6.22 When Gideon perceived he was an Angel of the Lord Gideon said Alas O Lord God for because I have seen an Angel of the Lord face to face therefore he thought he must dye as appeareth by the foregoing verses An so Manoah when the Angel appeared unto him did wondrously Judges 13.23 Manoah said to his wife we shall surely dâ—e because we have seen God or an Angel of God for it is said before Manoah knew that he was an Angel of God But some of the Patriarchs and Saints entertained Angels with joy as Abraham did the three Angels in the plain of Mamre Gen. 18.8 who accepted his invitation and did eat before him what he had dressed and provided for them Likewise the two Angels which came to Lot in Sodom Gen. 19.1 He made them a feast and they stayed with him all night Surely that man is greatly honoured of God unto whom in favour he thus sendeth his Angels which the Authour to the Hebrews maketh use of as a motive unto Christians to hospitality Heb. 13.2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained Angels unawares What will that honour be then to the Saints in heaven to be entertained with Angels and to dwell with Angels and to have familiarity and fellowship with an innumerable company of glorious Angels yea with those Angels that have been made ministring Spirits for their good Heb. 1.14 Are not they ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation with those Angels that rejoyced at their conversion Luke 15.10 I say unto you saith Christ that there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth Yet this is not all beleivers after death shall not only be and dwell with the Angels in heaven but be also as the Angels Angels of God Math. 22.30 They shall live as Angels without these earthly comforts and comfortable relations they shall neither marry nor give in marriage they shall be like the Angels themselves moving up and down as the Angels and joyning in consort with the whole Quire of Angels in singing Hallelujahs to him that sitteth upon the throne of eternal Majesty Secondly they shall have full and perpetual fellowship with glorified Saints and Spirits of just men made perfect Communion with Saints on earth in Gospel fellowship whereby beleivers enjoy the comfort of the unity of the spirit each with other in spiritual administrations is one of their great priviledges in Christ which the Apostle exhorteth the Ephesians to maintain and keep in the bond of peace Eph. 4.1 Which he also urgeth as a motive to the believing Philippians to persevere in mutual love and condord phil 2.1 2. If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfil ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind Yet there is a great defect in the society of Christians one with another here below besides the intermissions thereof partly through difference in judgement and opinion whereby their affections are in a great measure quenched and withdrawn each from other and partly through corruption of nature and occasional offences depriving them of the mutual benefit and advantage of each others gifts and graces However let not these accidental inconveniences and obstructions beget in you low and mean thoughts of this holy fellowship but remember how your hearts have been warmed your affections quickned your resolutions confirmed and your hands strengthened by the presence and close and spiritual communion ye have had with the people of God in the mysteries of Christ that your esteem may be preserved and your love so far increased as to abound more and more to the precious Sons of Sion and coheirs with you of the everlasting inheritance Considering that ye shall shortly live together with Christ when ye shall enjoy the society of all the faithful that are with him those whom ye have never seen but have loved in the spirit upon the reports of their graces with the Patriarchs and Prophets and the cloud of witnesses gone before you and that shall beleive in Christ to the end of the world and what a joyful meeting will there be of the children of God when they shall dwell together in their Fathers house being made perfectly one as God and Christ are one What a solemn assembly will there be in heaven in the presence of God himself when the whole Church of the first-born shall keep a perpetual Sabbath and God shall be all in all And how magnificent and glorious will be the heavenly Festivals of the righteous in celebrating the marriage of the Lamb when they shall all come together and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God Fourthly and lastly To be with Christ is to have eternal life with Christ for Christ giveth his sheep eternal life and they shall never perish John 10.28 And this is his promise which he hath promised us even eternal life 1 John 2.25 Therefore saith Paul we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 This is no other then the Fathers house which is built upon eternal foundations an everlasting rock the rock of ages the eternal Godhead and the unchangeable essence of God himself is the support of it There is nothing properly eternal but the divine nature for as time is the measure of motion and the continuance of successive and changeable creatures so eternity is the immensurable duration of the immutable essence of God who only is from everlasting to everlasting without shadow of turning or the least variation in being So that the Saints shall receive and enjoy their eternal life and happiness with Christ by the eternity of God himself who is the only true God and eternal life 1 John 5.20 As their life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3.3 So it is communicated unto them through Christ who lived by the Father and now liveth with the Father and that for ever more Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore And because I live ye shall live also John 14.19 Nay beloved this eternal life is begun already in your hearts by the spirit of God in you as a well of water springing up to eternal life John 4.14 By the knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ which is life eternal John 17.3 And by faith in Christ John 6.47 He that beleiveth on the hath everlasting life But your full possession thereof shall be after the dissolution of the tabernacles of your mortal bodies when ye shall never suffer change more so as to see any weakness or the least inclination to corruption Then mortality shall be swallowed up of life 2 Cor. 5 4 As
