yet tells us that he saw but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 modo imperfecto in part he saw but the back-parts of unseen Things 1 Cor. 13.9 We know in part and prophesy in part Ver. 11. When I was a Child I spake as a Child I understood as a Child I thought as a Child He compares all the Knowledg he had attained of these Things to that he had of things in the World when he was a Child Children have but weak and shallow Conceptions and Apprehensions of things such as they are ashamed of when they grow up to be Men. Why there is in many respects as great Difference between the Apprehensions we have of unseen Things now in this World and the Apprehensions we shall have of the same Things in the other World as there is between the Apprehensions of Persons whilst but Children and when come to be Men. Alas Sirs when you hear Men of the largest Abilities discoursing of these Things they do but even lisp and stammer and speak half words and bits of Sentences as Children they do but talk of them as blind Men do of Colours or as you do of far Countries and Rarities in them that you have never never seen O the things of Heaven are other things and the things of Hell are other Things than you or I think unknown Things we see not when our Conceptions are most accurate and elevated a thousandth thousandth part of that Glory that is prepared for the Saints in Heaven nor yet a thousandth thousandth part of that Shame Wo and Wrath that is prepared for Sinners in Hell Heaven is not only commensurate to our greatest Hopes but as far above them as it is above the Earth and Hell is not only answerable to our greatest Fears but as far beyond them as the East is from the West Says Moses Psal 90.11 Who knoweth the Power of thine Anger according to thy Fear so is thy Wrath. That is the Wrath of God is every way answerable to the Fear that Men have of it and not only so but it is behind what we either fear or can know Think on this under the most dreadful Considerations imaginable and yet when thou hast thought the worst and all that is possible according to thy Fear so is his Wrath and more than so when poured out to the utmost This is the second they are not seen that is not known 3. They are not experienced they are not seen that is they are not try'd and felt by Experience we have not had a trial of them by Taste or Feeling This Phrase of seeing is often put thus for feeling in Holy Scripture as Lament 3.1 I am the Man that hath seen Affliction by the Rod of his Wrath as if he had said I have felt endured born Affliction So Psal 90.15 The Years wherein we have seen Evil suffer'd felt Evil and Affliction Jer. 20.18 Wherefore came I forth out of the Womb to see Labour and Sorrow Rev. 18.7 Psal 27.13 106.5 and in many other Places to see is to feel and not to see is not to feel or experience And thus this Phrase may be taken here and so in this Sense these things are unseen things to us there 's not a Man among us to day that has once seen them that has try'd and had experience of them in himself that can come out and say I have gone through Death I have been in Heaven or I have been in Hell and tried Things of another World O Sirs these things not seen are things we have not had an Experiment a Proof and Trial of you have not had an Experiment of the things of Death nor of the things of Judgment nor of the things of Heaven nor of the things of Hell O think of it you that are drooping Saints and Servants of God you have not yet try'd 1. What it is to have God to wipe away all Tears from your Eyes 2. What it is to enter into the Joy of your Lord. 3. What it is to receive your Inheritance to put on your Crown and to possess your Kingdom 4. What it is to see God face to face and to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth 5. What it is to be with Christ your Lord and Love in Heaven I say all these and all the unutterable things of Heaven are things you have not tried a Trial of them would make the whole World of seen things a Wilderness a Weariness to you And O think of it you that are daring Sinners you that make nothing of Death of Judgment of Heaven or Hell I say again think of it you have not try'd the things you are making thus light of you have not tried I say 1. What it is to lie down in Sorrow 2. What it is to be driven away into outer and eternal Darkness 3. What it is to dwell with the devouring Fire to dwell with everlasting Burnings 4. What it is to be tormented with the Devil and his Angels 5. What it is to be punished with everlasting Destruction had you ever tried these things you would have other thoughts about them they that are this Day trying them and feeling what they are are not making light of them and O if you had been but a Year a Week a Day or a Night or an Hour in Hell and seen what others are seeing and felt what they are feeling you would not