will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty Having therefore these promises Dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 6. 14 18. with chap. 7. 1. Rev. 22. 12 14. 3. The truth of the former doth further appear and is manifested herein in that the most eminently holy ones who surely were not mercenary did undertake and pursue their pious work with a respect unto the gracious reward of it as to mention in a very few particulars It is said of Moses that eminent servant of the Lord that by faith when he was come to years he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures in Egypt But what made him thus comparatively despise and set light by the excellencies of this world the Honour Pleasures and Treasures thereof and undergo the difficulties and grievous things thereof The Apostle doth presently acquaint us with the true reason thereof saying For he had respect unto the recompence of the reward which reward was not the Land of Canaan for he never entred thereinto But principally however that Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and which fadeth not away Heb. 11. 24 26. The Apostle Paul also was very eminent exemplary for Holiness and diligence in the work of the Lord and did out-run his Brethren therein and yet that which made him so fervent in spirit serving the Lord was the Prize which was set before him now saith he They do it to obtain a corruptible Crown but we Run the spiritual Race to obtain an incorruptible I therefore so run not as uncertainly I keep under my body and bring it into subjection least that by any means when I have preached to others I my self should be a Cast-away Namely lest he should lose or fall short of the reward of the Incorruptible Crown 1 Cor. 9 18 25 27. And again he saith Brethren I count not my self to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before I press toward the Mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus And this his exercise was so laudable and imitable that he exhorts the believers presently after to follow his example herein saying unto them Brethren be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample Phil 3. 13 14 17. Yea a greater than he and one that was above All to wit our Lord Jesus the Captain of our Salvation comforted and encouraged himself in the consideration of the recompence he should receive and therefore Patiently and Perseveringly endured Temptation and continued in well-doing and surely He was not Mercenary or if He was we may well be so also The Prophet speaking in his Person saith I have laboured in vain and spent my strength for nought and in vain yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work or reward with my God I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength Isa 49. 4 5. And the Apostle thus Exhorteth and speaketh unto the believers saying looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of the Faith who far the joy set before him endured the Cross despising the shame c. Heb. 12. 1 2 3. Joh. 17. 4 5. 4. That we may Lawfully have respect unto the gain of godliness in exercising our selves unto the sincere practice thereof may further appear by those Metaphorical or borrowed expressions made use of in the Holy Scriptures in which our Practice of Piety is described and declared to us So it is many times called Labour and work to wit that of a servant now doth not the recompence he shall receive encourage a servant to labour and may not he Lawfully expect it and long for it Mat. 20. 1. 14. And to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and immortality he will render eternal life Rom. 2. 7. 1 Cor. 15. 58. Rev. 14. 13. Sometimes it is called running as in a race and who so runs but in hope to receive the Prize and the Apostle thus Counsels or Commands the believers so run that ye may obtain 1 Cor. 9. 24. Sometimes it is called and compared to Plowing Sowing c. And who will employ themselves therein but in hope and expectation of an Harvest as the Apostle saith that he that ploweth should plow in Hope and he that Thresheth in hope should be partaker of his Hope 1 Cor. 9. 10. Jam. 5. 7. And whatsoever a man soweth that also shall be reap He that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting Gal. 6. 7. 8. And they that sow to themselves in righteousness may Lawfully expect to reap in mercy Hos 10. 12. Sometimes it is compared to a Warfare and who goeth a warfare at any time at his own charges 1 Cor. 9. 7. And a Crown is proposed to the seven Churches in Asia to Animate them that they may overcome and it is assured to every one that doth over-come Rev. 2. and chap. 3. And the Apostle thus Exhorts Timothy fight the good fight of Faith lay hold on Eternal Life 1 Tim. 6. 12. 14. 5. They that say a man may not from the expectation of a reward exercise himself to righteousness and all goodness or if he doth he is mercenary therein do make void Faith in some acts of it and Hope wholly for Hope is a well-grounded desire and expectation of some absent or future good Hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for Rom. 8. 23 25. And Hope is very efficacious and operative to engage us to perform our duty Lord saith the Psalmist I have hoped for thy Salvation and done thy commandments Psal 119. 166. Every man that hath this hope in Christ that when he shall appear he shall be like him purifieth himself even as he is pure 1. Joh. 3. 2 3. This is also an Anchor of the soul to preserve it from ship-wrack in the midst of the proud waves billows and storms of the Sea of this troublesome and Tempestuous world Heb. 6. 18 19. And Faith is the ground of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen For if men do not believe that there is a reward for the righteous and that God is faithful to give it to them and bestow it upon them in due season why then should they hope or expect any Rom. 5. 1 2. and ch 15. 13. 6. Yea that we not only may but ought to minde the recompence of the reward that we may sincerely and stedfastly exercise our selves unto what is good and well-pleasing
