in more especial manner of labours There is a man whose Labour is in Wisdom and in Knowledge and Equity Eccles 2.21 and in such things the Saints and holy men do labour too they labour in the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 But here the word used signifies a toilsome labour yea as some note of it a painful wearisome spending labour Yea sometimes variety of Tribulations Calamities and Crosses so as sometimes to threaten Death And so we find the word Labour often joyned with Toil or words of Affliction as in Gen. 5.19 the Work and Toil of our hands are joyned together as Work and Labour here and toyl of the hands may well answer to labour here in Gen. 31.42 Jacob saith God hath seen my affliction and the labour of my hands when he speaks of that troublesome labour in which the Drought by day consumed him and the Frost by night and the sleep departed from his eyes vers 40. And the like is used of the rigorous and afflictive Service and Labour which the Israelites were put to in Egypt when they were made to grone under their Burthens so as their lives were bitter with hard bondage in morter and brick and in all manner of service in the field when all their Service that they served was with rigour Exod. 1.13 14. with 2.24 Of this Moses instructs them to say the Lord looked on our affliction and on our labour and oppression Deut. 26.7 and in Psal 90.10 it 's joyned with sorrows when it is said of men that if by reason of strength we attain to fourscore years yet then is our strength labour and sorrow where Labour cannot so properly signifie work and service for alas then men are past that but rather toil and exercise as Solomon joyns together Labour and vexation of heart Eccles 2.22 and Jeremiah complains Wherefore came I out of the womb to see Labour and sorrow Jer 20.18 And that which we read in the Text Trouble is in the Margin according to the Hebrew Labour Job 5.7 And surely especially in times of great Persecution there is labour and sorrow more abundantly to exercise them as both in Jeremiah's and the time here spoken of Yea labour and business is generally with exercise grief and trouble the portion here of them that will live godly in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3.12 both in respect of civil and outward concerns for the body weaknesses infirmities sickness pain and in respect of the labours griefs and travails of the Soul for themselves and others temptations also from Sathan persecutions from men and much care and exercise of spirit that they might obtain the grace and favour of God with Christ and be found in him and serve their generation according to his will In which sense also 2. Labour first goes before and then Eating Rest or Reward follows after no injoyment of the blessed state of Rest but for the labourers 1 Cor. 9.10 The husbandman first labouring must be partaker of the fruits 2 Tim. 2.6 Six days shalt thou labour goes before the seventh is the Salbath of the Lord thy God the rest appointed by him namely for thee to rest in Exod. 20.9.10 there is Labour that we may be found in Christ or be accepted of him whether present or absent 2 Cor. 5.9 and labour in the Lord to be performed and undergone 1 Cor. 15.58 Through much affliction we must enter the Kingdom of God Acts 14.22 Service to God and sufferings to be undergone both for and from God and the will of God in all to be done before we receive the Promise the recompense of reward Heb. 10.35 36. yea and there must be faithfulness in this too to the Death else no blessedness they that endure temptation and patiently continue in well doing are the blessed that shall have Everlasting life receive the crown kingdom Luke 22.28 29 30. Jam. 1.12 Rom. 2.7 But then it is spoken out plainly that 3. They that endure and are faithful to the Death and especially in such sad times of tryal so as to dye in the Lord they are blessed in this that they Rest from their Labours God is a merciful righteous God and he hath prepared and there remains a rest for his people Heb. 4.9 He that would have a Sabbath or day of rest for Servants and Cattel now one in every seven days that they might rest Deut 5.14 He will certainly give rest to his wearied tired toild People Children and Servants that have laboured and had no rest here He calls us to himself to give us rest for our Souls and to give us rest too with himself from our Labours Matth. 