Church and purge his Saints from all their inward Filth and Corruption He would have no Chaff there none that are false-hearted and unsound such he will first or last purge out and he will make them that are good to be much better more clean more holy more pure he will purge out the chaff of Hypocrisie Unbelief Pride Passion Covetousness Vain Glory Carnality and all manner of Corruption whatsoever that is in them he sets as a Refiner and Purifier of Silver and he will throughly purge away their Dross and take away all their Tin The time draws near in which the sinners in Zion shall be afraid fearfulness shall surprise the Hypocrites Who amongst us shall dwell with devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting Burnings 4. Doct. All true Believers or all Christs Wheat shall be saved shall be received into Heaven or be gathered into his glorious Garner above and into which place no wicked person no false-hearted professor no hypocrite no carnal and self-deceived Gospeller shall come Though some of this sort get into the Church militant they shall not get into the Church triumphant tho' they may get a seeming place in his Garner below yet they shall have no place in his glorious Barn or Garner above Sirs you that seem to take delight in the Company of the Saints and seem to feed and lie down with Christs sheep yet know you shall one day be separated as Goats from the Sheep as foolish Virgins from the wise as Chaff from the Wheat and as Dross from the Gold all you that are not sincere must go to your place and those that shall be set at Christs right hand shall receive the Kingdom prepared for them and all that shall be on his left hand must go into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Doct. 5. A discriminating day will come a day of severing the good from the bad c. Doct. 6. That the Wrath of God is like fire 't is intollerable or the misery and torments of the damned or of all hypocrites and unbelievers will be dismal and amazing or there 's no expressing how fearful their condition is and will be who fall under the vindictive Wrath and Vengance of an angry God I purpose to speak unto one or two of these Propositions but at present I shall close with a word or two by way of Use The Application 1. Caution Take heed you are not Chaff or prove not chaff when the Fanner comes to fan you O see you are not loose carnal and empty Professors if you have only a form of Godliness the Name of Christ only or Lamps and no more sad will it be with you if you are not solid weighty and ponderous Christians if you experience not the divine power of Godliness the Sin-killing the Soul-quickning the Heart-transforming and God-exalting power of Christs Spirit you are undone Take a few Motives to stir you up to take heed 1. The Fanner is coming with his fan in his hand A Providence may be near yea such a providence and dispensation which you little think or dream of I might have shewed you that the whole Earth is but Christs common floor and he is now about to fan this mighty floor he hath many fans to do this What are his fearful Judgments but as a fan in his hand whether it be War Pestilence or Famine or other strange Judgment 't is and will be but as a fan to purge the Earth and consume the ungodly or blow them away as Chaff What amazing Earthquakes have there been lately in divers places have not we in England in London felt some of it as well as most Nations in Europe tho' not like to that in Jamaica and some other places are not these fearful Tokens and Signs of Gods Wrath and Indignation are they not Harbingers and Presages of what is coming upon the World and of the end thereof Look to it there is great Wrath at the door I am afraid thousands will be suddenly surprized and paleness of face take hold of them God is certainly abnout to shake and Toss the Earth too and fro the seven Viols of his Wrath will quickly now begin to be poured out Expect all of you to be toss'd and fan'd as wheat and chaff is tossed and shook together The lion hath roared who will not fear the Lord hath spoken who can but prophesie there is a worser Earthquake near as the wicked shall find it yea such an Earthquake that will make all their hearts to tremble which will shake down the foundations of Mystery Babylon and all false States it will be such a one that never was since the World began these which have been of late may be but Signs and forerunners of that In the Earthquake which is near the tenth part of the great City shall fall and seven thousand of the names of men or names given to religious men that were never given to them by Jesus Christ meer Antichristian names shall be no more strange will be the effects of it no doubt O what will you do in the day of Gods Wrath if ye are Chaff or but counterfeit Christians if not sincere if not in Christ thou shalt be visited of the Lord with Earthquakes and a great noise c. Great Changes Commotions Mutations and Revolutions will suddenly come from the Lord of Hosts He will make the earth empty and turn it upside down and it shall be as with the people so with the priest He will fan shake and tumble the People together you will find Distress of Nations and Perplexity with a witness in a short time nay no doubt but the day of Judgment and End of the World or Coming of Christ is very near for he hath foretold as Signs thereof that there shall be great Earthquakes in divers places 2. If you be Chaff among the Wheat you spoil the Beauty and glory of the Wheat you bring a reproach upon the Saints and upon the Church the ways of God are evil spoken of thro' your means your Pride your Covetousness your Back-biting and detracting Tongue and Unjust Dealing hinders the propagation of the Gospel your formality deadness slighting and neglecting of the Worship of God and want of Zeal and Love to Christ and to his people hath bitter effects on the unbelieving World as well as it will have on your own Souls 3. If you are Chaff you shall e're long be separated or severed from the Wheat There is a time near that that will discover all and make a full discrimination between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth the Lord and him that serveth him not There shall not e're long be a Cannanite in the House of God any more 4. Nay and remember my Text The Chaff shall be burned with unquenchable fire into Hell at last all false-hearted light and loose Professors shall be thrown O Take
something more in it the Lord by the power of his Spirit doth cut us off from any power of our natural Gifts and Parts and spiritual Gifts also or from any Confidence of our own sufficiency the Lord hath cut us off from hope in the Righteousness of our Parents and from boasting of Ordinances And again he saith This we read of Mat. 4. 1. It is spoken of the Ministry of John the Baptist which did burn as an Oven against all the Scribes and Pharisees and left them neither the Root of Abraham's Covenant nor the Branch of their own good Works He cutteth them off from the Covenant of Abraham c. And by cutting them off from the Root he leaveth them no ground to trust on Thus Mr. Cotton on The Covenant p. 177 and p. 21 22. Now evident it is that nothing but the dispensation of God's Providence or the Expiration of that period of Time determined by the Almighty for the standing of the Church of Israel could cut the Jews off as a Nation from being a Church and peculiar People unto God I mean in respect of that Legal Covenant I deny not but that the Covenant of Grace God made with Abraham and with his true spiritual Seed stands firm for ever and ever and none in that Covenant can be cut off nor fanned away for the Jewish Priesthood Church-state and Church-membership and all their Church-priviledges were to remain until Christ came or until the time of Reformation that is till the Gospel-days and Gospel-dispensation took place and no longer But now that time being come and they not seeing an end put to the old Covenant-Church as it was made with the natural Offspring of Abraham and that their right to legal Ordinances