themselves to the Faith and fear of the Lord may say with the Apostle our rejoycing our glorying is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly Wisdom but by the grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World c. 2 Cor. 1. 12. And this is that Efficacious Motive and Argument which our Lord Jesus sets before us to perswade and prevail with us to take his yoke upon us and seriously undertake his service namely saith he my yoke is easy sweet gracious and my burden is light Mat. 11. 29 30. As also the applying our hearts and lives to the power of Godliness is the most advancing noble and honourable exercise we can ingage our selves in To you that believe he is an honour 1 Pet. 2 6 7. And when the Wise-man Commends Wisdome and Exhorts and excites us to the diligent pursuit of it saying Wisdom is the principal thing get Wisdom and with all thy gettings get understanding he then propounds this motive and inforcement exalt her and she shall promote thee she shall bring thee to honour when thou dost embrace her She shall give to thine head an Ornament of Grace a Crown of glory shall she deliver to thee Hear O my Son and receive my sayings c. Prov. 4. 7 8 10. The reward of humility and of the fear of the Lord is honour even that also which is excellent and durable Prov. 22. 4. 1 Sam. 2. 30. And if the desire of honour and glory have any Influence upon us let us exercise our selves unto that Religion which is pure and undefiled before God and the Father We may Lawfully and Laudably be Ambitious of that Honour which is united with and Entaild upon divine vertue and goodness and in following after godliness we shall thereby attain unto true and abiding honour For God will give glory Honour and Peace unto every man that worketh good Rom. 2. 7 10. Isa 43. 4. 2 Cor. 5. 9. Rom. 2. 28 29. But though Godliness be as we have briefly shewed both Pleasurable and Honourable yet in this place the Apostle asserts the general Profitableness of it to induce us to the hearty exercise of it And gain and advantage is that which is Generally desirable and greatly Valuable and which excites and encourages men to take much paines to run many hazards to endure much hardship and encounter with many difficulties and dangers What makes so many persons take such long and tedious Journeys and Voyages ride through thick and thin expose themselves to the cold and other inconveniences but the hope and expectation of Profit In all labour there is profit eyed designed and pursued Prov. 14. 23. And if men rise up early and sit down late and eat the bread of carefulness for secular gain and advantage much rather should we so mind the great and excellent gain of true Piety as to Apply our selves thereto with all our might and main and endure any hardships in that application that we may be made partakers thereof as the Apostle and his fellow-Labourers did as he signifies to us in the next verse but one to this we are discoursing of saying Therefore because Godliness is so generally and greatly gainful we both labour and suffer reproach 1 Tim. 4. 8 10. And in our working and continued abounding in the work of the Lord our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. 58. But to this I shall enlarge no further at present because there will be apt occasion to speak more particularly hereto in the following part of the words in which the Apostle doth more distinctly evidence the Truth of what he more indistinctly propounds in the former part saying having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come But now from this Motive as thus generally propounded to move and provoke us to exercise our selves to true Piety we may infer several things which may be useful for us As 1. Seeing this is propounded by the Apostle to perswade us to follow Godliness That it is Profitable unto all things then we may from hence learn that it is no mercenary or base thing but what is well pleasing unto God That we should so mind and consider the gain and Profit of Godliness that we may exercise our selves to the Mystery and Practice of it Indeed when we follow Religion for the advantage promotion and Grandeur of this World only or Principally then we may truly be said to be mercenary and shall no longer appear to be Religious then as that may conduce unto our secular interest and Ambitious designs as before we have said and as the devil falsly and maliciously suggested concerning Job Chap. 1. 9 11. But we may so consider the Real and Eternal gain of true Piety as to quicken Excite and perpetuate our endeavours and Pursuit after pure Reliligion and yet not at all be mercenary in an unworthy sense or Reprovable consideration And that we may Lawfully and allowably have an eye and respect to the advantage and gain of true Piety to engage us to exercise our selves to the serious and constant Practice of it doth appear 1. Because God's people when they have neglected their Duty have been justly reproved for not believing that Religion was their greatest and truest Interest or for not pursuing advantageous things Elihu somewhat severely reproves Job saying Thinkest thou this to be right For thou hast said what advantage will it be unto thee and what profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin whereas as he afterwards adds Though we give nothing to God if we be righteous yet our Righteousness will profit the Son of man Job 36. 2 3 7 8. And the Lord himself doth fault and reprove the Priest's and Pastors because they walked after things that did not profit them And he thus expostulates with his people Hath a Nation changed their Gods which yet are no God's But my people have changed their glory their God for that which doth not profit Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be horribly afraid c. Jer. 2. 8 11 12 13. 2. That to excite us to pursue undefiled Religion we may have an eye at its reward is further evident and evidenced in that God in his promises doth set the gain of it before us to make us truly Pious and if this be to be mercenary to have a respect to the recompence of the reward God makes men so by his assurances and encouragements Thus he saith unto Abram the Father of the saithful fear not I am thine exceeding great reward Gen. 15. 1. My Son saith the holy Spirit Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long for surely there is a reward and thine expectation shall not be cut off Hear thou my Son and be wise and guide thine heart in the way Prov. 23. 17. 18. Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and I
