Hearten and Strengthen them for their Work and Labour They would not go to rest to their Beds too soon so the Grave is called Isa. 57. 2. He shall enter into Peace they shall rest in their Beds They are desirous to Work longer and when they have Labour'd more and finished the work which they desired to do for God then they can better sing with Old Simeon Nunc dimittis Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace And when they lie down their Sleep shall be sweet unto them Prov. 3. 25. And now for the verifying of all this that hath been said we have an evident proof in S. Paul an Illustrious Example of this kind of Self-denyal who though he was assured of a Better State after his Decease yet he was content to stay longer for his Reward he was willing to be absent from the Lord to be out of Heaven and to abide longer here that he might do more Service in the World and Minister to the good of others He rather consider'd what was more Needful for Others then what would be more Gainful for Himself This is plain out of Philip. 1. from Vers. 21. to 25. The whole Paragraph is worthy to be opened and further explained In Vers. 21. he Professeth To me to Live is Christ that is If I Live my Life shall be wholly spent in the Service of Christ this is the main design and business of my Life this is my choice and I do not count it worth the while to Live in the World Life is not valuable but onely on this account that I may bring Honour to Christ and win Souls to the Gospel It follows And to Die is gain that is If I Die I shall be a Gainer by it Eternal Life and Happiness being infinitely above all the enjoyments in this present Life And if I Die a Martyr at Rome where I am now a Prisoner of the Lord Ephes. 4. 1. a Prisoner for the Cause of Christ if I Seal and Confirm the Truth of Christ by my Blood the Service and Glory of Christ shall be advanced by my sufferings yea and my Death shall be more eminently gainful to me this suffering and Martyrdom being rewarded with a further Accession of Glory and a more rich Encrease of Happiness So that I am resolved that Christ shall be Magnified in my Body whether it be by Life or by Death Ver. 20. Vers. 22. But if I Live in the Flesh this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Fruit of my Labour Our Translation makes the place obscure which otherwise is clear enough if it be consider'd that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with
before the Judges in Areopagus as we find it in Vers. 32. And when they heard of the Resurrection of the Dead some Mocked for he had said in the words immediately foregoing That now God Commandeth all Men every where to Repent because he hath appointed a Day wherein he will Judge the World with Righteousness by that Man whom he hath Ordained viz. by Christ whereof he hath given assurance in that he Raised him from the Dead Though he had seen before how this Doctrine was entertain'd with scorn as idle talk and for which he was counted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and for such and no better it was esteemed by Pliny in Hist. Nat. l. 2. c. 7. and l. 7. c. 55. pnerile deliramentum and also by the Heathen Cecilius in Minutius Felix Christianorum aniles fabulae yet he knowing of what great importance and weighty consequence it was to Preach this necessary Doctrine of the Resurrection and that which it is in order to the Judgment to come and what the Power of it was as it afterward made Felix the Roman Governour to tremble he thought it Seasonable to declare it before that Grave and Severe Senate and Judicatory of the Areopagites at Athens And what he did here assert and Preach before them was very fit and Seasonable for that Court or Judicatory was a little Figure and Emblem of the great Day of Judgment This Court was the Supreme Court of Justice at Athens the Judges were persons of great note and renown'd for their Wisdom and Integrity able and fit to Judge of the most weighty matters and therefore were the most difficult causes wont to be refer'd to them they sat in the Dark that they might not be moved to any undue affection and compassion upon Sight of the Malefactor they would not permit him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to use any Rhetorick to move their affections but onely to make a plain and bare Narration They were also very strict and severe in enquiring into the Lives and Manners of Men for this was another End to which this Court was appointed and taking an account hereof ubi quid quisque Atheniensium ageret diligentissimè inquiri soleb at ut homines honestatem vitae rationem memores reddendam esse sequerentur as Valerius Maximus describes it they were strictly inquisitive what any one of the Athenians did how he demean'd himself that Men might see it to be their interest to live well as considering that they were to give an account of their lives and behaviour and therefore it was called Sanctissimum Consilium the most Holy Council or Judicatory and by this it seem'd a little Representation of the Great Tribunal of Christ and Solemn Day of Judgment at what time the Books shall be opened the Rolls wherein Mens Actions are Recorded and when All must appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether good or evil as the Apostle speaks in 2 Cor. 5. 