expressions of his love and faithfulness unto you if you can yet read them in Scriptures not defaced or blotted out through unthankful for getfulness Take also a new survey of the carriage of your hearts towards the Lord. What have been your desires after him how have ye trusted in him and cleaved to him what communion with him what delight in him what service have ye done for him how faithful have ye been to him what have been your private affections in duty and your publique zeal in your profession how have you improved his talents and encreased your spiritual stock of grace what growth in meekness self-denial patience faith love knowledge holyness and purity what is the present frame of your hearts after so much means and seasons of grace so long enjoyed Is it more humble more heavenly more unmoveable and fixed upon God And lastly are ye more fruitful and abounding in the work of the Lord Thus can ye manifest the truth of grace by the exercise of it the growth and fruitfulness of it hereby your joy shall be full and Christ's joy shall dwell in you John 15.11 What a glorious evidence hereby had the beleiving Thessalonians to whom the Apostle Paul writeth in their commendation that their faith grew exceedingly and their love one towards another abounded 2 Thes 1.3 Happy are they that can ascend this mountain of assurance and take a sight as from Mount Pisgah of the heavenly Canaan crying out with Saint John in admiration 1 John 3.1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God therefore the world knoweth us not But if your evidences are lost or hardly legible for the renewing ard preserving of them take this next direction Direct III. Thirdly Then perfect holiness to the highest degree attaineable upon earth This is the Apostles counsel drawn from the great priviledges and promises of grace 2 Cor. 7.1 Having these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all pollution of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And because we deny that any man can be perfect so as to be without sin and all infirmities upon earth for if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us 1 John 1.8 Therefore take this necessary caution of proposing any measure unto your selves thereby to limit your utmost endeavours after the greatest measure of grace ye can possibly attain unto for therefore we have a perfect example set before us even God himself that we should be perfect as he is perfect Mat. 5.48 And also of Christ that he that saith he abideth in him ought also to walk even as he walked 1 John 2.6 That though we are not perfect yet with Paul forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before we may press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.13 14. Wherefore beloved laying aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset you run with patience the race that is set before you looking unto Jesus the Authour or Leader and the finisher of your faith Heb. 12.1 2. And since ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God with whom ye hope to appear mortifie your members which are upon the earth and crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof labour to conquer all your corruptions to purge out the reliques of the old leaven and to wash your hearts from iniquity and the vanity of your very thoughts and desires Be exceeding careful to suppress and quench every motion arising from the flesh and to avoid whatever may defile the conscience and thereby cloud your comforts and darken the light of your inward joy and peace And I beseech you that ye would walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing in obedience to every command and the strictest rules of the Gospel and that as ye have at any time heard how ye ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more 1 Thes 4.1 That ye may at last stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God working out your salvation hereby with fear and trembling Phil. 2.14 Col. 4.12 Wherefore add to your faith vertue to and vertue knowledge temperance patience godliness brotherly kindness charity that ye may not be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ and tho rather give diligence herein that ye may make your calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.5 6 10. Direct IV. Redeem your precious time and the seasons of grace for the time is short saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 7.29 The time of life is short the of health and strength is short and consequently the time of grace and the opportunities thereof are short Therefore see that ye walk circumspectly or exactly redeeming the time or season because the dayes are not only short but evil Eecl 5.15 16. And that not only in regard of the temptations and snares thereof but of the perils and afflictions the troubles and tribulations that attend the last dayes of the world Our Saviour knowing the day of his working and ministery to be short having but a while to remain upon earth took all occasions to finish his Fathers work who sent him into the world John 9.4 I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work And is not your night Christians coming on and your Sun near setting when the light of this present life shall vanish and give place to the darkness of death O that ye would keep an eye upon and the swiftness of that motion which will suddenly have measured your appointed race And be not slack in the work of the Lord but double and redouble your diligence that ye may be ready for the Masters call