Esteem and Affections of Men unless they are prodigiously degenerate and corrupted by their Lusts. The Heathens were convinc'd that Honour is the extrinsick Tribute always due to Vertue and some were so strict and had such Divine Thoughts as to maintain that Vertue is the only true Nobility 'T is foretold in Scripture The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance They leave an honourable Evidence of their Graces and Vertues in their Works and are of precious memory when the Name of the Wicked shall rot But the Reward our Saviour promises is the Honour that comes from God only And as his Majesty infinitely transcends all Earthly Principalities so in proportion the Honour that he confers upon his Servants is above all the Titles of Honour all the swelling Praises of Men. This Reward is given in the next World Here the Servants of Christ are sometimes darkened with many Afflictions and buried in sad Obscurity before they are dead They are the Objects of Scorn and Contempt St. Paul who was an incarnate Seraphim whose Zeal in the Service of his Divine Master exceeded all the Apostles yet was as he declares vilified as the off-scouring of the World Now such is the excellent Goodness of God that he will certainly in the next Life reward with the highest Honour all who have advanced his Honour The Honour and Glory of the future state is concealed at present 't is wrapt up in a Cloud only some glimmerings of it glance upon our Eyes Light is sowed for the Righteous the plenary Revelation is hereafter 'T is true the Apostle tells us that Life and Immortality are brought to Light through the Gospel But that is only to be understood of a Comparative Revelation to what was under the Law 'T is brought to the Light of Faith which is like to Break of Day when the Shadows of the Earth and the Light of Heaven are mixt There is a Veil between us and the Glory of Heaven partly to try our Faith whether we will believe the Promise of God without sensible Discoveries of it and to try the sincerity of our Love whether we love God for Himself without the distinct unfolding of that excellent Glory and to comply with the weakness whilst we are in such temper'd Tabernacles of Flesh. If the Beams of his Glory were display'd before our Eyes we should be struck with blindness as Saul was at the brightness of Christ's appearing to him The Flood of Light would swallow us up in Extasy and Amazement Our faint Faculties cannot sustain his Glorious Presence As God told Moses No Man can see my Face and live St. John tells Believers Now we are the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be Now our Names are written in the Book of Life in the Rolls of Eternity now we are Adopted into the Line of Heaven now we are cloathed with the Righteousness of Christ the Royal Purple Robe dyed in his Blood we have the Priviledges of the justified State we have a Right to the Eternal Kingdom by our Saviour's Purchase and the firm Covenant of Grace we have the Holy Spirit of Promise who is the earnest of our Inheritance and the Seal of God's Love to us But the full partaking of that Glory is reserved till we leave this visible World I will briefly glance at the several Degrees of the Reward that shall be conferred upon all whom the King of Glory delights to honour in the next World 1. The Scripture reveals that the Souls of just Men first come to the perfection of Glory If Adam had continued in his holy State after a short Immortality upon Earth he had been translated Alive and entire in Soul and Body to Heaven The everlasting Doors had been opened wide for his Reception But since our Disobedience tho our Guilt be pardoned the Gate is so strait that the gross Spoils of our Flesh must be left behind us Now immediately upon the dissolution of the Saints God sends a Guard of Angels his most noble Creatures to convoy their Souls into the Courts of his Honour into the Chamber of his glorious Presence Divine Dignity This is the priviledg of his chosen Friends and Favourites of the most illustrious and blessed Creatures In Heaven the Divine Majesty is seen in its Glory And if one Ray of it reflecting upon Suffering Stephen adorn'd him with Angelical Glory how much more will the Face of God most radiant and resplendent transform the Soul into an admirable Similitude of his Perfections When we shall see him as he is we shall be like him by his everliving Spirit the principle of the Divine Life and Beauty in the Soul as the Soul is of the natural Life and Beauty in the Body There will remain no shadow of Error in the Mind no mixture of Evil in the Will no Pollution in the Affections but the full Likeness of God in Holiness and Joy This is the highest Honour an immortal Spirit is capable of The State of Innocence wherein Man was created is call'd a State of Honour The Angels are dignified with the Title of Saints And God is glorious in Holiness It follows therefore when the Spirits