think it a small Matter to be damned This is a Third these things are unseen they are such things that we have no present experimental Acquaintance with 4. They are not present and entred on they are not seen that is they are not yet in being as to us we are not yet begun with them and entred on them we have them not present with us This Phrase of seeing is used thus for enjoying possessing or having the Presence of a Thing John 3.3 Except a Man be born again he can't see the Kingdom of God Videre regnum Dei idem est ac intrare in illud therefore it 's said verse the 5th Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Deut. 3.25 Moses pray'd that he might see i. e. enter into and come to possess that good Land So also Psal 36.9 In thy Light we shall see Light i. e. have or enjoy Light So Luke 17.22 The Days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the Days of the Son of Man and ye shall not see it that is when you shall desire to enjoy one of these Days to have the presence of one of these Days and ye shall not see it that is ye shall not enjoy one of them ye shall not have the Presence of one of them with you And so in many other Places to see a Thing is to have it present and in possession and not to see a thing is to have it absent and unbegun with us And in this respect also these things are
Invisible Realities THE REAL CHRISTIAN'S Greatest Concernment In several SERMONS On 2 COR. 4.18 By HENRY PENDLEBURY A. M. late Minister of the Gospel at Rochdale in Lancashire Author of the Plain Representation of Transubstantiation LONDON Printed by J. D. for Ann Vnsworth of Manchester and sold by Jonathan Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1696. To the Right Honourable HUGH Lord Willoughby of Parham My Lord THE favourable Aspect your Lordship is pleased to afford to the living Ministers and Members of Christ encourages me to address unto your Honour these worthy remains of a Reverend Minister now with God And as I would humbly implore your Lordship's kind and noble Patronage to these Discourses so I do with the profoundest Deference and Submission commend them to your Perusal and Practice Your Lordship is not without a just Apprehension of the Caution and Vigilancy which they more especially stand in need of who possess an high Station and manage great Concerns in this visible World lest they should be diverted thereby from seeking that which is Invisible and Eternal The Considerations presented in the following Sheets will contribute no small Assistance to your Lordship's Christian endeavours in this weighty Affair They do not only make future Invisible Things a match to cope with those that have the Advantage of a Sensible Visible Presence but if duly attended to may by the Blessing of God give them a victorious Sway and Empire in the Thoughts and Affections of Men. That your Lordship's Conduct may entirely correspond with the Profession you make of a most holy Religion and with the clear Knowledg of Divine Things wherewith it hath pleased God to endow you that to your noble Extraction and great Abilities you may add many honourable Atchievements and happy Performances for the Glory of God the Good of his Church and the Prosperity of your Native Country to the everlasting Honour of your Person and Family in this World and to the Salvation of your precious Soul in the World to come is and shall be the Prayer of May it please your Lordship Your Lordship 's most humble and most obedient Servant JOHN CHORLTON A Brief ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR MR. Henry Pendlebury the Reverend Author of the ensuing Discourse was born the 6th of May 1626 at Jokin in Bury Parish in Lancashire His excellent Memory is owing to the following Account He was from his Childhood of a solid and reserved Spirit there did then appear in him an aversness to Vanity and an inclination to Seriousness he had an aptness for and love to Learning and pursued it with great Closeness and Diligence There then seemed to be an early Foundation laid in him upon which afterwards a high Fabrick of Learning and Goodness was to be erected He was at several Schools but perfected for the Vniversity at Bury School After he had taken his Degrees at Cambridg he returned into Lancashire and preached his first Sermon at Ashworth in the Parish of Midleton August 16. 1648. where afterwards he spent some time as Probationer in the Ministry He was set apart to the Office and Work of the Ministry at Turton-Chappel in the Parish of Bolton in the Moors Octob. 