and the Bride-groomes coming What a blessed condition is that soul in that can say with Saint Paul 2 Tim. 4.6 7. I am now ready to be offered up and my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith But is it not otherwise with many poor souls who could wish for another life to be renewed unto them for the discharge of their trust they have neglected the improvment of mercies which they have sleighted the filling up of that space they have idly squandred the gathering in of experiences which they have pretermitted and for the laying in of a store and stock of grace and wisdom by such rich advantages of trade and heavenly gain and profit which they have lost and over slipped Who now begin to look back with shame and sorrow upon the time of youth and strength and the yeares of plenty and fulness of the bread of heaven bewailing their folly in not providing for the yeares of famine wherein they will be glad of the gleanings of
his usual benedictory salutation first he declareth his thankfulness unto God for their spiritual estate and continuance in the fellowship of the Gospel unto the 5th verse Secondly his confidence in God for the perfecting of the work of grace begun as he was perswaded through charity to judge in them all by their future and final perseverance unto the eighth verse Thirdly his prayer for their increase and abounding in fruitfulness unto the 11. verse Then from the 12. to the 18. verse he laboureth to satisfie them concerning the consequent events of his present sufferings that they were rather for the furtherance then hinderance of the Gospel which he proveth by two arguments First because the cause of his sufferings which was the preaching of Christ the Saviour of the world was hereby made known and divulged both in Nero's Pallace and in the neighbouring Cities Secondly because by his sufferings many of the brethren were made more bold to preach the Gospel and notwithstanding there were some that preached Christ out of envy and strife thinking thereby to add to his afflictions yet he was so far from being troubled at it that he rejoyced because Christ was the more preached In the 19. verse the Apostle discovereth the gracious and sweet frame and temper of his own heart under his sufferings in the firm confidence he had that all things should work together for his good and turn to his salvation as the return and fruit of their prayers and through the supply of the spirit of God unto him that he might hold out under his tryals according to his earnest expectation and hope that through his stedfastness and boldness both in life and death Christ might be magnified in his body whereof he giveth this reason verse 21. For to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain That is if I live I shall honour Christ by my life and if I dye I shall honour him by my death and that death shall be my gain according to his confidence before expressed that it should turn to his salvation But in case he should live he should have fruit of his labour or it were not worth the while to live for to live is Christ that is he should preach Christ which would be the gain of others as his death would be his own Now in these thoughts Paul is at a stand what to choose or desire whether to live or dye for being a Prisoner at Rome for Christ's sake and the Gospel he might expect as well to dye as to live and being as it were indifferent to either he debates the case and controversie in his own heart according to the words of my Text I am in a straight betwixt two c. In which words we have three distinct parts First Aequilibrium animi the even ballance of Pauls mind in respect of life and death For I am in a straight betwixt two Secondly Inclinatio affectionum the inclination of his affections and desire Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ Thirdly Status vel determinatio judicii The determination of the controversie and the discovery of his judgement upon mature deliberation in the last words of the Text Which is far better Before I lay down the intended Doctrine or Proposition from this Scripture I will briefly explain the terms of the Text to justifie the clearness of the doctrinal deduction from the Text. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am in a straight betwixt two I am straigthly held on both sides So Beza translateth it or I am pressed of two according to the vulgar Latine S. Paul presenteth unto himself life and death two different objects of his choice and election and both sub ratione boni appearing unto him to be really good for him but which of these to close withal and pitch upon he knoweth not Not that it was in his power to live or to die but if the Lord should give him his free liberty to chuse either he was at a stand in his present thoughts which way he had best incline himself as the case was now with him being an Apostle of Christ and now imprisoned for him whether it were absolutely better upon all accounts and all things considered for him to die by a violent hand or to be enlarged as a further instrument for the promoting and propating of the Gospel in the world As it was Davids case when he was to chuse one of those three judgements proposed unto him 2 Sam. 24.13 14. Shall seven years famine come in thy land or wilt thou flye three moneths before thine enemies while they pursue thee or that there be three dayes pestilence in thy Land And David said unto Gad I am in a great straight let us fall now into the hand of the Lord for his mercies are great and not into the hand of man This was his straight in respect of evils and he chose well for he chose the least in all circumstances for the time the nature and the immediate inflictor of the evil or judgement But Pauls straight was in respect of good objects to be chosen and which of the two were the best was his present controversie whether to depart and be with Christ or to live and abide still in the dy to preach him both would be for the honour of Christ but the