and Church-membership could not give them any right to Gospel Ordinances nor Gospel-Church-membership and they not believing in Christ not accepting of the Terms of the Gospel were all of necessity purged out or fanned away by the Fan of the New Testament-dispensation and so were no longer a people in any sense in Covenant with God Thirdly Christ hath also another Fan in his hand viz. The Fan of Church-Discipline And many persons falling into sin are purged like Chaff out of his floor Hereby 1. Sometimes some evil and corrupt Persons who get among God's people or into his Church and pass a while for Wheat i. e. for gracious Persons yet in time God suffers them to fall into one Temptation or another by which means they are fann'd away the Holy Jesus by his wise Providence makeing a discovery of them and their evil Tempers and Dispositions 2. May be some glorious Truths or Truth of Jesus Christ is revealed or cleared up to his Church in General to which several Persons of the same Congregation may not only want Light in but may be filled with Prejudice against and not only against the Truth but against the Church or Minister for seeking to bring it in and this may rise to such a height through their Pride and Stubborness that they will not abide any longer Members thereof but violently rend themselves by Schism and so are purged out Tho' as 't is observed by an Husband-man some light Corn may be good Wheat may be fanned out with the Chaff which he knows how to recover by fanning the Chaff also afterwards And thus it was with some of those who were called Christ's Disciples they could not would not endure that blessed Truth Christ preached to them of Eating of his Flesh c. but cried out This is a hard saying who can bear it and so went away and walked no more with him O see what the Effects of preaching some Truths may be how many are there who cannot bear in this day sound Doctrine but desert his People and some Truths of Christ and seem to shut their eyes against them caling them Error and false Doctrine and what not And this way God takes in his wise Providence to purge out some rotten Members which possibly were a repoach to his People And altho' may be some Wheat may by this means through Satans Temptations and Corruptions of their own hearts and their great Ignorance be fanned out with the Chaff they being carried away by the Craftiness and Subtilty of such whom Christ hath a mind to sever from the Body yet he knows how to gather up the Wheat again as the Husbandman doth 3. Others whom Christ would have purged out of his Church may be suffered to suck in some evil corrupt and dangerous Principles or Errors in Fundamentals like that of Hymeneus and Alexander whose Errours being discovered were purged out 4. Also others fall into notorious and scandalous Sins and so are purged out 5. Some who are Chaff or unsound Christians may be suffered to take up undue offences against the Church or Churches to whom they belong and by giving way to Temptation they may become unreconcileable magnifying their own Wisdom and Self-conceitedness and so by a secret hand of God be discovered and purged out But it must be considered that the use and exercise of the Keys or Rules of Church-Discipline is appointed by Christ as the proper Fan by which those sorts of Persons last mentioned and some others are to be purged out of the Church or Congregations of the Saints Now the Fan of Discipline is two-fold First The Act of Excommunication In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together with my Spirit to deliver such a one unto Satan for the Destruction of the Flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus The Persons Christ by this Fan of Discipline purges out are of three sorts 1. All gross and scandalous Persons who are Guilty of any Act or Acts of Immorality as Theft Swearing Drunkenness Vncleanness Covetousness Lying c. These being publick and reproachful Crimes the Offender ought sorthwith upon clear proof to be purged out that the Name of the Lord may not be exposed to contempt and his People villified by the ungodly World and time given to him for the proof and Trial of the sincerity or Truth of his Repentance which in part will be manifested by his Carriage and Behaviour under his Punishment I mean the Righteous Censure of the Church The Second sort that this Fan of Discipline takes hold of are such that suck in Heresies or Capital Errors these after the first and second Admonition ought to be rejected and delivered up to Satan that they may not learn to Blaspheme The Third sort are such who refuse to hear the Church after their case in which they have offended is regularly brought in against them according to the Rule contained in Matthew the offence at first may be against one brother and the offended party is first to tell him his fault between himself and his Brother or Sister that hath offended him alone Whom if he can bring to see and acknowledge his
thereof is found meer Chaff and the wind drives it away So much shall suffice as to the Fan in Christs hand by which he purgeth his Floor Quest Thirdly what is meant by the Chaff Answ I answer the Chaff may be understood to be two fold 1. Men and Women who get into Gods Church or among his People but are not Wheat but vile Hypocrites pretending to be that which in truth they are not thus all that are of Israel are not Israel Tho' they bore his Name were called Jews called Saints yet were unsound at heart and graceless Souls or meer Chaff in Gods sight 2. By Chaff may also be intended Sin or that Filth and Corruption which cleaveth oft-times to the best of Gods People which Christ must and will purge out Quest Why are Hypocrites or ungodly Persons in the Church compared to Chaff and how may they be known Answ I answer Hypocrites and ungodly men in the Church are compared to Chaff 1. Because Chaff before it is separated from the wheat cleaveth close to it and it is hard to sever it from the wheat and it also seems like unto it Even so some carnal and hypocritical Professors cleave to the Church and seem to love and embrace the Godly in their Arms and to lay them in their hearts they walk in Company nay in outward Fellowship and Church-communion with them they Pray and Break-bread with them as if they were really gracious and are not known to their Brethren to be otherwise And as it is hard to discern them from the Godly so 't is as hard to separate such from them Chaff is so much like to the Wheat that some have taken it at first view to be Wheat so are these taken to be Saints and there may be no severing them from the Congregation of the Lord till Christ comes with his Fan to purge his floor 2. They may be compared to Chaff in regard of the great pains that is and must be used to separate it from the Wheat The wheat must be threshed and fanned nay fanned again and again before all the Chaff can be severed from it So unsound Professors or some Hypocrites in the Church seem to cleave so close to the Godly and are in such seeming union and and oneness with them that the Lord sees there is no other way to sever them from each other but by threshing his wheat with the flail of Persecution and then the chaff flies away by the wind of this fan O what a multitude seemed to cleave to our blessed Saviour and to be his Disciples in a day of peace and prosperity when he was riding in Triumph to Jerusalem Crying out Hosanna blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord but when our Saviour came to the Cross how did they leave him and disown him nay may be cryed out Crucifie Crucifice him So and in like manner in our former days of Liberty what great numbers flocked to our Assemblies and made a profession of Religion but when that hot persecution arose how did they fall off and disown that People which once they seemed to cleave unto The fan of persecution fanned them away as chaff and not only a multitude of Professors but also how many great Preachers did basely betray the truth which they professed and in their Pulpits seemed a little