3d 1650. The Reverend Ministers that invested him in the Ministerial Office were Mr. John Tilsley Mr. Thomas Pitts Mr. Jonathan Scolefield Mr. Toby Furness Mr. Robert Bath They who were present observed him to make his Ordination-Vows and Promises with great Humility of Spirit After his Ordination he preached near a Year at Horrigde-Chappel in the Parish of Dean From thence he removed to Holcombe Chappel in the Parish of Bury October 16. â—651 where he laboured hard in his Master's Work till he was excluded from the publick Performance thereof in that Place on Black Bartholomew Day 1662. when about 2000 Ministers were turned out for Non-conformity The Adjacent Ministers and People had him in high Estimation for his Life and Labours When he was there he had a Call from the People at Ringley but they at Holcombe being sensible what a burning and shining Light he was amongst them would not be brought to give up their Title to him He had a large measure of natural Gifts and Parts which furnished him with great promptness and readiness for all his Ministerial Performances but they did not render him the less studious for he would not serve the Lord with that which cost him nothing Much of his Time was spent in his Closet where he gave himself to Prayer Reading and Meditation This was the only Place upon Earth where he took the greatest Pleasure next to his Pulpit He did not concern himself in any secular Affairs pertaining to his Family but devolved the whole Management of them upon his vertuous Consort All his Sermons both as to the Heads and Enlargement of them were premeditated and penned and afterwards preached with little variation without the help of his Notes which manifested beside the strength of his Memory the vastness of his Pains to fix them therein considering the variety of Matter and the number of the Texts contained in them So great was his Industry that in his Weakness when there were some small Hopes of his Recovery he set himself to study a new Discourse sutable to his own and his Hearers Condition Before his Exclusion from this Work in Publick beside his constant Preaching every Lord's Day at Holcombe among his People he preached much to other Congregations both far and near in the Country which had their Monthly Exercises and after he was silenced he continued as Laborious in Preaching as before And indeed the Dissenting Party of Protestants in all the Parishes adjacent to him were very desirous of his Labours amongst them and he was free to spend and be spent for the promoting of their Souls good He was ever mindful of his Ordination-Vow and could not think that any Power upon Earth could null his Commission which he had received from Christ to preach the Gospel He was most eminent for Humility Meekness and Self-denial herein he shined above his Fellows His Modesty was such that tho he was one of the tallest of his Brethren for Ministerial Attainments and Performances yet he did really esteem himself the least of them all his Humility cast such a Vail over all his Abilities that he could not discern them though they were very conspicuous to others He was able to maintain the Truths of the Gospel committed to his Trust against the Opposers and Subverters of them The Controversies both as to Faith and Worship between the Protestants and Papists were throughly understood by him his small Treatise of Transubstantiation is a sufficient Evidence of his Ability to defend the Protestant Cause And he has left behind him another piece on the Sacrifice of the Mass not inferior to it in Worth and Excellency He had a Transcript of all those Divine Truths and Graces upon his own Heart which he disclosed unto
end of his Sickness it pleased his Heavenly Father to visit him with a complication of painful Distempers under all the Tortures of which he yet glorified God with great Patience and expressed his Hope of his future Blessedness saying I am not sick unto Death but unto Eternal Life He would often say In a little while all will be well As to the Estate and Condition of his Soul he expressed himself to some Friends thus I can now look back upon my Way and Work in the Ministry and say I have been Faithful and I can look within and say I have Peace but after all the bottom I would fix on is Christ and his Righteousness I would make him all in all When his Body was brought exceeding low yet he would be left alone sometimes in the Day as was concluded that he might with less distraction enjoy Communion with God in secret Prayer and Meditation A little before he died some of his Hearers coming to him and inquiring of him how he did he said I long after your Spiritual and Soul-Welfare He departed this Life the 18th of June 1695. about eight of the Clock in the Morning and in the 70th Year of his Age. His pious Soul which through the whole Course of his Life had been bent towards God did shew her readiness and preparedness for the full and eternal Fruition by the sweet and ardent Breathings which it had that Night and Morning after him which were often expressed in these words Father come and take me Home to thy self His Body was interred in Bury Church-Yard being the Parish Church where he lived close by the