former would be his own gain the latter the gain of the Church and his own private interest was the less unto him because if he lived it was but the deferring of his heavenly reward and his affections sometimes were so strong that though it was impossible yet he could have wished a total deprivation thereof for the Jews sake Rom. 9.3 I could wish that my self were accursed from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh Love desireth impossibilities By all this it appears how great the Apostle's straight was betwixt living and dying as a needle hanging between two loadstones of equal force and power †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Having a desire or greatly desiring that is in respect of his own happiness and his great love and delight in Christ for whom he was now in a suffering condition to depart that he might be with him The word in the original signifieth a vehement desire or an ardent and hot desire and it is observable that he doth not barely say he did desire but having a desire which Beza translateth to contend in desire * Plus est animo ferri contendere quam simpliciter cupere Beza in locum answerable to that expression of our Saviour Christ Luke 22.15 With desire have I desired to eat this Passeover with you before I suffer So that in these words we may consider Paul looking solely upon Christ and his immediate presence waving all former considerations whereby this fervent desire was limited and himself straightned So that Pauls natural if I may so call it desire and inclination was towards the Lord and to
as he is the head of the body the corner stone of the building the rock of their strength the fountain of all fulness and their everlasting rest and peace But to conclude this second Demonstration As natural things tend to their center by a direct motion so the souls of all believers are directed in their motion to Christ at dissolution by the Ministery of Angels as in the Parable of Lazarus Luke 16.22 And it came to pass that the beggar dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abraham 's bosome Whether the soul be carried by Angels only by conducting it in its motion as we are said to carry a friend to an unknown place by directing in the way or whether by assistance in the motion and defence they being mighty in power it is not much material to determine since the soul moving according to the motion of its Angelical guides and companions is in an instant brought unto Christ its desired end and rest III. Demonst Thirdly All the Saints stand in near and unchangeable relations unto Christ through regeneration and spiritual adoption unto God the full comfort and priviledge whereof they cannot enjoy while they are present in the body So that though death parteth the nearest friends and dearest relations on earth yet it bringeth heavenly and spiritual relations together The force of relation is very strong relations being of the least entity but the strongest efficacy witness the strong affections and cords of love whereby persons naturally related are tyed to each other What bowels have Parents towards their Children and Children again unto them What indeared affections between loving yoke-fellowes And how strong is the bond of brotherly love All which long after and endeavour the mutual presence each of other Such are the relations and much more powerful between Christ and every beleiver Not only God himself but Christ is their Father and they his children Isa 9.6 His Name shall be called the everlasting Father the Prince of peace He is their Husband and they his Spouse 2 Cor. 11.2 I have espoused you to one husband that I might present you as a chast Virgin unto Christ He is their Brother and they his Brethren unto whom they are conformed Rom. 8.29 That he might be the first-born among many brethren Many other relations are mentioned in the Scriptures between them he is their King and they his Subjects their Captain and they his Souldiers their Friend and they his Favourites their Lord and Master and they his Servants and their Shepherd and they his Flock And what engagements and affections soever there are in any or all these relations in the Bond of nature there is much more in Christ and the Saints through the God of Grace and the powerful efficacy of the Spirit of Christ that dwelleth in them But yet being absent from each other while beleivers are present in the body they desire to depart that they may be with him And what a joyful greeting there is in heaven at the meeting of them let the Angels of heaven declare who are eye witnesses thereof Welcome then that day and hour when the messenger of death shall call and bring the children to their Fathers house their Spouse to her Beloved and the Sons of God to the first begotten When the loyall Subjects of Christ shall be crowned and the spiritual Souldiers receive the price of their reward when the true friends of Christ shall enjoy their Redeemer who loved them to the death and the faithful Servants shall enter into the joy of their Lord when the sheep shall return to their Shepherd who hath given unto them eternal life that they should never perish IV. Demonstr Fourthly the greatest promises made to beleivers in the covenant of Grace are of the life to come which they cannot inherit till they depart and are with Christ Thus Godliness is profitable to all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come 2 Tim. 4.8 The Saints are heires of great and precious promises which are summed up in that general promise of eternal life 1 John 2.21 This is the promise which he hath promised us even eternal life Which promise and all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ the Mediator of the Covenant established upon better promises Through which though the heires of promise have strong consolation in regard of the immutability of God and his counsel and oath wherein it is impossible that he should lye yet most of them are yet in hope and not in hand and