before zealously to maintain particularly that of Separation from the National Church This way Christ took to discover the filthy and rotten hearts of some and slavish fear and weakness of Faith in others who were left to a sinful Complyance and Confirmity building again that which they had destroyed and destroying that which they had been a building and thus it appears as Chaff cannot bear fanning but is blown away so chaffy Professors cannot bear spiritual fanning i. e. they cannot stand in an hour of Temptation but fall away Alas tho we have now again multitudes that seem to cleave to our Churches and to our Assemblies yet should Christ come with his Fan upon us you will soon see it is to be feared the former Effects again 3. Chaff is of very little worth or value unto Wheat What is the Chaff unto the Wheat saith the Lord One peck of good Wheat is worth many Bushels of Chaff So ungodly men and and women are but of little worth in Gods sight a wicked man to him is lothsom as Solomon shews and that which is loathsom and hateful in our sight we value not but cast away The Prayers of the wicked are abominable to the Lord because their persons are not accepted in Christ Whatsoever the ungodly do or whatsoever show they make of Religion let them Pray Hear Read Preach or give to the Poor it is not regarded nor accepted of the Lord one godly Person is more to him than a multitude of unsanctified and hypocritical persons The tongue of the just is as choice as silver the heart of the wicked is but of little worth The best part of a Child of God is his Heart tho' he thinks that is the worst of all and the worst part of an unholy man is his Heart tho' he thinks that is best of all Saints are wheat Hypocrites chaff the one is Gold the other Dross in Gods esteem Hence the Lord saith Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee therefore will I give men for thee and People for thy life I will give Aegypt for thy Ransom Aethiopia and Sheba for thee God so little values graceless persons that he will sacrifice thousands of them in love and mercy to his faithful ones 4. Chaff is light and airy it is no ponderous thing therefore the wind carries it this way and that way at every turn Nay every small breath of wind moves it to and fro whereas wheat stirs not moves not but abides in its place it being a weighty and ponderous thing Even so all hypocritical and unsound Professors whatsoever they seem to be at some times by making a show of Religion and pretending to Piety yet they are in Gods sight as light as vanity they are like chaff not serious weighty and ponderous they are but a flash a shaddow and no substance having meer dry barren and empty Souls And their lightness appears and shews it self in many respects 1. It appears sometimes by their light frothy and airy talk and discourse They may sometimes seem serious but if watch'd they will be discover'd their Tongues will betray them by their foolish and vain words and communication They setting no watch before the door of their lips and bridle not their Tongues therefore their Religion is vain as the Apostle James shews They are full of vain words and foolish talk The words of the wise are gracious but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself They are offensive to others and pernicious to themselves A fool also is full of Words
we are Poor externally and in Want he knows it or spiritually Poor he knows it In a word whether we are living or dying Christians hot or cold growing or decaying he knows it APPLICATION Infer 1. We may from hence infer That Jesus Christ is God This clearly demonstrates the Deity of the Lord Jesus whose Eyes are said to be as a Flame of Fire even of a piercing and penetrating Nature to comfort and refresh the Sincere and to burn up and consume all others that are not upright with God Exhort 1. Be exhorted you that are Church-members to look to it Christ knows and takes notice of you all He knows you as you have heard by Name and where you dwell your Hearts Thoughts and Inclinations he knows whether you are praying Men and Women or not and also how you perform it and when you neglect it 2. Your Excuses Pretences about omission of Duties in your Families Closets or Churches are before his Eyes and known to him 3. Your Ways in trading buying selling building planting eating drinking and sleeping all is known to Christ what you do for his poor Saints and People what you do to encourage and further his Interest in the World when you give and what you give and how or with what End and Aim all is known to him 4. He knows and takes notice of your Garbs and Dresses which you wear whether such as he in his Word directeth you to put on or not whether modest or immodest like the wanton Ones of the World and according to the former Lusts in your Ignorance and not as becoming Men or Women professing Godliness 5. He knows your Behaviour in all Relations you stand in one to another as Husbands to Wives or Wives to Husbands Parents to Children or Children to Parents Masters to Servants or Servants to Masters Whether Husbands love their Wives and Wives love and obey their Husbands Whether Parents bring up their Children in the Fear and Nurture of the Lord and train them up in the Way in which they should go praying for them not provoking them to Wrath by being harsh and bitter towards them but setting a good Example before them in all things As also how Children carry it to their Parents in honouring them and obeying them in all things in the Lord all is took notice of by Jesus Christ 6. He knows how Ministers carry it to his People in the discharge of their Work and Office whether they preach the Word in Season and out of Season giving themselves to Reading to Exhortation to Doctrine and study to shew themselves approved unto God as Workmen that need not to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of Truth He knows whether they took the Care of the Flock of a ready Mind or for filthy Lucre sake and whether they preach Christ or themselves seeking to exalt Jesus Christ alone or but in part and rendering him to be but an imperfect Saviour whether they ascribe all to him or not some things of Salvation to the Creature and so open a Door for Men to sacrifice to their own Nets and Drags 7. Sirs remember that Christ is not a careless Spectator he knows you that are Members and takes notice how you behave your selves to his Ministers whether you shew due Respect to them and honour them as Ambassadors of Christ or as such who personate their great Lord and Master for if you dishonour slight and despise them Christ takes it as a Dishonour a slighting and despising of him He knows whether you obey them that are over you in the Lord or not but rather contemn resist or spurn at their Authority and seek Occasion to quarrel with them wounding afflicting and grieving their Spirits and weakning their Hands and their Hearts He knows whether you discharge your Duties to them in administring and communicating all good things to them providing a chearful and comfortable Maintenance for them and not leaving them to encounter with the perplexing Cares Wants and Necessities of this Life 8. Christ knows his Sheep so as to weigh their Actions their Spirits their Graces and their Duties He ponders every Step they take and observes every Word of their Mouths and Thought of their Hearts The Lord is a God of Knowledg and by him Actions are weighed 9. Christ knows whether you are sincere or not upright or not regenerate or not whether you are the same at Home as Abroad in the Closet as in the Church or not 10. Moreover consider the Effects of Christ's Knowledge he knows such whose Hearts are sound so as to approve love protect feed comfort and refresh them and such that are unsound so as to disown reject and condemn them 11. He knows the Humble so as to exalt them and the Proud so as to abase them He knows and beholds all of us at all times either to accuse or to clear us to condemn or to justify us Exam. Examine your selves in vain it is to go about to hide or