Chancel-Wall on the South side June 20. Anno Dom. 1695. A vast Concourse of People appeared at the Funeral and made great Lamentation over him the Reverend Mr. Robert Seddon of Bolton preached the Funeral Sermon at Mr. Pendlebury's own Chappel The Subject of his Discourse was in the 12th of Daniel and the 13th Verse But go thou thy way till the End be for thou shalt rest and stand in thy Lot at the end of the Days Thus have we sorrowfully brought to the Grave this excellent Minister of Christ who was truly a Nathaniel an Israelite indeed a Gracious Humble Meek-spirited Christian that lived as he preached and preached as he believed his exact Life was an accurate Comment on his Doctrine his Doctrine was sound and Scriptural he was a solid judicious Divine that throughly studied what he preached he was not forward in speaking but what was wanting in Number was made up in Ponderousness of words they had all their full weight He was beloved of all and reverenced especially by Brethren in the Ministry and his People whom he laboured and spent himself for about 44 Years who will be ready to say of his Worth what the Queen of Sheba said of Solomon's Wisdom That the one half thereof is not here publish'd to the World Invisible Realities the Real Christians greatest Concernment SERMON I. 2 Cor. 4.18 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 THE blessed Apostle having described the great Sufferings and grievous Persecutions which the Corinthians had endured and were enduring for the Gospel's sake in the 8 9 10 11 Verses of this Chapter proceeds in the following Verses to annex the Grounds of their Patience Confidence Constancy and Consolation in all the Pressures they went under And these may be reduced to two Heads two things bore them up and bore them out under all First A certain Hope and Expectation of a glorious Resurrection to Everlasting Life after all the ignominious Sufferings of this Life Ver. 13 14. We having the same Spirit of Faith according as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore speak knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you As if he had said this is our Corroboration and our Consolation the Assurance that we have of a happy Resurrection by this we are kept from sinking under Discouragements while we are alway delivered unto Death Ver. 11. The 15th Verse contains a Reason of his Confidence of being the Companion of the believing Corinthians after his many Sufferings for as much as they were endured for their Good and the Glory of God For all things are for your sakes that the abundant Grace might through the Thanksgiving of many redound to the Glory of God This is the first Ground of the Apostle's Constancy and Comfort ver 16. For which Cause we faint not but though our outward Man perish yet the inward Man is renewed day by day i. e. upon the confident Hope of Eternal Life we faint not knowing this that he which hath raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also c. 2. The Perswasion and Assurance they were settled in that they should not be losers by the Sufferings and Afflictions which they were enduring But that they should all tend and turn 1. To their present Good 2. To their future Glory 1. To their present Good Though our outward Man perish that is we faint not for this Cause as knowing that while our Bodies with all those things that tend to the maintaining and adorning of this present Life as Health and Wealth and Credit fall into decay and moulder away by the various Tribulations we are crushed under yet our inward Man to wit our Souls or our spiritual Estate is renewed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is made new again day by day is daily restored more and more to its primitive Form and Beauty So that we are not losers but gainers by our Sufferings if we lose our Externals lose our Health and lose our Strength and lose our Peace and lose our Liberty and lose our Livelyhood yet all this loss is not without a Compensation we have it made up we have it recompensed with Internals and things of Eternal Concernment Our outward Losses are recompensed with inward Gain the decay of our temporal Good compensated with the augmentation of spiritual Grace while the things of Earth are going from us the things of Heaven come into the room of them 2. To their future Glory ver 17. as they were tending to their present Good so they turned to their future Glory ver 17. For our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory Here the Apostle shows 1. What their Afflictions were now 1. They were light 2. Short 2. What they wrought Now these light and short Afflictions which are but for a moment work for us 1. Glory 2. A weight of Glory 3. An exceeding weight of Glory 4. A far more exceeding weight of Glory 5. A far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory So that here is a threefold most