forward to say verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every Morning But thus this Holy-man spake in a Temptation And presently after greatly blames himself for his weakness and foolishness saying Thus mine heart was grieved and I was pricked in my reins So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a Beast before thee Psal 73. 3 7 12 14 22. But wicked Persons are usually so foolish without understanding And because God out of his general Bounty and Goodness provides for and prospers them therefore perverting what is right they conclude that ungodliness is most profitable for them O say some if we had not been good fellows if we had not kept company with vain persons and eaten and drunken yea and been drunken with the drunken we should never have had their custome nor such good trading as we have or if we had not lyed defrauded and over-reacht others we should not have kept our Shops open to this day or if we had not oppressed or out-witted others we had been as poor as the poorest whereas now we have plentiful Estates and a full Table Like them in former times who said I will go after my Lovers that gave me my Bread and my Water my Wool and my Flax mine Oyle and my Drink Hos 2. 5. Or like them of whom it is said They take up all of them with the Angle they catch them in their Net and gather them in their drag therefore they rejoyce and are glad Therefore they sacrifice unto their Net and burn incense unto their Drag because by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous Hab. 1. 15 17. Zech. 11. 5. Deut. 8. 17 18. Jer. 5. 26 27 28. But alas This their way is their folly and so it appears to be many times in this day for how oft is the candle the shining prosperity of the wicked put out And how oft cometh their destruction upon them God distributeth sorrows in his anger Job 21. 5 17. I have seen saith the Psalmist the wicked in great Power and spreading himself like a greenbay-tree yet he passed away and Lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found Psal 37. 35 36. Prov. 1. 10 11 13 19. and chap. 23. 20 21. Thus when some of the Church of God said unto the Prophet We will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven As we have done For then had we plenty of victuals and saw no want Then the Prophet answered them saying The Incense that ye burn in the Cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ye and your Fathers did not the Lord remember them and came it not into his mind So that the Lord could no longer bear because of the Evil of your doings and because of the abominations which ye have committed therefore is your Land a Desolation and an Astonishment and a Curse as at this day because ye burned Incense and because ye sin'd against the Lord and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord nor walked in his Law Therefore this evil is happened unto you as at this day In which words we may plainly perceive the folly and evident mistake of those wicked Persons in that what they thought was the cause of their fulness and prosperity was indeed the true Reason and procurement of their want and of their miserable Ruine and dismal adversity Jer. 44. 16 17 19 24. Hos 2. 5 6 8 10. Psal 52. 3 7. and 56. 7. Or if such ungodly ones should spend all the days of their vain Life in wealth and prosperity and have here no considerable changes yet hereafter in the world to come their folly will be made manifest unto all men and will then sadly be bewailed and acknowledged by themselves What will it then profit a man to have gain'd the whole World and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul for the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father with his Angels and then he will reward every man according to his works Matt. 16. 26 27. Eccles 12. 13 14. Then shall the ungodly change their minds and sigh for grief of spirit and say within themselves This is he the Pious man whom we sometimes had in derision and in a parable of reproach We fools thought his life Madness and his end without Honour We have wearied our selves in the the way of wickedness and destruction and we have gone through dangerous wayes But we have not known the way of the Lord. What hath Pride profited us For the hope of the ungodly is like the dust that is blown away with the wind and like a thin foam that is scattered abroad with the storm and as the smoak that is dispersed with the wind and as the Remembrance of him passeth that tarrieth but for a day Wisdom 5. Then will all unrighteous persons bemoan themselves and bewail their former folly and madness in embracing as most pleasant and profitable that which will then by woful experience appear to them to be most bitter loathsome and eternally pernitious and dismally destructive to them What is the hope of the Hypocrite though he hath gained when God taketh away his soul Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him no no it will then be too late Then they shall call upon me saith the Lord but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me Because they hated Knowledge and would not chuse the fear of the Lord Job 27. 