cover any thing seeing Christ knows all we do there is no way to hide your Sin from him O search and try your selves your Hearts your States and Conditions lest you are deceived and conclude you are Rich and increased with Goods c. this was Laodicea's Misery Terror Tremble at the Thoughts of doing one unbecoming Thing or speaking one unbecoming Word O Lord said David thou hast searched me and known me Thou knowest my down sitting and my uprising and art acquainted with all my Thoughts For there is not a Word in my Tongue but lo O Lord thou knowest it altogether O what Terror is here for ungodly Men that commit horrid Wickedness in secret and say in their Hearts No Eye seeth us O let them know that all their filthy and abominable Deeds of Darkness are done in the plain and open view and sight of the great God and Jesus Christ and that he keeps a Record of all their cursed Works Oaths and ungodly Words and will lay them all before them at the last Day For he knoweth vain Men he seeth Wickedness also will he not then consider it Men know but little of God and therefore are very unfit Judges of all his Counsels Decrees and Actions yet God knows Man exactly and all his Vanity Falshood and Folly let him never so carefully strive to cover and hide his Wickedness under Deceit or a Cloak of Religion he seeth it it is a Knowledg by sight therefore most easily and clearly known God doth not know Mens Sins by hear-say No no he sees it beholds it with open Face he is by when they commit it They can commit no Sin out of his sight nor do that which he knoweth not though they are ready to say How doth God know Thick Clouds are a Covering to him that he seeth it not Carnal Men frame Conceptions of God like themselves Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thy self but I will
Master or ought so to be i. e. holy harmless c. They are simple concerning Evil Children in Malice though Men in Vnderstanding They are not like the ungodly ones of the World who are full of Wrath Hatred and Revenge they are so far from this that if they arrive at their true Character they will speak Evil of no Man but pray for their Enemies and for such that hate them 3. Sheep are patient under Suffering In this they strive to imitate their Blessed Saviour also who was led as a Lamb to the Slaughter and as a Sheep is dumb before the Shearer so he opened not his Mouth How patiently did the poor Martyrs go to the Stake they strove not with their Persecutors nor made resistance And when they suffer from the immediate Hand of God they are patient as David was and open not their Mouths because the Lord hath done it Like Aaron who held his peace and patiently bore the heavy Hand of God when his two Sons were devoured with Fire before his Eyes 4. Believers may be compared to Sheep from their Profitableness to others We all know that Sheep are very profitable Creatures many ways enriching and making Land fat as also for Clothing and for Meat How excellent is the Flesh of Sheep for Food So God's People are useful and profitable The Lips of the Righteous feed many by their wise and pious Discourse Counsels and Divine Comfort which they often communicate to many distressed and disconsolate Souls They are the Salt of the Earth the Light of the World and what a profitable thing is Salt to us is Light to us Even so in many respects the Godly in a spiritual Sense are alike useful and have been in their respective Generations in this World What a blessing was Lot to Sodom whilst he was among them the Fire could not seize upon that wicked City until he left it Haste thee escape thither said the Angel for I cannot do any thing until thou be come thither What Profit did Laban receive by Jacob what a Blessing was he unto him the like Blessing was Joseph to his Master The Godly are like Sheep the Interest of those Lands Nations Cities and Families where they dwell The Saints are profitable to others many ways 1. By that heavenly Doctrine they maintain and hold forth 2. By the fervent and profitable Prayers they make and send up to God on all Occasions 3. By that holy and good Example which they set for all those they converse with and live among 4. And at their death by Martyrdom great Profit hath been received from whence the Proverb rose That the Blood of the Martyrs was the Seed of the Church Believers bring Glory to God and Profit unto Men. 5. Sheep are tractable and obedient being ready to follow their Shepherd whithersoever he goeth It is the Custom in some Countries for the Shepherd in leading the Sheep to go out before them to which practice our Saviour doth here allude So Believers are obedient to Jesus Christ they are tractable and learn to follow him My Sheep hear my Voice and they follow me Thou shalt guide me saith David by thy Counsel Christ's Precepts are the Saints Directory and his Practice their Pattern Hence Paul exhorted the Corinthians to follow him as he followed Christ Ministers are to be followed and imitated no further than they follow and imitate Jesus Christ 6. Sheep love to feed in green Pastures in clean and wholsome Fields or Medows So do the Saints and People of God love sound and wholsome Truths good Doctrine Food that is fit and proper for their precious Souls they must not will not feed in the Soul-rotting Pastures of Mens Inventions nor on the corrupt Glosses of cloudy Doctors that lived in the dark Times of the Church The Spouse from hence enquires of Christ where he feedeth and where he maketh his Flock to rest at Noon that is where his Blessed Gospel is truly preached and his Holy Ordinances are duly and in a right manner administred And he directeth her to go forth by the Footsteps of the Flock and to feed her Kids besides the Shepherds Tents that is to follow the Doctrine and Example of the Primitive Church which only is our Rule and Pattern in all Gospel-Worship 7. Sheep are incident to divers Diseases many of them are weak and feeble sick and distempered and therefore must by their Shepherd be strengthned and healed with much care skill and faithfulness So are Christ's Sheep his Saints subject also to manifold spiritual Diseases Weaknesses Temptations and Afflictions which of old moved the Almighty to great Compassion and sorely to rebuke the Shepherds of Israel for their Cruelty and great Remisness towards his Flock The diseased have ye not strengthned neither have ye healed that which was sick c. And therefore the great Shepherd saith he would take the Work into his own Hand I will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick Some of God's People are attended with one spiritual Disease and others with another Some with a spiritual consumption of their Graces decline in their Faith Zeal Patience brotherly Love Charity c. Others are afflicted with the Timpany of Pride some with the Fever of Passion c. Which were it not for the care and faithfulness of their Shepherd would prove fatal to them 8. Sheep are subject to go astray So are the Saints to go astray from Christ and to wander from his Precepts I have gone astray saith David like a lost Sheep seek thy Servant 9. Sheep also are subject to take Soil and Filth and therefore have need of washing Even so likewise the Sheep of Jesus Christ are subject to contract fresh Guilt and Pollution on their own Souls and Consciences Sin being of a polluting and defiling Nature and therefore David cried out to his Blessed Shepherd to be washed Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow O cleanse my filthy and leprous Soul in the Fountain of thy Son's Blood signified by those Ceremonial Washings under the Law If I wash thee not saith Christ to Peter thou hast no part with me 10. Sheep love to feed and lie down together Nay it is a difficult thing to scatter sever or divide them from each other and if by Dogs or Wolves c. they should be scattered they will quickly get together again and such that straggle behind the Shepherd fears are not well So the Saints and Sheep of Christ dearly love to assemble together and it is an Argument that such are diseased or sickly who forsake the assembling themselves with the rest of the Flock Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another c. They that fear thee saith David will be glad when they see me because I hoped in thy Word I can tell them that which will cause