11.28 29. and his rest is glorious Isa 11.10 Rest from their sorrow and fear and hard Bondage wherein they were made to serve saith Isaiah 14.3 Rest with the Apostles when they that are at rest and ease here shall be disquieted even the Inhabitants of Babylon and the Persecutors 2 Thes 1.5 6 7. with Jer. 50.34 then shall they receive their sad things in tribulation that now trouble Sion when the Beast-worshippers shall have no rest day nor night then shall Christs faithful worshippers have perfect and perpetual rest with Christ Rev. 14.11 13. yea they that dye in the Lord thenceforth shall be herein especially blessed as their labours and troubles thenceforth are greater and sharper their dangers fears and griefs more abundant now they shall be eased of them all and by how much their Sufferings were sharper and their Labour more toilsome and grievous by so much will their Rest be more sweet and welcome and the greater the blessing Death in general puts an end to the exercises of this life as well as to its enjoyments to men whether they be good or bad as they be properly the exercises of this life though not always as to the kind in general they that joy in God here shall joy much more then as to their spirits and they that fear and grieve in their consciences for fear of Hell here dying in their sins shall much more fear and feel horrour in their Consciences then But as to bodily Pains and the Fears and Labours of this Life and pertaining thereto Death puts an end to them both to good and bad but yet not so to the Wicked as to give them rest or make them therein blessed they being reserved by it as in a Prison unto far worse miseries afterward and tormented at the present with restlessness and fears or horror not having Christ to be their rest But they that dye in the Lord are generally at rest And as to be out of and at rest from greater sorrows and sufferings is more desirable welcome and beneficial then to be out of smaller so they that from that time dye in the Lord shall be in their resting from their labours more happy and blessed then others But all that dye in the Lord in the proper sense before explicated enter into this rest for they are at home
perillous and calamitous time so that it will be a great mercy to be well gone out of it so as but to be and Dye in the Lord yea the sooner the better like that in Eccles 4.13 where the Wiseman considering the oppressions done under the Sun and beholding the tears of the oppressed and that they had no Comforter that on the oppressours side is Power but the oppressed have no Comforter He praised the Dead that were already dead more then the living which were yet alive This sense of the words suits well also with that reading or Translation of the word that some judge the righter here viz. that dye in the Lord speedily And this may also be so because of what results from those Calamities viz. 2. The great difficulty of holding fast the Faith and profession of it and danger of falling from it that will then be as our Saviour saith When the Son of man comes shall he find faith on the earth Luke 18.8 truely in a sense at other times men may dye in the Lord that is in an external Profession and acknowledgment of him according to truth crying Lord Lord and yet not be blessed not enter the Kingdom being not indeed and heartily doers of Gods will but it may be signified that Henceforth from the time of the Beasts sore Rage and the sad Persecutions thence ensuing none shall be able to make a right profession of the Faith so as to persevere to Death in it but such as be indeed Saints and persons indued with singular patience real and hearty keepers of Gods Commandments and therefore all that dye in the profession of the Faith then really Blessed and Happy Or else also 3 To signifie a more eminent degree of Blessedness to be the portion of those that then shall hold out so as to Dye in the Lord a blessedness proportionable to that very sad wo and misery threatened to to the Beast-worshippers vers 9 10 11. after the Preaching of the Everlasting Gospel and downfal of Babylon declared as those Beast-worshippers shall drink of the wine of the Wrath of God poured out without mixture into the Cup of his Indignation and shall be tormented with Fire and Brimstone in the presence of the holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb and the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever And they have no rest day nor night A most dreadful Sentence able to deter any one from Worshipping him On the other side here is a like excellent manner of Blessedness signified to be the portion of those that dye in the Lord to allure the Servants of God or any of the People to whom the Gospel is Preached to the worship of God and constancy to Christ against the Beast that they that dye in the Lord shall upon their Death be blessed with a witness more abundantly blessed as the word Blessed sometimes seems to signifie as in Rev. 20.6 for as it 's an aggravation of sin when it is against light and warning and brings the greater and severer judgment whereas the times of ignoranâ—â— God winks at Acts 17.30 31. Heb. 23 10.20 29. So it 's an augmentation of Virtue to be good in the worst of times and to cleave to God and Christ against the greatest discouragements and oppositions and they that so do shall receive the greater blessedness as their reward But we shall have