of just Men are made perfect they partake of the Heavenly and Divine Honour If the Joy that springs from believing whilst we are in this Vale of Tears be unspeakable and full of Glory how glorious is the Joy that springs from the clearest Sight and the most intimate Fruition of the blessed God the Joy that is without defect or end as the Psalmist expresses In thy Presence is fulness of Joy at thy right Hand are Pleasures for evermore 2. At the last day their Bodies shall be raised and refined to a Spiritual Excellency and transformed into the Likeness of Christ's glorious Body The Apostle declares That the Consummation of the Saints Glory shall be at Christ's Appearance Then their Souls shall be reinvested with shining Robes of Immortality They shall be placed at the right Hand of the everlasting King which implies the highest Honour as God's being at our right Hand implies Protection and Defence They shall then receive a most glorious Testimony of his Acceptance Well done good and faithful Servants enter into your Master's Joy After they are approved they shall sit upon Thrones and judg the the World even the Prince of Darkness with all his Apostate Trains they shall give their solemn Suffrages to the Judgment pronounced by our Saviour saying Hallelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his Judgments And after the last Act of his Regal Office our Saviour will lead them into the Kingdom of his Glory to reign with him for ever and ever Who is able to unfold this excellent Glory all Humane Words are unworthy and too narrow to express it only the lively and ravishing Experience of that Glory can fully reveal it to us The meanest Saint in that Kingdom
the pure Possibility of Being without the giving actual Being to us The natural Law that shines in the Minds of Men in the Knowledg of what is just and good and in the Conscience of what is evil binds them with the deepest Humility to acknowledg the Greatness and Goodness of our Creator and in the sense of this first and fundamental Benefit to consecrate our selves for ever to his Service 2. We are his Servants not only upon the general Title of Creation but in a more peculiar manner by Redemption Man by his Disobedience was fallen into a woful Bondage his Guilt subjected him to the threatning that contained two Deaths in one Sentence the temporal and present of the Body and the eternal of the Soul The righteous Judg of the the World whose Law was broken required an honourable Reparation of it the most costly Sacrifices of Beasts a Sea of Blood could never atone his Displeasure Nay the Obedience and Sufferings of Men and Angels were of no value to satisfy his injured Justice Thus Mankind was desperately lost our Ruines if I may so speak were sowed with Salt we were concluded under his most righteous and fearful Wrath If the Love and Wisdom of God had not accorded to find out that astonishing expedient of uniting the eternal Son of God with the human Nature in one Person that as Man he might voluntarily submit to bloody Sufferings and as God give an infinite Merit and Value to them and thereby purchase our Redemption This is accomplished by Jesus Christ The Lord laid on him the Iniquity of us all he gave his Life a ransom for us From hence a new Right springs of his Dominion over us as the Apostle invincibly argues Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your Bodies and in your Spirit which are God's The naked representing of this to the serious Mind must awaken a dear Sense of our Obligations to our Saviour but if we solemnly and deliberately contemplate this amazing Benefit out of what Rock is the Heart framed that is not soften'd and melted in Love and Obedience to our Blessed Redeemer To heighten the Sense of our Obligations Consider 1. A more excellent Goodness is visible in the redeeming Man than in creating the Angels upon the account of the distance of the Terms and the Difficulty of the way to effect it In the Creation of Angels Goodness was rich indeed there being no Possibility of desert in pure nothing but it was simply free whereas in our Salvation it is merciful beyond all Imagination for by our Rebellion we were justly fallen under the Wrath of God Their Creation was without the least strain of his Power He spake and it was done But there was a legal Bar against our Restitution To remove it his Son endured the Curse of the Law for us and bore our Sins in his own Body on the Tree Divine Love in our Redemption not only exceeds what was shewed in the Creation of Angels but is admirably illustrated by a higher comparison For the Father seemed to love us above his only begotten Son whom he spared not but delivered him up for us all and the Son loved us above his Life which he laid down for us 2. By the way of our Redemption he has infinitely honoured our Nature that was so vilified by the Fall Man whose Soul was an immortal Spirit stamped with the lively Image