their Souls to rejoice I have been afflicted and tempted and yet have been succoured and relieved by the Lord because I hoped in his Word So that none of them that meet with like Perplexities need to fear or doubt of God's gracious Help and Support Sirs if wicked Men like Dogs Wolves or Lions do endeavour to scatter Christ's Sheep by Persecution c. they will soon get together again And being let go they went to their own Company again 11. Sheep need a shady Place when the Sun shines hot at Noon which is a great refreshment to them where they chew their Cud and being secured from the scorching heat they with the greater alacrity return to their Pasture In this also the Saints may be compared unto Sheep for evident it is Believers do need a shady Place a Place of Refreshment to rest in and under in the time of the great heat of Temptation Affliction and Persecution And at such Seasons the Lord Jesus hath a Place of sweet Repose for them In me you shall have Peace in the World you shall have Tribulation Vnder the shadow of thy Wings will I make my Refuge until these Calamities be overpast Hence also Jesus Christ is said to be as the Shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land or in a dry and scorching Country which metonymically is called a weary Land because it makes the People weary that abide therein Christ refreshes his Sheep under his own gracious Protection in time of the hottest Persecution c. and affords them relief by his own Presence and precious Promises And when they return out of those Afflictions with what joy do they feed in their Pastures calling to mind and meditating upon those blessed Experiences they had of his Goodness in those hot and scorching Times 12. Sheep will live where greater Cattel cannot even upon very hard and barren Commons where the Grass is exceeding short and be very well contented with it nay thrive upon it So will the Faithful in Jesus Christ live where and when the carnal Professor cannot even in a Time of Want and Scarcity when the great and tall Cedars whose Hearts are not upright with God fall away and their Spirits die in them A poor Believer can live by Faith on the Promises of God when he can't see by an Eye of Sense how he should subsist yet doth then trust on God's Providence who careth for him and he is contented and well satisfied with those hard Pastures the Lord is pleased to put him into Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall Fruit be on the Vines the Labour of the Olive shall fail and the Fields shall yield no Meat the Flocks shall be cut off from the Fold and there shall be no Herd in the Stall Yet will I rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of my Salvation 13. Among a Flock of Sheep are oftentimes some Goats who feed with them and lie down together So in Christ's Flock are some evil and corrupt Members such who are none of his Sheep but Hypocrites though they seem to feed and have Communion together and these also are called Goats by the great Shepherd 14. Sheep are very fruitful and do multiply in a little time exceedingly though many of them may be killed by Butchers The Saints may be compared to Sheep also in this respect for they from a few have often increased to a very great Multitude How few were the Number of Christ's Sheep at the time of his Ascension yet in a little space we read that their Number was five Thousand And though the Heathen Butchers killed many Thousands yet how wonderfully did they increase which was marvellous in the Eyes of their Enemies The like may be noted in these Days among us in England what a few were they of the Baptized Churches and other Dissenters not many Years ago and to what a Multitude are they risen now Also the Saints grow in Grace they are fruitful bearing Twins and none barren among them 15. Sheep are sometimes separated from the Goats for some special Occasion known to the Shepherd Even so at the last Day shall all the Sincere and truly Godly be separated from unsound and unsanctified Ones by our Lord Jesus the great Shepherd Before him shall be gathered all Nations and he will separate them one from another as a Shepherd divideth the Sheep from the Goats And he will set the Sheep at his right Hand and the Goats on his left Hand Secondly To proceed Tho I have already clearly opened the Properties or Characters of the Sheep of Christ in speaking to several Parts of my Text yet I shall in a summary way here add some few Particulars further upon this Account which may serve by way of Trial to all of us First The first distinguishing Character of them is They hear Christ's Voice What is meant by his Voice and how they do hear it we have shewed Secondly Christ's Sheep have passed through a great Change a glorious internal and visible Change They are converted Persons renewed or regenerated by Divine Grace They were once like other Men and Women and had no Sheep-like Nature as you have heard but rather the same filthy unclean and brutish Nature of Swine c. which is in all ungodly Ones 1. It is a real Change from Nature to Grace 't is not a seeming a nominal or notional but a true and real Change they have a new Heart a new Spirit a new Nature created in them they are become new Creatures all real Operations of the Spirit suppose some real Form a real Habit is infused from whence they act which works in them a ready Inclination Disposition and sweet Propensity to do that which is truly and spiritually Good 2. And this is common to all the Sheep of Jesus Christ in this respect they are all alike having all obtained the same precious Faith as to the Quality of it As all Wolves have the Nature of Wolves and all Swine the Nature of Swine and all Sheep have the Nature of Sheep so all the Saints and Children of God have the Nature of Saints all Believers and Sheep of Jesus Christ have one holy Nature 3. It is a Nature and Disposition quite contrary to that which was in them formerly 'T is a mighty Change as when a Wolf is made a Lamb the Wolfish Nature as one observes is lost and the Lamb-like Nature is introduced By Corruption Man was Carnal and Brutish but by the new Creation he is Spiritual and Divine by Corruption he hath the Image of the Devil by this he is restored to the Image of God by that he had the Seeds of all Villanies by this the Seed of all Graces He was an Enemy to God nay had Enmity in his Heart against God but now he loves God loves Christ loves Holiness loves the Ways of God and People of God 4. It is an universal Change a Change of
received the saving Graces thereof are Christ's Sheep they have his Mark these he will own and say where eâ—er he find this Seal this Man and this Woman is mine And on the other hand Now if any Man hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his he is none of his Sheep he hath no special Interest in him Remember the Spirit of Christ true Grace Faith Love Humility c. is the Ear-mark of Christ's Sheep 3. And why may not inward Sincerity be Christ's Mark also for that I am sure does distinguish them from all others from Hypocrites and all unsound and false-hearted Professors whatsoever 2 dly The Mark in their Foreheads is seen by all that may denote their holy Carriage Behaviour and Deportment in this World to all that behold them 1. It may shew that they hate Idolatry and all false Worship 2. It may signify their holy Conversation for Holiness is written as it were in legible Characters on all their Foreheads There is not one of Christ's Sheep without this Mark for without Holiness no Man shall see the Lord. This shews who they are and whither they are going and to what Country they do belong Sixthly Christ's Sheep follow the Footsteps of the Flock i. e. the Primitive Church in Church-Constitution Doctrine and Discipline They contend for