therefore through patience they wait for them till they come to Christ the heir of all things with whom they are joynt-heires bearing up their hearts in the mean time with the hope set before them Heb. 6.19 20. Which hope we have saith the Apostle as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast and which entreth into that within the veil whither the forerunner is for us entred even Jesus made an High-Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech Thus beleivers wait in hope for what they see not and receive not in this present life as the Patriarchs Heb. 11.13 Who dyed in the faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and imbraced them and confessed they were strangers and pilgrims upon earth Therefore beloved be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises Heb. 6.12 For ye have need of patience saith the same Apostle that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise Heb. 10.36 Which promise is no other then the Crown of life and righteousness which Christ the righteous Judge shall give unto all those that love his appearing Thus we have shewed you though in a weak measure the glorious priviledge of the Godly in their death in that their death bringeth them immediately unto Christ according to my Text For I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better I am come at length to the Application of this Doctrine and Subject and that I may be profitable to all and divide the word of God so as to give every one his portion I shall weild this Text as a two-edged Sword striking both wayes to the godly and ungodly to Saints and sinners to beleivers and unbeleivers Use I. First it may serve to inform us from hence of the sad miserable and woful state of every carnal sinful and Christless soul that shall dye in such a condition It were happy for wicked men if they might never dye but for ever enjoy the mean portion of creature comforts which they have in this world though they are infinitely short of the glory and happiness of the Godly with Christ in heaven But to have your portion here and that for so short a season as the time of this present life onely how inconsiderable is it
gracious person to desire to depart and to be with Christ Who among all the heires of promise doth not desire the possession and enjoyment of his hopes in Christ his deliverance from sin sufferings and sorrow and the full fruition of all the glory and happiness of his heavenly portion and inheritance Let the spiritual ecchoes and silent answers of all true born Israelites resolve this question whose hearts are enlarged to rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God unto which they are begotten by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead This maketh the greatest afflictions of the Saints in this world so light unto them while they look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen 2 Cor. 4.18 And therefore reckon with Paul That the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in them Rom. 8.18 Hence are those earnest groanes and longing desires of the righteous to be uncloathed and cloathed upon with their house from heaven wherein they symbolize and sympathize with the whole creation which desireth to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God Rom. 8.23 And not only they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body Use 3. Use of inquiry If it be the desirable priviledge of the Saints to be brought immediately unto Christ by their death then it may be profitable and useful for us to inquire into the causes why many Christians are so far from desiring it chearfully submitting unto death as that they tremble at it and seem to slye from it What is the reason that they are still in bondage to the fear of death notwithstanding the sting thereof is taken away by the destruction of sin and the grave perfumed as a bed of spices by Christ's lying therein Now therefore for satisfaction to this case and withall to remove and cure this uncomfortable distemper I shall lay down briefly some of the chief causes whence this fear may arise First it may arise from a natural principle of self-preservation For God hath planted this instinct of nature in every part of the creation to labour to preserve its being and secure it self from dissolution Hence it is that nature abhorring avacuity or emptiness in any part of the universe because it tendeth to destruction for the preservation thereof causeth in the creatures motions contrary to their inclinations causing the air to descend to fill up vacuities in the earthly element and the water to ascend contrary to its nature to supply the room and absence of the forced air which we see in several experiments and ordinary inventions And this principle appeareth in every particular creature naturally avoiding whatsoever threatneth or tendeth to its destruction But to come nearer to the case of humane dissolution We naturally shun whatsoever we apprehend may offer violence to us and are subject to sudden passions at the approach of cruelty yea nature put in mind of a weakness in any part of the body maketh strongest reparations and fortifieth that place where a breach was made a broken bone well set becometh stronger then before And hence it is that through fear we decline any eminent danger and labour to preserve our natural beings resisting dissolution as the greatest natural evil Therefore the Philosopher called death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most terrible of terribles and Job the King of terrors Job 18.14 This natural fear was in Christ himself as he was man when he approached his death and sufferings who through a conflict of nature desired to be delivered from them Mat. 26.39 O my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me And yet there was no sin in it because it was a natural desire and that for a moment suddenly overcome by reason and deliberation or a short suspension quickly subdued by a voluntary submission