of God capable of everlasting Communion with him in Glory was sold for nought Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be very desolate That Man who had the two great Lights of Natural Reason and Divine Faith should prefer the pleasing an irregular Appetite before the Favour of God and for a vain Fancy lose the most substantial Happiness Thus Man being in Honour and understood not became like the Beasts that perish nay viler than the Earth And all the Children of Adam sin according to the Similitude of his first Transgression O the cheap Damnation of Sinners For transient Pleasures and mean Profits they venture upon eternal Death This guilty and woful Folly not only defiles but debases Men to Hell Now the Lord of Life and Glory by suffering an ignominious Death for us has with the clearest evidence discovered the true Worth of Souls That they are precious beyond comparison since the whole World is not a valuable Compensation for them We are not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without spot and blemish That sacred Treasure of Heaven that was laid down for us exceedingly increases our Obligations to the Blessed Redeemer 3. By giving himself for us he has not only freed us from the Wrath of God but restored us to his dearest Favour We are translated from the fearful State of being God's Enemies into the amiable joyful State of his Children And consequently our Redeemer has purchased for us not only Salvation from Hell but eternal Glory a Life more divine and durable than the natural Life in Paradise How can we seriously think of this transcendent Benefit without a rapture of Affection He infinitely deserves our Love and Service who has bought us with so dear a price and purchased for us a glorious and incorruptible Inheritance 3. We are his Servants by his Deliverance of us from our Spiritual Enemies Satan Sin and Death Since the Devil obtained a woful Victory over us in the Fall of Adam great was the Triumph of Hell And though he be an Usurper of God's Right which could never be extinguished yet by our Overthrow he has a kind of a Title to us and keeps us as the Spoils of his Victory And having revolted from God we are justly though miserably under the Powers of Darkness We are chained in the lowest and the vilest Bondage The Soul and Body are under his tyrannous Dominion and suffer the deepest Wounds of Infamy and Cruelty He fetters our Minds with dangerous Delusions our Wills with divers Lusts and Passions and leads Men Captives in the ways of Sin till they fall into Hell the Centre of Misery Now as in redeeming a Captive there must be the paying the Ransom and the breaking his Chains that he may be restored to Liberty So besides the Price that was payed to God the Supreme Judg for our Discharge our Saviour has broken our Chains he by the sanctifying Spirit dispels the Darkness of our Minds softens the Hardness of our Hearts subdues the Rebellion of our Wills rectifies the Disorder of our Affections that we may be freed from the Domion of Sin as well as from the Obligation and Terrors of the Law He has broken the Powers of Darkness that conspired to keep us fast in the Intanglements of our Iniquities he has freed us from the spiritual Pharaoh and his cruel Task-Masters the imperious violent Lusts that are seated in the Heart and restores us to the glorious
shines in Glory that infinitely exceeds all the most solemn and magnificent Representations of Earthly Majesty all the Trophies and Triumphs of the most famous Conquerors To raise our Thoughts by a distinct Comparison of them consider The Glory of Saints is substantial and solid 't is inherent in them The Apostle says 'T is a Glory that shall be revealed in us A plenary Infusion of all glorious Endowments both in Soul and Body shall conform us to the Son of God The Glory of this World is but an aiery Opinion a verbal Sound without Substance empty Titles external Appearance and confers no real Dignity to the Person that receives it There is no Greatness in worldly Honour 'T is Fancy heightens some by comparison with those that are below them But Heaven is the Kingdom of true Glory and every Saint there is truly glorious The Psalmist declares God's Judgment of all the Honour and Prosperity of the World As a Dream when one awakes so O Lord when thou awakest thou wilt destroy their Image They are painted Shadows splendid Toyes What difference there is between the clear and sound Judgment of a Person throughly awake and the vain fugitive Fancies of one that dreams there is and much more between the swelling Images of Worldly Honour and the real Heavenly Honour of the Saints The Heavenly Glory brings entire Satisfaction As for me saith David I will behold thy Face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy Likeness When the Morning of Glory arises and the Soul awakes from the heavy Eye-Lids of Flesh and sees the King of Spirits in his Beauty and the