10. And upon this account and consideration as a proper and powerful perswasive to a good Life he would have Christians to make it their great design and Holy Ambition to live so as to be acceptable unto God in the foregoing Verse as he adds also in the following Verse Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord this dreadful appearance of the Lord at the Last Day we perswade Men. Thus we see how the Apostle made it his great care and business to Preach the Resurrection of Christ as also the General Resurrection or which amounts to as much the Great Day of Judgment What ever Doctrine more smooth and flattering and complying with Mens eâ—e and carnality Others might Teach yet this is that which S. Paul with all faithfullness Preacht unto the World this was his Preaching of the Gospel he made sure always to clear and confirm and inculcate this great Evangelical Truth this Fundamental Article of Christian Religion The Doctrine of the Resurrection Concerning which I shall onely add this one Consideration more and it s worthy to be well consider'd by us That though in this Fifteenth Chapter to the Corinthians he useth many Arguments to evince and perswade the Belief of Our Resurrection yet first of all and principally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he makes use of the Resurrection of Christ for the proof of it who rose as the Head of the Church the Second Adam being a Common Head as well as the First in the Sense we have shewed and as the First fruits of them that Slept and the First-born from the Dead And further consider That the Argument drawn from Christs being Raised to Life and to a Life of Immortal Blessedness Rom. 6. 9 is a most plain and easie Argument to prove that there is a Blessed Life and Immortality hereafter There are other Arguments to evince this but some of them are too sublime for every capacity but the meanest are capable of understanding this For the Man Christ one in our nature and flesh Died and Rose again and is now Alive and liveth for Ever which is an evident proof of a future Life after the Death of the Body and a fair pledge of a Blessed Immortality hereafter which God will reward the faithful with those that have the Spirit of God dwelling in them as the Apostle speaks Rom. 8. 11. And now having seen how Christians have good ground to hope for and expect a Future Reward of Soul and Body from the Light of Revelation we shall shew in the following Arguments how they may hope for it from the Light of Reason 2. From the Justice of God they may know their Labour is not in vain His Justice manifests it self in rendring to every one according to his works and this without any respect of Persons Both Maximes are much insisted upon in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament The first is acknowledged by David the Royal Psalmist in Psal. 62. 12. by that Royà l Oracle of Wisdom Solomon his Son Prov. 24. 12. by the Prophets Jeremy 32. 19. Ezek. 33. 20. and by one greater then Solomon and the Prophets even Christ Jesus the Judge himself in Matth. 16. 27. Revel 22. 12. and by his Apostles S. Paul Rom. 2. 6. 2 Cor. 5. 10. and S. Peter 1 Ep. 1. 17. Now the ways or works of Men are either good or evil and God who rewards cannot be deceived or mistaken as not corrupted or wrought upon by fear or flattery but he has a perfect knowledge and just value of Mens works knows the inward Springs and Principles of their actions And he which is Lord over all shall fear no Mans persons nor shall he stand in awe of any Mans greatness c. Wisdom 6. 7. He seeth not as Man seeth for Man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the Heart 1 Sam. 16. 7. The Righteous Lord tries the Reines and Heart
Psal. 7. 9. And this That he may give every Man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings which is mention'd with God's searching and pondering the Heart and trying the Reins Jer. 17. 10. Prov. 24. 12. And that God renders to every one without respect of persons is a Maxime frequently also asserted in Scripture in the Old Testament Deut. 10. 17. 2 Chron. 19. 7. Job 34. 19 and in the New Testament Acts 10. 34. Rom. 2. 11. Gal. 2. 6. Ephes. 6. 9. Colos. 3. 25. We read in Prov. 11. 1. that A false Ballance is Abomination to the Lord surely then God will not Practise that himself which he Abominates in Men but he will weigh the actions of Men in a true Ballance He will be far from all Partiality and respect of persons which are false Weights and Measures and Ballances of deceit He will not accept or respect persons in Judgment In the dispensation of Rewards and Punishment he will not regard or look at any thing but the temper of their Minds and their Actions whether good or evil Now the Justice of God requires ut bonis bene malis male sit Isa. 3. 10 11. Say ye to the Righteous That it shall be well with him Wo unto the wicked it shall be ill with him But we often experience it otherwise to be in this World yea good Men in the Old Testament found it not seldome to be otherwise and yet under that dispensation there is more abundant mention of Temporal good things in the Promises there recorded and hence were those complaints in Mal. 3. 15. and in Psal. 73. from Verse 3. to 12. as Job 12. 6. and in Jer. 12. 1. and Holy David observ'd the like of wicked Men the Men of the World Psal. 17. 14. and in the Epistle to the Hebrews the Calamities of the most Eminent in goodness are described Vers. 36. 