and firm resolution the spirit being willing but the flesh weak in Christ himself But grace doth not only teach to deny self but is also powerful to subdue our natura wills and inclinations to the will of God as it was also in Christ nevertheless not my will but thine be done Secondly It may proceed from immoderate love and inordinate affections to the world and the things of this present life And there is a great proneness in believers themselves to â—ive too much liberty to earthly and worldly affections and to take too much delight and content in the good things of this life which are but bona corporis the goods of the body These things are snares unto us in our life and as stocks to the feet of the soul at the time of departure How loth are we to let go our tenure and hold of these delights upon a sick bed to take our last farewell and shake hands with near and dear relations to have our eyes closed and no more to be opened upon these visible comforts and to suffer the pillow to be drawn away from our heads that we may yield up our spirits to a more easie and free passage Certainly if we were more crucified to the world and strangers in it we should far more willingly leave it whereas through the love of it we are still hoping for a longer time and continuance in it and that God would still add either more yeares to our dayes or at least more dayes to our years Were not the stakes of our worldly delight drove so deep and strongly fastned in the earth our earthly tabernacles would more easily be dissolved The creatures in themselves are good and life is not only sweet in it self but as it is also ratio possidendi our tenure of them they are but for one life without renewing the lease thereof Therefore for the loosening of these cordes and stakes consider how much better one Christ is then all the creatures and one God then a thousand worlds and the glory of heaven then the superficial varnish and beauty of the whole earth If ye be Christians and risen with Christ take the Apostles counsel Col. 3.1 2 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory Therefore saith he mortifie your members which are upon the earth inordinate affections evil concupiscence and covetousness which is Idolatry Christians take heed of fastning your affections here it may be Christ may require you should testifie your love to him by suffering for his sake and the Gospel and that unto the death and if worldly affections discompose
comfortable and chearful estate endeavoureth what he can to disturbe them though he cannot destroy them besides the weighty and burthensome afflictions where withall many gracious hearts are sometimes ready to be overwhelmed had they not secret supports under their oppressing tryals To these and to all Christians the Apostles exhortation is to rejoyce in the Lord Phil. 3.1 And to rejoyce in the Lord alwayes and again to rejoyce Chap. 4. verse 4. who layeth it down as a character of the true spiritual circumcision to rejoyce in Christ Jesus as well as to worship God in the spirit Phil. 3.3 Joy is a fruit of the spirit as much as love faith and other graces among which it is numbred Gal. 5.22 And it is essential to the kingdom of heaven and the state of grace in the soul which is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 15.17 How then should all that are justified by faith and have peace with God through Christ Jesus rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God by Christ and in Christ himself the hope of glory Who is there among all the people of the Lord that is not ashamed to say he doth not love Christ and doth not so far at least testifie his faith as to declare his desires to beleive in him Beloved doe ye love the Lord and beleive in him and can ye not also rejoyce in him Oh that I could say of all beleivers as Peter of the beleiving Jews and the greatness of their joy in the incorruptible inheritance and in Christ 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love and in whom though now ye see him not yet beleiving ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Chear up your spirits and lift up your heads and hearts ye drooping Christians for your departure unto Christ is at hand and your salvation is nearer then when ye first beleived And ye that are rich in faith and heires of the kingdom look unto the hope set before you and endure a little shame here yea glory in your tribulations and rejoyce in your sufferings for your redemption draweth nigh Know ye not in whom ye have beleived who is able to keep what ye have committed to his charge and to save you to the uttermost And rejoyce that ye are made partakers not only of the sufferings of Christ but of his glory who is ready to receive you into his bosom and to give you possession of a glorious inheritance prepared reserved and secured unto you having made you sons and heires and appointed you to be Kings and Priests unto Christ and his Father Secondly for the furtherance â—nd help of your joy in the Lord make your calling and election sure For hereby an entrance shall be administred unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 1.10 11. It is an uncomfortable state for a Christian to hang between heaven and hell and in a moving ballance betwixt hope and fear therefore we ought to give diligence in the searching our hearts and examining our hopes that our evidences may be clear and our hopes lively through the assurance of hope and understanding Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 They that beleive have the evidence and witness in themselves the spirit it self bearing witness with their spirits that they are the children of God Rom. 8.16 But we must not expect the witness of the spirit of God without the preceeding witness of our own spirits whereby our evidences are first signed and afterwards sealed by the spirit of promise For hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his spirit 1 John 4.13 Unto which knowledge we attain by our