Impression of the Divine Excellencies conspicuous in it self what a joyful Satisfaction as sweet as Life is diffused through all its Powers What a Heavenly Sabbath composes all its vast and restless Desires The Glorified Saint sings with the Psalmist Return to thy Rest O my Soul for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee But how unsatisfactory is all secular Greatness and Honour Of this we have the fullest Testimony from some who ascended to the top of Worldly Glory Solomon whose calm and flourishing State was scarce ever parallel'd yet declares that all was Vanity And the Roman Triumphs wherein the World was represented in its highest Glory was but an empty Shew Vespasian the Emperor in his triumphant way often reflected upon his Folly in being induc'd to suffer such a tedious Vanity 'T is true the dreaming Minds of Men are deceived with vain complacence in it for a while and this makes them unwilling to be convinc'd of their foolish prizing it yet they cannot find any solid true Satisfaction They are charm'd with a superficial Pleasure that cannot reach to the Center of the Soul To sum up all The Honour of the Servants of Christ is Eternal They will shine like the Stars that never faint in their Watches and Influences with a durable Glory But the Glory of this World like a blaze in Straw presently vanishes Not one Ray of secular Glory shall enlighten the highest Monarchs in the shady Valley of Death nor in the Regions of Darkness beyond it The proper and main use of what has been spoken is 1. To direct our Ambitious Desires and Endeavours to seek Heavenly Honour Nature has instilled the Desire of Praise and Glory And this is like some Plants that in their native Soil have a poysonous Quality but transplanted into another Soil and Climate are not only innocent but healthful Pride ruines both Worlds The Angels were expelled from Heaven and Adam from Paradise for their Pride And ever since 't is a seminal Sin productive of innumerable Evils and Mischiefs Pride of Life is one of the great Corrupters in the World 'T is the cause of Envy and Emulation Of Envy that would degrade those that are above of Emulation that urges those who are below by any guilty means to ascend higher 'T is one of the great Destroyers of Men here and hereafter The Affectation of the Praise of Men makes so many ashamed of the Gospel of Christ of owning its Truths or subjecting themselves to its pure Rules This Account is given of the Infidelity of some in our Saviour's time they sought the Honour of Men and not the Honour that comes from God only But let the Desire of Glory be consecrated let our Aspirings be transported to a new and heavenly Object to the Incorruptible Crown and 't is a Saintly Ambition becoming the Breast of a Christian. The changing of the Object will be an excellent means to rectify our inordinate Desire of Honour of what is pompous and specious in this World There is some Resemblance in curing the Diseases of the Mind and those of the Body A Disease is not only cured by what is manifestly contrary but sometimes by what seems like to it yet has a secret Contrariety The feverish Heat is not only spent by cooling Julips but by Cordials that fortifie the natural Heat that consumes those Humours that are the inflamable Matter which foments the Fever Thus the sensual Desire of worldly Honour is extinguished by a pure Aethereal Affection the Desire of that Honour that comes from the God of Glory who is the absolute and eternal Fountain of Honour 2. Let us be effectually excited our selves to choose Christ for our Master and devote our selves to his Service for ever Tho his Dominion is Supreme and his Right in us unalienable yet he will be glorified by our free Obedience Our Resolution and Consent to serve him that it may be acceptable must be deliberate intire and everlasting 1. Deliberate from the Conviction and Sense of our Duty and Interest For the Ignorance and Deception of the Mind the suddain Surprisal of the Will is contrary to that clear Consent that is requisite to establish a Covenant There is a Competition between the Son of God and the God of this World who shall reign over us One we must serve 't is therefore our highest Wisdom to choose a gracious Master and most just to serve him who by full Right may claim due Service If with free Judgment we ponder things if our carnal Senses and Passions have not the decisive Vote we shall readily yield our selves to Christ who by so many dear Titles has a Right in us For to this end Christ dyed and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living He is the true Vine that left his Sweetness the good Olive that left his Fatness to reign over us and shall we choose the Bramble to domineer He requires our Service not for his Profit but that his Love and Bounty may take a rise to reward us But Satan will torment them most who are most obsequious to him And what Charm what Impression upon the human mind can induce us to prefer a Murderer before our Saviour 2. Our Consent must be intire without exception against any of his Laws or his Providential