that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints and keep the Ordinances as they were at first given forth they are for no mixture in Doctrine nor Discipline be sure before all things they keep pure the Doctrine of Justification and do not join Work and Grace together Their great care is to exalt the free Grace of God and abase the Creature accounting all their own inherent Righteousness as Dung or Dogs-meat in comparison of Christ and the Righteousness of Christ Seventhly They love to drink in pure Christal soft and gentle Streams Sheep do not love to drink of muddy rough and raging Rivers No more do Christ's Sheep He makes me to lie down in green Pastures he leadeth me beside the still Waters They will not forsake the Waters of Shiloah that run softly and drink of the proud swelling and troublesome Rivers of Babylon Tygris and Euphrates They like the Teachings of God's Spirit in the meanest Instrument tho such who are despised and contemned of Men better than the highest Elegance and lostiest Rhetorick of all the Cicero's and Plato's of the World What are the artificial Flourishes of Demosthenes or exact Method of Aristotle and Galen or all humane Curiosities or itch of Words to the Teachings of the Holy Ghost Paul spoke not in the Wisdom of this World or with the inticing Words of Man's Wisdom but in the Demonstration of the Spirit and with Power These Waters Believers chuse and love to drink of I am afraid some Men are more nice in studying Words than Matter to affect the Ear rather than to work upon the Heart of their Hearers Though Humane Learning is not to be despised yet no doubt Dr. Carlton was in the right That a Lay-man that has the Spirit of God is better able to judg of spiritual Things than a Man in Ecclesiastical Function destitute of the Spirit of God Infelix est sapientia extra Verbum Dei sapere saith Justin Martyr Our Annotators say well viz. 1. Ministers ought to speak Intelligibly so as the People may understand 2. That they speak gravely and decently all other study of Words and Phrases in a Divine say they is but Folly and Vanity Eighthly and Lastly Christ's Sheep do relie upon the Care and Faithfulness of their Shepherd They know on whom they have believed and can and do venture their Souls on him knowing he will keep that which they have committed to his Charge They depend on Christ rest on Christ believe in Christ relie on his Word and Promises for all things they need They can say with David The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want neither any thing for this Life which is really necessary nor for the Life which is to come They leave the Alimighty to chuse for them knowing they are not competent Judges as touching what is best for themselves Though he slay me saith Job yet will I trust in him Let God do what he will with me yet I will rest upon him my hope shall be in him and I will not be offended if I have Poverty Sickness Persecution Reproaches or whatsoever else I know saith a true Christian God sees it good for me and I will not murmur nor complain APPLICATION 1. We may infer from hence that Christ hath but a few Sheep but a few Followers O what a small Number have these Characters upon them 2. It may be for Lamentation Cyprian brings in the Devil triumphing over Jesus Christ after this sort As for my Followers I never died for them as Christ did for his I never promised them so great Rewards as Christ hath done to his and yet I have more Followers than he and they do more for me than his do for him O how blind and deceived are poor Sinners that they chuse to follow Satan rather Jesus Christ What a great Multitude hath the Devil his Flock is a mighty Flock Christ's Flock is a little Flock Fear not little Flock it is your Father's good Pleasure to give you a Kingdom Every Saint shall have a Kingdom a Crown this is Christ's Promise to all his Sheep and yet how few are they that cleave to him that believe in him and follow him 3. By what you have heard you may try your selves O see have you these Characters these Marks of Christ's Sheep certainly if so you have no cause to doubt but your State is happy if not labour for them 4. The way to be one of Christ's Sheep is to believe and to pass under the New Birth JOHN X. 27. My Sheep hear my Voice and I know them and they follow me THE last Day I shewed you who are the Sheep of Jesus Christ by giving you the several Characters and Marks of them Sixthly I shall now proceed to the last General Head viz. 1. Shew you What a kind of Shepherd Christ is 2. What those Pastures are where he feeds them 3. What a Fold he hath for his Sheep First Jesus Christ is a chosen Shepherd No Man hath a right to be a Shepherd but he that is first chosen by the Owner of the Sheep Christ is called the Elect of God My Servant whom I have chosen Again Behold my Servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my Soul delighteth He was fore-ordained in the Decree Design and Purpose of God to be our Redeemer and as a Shepherd to take care of feed heal nay to die for the Sheep Secondly And as he was chosen so he was called also to this Work and Office For as the Apostle speaks concerning Christ's Priesthood or touching that Office so I may say
is trampled upon but let God be true and every Man a Liar Object But doth not this Doctrine of special Grace render God unmerciful because he doth not give that Grace unto all Men that is effectual to their Salvation Answ I answer We do not deny that God gives that Grace to all which they say is sufficient or effectual to save all our Doctrine robs no Man of that Power they have but we do deny that common Light Grace and Abilities are sufficient to save any one Soul And if this be true it follows that they render God more unmerciful than they are aware of in that they will not have God to afford such Grace that is sufficient viz. Special Grace to any at all Certainly if God was not more merciful to them that assert this Doctrine than their Notions import or did not their Experiences contradict their Principles it would be impossible one of them should be saved For will meer moral Swasive Grace which leaves Salvation to the choice of Man's depraved and unrenewed Will whether it will turn to God or no believe in Christ or no save one Soul which they say is all the Grace God vouchsafes to any So that by their Doctrine none can be saved but all must unavoidably perish Besides how unjust do they render God to be seeing he as they say gave Christ to die for all Men with an intention to save them and this without any desert of Man which is the greater Gift and yet he denies the Gospel to the greatest part of the World nay and effectual Grace to many nay to all according to them that attend upon the Administration thereof seeing he could as easily bend or incline the Wills if he please of such who do not believe as he doth theirs that do believe Strange did Christ spill his Blood for the greatest part of Mankind in vain nay die in their stead for them that he foreknew would reject him and believe not Did he give Millions for them to redeem them and deny one Pound to make that Redemption effectual to them in order to give them a Right to it and Interest in it What! give them the greater and deny them the lesser Gift But how contrary is this to what Paul says If when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son much more being now reconciled we shall be saved by his Life And again saith He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall not he freely give us all things Secondly If Life Spiritual and Eternal be by Grace or if it is given freely by Jesus Christ Then all that have not this Gift given to them Life given Grace given are spiritually dead and if they die naturally before it is given to them they must perish for ever or die eternally Thirdly We may also infer That all that would have Everlasting Life must come to Jesus Christ seeing it is his Gift Ye will not not come to me that ye might have Life Thou hast the Words of Eternal Life Sinners you must believe in relie upon or fly unto Christ if you