37 38. The Israelites God's People gather Straw make Brick live a Life of bitter affliction when as the Egyptians live at ease and in pleasures When Jacob and his Children were afflicted partly as being in a Sojourning and uncertain condition and partly while they were Strangers and Servants in Egypt Esau and his Posterity flourished in Honour Lazarus a Son of Abraham had many evil things was in hard Circumstances not onely poor but full of Sores a sick weak thing unable to get his Bread with labour and sweat of his brows desired but the Crumbs that fell from the Rich Mans Table Dives the Rich Man and wicked had his good things he was Richly Attired and fared Deliciously every Day Luke 16. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Day he enjoy'd all that made for pleasure and not onely at some great or Solemn times He and his Five Brethren with other jolly Company While others as Lazarus fared hardly So that Sin is not alway punished in this Life nor Holiness rewarded God did not render unto Lazarus and those of whom the World was not Worthy he did not render unto them in this Life according to what they had done or suffered God did not render unto Dives here according to the evil he did his Unmercifulness his Luxury and Riot with the Sins attending thereon He had the good things of this Life lived in ease and pleasure he received in full Measure his good things Now this was not a Reward according to what he did he Reaped what was better then he Sowed And therefore if Divine Providence does not equally distribute Rewards and Punishments here it follows since God is Just That in the World to come he will dispense Rewards and Punishments according as they have lived here that every one may receive according to what they have done in the Body whether good or evil There is therefore a time a Day to come wherein the Judge of the World will make it appear that he did weigh and consider the Spirits and Lives of all Men and now they shall be dealt with according as they have done well or ill here and therefore this time is called Rom. 2. 5. The Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God This Argument taken from the Justice of God is mention'd by the Apostle in 2 Thes. 1. 6 7. It is a Righteous thing with God to recompense Tribulation to them that trouble you And to you who are troubled Rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels In short thus God the Wise and Righteous Law-giver and Ruler of the World hath given us a Law and Rule to walk by and govern us and he hath shewed us what is good and what the Lord our God requires of us and his Will is Holy and Wise and Perfect this Law he hath Written in Mans Conscience and hath more fully declared it in his Word Now he will not let the Transgression of his Righteous Law the open and constant violation of it by wicked Men go unpunished tho' he may bear with them here for a while he will not suffer them to devour and cruelly to treat his obedient Servants the Rod of the wicked shall not always rest upon the Lot of the Righteous Psal. 125. But they shall know that there is a God that Judgeth in the Earth and shall find that Tribulation and Anguish Indignation and Wrath will be to every Soul that doth Evil Rom. 2. Nor will God forget the faithful and sincere obedience of his Servants but will render Eternal Life to them that by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Honour and Glory and Immortality So in Hebr. 6. 10. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of Love He hath his Book of remembrance Mal. 3. He hath promised and Eternal Reward a Crown of Life and this Crown of Life and Glory is also a Crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4. And God as he is the Righteous Judge as well as a God of Mercy will give it because he hath promised to give it upon the Terms of Faith and sincere Obedience or patient continuance in well doing And he who hath promised will be Just and Righteous to perform as he is abundantly Merciful in Pardoning our Infirmities and Imperfections and also in Rewarding us and doing for us exceeding abundantly above all that we have done So Rich is his Mercy and so Noble his Goodness And so far are our works our doings or sufferings from any Merit or any Worthiness to be compared with the Reward and Glory to be revealed Rom. 8. It is a Merciful Justice and therefore it s said in Psal. 62. 12. Also unto thee O Lord belongeth Mercy For thou rendrest to every Man according to his Work Human Judicatories and Tribunals cannot take notice of all Sins and Offences and where they do they may be corrupted or bribed or they may be deceived and mistaken But the Judge of all the Earth he regardeth not persons nor taketh reward Deut. 10. 27. Nor