occasion to Consider wherein they may be said to be more chiefly blessed in speaking to the other part of the Text viz. 2. The Confirmation of this truth asserted which is twofold 1. By Authority 2. By Argument and Evidence 1. By Authority The testimony of authentick Witnesses is a good evidence of any matter of fact asserted or of any matter whereof they have sufficient cognisance Now here we have the Authority and Testimony of one that is as good as yea better then ten thousand even the Spirit which is the Truth Yea saith the Spirit By the Spirit is meant the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth for He is Emphatically The Spirit and is divers times so called in this Book as in Rev. 2. and 3. He is so called seven times viz. in the close of every Epistle where it is said Let him that hath an ear hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches And in Chap 22.17 The Spirit and the Bride say Come And that he is a sufficient Witness to any thing he Saith and Testifies to is evident in that 1. He is perfect in understanding and knowledge being the Spirit of Wisdome Vnderstanding Counsel and Knowledge Isa 11.2 He that searcheth all things even the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2.10 Therefore He cannot erre or mistake And then 2. He the Spirit of Truth Joh. 14.16 17. yea The truth and therefore it is He that beareth witness to Christ and the things of him 1 Joh. 5 6. therefore he neither will nor can lie for he is one with the Father and with the Son one God And God cannot lie deceive or falsifie wickedness and falshood are an abomination to him and to his lips Prov. 8.7 8. therefore every one that hath an ear may well hear as he is bid what he saith And he saith to this Assertion Yea did men onely say it it might be questioned and if they say otherwise now it is no matter All men are too prone to lie but the Holy Spirit is to be firmely believed because what ever he saith is pure and true Now he in testifying of Christ in the Gospel witnesses nothing but Life to be in Christ and to be the portion of those that believe in him that the believer in him shall not perish whatever death come upon him or whatever trouble but shall have everlasting life yea in a sort he hath it for he that hath the Son hath life saith the Record which God gives us of his Son 1 Joh. 5.11 12. and in testifying of such as are righteous men and merciful taken away and perishing from among men in such an evil day when all the Beasts come to devour he saith they enter into peace and rest in their beds each one walking in his uprighteousness Isa 56.9 57.1.2 that testimony the Holy Ghost that spake in the Prophets and particularlarly in Isaiah Acts 28.25 beareth 2. By Demonstration Argument and Evidence evidencing in what they are blessed viz. That they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them Wherein are two particulars First that they may Rest from their Labours Secondly And their Works do follow them or follow with them Wherein is implied Note 1. That they that dye in the Lord and especially from the time of the Beasts rage and the great exercise of the Saints patience have Labours and Services that in the time of their life they are imployed in indeed all things are full of Labour man cannot utter it Eccles 1.8 and the Saints have their portion of Labours more especially in or
in Gods presence and his presence will give them rest Philip. 1.23 2 Cor. 5.8 Exod. 33.14 then the Soul shall have rest in its Husbands house as was prayed for for Ruth Ruth 2.9 then the Body rests in the dust from its Pains Weaknesses and Afflictions and Labours Job 3.13 17. 17.16 and the spirit enters more fully into peace Isa 57.2 and it is said to these Souls That they must rest a little while till the time of their Brethrens sufferings also be accomplished Rev. 6.11 Yea the whole man though parted asunder Soul from Body rests in safety not hearing any more the voice of the oppressour nor assaulted by the tempter Job 3.18 11.18 the small and the great rest there and the Servant is free from his Master Job 3.19 Yea the end of the Adversity and Affliction they have here is that they may rest then from it till the pit be digged for the ungodly Psal 94.12 13. They rest from their Labours 2. And their works follow them or follow with them These Works are something distinct from their Labours their Labours had Pain Sorrow and soil like to the Labour of a Woman in Travail that hath sorrow because her hour is come Joh. 16 21. and their toil and pain proceeds partly from their own infirmity partly from the bondage to corruption under which the whole Creation grones the Curse upon the Earth Gen. 5.29 Rom. 8 20 21 22 23. 2 Cor. 5.2 4. partly from the Badness Wickedness and Oppressiveness of the World and malice of Sathan Gal. 1.4 Exod. 1.13 14. Rev. 2.10 But their works are as the fruits of those Labours the Man-child brought forth as it were the things done by them in the body the fruits or works meet for repentance 2 Cor. 5.10 Philip. 