and open a Passage for sanctifying and saving Doctrine into the Hearts of Men. This is the successful Method to convince those who are seduced with Errors and to reclaim the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just. The Defence of the Truth must be managed in a calm peaceable manner as the Sun scatters and overcomes the darkness of the Night and Clouds without noise 'T is the Apostle's Counsel In Meekness instructing those that oppose themselves Without Contumelies and Revilings for Injuries convince no Man The Human Spirit is naturally proud and stiff and will resist such Arms Fierceness and Scorn irritate the Passions and hinder impartial and serious Deliberation that opens the Mind for receiving the Truth To perswade the Soul the mild and placid manner of conveying the Truth is as effectual as the Irradiation and Evidence of it And to reclaim the disobedient there is nothing more powerful than Gentleness and the constraint of Love The most fervent Reprehensions of Sinners must be mixt with tenderness to their Souls Under the Law there was a severe Prohibition of offering Sacrifices with the common Fire But only with that Fire that came from Heaven and was preserved Day and Night in the Temple The Allusion is easy and fit The Reprehension of Sinners in the Pulpit must be always from Zeal for the Honour of God and the Eternal Salvation of Souls not from natural fiery Passions If a Minister denounces the Judgments of God with Compassion to Souls if he thunder and lightens in his Sermons a Shower of repenting Tears will follow in convinced Sinners 6. A Minister of the Gospel must joyn a holy Life with found Doctrine according to our Saviour's Description of him He that shall do and teach my Commands shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven He must not only be free from Pollutions but excel in Vertues nothing in his Conversation should be worthy of Reproach nothing but what is worthy of Imitation He must lead a Life answerable to the Excellence and End of his Calling He is to preach a Doctrine so holy divine and venerable that it would become the unspotted Angels to be ministring Spirits in revealing it to Men. He is therefore strictly obliged to shew forth the Power of Godliness and the Beauty of Holiness in all his ways He must imitate and honour his Master who inseparably united saying and doing in himself He must adorn the Gospel by expressing the Efficacy of divine Truths in his Actions Under the Law he that had touch'd a dead Body was forbidden to approach the Sanctuary and what a Violation is it of all the Rules of Decency and Reason for one who is employed in the holy Service of the Gospel to be polluted with dead Works Tertullian writing of the Excellency of Patience and reflecting upon himself how opposite his fiery Nature was to that Vertue was deeply affected with Grief and Shame and drew up his own Arraignment and Process for his Impatience How much juster Cause has an unholy Minister to be surprised with Horrour and Confusion considering the irreconcileable opposition between his Doctrine and his Life How just and stinging is the upbraiding Speech of God to such how peremptory the Rejection What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes and to take my Covenant into thy Mouth since thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my Words behind thee The End of the sacred Ministry requires Holiness in those who perform it That is to convert Men to the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel Now the Practice of a Minister gives Weight and Efficacy to his Doctrine the exemplifying of it in his Actions is the most powerful perswasive to draw Men to their Duty Therefore the Apostle commands Titus in all Things to shew himself a Pattern of good Works As the Plants that are productive of Balm and Myrrh and Incense have a Fragrancy not only in the precious Liquor that distils from them but all their Branches and Leaves and Bark are Aromatick Thus a Minister of the Gospel must be Holy not only in his Doctrine but in all manner of Conversation Be thou an Example of the Believers in Word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity is the solemn Charge to Timothy He that is holy in his Profession and unholy in his Life both discredits the Gospel and hardens Men in their Sins Though his Tongue may direct to Heaven if his Life leads to Hell the Authority of his Actions will be more prevalent than of his Instructions The Vices of a Minister are more conspicuous and infamous than of private Persons As a Blemish in the Eye is more conspicuous and disfiguring than in a concealed Part of the Body and they have the most corrupting destructive Influence upon others For there is nothing more natural than for Men