that the Love of God hath constrain'd them to count nothing that he commanded them grievous to do nothing hard to suffer for him they perswade themselves that God will satisfie these Desires and Affections of his own begetting in them I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness as Holy David speaks Psal. 17. and that their Souls who cleave to God in love who desire and love him above all things and do more thirst after a full Enjoyment of him from the lesser tastes and relishes of his Goodness here and hope to see him as he is face to face hereafter shall not be frustrated of their desires and hopes but God will satisfie these by the manifestation of some better State and Enjoyment then of this World which is not their Portion nor did they mind Earthly things They perswade themselves that God will not forsake them nor thrust away the Soul that thirsts after him and loves and desires him above all and places her Felicity in him and when it has most prepared her self as a Bride adorned for her Husband for the other State and is more near to enjoy him as it is when the Death of the Body is near That such a Soul should be cut off from God and cast into the place of forgetfulness and be no more so as she should never enjoy God nor indeed any thing else is not to be conceived it being manifestly contrary to the Divine Goodness Hath God implanted in Brute Beasts such and such Propensions and Instincts Sympathies and Antipathies the Passions of Fear and Aversation the Affections of Hope and Desire and Joy with real and proper Objects for them to be respectively exercised upon So that they naturally fear and avoid what is for their hurt and they hope and desire and delight in what is for their welfare and pleasure And is it to be imagined that the same Passions which are implanted by God in Better and Higher Beings the Souls of Men and in Holy and renewed Souls the Best Souls have not suiteable Objects for them also Is the Hope of enjoying God and a Blessed Immortality and the Future State and the Joy thence arising or as the Apostle speaks Rom. 5. the rejoycing in Hope of the Glory of God a vain Hope a vain Joy Do the Best Men act like Fools and unwisely in denying themselves as to many advantages and pleasures in this World for an Vtopian Paradise for a Nothing for that which is not Are all the Religious Instincts and Propensions towards God which are rooted in the Souls of Men and are most active in the Souls of Holy Men and especially towards the end of their Life are they Frustraneous and Vain But we cannot imagine things to be thus without highly reproaching the God of Nature God most Wise and most Good who made all his Works in Wisdom Psal. 104. 24. which Wisdom reacheth from one end to another and sweetly orders all things Wisdom 8. 1. and who saw every thing that he had made that it was good very good Genes 1. and accordingly fitted every Creature for its End which it knows and observes the proper means to attain it this Wise and Good God did not surely do otherwise in making of Man but he hath excellently fitted him for the Highest and Best End and Holy Souls are in the readiest capacity for it Hence that in 2 Cor. 5. 5. He that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit And thus much for the Arguments from the light of Reason Concerning which if any shall object That this last Argument as also the former seems not so much to prove the Resurrection of the Body as a Life to come or a Blessed Immortality of the Soul after the Death of the Body I answer Be it so yet they are of force to prove that which was the matter in hand viz. That those who Abound in the Work of the Lord their Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. THE END
return to converse with those below though in saying this he knew not what he said Luke 9. But the more Excellent Christians though when they are retired and upon the Mount of Contemplation they sometimes see Christ Transfigured before them though they see him in his Glory and Beauty and are Enravished hereby with Love and Delight and could ever dwell on the Mount Yet they do not talk of Building Tabernacles there They are willing to Descend to those in the Valley to converse with the meanest and lowest in order to their Spiritual good And though they gain a more Divine Splendor by such Contemplations and are raised up to more Spiritual Heights and Accomplishments as Moses his Face did shine by being with God on the Mount yet they are ready to put a Vail over their Face and to the Weak they will become as Weak that they may gain the Weak They are willing to make themselves Servants unto all that they may gain the more as the great Apostle speaks of himself in 1 Cor. 9. They consider that they are not to please themselves but to please their Neighbour every other for his good to Edification Rom. 15. It 's more pleasing to God that rather then spend most of thy time in silent affectionate Contemplation of him thou shouldst earnestly apply thy self to the Works and Labours of Love for the good of others which are proper to the Active Life And that thou shouldst testifie and express thy Love to him in Loving thy Brother who more needs the effects of thy Charity then God doth thy afsections and praises and without loving of whom God doth not account that thou lovest him as we read in 1 John 4. where its also said Vers. 16. That God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him And the more there is of this Hearty Good-will and endeavours for the good of Others the more of this enlarged Benignity and Love to Mankind the more is the Love of God perfected in us Vers. 12. the more shall we have of Gods peculiar Presence his Shechinah is in such Souls he dwells in them he makes his abode with them and will Manifest himself unto them There is a Season for all things The Contemplative Life is Beautiful in its Season and so is the Active Life in its Season And Contemplation should the more engage and enable us to Action The more we fix our Inward Eye upon the Divine Excellencies the more we Adore and Love him the more we consider his Goodness and Benignity