8 9. with Prov. 1. 24 32. O now consider this ye that forget God least he tear you in pieces and there be no deliverer Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely it shall not be weil with the wicked neither shall he prolong his dayes which are as a shadow because he feareth not before God Eccles 8. 12. 13. 4. In that true Piety and Goodness is profitable unto all things we may then well infer from hence that the sincerely Pious and honest person is the truly Wise man and doth most really and onely Consult his sure and most excellent Advantage and pursue that which doth indeed and to all eternity tend to his best Happiness and Interest He that is wise is profitable unto himself Job 22. 2. Unto man God saith Behold mark and consider this well the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding That is to say Sincere Piety is true wisdom Job 28. 28. And they that do exercise themselves thereto however they are reputed amongst sinners are indeed Wise men in the account of him that Judgeth righteously and whose judgment shall stand yea and they will appear so to be in the eyes of all men and Angels in due season for
from the dead Act. 17. 30 31. 1 Cor. 15. 20 22. and chap. 6. 14. 1 Thes 4. 13 18. And presently after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead many other Holy Ones were raised As it is said And the Graves were opened and many Bodies of Saints which slept arose and came out of the Graves after his Resurrection and went into the Holy City and appeared unto many Mat. 27. 52 53. which might be some first-fruits of fulfilling of that Prophesie of Esaias where he saith Thy dead men shall live together with my dead Body shall they arise c. Isa 26. 19. And Lastly our Saviour in the Parable or Story of the Rich Man and of Lazarus doth plainly give us to understand that when they departed out of this Life and World they then entered upon another State the one of Joy and Comfort and the other of Misery and Torment for it is said The beggar died and was carryed by the Angels into Abraham's Bosome The Rich Man also died and was Buried And in Hell he lift up his eyes being in Torments and seeth Abraham afarr of and Lazarus in his Bosome And said Father Abraham have mercy upon me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am Tormented in this Flame But Abraham said Son Remember that thou in thy life-time received'st thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is 〈◊〉 Comforted and thou art Tormented In which also is plainly signified to us that Abraham the Father of the Faithful was then alive in his Spirit and did live unto God as our Saviour also else-where affirmeth Luk. 16. 19 22 24 25. and chap. 20. 38. And the Apostle John saith I saw under the Altar the Souls of them that were slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held And they cryed with a loud voice saying How long O Lord Holy and True dost thou not Judge and Avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the earth c. Rev. 6. 9 10 11. and chap. 7. 14 15 17. But I shall enlarge no farther unto that Second Evidence of a Future State and Life to come but proceed unto the Third to wit 3. The Truth of the former is further Evidenced by the Desire and Vote of Pious and Serious Persons to be removed out of this World I do not mean or speak concerning the Desire or Prayers of some good men in a Passion or Distemper such an one it may seem Elijah was in when Jezebel vowed to take away his Life for then he requested for himself that he might Dye and said It is enough O Lord take away my Life for I am not better than my Fathers 1 King 19. 1 4. with Jam. 5. 17. So also when Jonah saw that God spared Nineveh upon their serious Repentance It displeased him exceedingly and he was very angry And said Take I beseech thee my life from me For it is better for me to dye than to live And again when his Gourd withered And the Sun beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted He wished in himself to dye and said It is better for me to dye than to live And God said unto Jonah doest thou well to be angry for the Gourd and he said I do well to be angry even unto Death Jonah 4. 1 3 6 7 8 9. Job 6. 8 9 10. and 14. 13. with chap. 36. 20 21. But I speak concerning the Vote and Desire of Good men when they were in a good calme composed frame and temper of Spirit So that Good and Holy man Simeon when he had seen our Lord Jesus and taken him into his Armes He then blessed God and said Lord Now lettest thou thy servant depart in Peace according to thy word c. Luk. 2. 26 28 29 30. And Paul saith of himself and of other unfeigned Believers Our selves which have the first-fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the the Adoption to wit the Redemption of the Body Rom. 8. 23. And again he saith For we know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a Building of God an house not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens for in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from Heaven For we that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burdened not for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that Mortallity might be swallowed up of Life We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord 2 Cor. 4. 16 18. and chap. 5. 1 2 4. 8. And the same Holy Apostle as with Respect to himself saith I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Phil. 1. 20 23. And of the Patriarchs and Holy Ones in former times it is said If they had been mindful of that Countrey from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have return'd But now they desire a better Countrey that is an Heavenly wherefore God is not asham'd to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City Heb. 11. 9 10 13 16. Gen. 49. 