to think that Ministers do not believe what they preach when there is a visible Contradiction between their Lives and their Words That their most zealous Sermons are rather Pageantry than serious Piety and accordingly to slight them This is a principal Reason that the Conversion of Sinners is so rare 'T is not from any defect in the word for that is not like some medicinal Drugs that lose their Virtue by Age it has the same Divine Power to revive dead Souls to transform the carnal into spiritual Persons to clarify the Mind that it may see things invisible to reconcile the Will to the Sanctity of God's Law to calm the stormy Affections and leave an Impression of its Purity in the Hearts of Men but the admirable and secret Grace of the holy Spirit is not usually concomitant with the Ministry of those who grieve him and quench him in themselves and they render the holy Doctrine ineffectual by their discordant Conversations It was the Character of the wicked Pharisees from the Mouth of Christ They say and do not and to them and all that are involved in the same Guilt the Saviour of the World threatens the most heavy Damnation 7. Humble fervent and continual Prayer to the Father of Mercies and the Father of Spirits that he would bless the outward Ministry is requisite to make it effectual The Conversion of Man is not wrought by Man but by the Energy of the holy Spirit God instructs us what he does in the more secret Operations of Grace by what he does in the more visible Operations of Nature This is express'd by the Apostle Paul plants and Apollos waters but God gives the Increase A Man plants a green Stick and waters it but the God of Nature forms the Tree in all its Parts the Root the Sap the Trunk the Branches and the Fruits The planting by the Hand of Man is necessary for the Growth of a Tree but what is that to the Divine Blessing Thus according to the ordinary Method of Divine Grace God unites his marvellous Power with the weak Ministry of Men for the Salvation of Souls and according
to the Apostle's arguing it is an impossible Event that Men should believe without hearing the Gospel and hear without a Preacher But the converting and saving of Souls is to be ascribed to God And thus in the Spiritual Husbandry the Occasions of Pride and Slothfulness are equally removed As the same Apostle saith He that plants is nothing and he that waters is nothing but God that gives the Increase This Consideration should be an Incentive in our Breasts to petition the God of all Grace that he will please to give Life and Efficacy to his Word In Jacob's Vision of the mysterious Ladder that reach'd from Heaven to Earth the Angels were ascending and descending An Emblem of a Minister's Duty they must first ascend in Prayer and Contemplation and then descend in preaching to the People 'T is observable that sometimes Men of excellent Accomplishments are blasted in their Ministry and others of meaner Abilities but of more holy Affections are very instrumental to save Souls The Reason is plain those who are most frequent and fervent in Prayer obtain the richest Abundance of the Spirit and are usually most blest with Success When the Apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost descending in the significant Emblem of fiery Tongues what an admirable Influence had their Preaching upon the obdurate Jews The first Sermon presently convinc'd and converted three thousand that were Murderers of our Saviour with the Stains of his Blood fresh upon them Tongues of Flesh are without vigor make no lasting Impression upon the Hearers Tongues of Fire have a divine Force and Operation to dispel the Ignorance and Errors of Mens Minds to quicken the dull Earth of their Affections to refine and purify their Conversations Lastly To sum up all in one general Consideration He serves Christ that employs all his Abilities and uses all Opportunities in the Circle of his Calling as was before spoken of for the Honour of our Saviour This is represented in the Parable of the Talents which the Master committed to his Servants different in their Number but to be faithfully improved for the Master's Interest Under the Talents are comprised all that we have and are whether in the Order of Nature and with respect to our civil State in the World all our intellectual and sensitive Faculties all our innate and acquired Endowments our Time our Health our Dignities and Power our Estates or Spiritual Blessings all the Gifts and Graces of the Spirit the Light of the Gospel all the Advantages we have of doing or receiving Good for our more excellent and immortal part the Salvation of our Souls Every one according to the Character wherewith he is invested in this World and according to his Capacity of doing Good must be diligent in the service of Christ. In what Relations soever Men are as Fathers Masters or Magistrates in a superiour Rank or as Friends and Associates in an equal Line and as