reflexion upon the fruits of the spirit within us as an earnest of the purchased possession for us So that our evidence ariseth and appeareth by a diligent scrutiny and inquisition into the work and principles of grace within us and that by bringing the word to the heart and judging the heart by the word by comparing truths with experiences and experiences with truths from which premises the enlightened and sanctified conscience draweth the sweet conclusion of life and peace And were we not too much strangers to our selves and guilty of neglect and careless presumption in the matter of our assurance we might raise our comforts to a higher pitch and maintain a better grounded joy and confidence then we doe who are ready to content our selves with naked desires weak and staggering hopes or at most with a questionable probability of our salvation yea how many professors are there who by the difficulty of the work of gaining assurance either discourage and cool their affections to it or else by a conceit of an impossibility thereof voluntarily and totally neglect it But ye Beloved build not your hopes and comforts upon slight and shallow foundations but stirre up your selves and by all unwearied paines resolve to clear and ballance your accounts for eternity especially making your calling sure and your evidence sound concerning the truth of conversion and regeneration This will be the strongest hold under Christ's protection in the time of temptation to retire unto and to preserve and releive your hearts and hopes when Satan shall beat you out of all other Forts and outworkes of defence and confidence cause you to retreat to your main-guard of conversion evidence To this end call to mind the birth day of grace wherein you suffered the pangs and throws of the new birth and recount the experiences of Gods first love to you and your first love to Christ How discernable was your change when God turned you from dismal darkness to his marvellous light and raised you from the jawes of death and hell unto the joyes of heaven and salvation when he comforted you in your despair and anointed you with joy and gladness in the time of your sorrow and mourning when your imprisoned and confined hearts were enlarged and the Devil bound up from torturing holding you captive under his tyrannical and malilicious power when the day of light and understanding dawned in your hearts and the glorious Sun of righteousness arose with healing to your wounds and health to your souls But take heed of satisfying your selves with this that you have been converted to the Lord but for the strengthening of your confidence in him and clearing your interest in his love bring forth of the treasury of your hearts things new as well as old for the more testimonies the stronger evidence anst the surer comfort Therefore trace the foot-steps of Christ's spiritual and powerful dispensations towards your souls in the process and continued course of mercy and his preventing assisting and supporting grace and reveiw the pillars and monuments you have set up in your hearts for remembrance of special kindness and remarkable
such fruitful seasons Nevertheless lift up the hands that hang down the feeble knees up and be doing the worke of the Lord shall prosper in your hands gird up the loynes of your minds and so run that ye may attain being swift to hear not slothful in business fervent in spirit continuing instant in prayer that God would fulfill in you all the good pleaof his goodness and the work of faith with power Fifthly That ye may better redeem the present time of grace and mercy exercise your hope with all sobriety in the use of temporal comforts and enjoyments Take heed of surfeiting your selves with the sweetness of creature delights lest your hearts should say it is good to be here and you sit down ready to take your lot on this side of heaven But be sober and hope unto the end for the grace and salvation that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.13 Ye that are the children of the day watch and be sober and with Paul whose example is imitable in this case labour to beat down your bodies and to bring them into subjection that ye be not cast away 1 Cor. 9.21 It is better to starve lust then by pampering the body to make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Therefore study contentment in a mean condition in this world having but food and rayment to supply the bare necessities of this present life A little will serve for your passage though all the world should not content you for your portion because ye are heirs of precious promises and of a rich and glorious inheritance whereof ye shall shortly take possession in the life that is to come and in the enjoyment of God himself in whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Wherefore if by Christ the world be crucifyed unto you and you unto the world and ye overcome the world by the victory of faith live above the vanity and emptiness of fading and withering comforts and look not at the fashion of the world which passeth away but use the world as if ye used it not because all these things perish in the using dye in the hand and the beauty thereof corrupteth and vanisheth while your eyes are set upon them And let your moderation be known to all men in respect of your care and contention for the things of this life for the Lord is at hand who if you cast your burthens upon him will sustaine you for he careth for you Content your selves to live at his allowance in your minority and think not hardship unsutable to your present state whereas if you were full ye might forget the Lord and less mind your home and your Fathers house But if the Lord hath enlarged your present estate upon earth content not your selves in being rich unless you are rich towards God and deny your selves in what is in your power to use and possess that ye may doe good in your generation and lay up for your selves a good foundation against the time to come Direct