18. And these Holy Ones who thus Desired were not Novices in the Faith but Eminent ones therein they were Pillars in the Church as it were or however some of them were so Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles and so such as were guided by the Holy and Eternal Spirit of God which searcheth all things yea the deep things of God And by which Blessed and infallible Spirit they were assured that there was a future state to be entred upon when they are departed out of this Evil and passing world and so Faile from among the Children of men or otherwise it was not at all desirable to go out of this Life and World For not to be is next unto and little better than to be miserable as our Saviour seems to signifie to us in Matth. 26. 24. Mark 14. 21. And also by this good and most Understanding Spirit they were perswaded to Believe that the future State that good men shall enter upon when they are departed out of this World is far better and much rather to be chosen then that they were then upon while they were in this Frail Mortal and Corruptible Body as the Apostle Paul saith To me to live is Christ and to dye is Gain Phil. 1. 20 21. And so particularly it is said of that Pious man Simeon fore-named who desired to depart out of and leave this World and Life when he had seen God's Salvation which he had prepared before the face of all People that the holy Ghost was upon him and it was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see Death before he had seen the Lord's Christ And he came by the Spirit into the Temple
well doing Namely of working with your hands the thing that is good that ye may have to give to him that needeth Eph. 4. 28. Tit. 3. 8 14. And if any man obey not our word by this Epistle note that man with a Brand of insamy and have no company with him that he may be ashamed c. 2 Thes 3. 6 14 15. And in his first Epistle to the same Believers he gives this command That ye study to be quiet and to do your own Business and to work with your own hands As we commanded you that ye may walk honestly towards them that are without and that ye may have lack of nothing 1 Thes 4. 11 12. with chap. 2. 9 10. And he thus writes unto Titus a Minister of Christ This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be carefull to maintain good works lawful Employments these things are good and profitable unto men And let Ours also learn to maintain good works or profess honest trades for necessary uses namely to supply their own wants and provide for themselves those things which are needfull for the Body to wit Meat Drink Raiment c. And also that they may if they can Administer to the necessities of others That they be not unfruitful Tit. 3. 8 14. By all which it evidently appears that mens diligent following their lawfull calling and Employments to the end they may provide for themselves and be useful and charitable unto others is not the Bodily Exercise here spoken of and opposed to Godliness but such diligence in business is called well-doing and good-works c. And is that which we ought to exercise our selves unto And it is well worthy our observation That when Paul saith ye remember Brethren our Labour and Travel for Labouring night and day because we would not be chargeable unto any of you we preached unto you the Gospel of God He then immediately adds Ye are witnesses and God also how Holily and Justly c. we behaved our selves among you that believe signifying that their Diligence in their worldly vocation was not opposite unto but well consistent with if not included in their holy and pious Behaviour amongst the believers 1 Thes 2. 9 10. And it seems our Lord Jesus the Holy one of God did before he entred into his Prophetick Office exercise himself in the Trade of a Carpenter hence some Jews say concerning him Is not this the Carpenter Mark 6. 3. And it is very probable that our Lord was brought up in the same trade with his supposed Father To which I shall here add no more But the Bodily exercise which the Apostle speaks of and which he speaks so undervaluingly of in the place we are discoursing from and which he doth oppose to Godliness doth mean abstinence from things Lawful upon the command of some Teachers or when they forbid us the use or enjoyment of Lawful things upon a Religious account And that this is here meant by Bodily Exercise appears in the fore-going verses of this Chapter for there the Apostle saith Now the spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some will depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath Created to be received with thanksgiving of them who believe and know the Truth For every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving For it is Sanctified by the word of God and prayer If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things thou shalt be a good Minister of Jesus Christ c. But refuse profane and Old Wives Fables And exercise thy self unto godliness for bodily Exercise about these Old Wives Fables profiteth little or is worth nothing as a like Phrase is used by the Wiseman when he saith the heart of the wicked is little worth to wit it is good for nothing Prov. 10. 20. But godliness is profitable unto all things c. And so we may say godliness is not a strict and Consciencious Observance of or Abstinence from indifferent and lawful things at the command of superstitious Teachers and guides or as the Apostle else-where speaketh the Kingdom of God or the Christian Religion is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men Let us therefore follow after the things which make for Peace c. Rom. 14. 17 18 19. To the same purpose also Saint Paul writes to the believing Colossians saying wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world why as though living in the world are ye Subject to Ordinances Touch not taste not handle not which are all to perish with the using after the commandments and ordinances of men which things have indeed a shew of Wisdom in Will-Worship and Humility c. They have a shew of Piety and Religion and nothing of the power thereof in Truth and reality And of such as have their Life in observing or Abstaining from such Indifferent things it may be said They have a form of godliness but deny the Power thereof Col. 2. 