they stand related to all Men they are either by Authority and Command or by Counsel and compassionate Care and Encouragements to promote with Diligence their Temporal and Eternal Welfare The Apostle's Advice with respect to Acts of Beneficence for relieving the Poor Let us do good unto all as we have opportunity is by just Analogy binding to all other Expressions of Love to direct to perswade Men to their Duty to comfort them in their Sorrows to assist them in all their Wants and Exigencies Briefly the Wisdom and Goodness of Christ's Servants consists in their faithful improving all their Talents for his Glory as our Saviour declares Who is that wise and faithful Servant and Well done good and faithful Servant 2. We are to shew upon what accounts our Service is due to Christ. If we seriously consider things it will be evident that by all the Titles of Justice and Gratitude by all Divine and Rational Rights we are obliged to serve him intirely and for ever In the present State there are four ways whereby Men become Servants Some are born Servants some are by ransom and purchase some by victorious rescue and deliverance others are Servants by Covenant and Agreement Now all these Titles concur in obliging us to serve Christ. 1. We are his Servants by Nature he has an original and unalianeble Right in us as our Creator God to satisfy the Inquiry of Moses defines himself I am All the intimate and eternal Attributes of the Deity are implyed in that short Title He is the only necessary Being by his Nature and consequently has all Perfections in himself and is the Fountain of all Being His Hands made us and fashioned us he breathed into us a living Soul All our Faculties and their Efficacy are from him He produces this evidence of his Right in us Remember O Jacob thou art my Servant I have formed thee The Psalmist declares Know ye that the Lord he is God 't is he that made us and not we our Selves we are his People and Sheep of his Pasture We owe to him an Obedience as ready unconstrain'd as the meekest Creatures pay to those that feed and conduct them His Perfections qualify him to be our absolute Master for his Will is always directed by infinite Wisdom 't is the Rule of Goodness and his Benefits in making and preserving us acquire to him a supreme Right in us Now if there be a Spark of Reason in our Minds 't is impossible to have the least Shadow of doubt that a derivative Being has a dependent Working and is to employ his active Powers according to the Will of his Maker as the Rule and his Glory as the ultimate End of all The Connexion is indissolvable for of him and through him and to him are all things The Psalmist ardently calls the whole World Bless the Lord all ye his Works in all Places of his Dominion The Angels who by Nobility of Nature are superiour to all his other Works yet are not sui juris at their own disposals but his Ministers that do his Pleasure They employ their excellent Strength in humble Obedience to his Commands they fly with incredible Swiftness to perform his Orders And in the visible World the Heavens in their Motion the Earth in its Seasons with an invariable Tenor observe the Law impress'd upon them in their Creation As the Psalmist speaks they continue this day according to thy Ordinance for all are thy Servants And if the Creatures without Reason and Sense are perfectly subject to his Will much more should Man who understands his Obligations to the Creator Now the Son of God made us and maintains our Beings by his powerful Providence from whence it follows we are under an eternal Obligation to serve and glorify him to the utmost of our Capacities His unexcited and most free Goodness decreed our Beings from everlasting and in time brought us into the World whereas he might have created innumerable other Persons for Omnipotence is without Bounds and left us in
mighty Influence upon those about them Now the Deportment and Expressions of this Servant of Christ in his long languishing Condition were so holy and heavenly that though his Life has been very useful yet he more glorified God dying than living When he was summoned by painful Sickness his first Work was to yield himself with resigned Submission to the Will of God When a dear Friend of his first visited him he said I am in the use of Means but I think my appointed time is come that I must dye If my Life might be serviceable to convert or build up one Soul I should be content to live but if God hath no work for me to do here I am let him do with me as he pleaseth But to be with Christ is best of all Another time he told the same Person That now it was visible it was a determined case God would not hear the Prayer to bless the means of his Recovery therefore desired his Friend to be willing to resign him to God saying It will not be long before we meet in Heaven never to part more and there we shall be perfectly happy there neither your Doubts and Fears nor my