towards all his Works and in particular his Mercies to us the fitter we are to speak of his Glory and the more should our Love of God awaken and excite us to endeavour the Spiritual good of others that they also may Adore and Admire and Love and Praise Him who is Worthy to be Praised There is great need of observing fit Seasons for Religious Retirement and withdrawing thy self from the noise and busie cares of this World But this is more or less to be used according as the State of thy Soul requires it and as Christian Prudence shall direct Thou art not to dwell upon the Mount this is but one part of thy Duty it must be done but there are other Duties which must not be left undone which though not so sweet to thee as the other yet it concerns thee to mind them and by minding them thou mayst do more good in the World and consequently glorifie God more Thou art not onely to consider what is comfortable to thy self but what is profitable to others to thy Family to the Church or Common-wealth thou livest in It was a fault in the Euchite a sort of mistaken and unskilful Christians of Old to account themselves obliged to Pray without ceasing Whereas God would rather that they should have been up and doing and instead of being so much on their Knees their Feet should have been Swift to Charity to procure the good of others as it s said of the Feet of wicked Men they are Swift to shed Blood Rom. 3. To conclude The best Example for our direction in this kind is the Life of Christ. He was for the mixt Life the Life both Contemplative and Active As S. Peter said He went about doing good and his Life was full of action full of the effects and proofs of his good Will towards Men in doing good to their Souls and Bodies So also at Seasons which seemed most fit to him he would send away the Multitudes and withdraw himself from his Disciples and retire into the Wilderness to Pray Luke 5. 16. or to a Mountain Luke 6. 12. where it is said he continued all Night in Prayer to God And that the Mount of Olives was a place he made Use of for the Ascending of his Heart in Prayer to God as it was made choice of by him for the place whence he would Ascend to Heaven appears by Luke 21. 37. where it is said that in the Day-time he was Teaching in the Temple and at Night he went out and abode in the Mount of Olives And thus much for the Second sort of Self-denyal which is a lesser Self-denyal then the other in that this Foretast of Heaven this Heaven upon Earth in Communion with God here is less then the Enjoyment of God hereafter then those larger tastes of the River of Life the River of Pleasures the Fulness of Joy in that greater Heaven above 3. A Third instance of their Self-denyal is their disvaluing of their own Services and Labours of which I spake before and their looking up to God for the encrease and blessing Though they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God's fellow Labourers 1 Cor. 3. 9. yet they acknowledge with S. Paul Vers. 7. that neither is he that Planteth any thing neither is he that Watereth Nothing is to be attributed to either but all the Praise is to be ascribed unto God So far are they from the the Vanity of Theudas who boasted himself to be some body Acts 5. 36. or of Simon Magus who gave out that himself was some great one Acts 8. 9. But rather are they the followers of the Humility of S. Paul who accounted himself nothing though he was in nothing behind the very Chiefest Apostles 2 Cor. 12. 11 They desire that all the Praise may run in the right Channel may go the right way that is to God As for themselves they are nothing and their Services are nothing in their esteem Instead of applauding themselves in reflecting upon the much they have done they rather complain of their little of the much they should have done To Conclude As a Christian grows in Grace and advances in Religion there is in him more of a Godly Sorrow more of an Holy Shame and Ingenuous Blushing at his little II. As Christians are to Excel themselves and Abound more and more so they are to Excel others to Abound more then others in the Work
of the Lord. If others are coldly affected yet they are to be a People Zealous of good Works Else they will not Answer the full Intendment of Christ's Death and Sufferings who gave himself for them and Redeemed and Purified them to this end as it s said Titus 2. Let then Christ see of the Travail of his Soul the Fruit and desired effect of his great Sorrows and Sufferings let him see of the Travel of his Soul with joy and delight and be satisfied taking full content and being highly pleased in seeing the fruit of all his labours and pains Shall a dull and dead lazy and liveless Profession of Religion be all the fruit of Christs Sufferings Will he be satisfied where he sees no better fruit then this Did Christ Sweat in the Garden that we should Freeze Is there no Sap no more Life in the Tree of the Cross then to put forth onely Leaves or Blossoms Assuredly the due consideration of Christ Crucified is that which will make a Christian fruitful in Holiness and in every good Work Christians must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Patterns of good Works Titus 2. and Examples they must shine as lights in the World Phil. 2. If Others are lazy and content themselves with doing a little Yet They must be Exemplary in diligence go early into the Vineyard and work hard They must do more then others not onely more then Publicans and Sinners but more then the seemingly-strict Scribes and Pharisees more then Formal Christians for they are Men of another Spirit as God said of Caleb and Joshua and must follow God fully They have received from God other Helps and Advantages Spiritual Light and Strength God has made all Grace to Abound towards them that so they may Abound to every good Work 2 Cor. 9. They have other Hopes and Expectations better grounded hopes of a Glorious Reward They have received Mercies more peculiar then others And therefore they should do more then others they should not live as others as they said Wisdom 2. 