20 21 23. with 2 Tim. 3. 1 5. Consciencious Observance of or Abstinence from these Lawful and Indifferent things is not the godliness which is here commended to us and represented to be so advantageous and gainful For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but a new Creature Gal. 6. 15 16. 1 Cor. 7. 19. The great stress of the Pharisees Religion consisted in unnecessary or lighter matters they made broad their Phylacteries and enlarged the borders of their garments They were very zealous in observing and appearing for the Traditions of the Elders They paid Tithe of Mint and Annise and Cummin But in the mean time they omitted the weightier matters of the Law Judgment Mercy and Faith and while they strained at gntas they swallowed Camels But the heart of these men was far removed from inward and sincere Piety and Purity For though they outwardly apepared righteous unto men yet within they were full of Hypocrisy and Iniquity And against them our Lord denounced many heavy and severe woes Mat. 15. 1 9 20. and chap. 23. 4 5 23 28. And so it is too too much in our Times with very many professed Christians of the reformed Religion some are so very hot and earnest for the Traditions and Impositions of the Elders that they almost or altogether Equalize them unto if not prefer them before the Commandments of the Lord. And some others are so very Superstitiously zealous against them that they therein make little or nothing of disobedience to Civil Magistrates or Ecclesiastical Rulers and Governours and think their Injunction makes Lawful things unlawful But herein both these sorts do not follow or
pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil Joh. 17. 14 15. And his Father always heareth him and grants unto him all his desires Joh. 11. 41 42. And the Apostle gives this assurance unto the believers God is faithful who will establish you and keep you from evil 2 Thes 3. 3. Yea not only so but as we have said he will do them good by all their Afflictions and Tribulations and this the Apostle confidently assures the believers of saying We know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the Called according to purpose Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Nay in all these things we are more then Conquerours through him that loved us Rom. 8. 28 35 37 38 39. In the most severe providences he ordereth unto them he doth design and is effecting and promoting their benefit and advantage as he sent the upright in the Church of Judah out of their own Land into the land of the Caldeans for their good Jer. 24. 5 6 7. 3. He hath promised that he will vouchsafe unto them his gracious presence in all the troubles afflictions and hardships which they endure for his Name and Gospel's sake to keep them from evil and from the fear of evil and to comfort and chear their hearts The Lord is my Shepheard saith the Psalmist I shall not want Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear none evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me Psal 23. 1 4. When Jacob was taking his journey with his family into Egypt in which land God had fore-told Abraham that his seed should be in great affliction for a long time Gen. 15. 12 13. then God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night and said I am God the God of thy father fear not to go down into Egypt I will go down with thee into Egypt c. And doubtless this was a great Encouragement unto him and did animate him against all discouragements and occasions of sainting and this was remembred by him and propounded by him also to his Son Joseph Gen. 46 1 4. with chap. 48. 21. Exod. 33. 14 15. And God was as good as his promise for when the children of Israel were in very great affliction and met with a Fiery Tryal his gracious presence was with them therein And so much is signified in that vision shewed unto Moses in mount Horeb where the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush and he looked and behold the bush burned with fire and the bush signifying the Church of Israel in great Tribulation was not consumed But how came this to pass whence was it that the bush which of it self is combustible was not burnt up and consumed Surely it proceeded from hence that God was in the bush it proceeded from the good will of him that dwelt in the bush For when Moses said I will now turn aside and see this great and marvellous sight why the bush is not burnt Then the Lord called unto him out of the midst of the Bush where he was and dwelt and said I am the God of thy father c. Exod. 3. 1 2 4 6. with Deut. 33. 16. Dan. 3. 25. Thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob and he that formed thee O Israel fear not for I have redeemed thee when thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not over-flow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee For I am the Lord thy God c. Fear not for I am with thee Isa 43. 1 2 3 5. and chap. 41. 10 14. But what doth all this concern us may some say God did promise his Gracious Presence indeed with his Ancient people in their afflictions but may we suck comfort and encouragement from the Brests of their consolation Yes doubtless we may if we be Israelites indeed in whom is no guile The believers are instructed to behold Israel after the flesh 1 Cor. 10. 18. And the Apostle acquaints us that this is a considerable part of the mystery which was in former times hid from ages and generations but is now revealed and made manifest namely That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs to wit with the Jews of the promises which were made unto them and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel Eph. 3. 