Pains and Sorrows shall follow us nor our Sins which is best of all After a long continuance in his languishing Condition without any sensible Alteration being asked how he did he replied I lie here but get no ground for Heaven or Earth Upon which one said Yes in your Preparations for Heaven O yes said he there I sensibly get ground I bless God An humble Submission to the Divine Pleasure was the habitual Frame of his Soul Like a Dye that thrown high or low always falls upon its Square thus whethe hope of his Recovery were raised or sunk he was content in every Dispensation of Providence His Patience under sharp and continuing Pains was admirable The most difficult part of a Christian's Duty the sublimest degree of Holiness upon Earth is to bear tormenting Pains with a meek and quiet Spirit Then Faith is made perfect in Works and this was eminently verified in his long Trial. His Pains were very severe proceeding from a cancerous Humour that spread it self in his Joynts and preyed upon the tenderest Membranes the most sensible Parts yet his Patience was invincible How many restless Nights did he pass through without the least murmuring or Reluctancy of Spirit He patiently suffered very grievous things through Christ that strengthned him and in his most afflicted Condition was thankful But what Disease or Death could disturb the blessed Composure of his Soul which was kept by the Peace of God that passes all Vnderstanding Such was the Divine Mercy he had no Anxieties about his future State but a comfortable Assurance of the favour of God and his Title to the Eternal Inheritance He had a substantial double Joy in the reflection upon his Life spent in the faithful Service of Christ and the Prospect of a blessed Eternity ready to receive him This made him long to be above He said with some Regret Death flies from me I make no haste to my Father's House But the wise and gracious God having tried his faithful Servant gave him the Crown of Life which he hath promised to those that love him His Body that poor Relick of Frailty is committed in trust to the Grave His Soul sees the Face of God in Righteousness and is satisfied with his Likeness The Hope of this should allay the Sorrows of his dearest Friends When the Persons we love and have lived with are to be absent a few Months it is grievous but at the last lamenting Separation all the Springs of our tender Affections are opened and Sorrows are ready to overwhelm us But the stedfast Belief of the Divine World and that our Friends are safely arrived thither is able to support our fainting Spirits and refresh all our Sorrows The truth is we have reason to lay to heart the Displeasure of God and our own Loss when his faithful Ministers are taken away When the Holy Lights of Heaven are Eclips'd it portends sad Things When the Saints are removed from Earth to Heaven their Souls freed from the interposition of their dark Bodies they truly live but we that remain dye being deprived of their Holy Lives their Examples that are a preservative from the Contagion of the World A due Sense of God's afflicting Providence is becoming us But always allayed with hope of our being shortly reunited with our dearest Friends for ever in the better World O that our serious Preparations our lively Hopes and the Presence of the great Comforter in our Souls may encourage us most willingly to leave this lower World so full of Temptations and Trouble to ascend into the World Above where perfect Peace full Joy and the most excellent Glory are in Conjunction for ever FINIS Rom. 12.11 Luke 1.74 75. Et si adhuc viliorum materiarum obtulisses fecisset quod ex illa fieri optimum possit Sic sapiens virtutem si licebit in divitiis explicabit si minus in exilio Quamcunque fortunam acceperit aliquid ex illa memorabile efficiet Senec. Ep. 78. Tit. 2. Rom. 13. Acts 26.18 Col. 1.12 Rom. 1. Phil. 1. 2 Tim. 2.14 Mat. 13.52 Mat. 24.45 1 Tim. 4.14 15. Cui ideo reor veteres pagani tam speciosae appellationis titulum dederunt ut quia in eo non erat numen vel nomen esset Et quia non habebat aliquam ex potestate virtutem haberet saltem ex vocabulo divinitatem Salv. de Provid l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippoc. Aphor. Lib. 6. 2 Tim. 4.1 2. Col. 1.28 Acts 20.24 Miser ego semper aeger caloribus impatientiae Confiteor ad Dominum Deum satis temere me si non etiam impudenter de patientia componere ausum cui praestandae idoneus omnino non sim. Esa. 44.12 Psal. 103. Dan. 9. Psal. 118.181 Idoneus sui operis aestimator magno pretio nos redemit Arnob. Luke 11.21 Acts 18.5 1 Pet. 3.12 Rev. 3.21 Deut. 7.8 Col. 3. Nam ut mens per diem veris visionibus avocatur ne dormiat ita falsis nocte ne excitetur Lactant. de Opific Dei c. 18. Quae in ipsis visceribus medicaments epotis Originem futuri hominis extinguunt paricidium faciant antequam pariant Minus Fel. 1 King 2.38 Jussisti Domino sic est ut poena sit sibi omnis inordinatus animus Aug.