1.22 Matth. 3.8 with Acts 26.20 and these they have with all their strength and courage to endure the labour attending them from Jesus Christ that root of David in whom they are ingraffed rooted and grow Rev. 22.16 Col. 2.7 He is the green Fir-tree from whom all their fruits are found Hos 14.8 the true Vine of whom they are Branches and from whom they abiding in him and his Word in them they derived such sap and juice vertue and spirit as made them bring forth much good fruit so as the Father the good Husbandman is therein glorified Joh. 15.1 4 5 8. being and trusting in him and making him their hope they were like trees planted by the waters side bringing forth their fruit in season Jer. 15 7 8. though we are justified by Faith without the works of the Law yet we are justified too by Works and not by Faith only Gal. 2.16 Jam. 2.24 not by a Faith without works but by a Faith that worketh by Love Gal. 5.6 the believing in which we receive the forgiveness of sins and are justified to life is not a bare speculation of or assent to the Opinion or Doctrine of Truth resting in the brain nor so far onely affecting the Heart as to ease it of and quiet it from its griefs and fears but it is such a believing as is to the saving of the Soul Heb. 10.39 even to the saving it from the power of sin and Sathan as well as in other respects Such a perswasion of the truth of Gods testimony and so that Jesus is the Son of God and Saviour of the World and that all that the Prophets and Apostles have delivered concerning him and the grace in and by him is true as wherein the heart is so affected with him and drawn to him as that it saith of him He is my rock and my fortress my God in whom I will trust So as it comes to him for all direction and guidance Grace and blessing and yield up it self to him to obey and follow him in a confident expectation therein of meeting with his promised Salvation and Blessing And where with the heart a man so believeth it is to righteousness and will not be barren destitute of the fruits of righteousness or of the works of righteousness piety charity all goodness Heb. 11.13 Psal 91 2. Joh. 6.35 37. Rom. 10.9 10 2 Pet. 1.9 10 11. And these works in Death and when dead follow them or follow with them so as they shall be rewarded of God for God is not unrighteous to forget their work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 neither labour nor work shall be forgotten their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord who tells their wandrings puts their tears in his Bottle and keeps account of them in his Book 1 Cor. 15.58 Psal 56.8 and their work shall be rewarded Jer. 31.16 And that 1. In some sort at the time of thier departure hence and in their separated state in that they have in their Consciences the joy and comfort of their Works and comfortable assurance of further reward in the day of the glorious Appearance of the Lord Jesus their works are now estimated of God and laid up in his treasures laid up as it were with them and together with them to be brought forth to open view in the day of Christs glorious appearing And the Reward is also laid up reserved and unalterably appointed for them as was before noted from 2 Tim. 4.8 so that they not onely have hope in their Death but also after their Death there is a Separation of them from others according to their Works so as that whereas others are cast into Prison and reserved as it were in Chains of Darkness against the Judgment of the great Day the wicked is reserved to the day of Destruction and they shall be brought forth to the day of Wrath when the Heavens shall reveal his iniquity and the Earth shall rise up against him and his way shall be declared to his face and he shall be repayed what he hath done Job 21.30 31. 20.27 these that dye in the Lord are at rest and safe for ever quiet from the fear of evil being out of the reach henceforth of Sathan and all his instruments and whatsoever may trouble or disquiet them they that can kill the Body and it may be have killed theirs have no more now that they can do to them their sorrow and sighing is for ever past and they are comforted in Paradise and in Abrahams bosome while others are tormented Luke 16.25 for they are in Paradise with Christ as Christ said to the Malefactor that confessed him This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Luke 23 43 Their Soul or Spirit dies not as some hold with the Body but returns to God into whose hands they commit it as they pray him to receive it so he doth receive it too Eccles 12.7 Psal 31.5 49 15. Acts 7.59 Philip. 1.23 Yea they may be understood to be those that stand with the Lamb upon mount Sion and that sing the new song with the melody of Harps unto God which no man else can learn they being in a