VI. Sixthly For the maintaining of a holy sobriety of spirit act faith upon eternal promises and the unseen glory of heaven Nothing doth more support and bear up the hearts of the Saints then to live by faith and to look over the pale of time to the things which are eternal This will make afflictions light suffering easie the world contemptible and the hardest labour and work for Christ and the Gospel comfortable While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4.18 While faith feedeth upon the promises of life and glory and eyeth the great reward of happiness and perfection the soul fainteth not under its burden neither is discouraged at the greatest difficulties in the way of its hopes but becometh more lively and undaunted in contending with opposition that it may break through and passe to the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God Yea how fully is the soul satisfyed in beholding the incomprehensible riches of eternity that when it is taken up with the thoughts and meditations thereof it is ready to forget that it is still in the body as being transported above the sphear of sensitive objects This made David cease to envy the prosperity of the wicked when his heart was raised to a sight of God in the Sanctuary which so ravished his soul that he brake out into that expression Psal 73.25 Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee And this will ween your affections desires from earthly contentments did ye often by faith visit your heavenly mansions and keep your thoughts upon Christ and his preparations for you which the eye hath not seen nor the ear heard neither hath the heart conceived and yet not beyond the reach of faith as it is the evidence of things not seen Seventhly and lastly Labour after a complying heart with the will of God under every dispensation of providence towards you in this earthly tabernacle Be willing to live or dye to doe or suffer following every call of God whose infinite wisdom disposeth of your conditions and whose gracious power is present to assist and streng then Acknowledge the Lord in all your wayes and he shall direct your paths and commit your way to him and he shall give you the desire of your hearts Take heed of self-will and sinful will in opposition to the will of Christ but lye prostrate at his feet with a holy and an humble resignation of your selves to his will and pleasure And let nothing move or terrifie you neither count your lives dear unto you that ye may finish your course with joy Be contented with any condition which the Lord shall allot unto you in your present pilgrimage and travails homeward and let the consideration of your approaching ascension unto Christ in the highest heavens sweeten every bitter cup which providence shall put into your hands lighten every burden which God shall lay upon you knowing that your sufferings are only temporal but your joyes will be eternal and that ye have all your evil here but your good things are to come O forget not that your treasure is in heaven and where your treasure is there let your hearts be also that for the joy that is set before you ye may endure every cross and despise the shame of all your sufferings for Christ counting the sufferings of this present life not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in you when ye shall depart hence unâ—o Christ which is far better Not only better then the present straights troubles tribulations and afflictions which attend the Gospel the profession of Christ and the state of Grace but better then the best and most honourable and comfortable condition which the Saints of God have ever enjoyed or can expect to partake of while the foundations of the earth remain Which I shall only add by way of motive to what hath been said by way of counsel that to depart and be with Christ is far better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that in comparison with the three degrees o excellency attainable in this earthly state First it is better then life and all the comforts of life which the world can afford in pleasure profit or honour For all these things are short and uncertain and at least but created delights and creature enjoyments which Saint John describeth by the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life 1 John 2.15 And laboureth to take off our affections from them by an argument drawn from the love of God And if the loving kindness of God to his people here be better then life it self Psal 63.3 How much more the fulness of his love communicated without measure in the life that is eternal Secondly it is better then all the service which the Saints can doe for God and Christ in their most perfect obedience here below Yea though we could say with Saint Paul to us to live is Christ yet to dye and be with Christ were gain and far better and though in keeping of his commandements there be great reward and the godly have great peace therein yet their happiness hereafter shall be the crown of their holiness here and their reward with Christ shall exceed all their labour and worke for him Lastly It is better then the most uninterrupted fellowship the Saints are capable of with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ in their nearest and most spiritual approaches in the purest ordinances or most heavenly meditations and that by how much the immediate and glorious presence of Christ God himself in heaven surpasseth the clearest discovery manifestations of God to his chosen and precious faithful people upon earth Therefore leâ— all the Sons of God wait with joy for the day of their ascension when they shall depart unto Christ who is ascended far above all things that he might fill all things And that your hearts may be filled with joy and that ye faint not implore his spiritual presence with his love-sick Spouse Cant. 2. last Vntill the day break and the shaddowes flee away turne my Beloved and be thou like a Roe or a young Hart upon the mountaines of Bether FINIS