would be saved If thou knowest the Gift of God and who it is that saith Give me to drink thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living Water O know where this Life is how it is given and do not neglect the time Christ is now giving forth this Gift this is the time Behold now is the Day of Salvation Hear and your Souls shall live 'T is but asking Life and thou shalt have it thou must believe c. O seek and cry to God for Life haste to Christ Were there an earthly Crown or many Thousands of Pounds to be freely given what running and striving would there be every Body would make haste and be early at the Door they would not neglect the Time But alas what are all Riches all Crowns or all Kingdoms here below to Eternal Life So much for this Time JOHN X. 28. And I give them-Eternal Life and they shall never perish DOCT. 3. All the Saints of God all Believers or Sheep and Lambs of Jesus Christ shall be saved and none of them shall so fall away as eternally to perish Beloved in speaking unto this Point of Doctrine I shall only do two things I. Endeavour to confirm and prove the Truth of the Proposition II. Answer all the Objections that are usually brought against the Doctrine of the Saints final Perseverance First But before I enter upon the Proof and Confirmation of this great Gospel-Truth let me hint a word or two to explain who we mean by the Saints of God Secondly I shall shew you by way of Premise that the Saints or Sheep of Christ may fall yea fall from Grace and also how far they may fall and then proceed to demonstrate the Truth of the Proposition and prove That they cannot fall finally so as eternally to perish 1. Those that I call the Saints of God or Sheep of Christ are those who are elected or chosen in Jesus Christ unto Salvation 2. And such who are elected are they who are redeemed and purchased by the Blood of Christ or those whom he died for or in the stead of 3. By the Saints I mean those who are effectually called regenerated justified sanctified and adopted these are the Sheep of Christ that shall never perish but have Everlasting Life They are not all such that are of his Fold or Church on Earth not all the Members of the visible Church but all the Members of the invisible Church or mystical Body of Christ Secondly I shall shew you how far the Saints may fall 1 st They may if they take not heed fall into great Evils nay into most of the worst and abominable Sins any Mortals do commit and are overcome by Noah was a Saint of God yet he fell grievously by drinking too much Wine Noah began to be an Husbandman and he planted a Vineyard and he drank of the Wine and was drunken Though it might be partly through Ignorance of the Nature of the Fruit of the Grape yet no doubt by the pleasantness of the Liquor and Corruption and Infirmity of the Flesh he was overcome Lot was a Saint of God a righteous and just Man yet he fell worse not only by Drunkenness but also by committing Incest with his two Daughters What are the best of Men when God leaves them to themselves Jacob also no doubt greatly sinned and fell when he told his Father he was Esau his First-born How lamentably did David sin and fall who was a Man after God's own Heart save in the Case of Bathsheba the Wife of Vriah Peter fell likewise and that grievously too not only in denying of his blessed Master but also by Cursing and Swearing that he did not know him Many more sad Instances I might add of this Nature but that I love not
Is it some Temporary Act of his whereby he hath declared himself unto them Then I say grant that Salvation is to be had in a Redeemer in Jesus Christ and give me an Instance how God in any Act whatsoever saith he hath declared his Mind and revealed himself to all Men of all Times and Places concerning his willingness of their Salvation by Jesus Christ a Redeemer and I will never more trouble you in this Cause Secondly Doth this Will equally respect the All intended or doth it not If it doth why hath it not equal Effects towards all What Reason can be assigned that all they whom God equally intended Salvation for by Christ have it not However they who have Salvation either have it as the Effects of Free-Grace or of Free-Will Who will assert the latter Besides this would follow i. e. God will have some Men be saved to whom he wills not the Means of their Salvation for so he doth not to one great Part of the World But since we have proved that there is not a Sufficiency of Grace granted to all universally that is Grace subjective to enable them to believe and change their Hearts but to some only I shall say no more to this for if it were sufficient it would have the same Effect on all as it hath on some that which is sufficient to such an End would be made no doubt efficient by the Will of the great Agent who worketh all our Works in us and for us of his own good Pleasure and without whom we can'do nothing Object 14. Well say some say what you will if this Doctrine of Election and Final Perseverance be true we see not to what purpose we should preach the Gospel to Sinners any more or press Saints to Holiness Answ 1. I am weary of these impertinent Objections God hath ordained the preaching of the Gospel as the great Ordinance to call in his Elect and to beget Faith in them It pleased God by the foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe And not only to beget Faith but also to strengthen that Faith and to perfect the Saints more and more in Holiness These Men dream of an Election without the Means and of a Salvation without Faith and Regeneration and a preserving Men to Eternal Life without a Perseverance in Grace and Holiness It is a Perseverance in well-doing we plead for and this we say Christ will in the use of Means not without it enable all his People to do he will help them strengthen them and keep their Souls alive Pray consider the Ways by which Jesus Christ preserves his People unto Everlasting Life the Saints are said to be sanctified by the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ 1. It is in a Way of Holiness And from fainting or being weary in well-doing he stirs us up by his Spirit to wait upon him and promises That they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their Strength they shall mount up with Wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary walk and not faint or grow stronger and stronger both in Faith and Patience 2. Christ preserves us in a Way of Perseverance in well-doing by shewing us our own Weakness and that without him we can do nothing but that we must wholly rely upon him in the Way of our Duties for all things we need 3. By increasing Grace in us He by his Word shews that the Grace we have already received is not sufficient to keep us from falling therefore he stirs us up to seek to him for more Grace more Faith more Patience more Humility more Wisdom c. 4. By succouring us under all Temptations For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is also able to succour them that are tempted He has purchased Help and Succour for tempted Saints His Bowels move him to help us against Sin and against Satan He hath a soft and tender Heart and hath a fellow-feeling of our Infirmities which is a Spring of great Comfort to tempted Christians 5. By warning and forewarning us of the Danger we are in by our spiritual Enemies and charging us by his Word always to be upon our watch and not to sleep as others do 6. By putting his Fear into our Hearts that we may not depart from him that is not finally to depart which he doth when at first he infuseth Holy Habits in us 7. By his putting upon us that Holy and Spiritual Armour Ephes 6. 