3 6 8. Being built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets They are no longer strangers and forreigners but fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God Eph. 2. 13 19 20. with Rom. 11. 17. And more particularly as to the business we are discoursing of that promise and assurance which the Lord by Moses gives not to Joshua first of all nor directly as some learned men by mistake affirm but unto all Israel namely that he would not fail them nor forsake them in their difficulties and troubles if they were obedient to him the very same encouragement the Apostle doth propound unto the sincere Christians to wit for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee whence the Apostle thus infers so that we may blodly say the Lord is mine helper and I will not fear what man can do unto me Heb. 13. 5 6. with Deut. 31. 1 6. Yea 4. If they that sincerely exercise themselves to true Piety and holiness be brought before Rulers and Governours for his names sake he will then stand by them and guide and direct them by his blessed Spirit what to speak and how to answer their greatest and wisest Adversaries Job 36. 7. So our Lord saith unto his disciples When saith he they deliver you up take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak for it is not ye that speak but the spirit of your Father which speaketh in you Mat. 10. 18 20 And again and at another time he speaks to the same purpose to them saying They shall persecute you delivering you up to the Synagogues and into prisons being brought before Kings and Rulers for my names sake Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate before what ye shall answer For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gain-say nor resist Luk. 21. 12 14 15. And Saint Stephen found Christ as good as his word when he encountred with and was stifly opposed by several Jews for it is said They were not able to resist the wisdome and the spirit by which he spake Act. 6. 9 10. So when Saint Paul was brought before Nero or
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus Rom. 3. 22 25. And he will pour out his spirit unto the truely pious persons and thereby make their souls like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not which will spring up unto everlasting life Isa 58. 6 11. How much more saith our Saviour shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him Luk. 11. 13. But this is to be understood of the first-fruits thereof the Harvest thereof is still to be waited for as the Apostle saith we our selves also which have the first-fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption c. Rom. 8. 23 25. Even as before the children of Israel came into the Land of Canaan they had a first-fruits as it were of that excellent land which was the glory of all lands brought unto them in the wilderness for their encouragement to hold on their way and that from thence they might conceive and conclude that the land of Canaan was a most excellent countrey Numb 13. 23 24 26 27. So now while they are in the wilderness of this world God doth in some beginnings and in a small measure give unto them that live godly in Christ Jesus a Taste of what they shall hereafter compleatly and fully enjoy that they might Hunger and Thirst after righteousness and press toward the mark for the prize which is set before them He is now merciful to their unrighteousness Heb. 8. 12. And doth remember them with his special favour Psal 106. 4. Prov. 8. 17. And gives them grace for seasonable help Psal 84. 11. Heb. 4. 16. And is filling them with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God Isa 61. 3. Joh. 15. 1 8. In taking Christ's yoke upon them and learning of him they shall find rest to their souls while they meet with various afflictions and occasions of sadness as with respect to the outward man their soul shall dwell at case and lodge in Goodness Mat. 11. 28 30 Psal 25. 11 14. God is now filling them with joy and peace in believing in the midst of all the troubles and exercises wherewith they are exercised and is also effecting in them and quickning them unto a lively Hope and well-grounded Expectation which maketh not ashamed of the Harvest and future inheritance and this Hope they have as an Anchor of the Soul both sure that which will not break how highly soever the waves lift up their voice or how fiercely soever the winds bluster and blow yet this Hope will hold firm and it is stedfast it will not slip for it is centred in Christ that Rock of Ages against which the gates of hell shall not prevail nor against those that firmely abide in him Yea this Hope which is the Anchor of the Soul entreth into that within the veil whither the fore-runner is for us entred even Jesus made an High-priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech Heb. 6. 18 20. 1 Joh. 3. 1 2 3. But we shall here add no more as to this first particular in which the Apostle doth evince and evidence to us the great advantageousness and profitableness of true piety holiness and righteousness to the end we may seriously and stedfastly exercise our selves to the unfeigned belief of the mystery of it and also to the sincere practice of it in saying unto us having promise of the life that now is And now God willing we shall proceed on unto the second contained in the last clause namely 2. Godliness is profitable having promise also of the life that is to come to wit after this uncertain and frail life shall have an end In which is intimated to us that though men lead never such pious and good lives though they walk never so holily justly and unblamably in having their conversation as becomes and adornes the Gospel of Christ Jesus yet they shall not live here always but they must depart this life as well as other men It is appointed to men generally once to dye to dye the first death Heb. 9. 