15. His Life is not like other Mens his ways are of another fashion Yea amongst Real Christians one must strive to Excel another A good strife this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to provoke to Love and good works not onely by words but deeds to strive who shall do most for God who shall most Abound in His Work Labour most in his Vineyard who shall live Best But then they that Abound and Excel others must also Excel in Humility So S. Paul in 2 Cor. 12. 11. and 1 Cor. 15. 10. PROPOSITION IV. Christians have good ground to assure themselves and to be perswaded that their Labour shall not be in Vain in the Lord. I. They may be assured from the Revelation of the Gospel whereby Light and Immortality is brought to light 2 Tim. 2. 10. Light and Immortality that is Immortal Life Eternal Blessedness both for Soul and Body is now more clearly revealed and fully assured by the Gospel S. Paul had Preached at Corinth the Chief City of Achaia for a longer space of time then he used to do in other Cities for he continued there a Year and Six Months Acts 18. 11. and God encouraged him hereunto notwithstanding the many troubles and oppositions he met with from the Jews who unanimously and with one accord set themselves against Paul Vers. 6. and 12. God spake to him by Night in a Vision that he should not be afraid nor hold his peace for though some did oppose yet saith God I have much People in this City Vers. 10. and accordingly its said Vers. 8. That many of the Corinthians believed and were Baptized yea Crispus the Chief Ruler of the Synagogue believed on the Lord with all his House And in Obedience to this Heavenly Vision S. Paul did for a long time a Year and an half Preach the Gospel to them of Corinth clearly and freely and with much affectionateness to them his whole Heart was set wide open to them they had a great place in his affections This he means when he tells them in 2 Ep. 6. 11. 12. O ye Corinthians our Mouth is opened to you our Heart is enlarged ye are not straitned in us And what was it that S. Paul took such care to Preach amongst them and which he did first of all deliver unto them 1 Cor. 15. 3. It was this That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was Buried and that he Rose again the Third Day according to the Scriptures And this last-mentioned Article of the Resurrection of Christ on which Our Resurrection doth depend 1 Thes. 4. 14. he particularly enlargeth upon proving it from Eye-witnesses and they not onely some single persons as Cephas and James but above Five Hundred Brethren of whom he was seen at once there were Five Hundred Christians and more that at one and the same time saw him after his Resurrection from the Dead of whom although some were fallen asleep or were dead yet saith he Vers. 6. the greater part remain most of them are alive unto this present or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 until now and therefore from some of them they might know and be satisfied about his Resurrection and that he who was Dead was Alive again Yea they might assure themselves of this from S. Paul's own Testimony who though he was no Disciple not a Christian nor an Apostle while Christ conversed upon Earth yet he was afterwards at his Conversion an Eye-witness of Christs being alive again last of all saith he Vers. 8. he was seen of me also and by this appearing of Christ from Heaven was S. Paul Converted The remarkable Story we have recorded by S. Luke in Acts 9. where Christ in Glory and Power with dread and awful Majesty for there was Thunder 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vers. 3. and Lightning which flash'd and shone about him Vers. 2. appeared to Paul who was still breathing out threatnings and Slaughters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristophanes in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath a like Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thunder and Lightning was in his Mouth and Christ to meet him in his fury appears in Dread to him makes him to tremble Vers. 6. Strikes him down to the Earth Vers. 4. and turns this Raging Lion this Ravening Wolf into a Meek Lamb Lord saith he what wilt thou have me to do The Men that were with Paul saw no Man Vers. 7. not him that spake but Paul saw him and He declared himself who he was I am Jesus whom thou Persecutest Vers. 5 And besides this Testimony from his own seeing of Christ to be alive he useth other Arguments in this 15. Chap. to the Corinthians to prove the Resurrection of Christ. But what is this to the Resurrection of Christians Very much For Our Resurrection depends on Christ's If Christ be Risen then there is a Resurrection from the Dead Vers. 13. 16. and then shall We also Rise again For