10 11 12 13 14. Do these Men think Christ's Soldiers can expect the Victory and not fight or overcome their Enemy though they throw away their Sword which is the Word of God The Preaching of the Gospel is of wonderful use to them it is the Word of Command their Captain speaks to them thereby and shews what they are and are not to do and how they should keep their Ranks and maintain true Order and Discipline in themselves Church and Families 8. By his continual Intercession for them he prays for us that we may be kept in the World from the Evil of it that we may not be finally overcome thereby These things being considered pray Brethren remember that as the Saints cannot perish as Hypocrites and Unbelievers may so they cannot sin live in Sin and in neglect of Holy Duties continually as unsound Persons may do And now Brethren I having answered all the grand Objections that are usually brought against the Saints final Perseverance I shall shew you some of those Absurdities which do attend the contrary Doctrine viz. That Christ died to save all and every individual Person in the World and that the Elect may fall totally and finally away and perish for ever 1. It renders the Death of Christ as to its Effects and the Success thereof uncertain as to the Salvation of any one Person 2. It doth imply a Deficiency in God or want of good Will in him to prosecute his Design to perfection in Man's Salvation they affirming that Christ died for all even every individual Traitor who lies in strong Chains and Fetters under the Power of Sin and Satan but he will not break off the cursed Irons and bring out of the Prison-house but a very few of them only 3. It would also follow then that the Purpose of God yea his Eternal Counsel in Christ Jesus may be disappointed and Eternity be subjected to Time the Will of the Creator to the Will of the Creature the first Cause to the Second and all or many of God's Absolute Acts to be suspended unto the actings of sorry Man and so the Lord submit to the Servant Yea as saith a Reverend Minister It sets God at an uncertainty because it doth subject the Grace of God to the Will of Man it hangs the Glory of his Grace in all the Motions of it and the Efficacy of the Promises upon the slipperiness of Man's Will and Affections It makes the Omnipotent Grace of God follow not
said that those who follow Christ and suffer for him shall be rewarded at the Resurrection of the Just as Luke 14. 14. And in another Place it is said in the World to come as Luke 18. 30. So much shall serve to shew you what is meant by the World to come but before I speak to that Taste of the Powers of the World to come which the Persons spoken of in our Text are said to have let me add a word or two as touching the Nature and Glory of the World to come though we have as yet but only some dark glimpse of it But to proceed 1. It shall be a World not under the Curse of Man's Sin as this World is The Earth is under the Curse Briars and Thorns are the Fruit of the Curse and all Creatures groan under the Curse the Sin of Mankind hath brought upon them But when the new World comes in there shall be no more Curse instead of the Thorn shall come up the Fig-tree and instead of the Briar shall come up the Myrtle-tree The Creature groans under the Curse But it shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God Envy shall depart from the Creatures they shall not tear and devour one another in the World to come as they do in this World see Isa 11. 6 7 8 9. It is in the World to come that all things shall be restored to that glorious State signified by the Restitution of all things Whom the Heavens must receive until the Times of the Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the Mouth of all his Holy Prophets since the World began That which all the Prophets have spoken of and expected shall certainly come or be fulfilled 2. The World to come shall be a World without Sin a Holy World a Righteous World this present World is a wicked World an ungodly World but all the Inhabitants of that World to come shall be Holy they shall be all filled with Righteousness Hence it is Peter saith We according to his Promise look for a new Heaven and a new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness 3. The Government of that new World shall be alone in the Hands of the Saints no wicked Man shall be in any Place of Power there no corrupt Judges nor Justices Righteousness shall then bear Rule The People also shall be all Righteous they shall inherit the Land for ever the Branch of my planting the Work of my Hands that I may be glorified The Kingdom and Dominion and greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High Whether they shall have the Kingdom before Christ comes or not I cannot determine though I suppose part of this Prophecy will be fulfilled before then but besure then they shall have all Kingdoms under the whole Heavens and the Glory and Greatness of them for ever 4. The World to come shall be a World without Sorrow and that is because it shall be a World without Sin whilst Sin remains Sorrow will remain but then no more Pain nor Misery shall any of God's Children indure for ever And God shall wipe all Tears from all Faces and there shall be no more Death neither Sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more Pain for the former things are passed away The Inhabitant of that City shall not say I am sick 5. There shall be no Devil to perplex to tempt nor to disturb God's People Satan shall be bound though others think that shall be before this World begins in the greatest Glory of it 6. It shall be a World of great and wonderful Light which may be taken as I conceive both literally and mystically The Sun shall no more be thy Light by Day neither for Brightness shall the Moon give Light by Night but the Lord shall be unto thee an Everlasting Light and thy God thy Glory Compare it with Revelation 22. 4 5. And there shall be no Night there and they need no Candle neither Light of the Sun for the Lord God giveth them Light and they shall reign for ever and ever God will never withdraw himself from his People nor hide his Face in that World as oft-times he doth in this 7. It shall be a joyful World nothing but Joy and Singing in that World those who will not sing now if Godly shall sing then Behold my Servants shall sing for Joy of Heart but ye shall howl for Vexation of Spirit The World to come will be a sad and woful World to the Ungodly for there is a World to come for them I mean Eternal Misery in Hell But Believers shall sing in the Heights of Sion and flow together in the Goodness of the Lord. In the Heights of Sion or in the Time of the greatest Glory of the Kingdom of the Messiah Moreover it is said They shall rejoice even with joy and singing 8. They that dwell in the World to come shall have good and blessed Company glorious Company Christ's Company and the Company of all his Saints They shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God Behold the Tabernacle of God is with Men and he will dwell with them He shall come then in the Clouds with Power and great Glory and we shall be taken up to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. To meet him in the Air he does not meet us we shall not be going up to Heaven as soon as raised no no but Christ will come down to us to dwell and reign with his Saints on Earth when that World begins Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth He hath made us Kings and Priests and we shall reign on the Earth All the Godly are under this Promise therefore it must refer to the World to come and not be fulfilled till the Day of the Resurrection 9. It will be a World of great Riches Wealth and Glory the chief City in that World the Walls of it shall be Jaspar and the City was of pure Gold Though this City may be a Figure of the Church yet no doubt there is more intended it is that City Abraham Isaac and Jacob sought for that had Foundations every Saint in that World shall have a Kingdom and a Crown of Glory though it be all but one Kingdom yet it shall be as if every one only possessed it himself Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the Righteous Judg will give to me in that Day and not only to me but to all them also that love his appearance Some Saints have hardly enough Bread to eat in this World that shall have a Crown a Kingdom in the World to come Hearken my beloved Brethren Hath not God chosen the Poor of this World rich in