27. What man is he that liveth and shall not see death and shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave Psal 89. 48. Nor indeed would it be good for them to live here always in this polluted evil troublesome and dangerous world for while they are at home in the body they are absent from the Lord but when this life is at end they shall then be with Christ and shall enter into the joy of their Lord. And therefore as the present life is theirs while it is continued to them so death is theirs also to them to dye is gain the day of death is better to them than the day of their birth Eccl. 7. 1. To which I shall at this time enlarge no further But though they also must needs dye and depart out of this world yet in unfeignedly exercising themselves to Godliness they have the promise of the life that is to come As things present are theirs so also are things to come All things are theirs and they are Christ's and Christ is God's 1 Cor. 3. 21 22 23. If in or for this life onely they have hope in Christ they are of all men most miserable as 1 Cor. 15. 19. But they have the promise and assurance of a suture and better life and are begotten again to the lively hope of it But now in speaking unto this last clause I shall desire so to do in this following order That is to say 1. Evidence and shew that there is a future life a life to come when this present short and frail life is ended 2. What is meant by and contained in the life to come 3. That Godliness hath the promise thereof 1. I Say we shall give some evidences and shew that there is a future state to be entred upon another life besides this present a life to come when this frail vain and Transitory life is ended and expired and this may appear and be evidenced in these following evidences namely 1. From plain intimations and expressions which are contained in the Scriptures of Truth This was more darkly signified and made known in the holy Scriptures written before the coming of our Lord Jesus in the Flesh Thus those words spoken unto Moses by God in the bush to wit I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob Exod. 3. 6. are made use of by our blessed Saviour to prove a future state after this life For saith he God is not the God of the dead but of the living for all live unto him These Patriarchs though they are dead unto us yet they live unto him and shall be raised again in due season Mat. 22. 31 32. Mark 12. 26 27. Luk. 20. 37 38 Thus also whereas the Prophet saith he will swallow up death in victory and the Lord
some in Power and Authority under him and was deserted and forsaken by his friends in this eminent time of danger he had then the gracious presence and assistance of him that is faithful of him that is true with him At my first answer saith he no man stood with me but all men forsook me I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthned me And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdome c. 2 Tim. 4. 16 17 18. 5. And when those that live in Godliness and Honesty are in Tribulation he will make them instrumental for his praise and cause them to glorify him in the fires as Isa 24. 12 14. Behold saith the Lord to his afflicted people I have refined thee but not with silver I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction For mine own sake even for mine own sake will I do it for how should my name be polluted Thereby giving us to understand that he therefore cast them into the fire and fornace and thereby refined and purified them that they might be vessels for the finer that they might be to him for a people and for a Name and for a praise and for a glory that they might call on his name and then he promiseth I will hear them I will say it is my people and they shall say Jehovah is my God Isa 48. 10 11. with Zech. 13. 9. And when he sent the upright ones into that severe and long continued Affliction and Captivity in the land of the Caldeans he saith concerning them I have sent them out of this place into the land of the Caldeans for good It was indeed for their own good as we have before noted But it was not onely so but also for the good of them unto whom they were sent that they might shew forth God's praise among them as Isa 43. 21. And therefore we may take notice that the word their is not in the Hebrew Text nor in the Septuagint in Jer. 24. 5. But is put in by the Translators And indeed the upright ones in that grievous and severe Captivity were eminent instruments for the glory of God and for the good of all that were under the Government and Empire of that great King of Babylon which was so large and extensive that all Nations did serve the King thereof Jer. 27. 5 6 8. As we may observe in one or two instances After the three Worthies had refused to worship the golden Image which Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up and were for such refusal by his command cast into the burning fiery furnace and by God's Miraculous and wonderful Power preserved in and delivered out of the fiery furnace without any hurt or harm the King by occasion thereof doth himself bless the onely living and true God and not only so but thus he saith therefore I make a decree That every People Nation and Language which shall speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort Dan. 3. 22 30. See also ch 41 23. Another instance of the truth hereof was when that vast Empire was Translated to the Medes and Persians the Nobles and Rulers under King Darius procured a decree and interdict to be made and sealed that whosoever should ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days save of the King should be cast into the Den of Lions Daniel the man greatly beloved of God was presently found and declared a Transgressour of and by this Law The unwary King though greatly unwilling is forc't as it were to consent that Daniel should suffer the penalty for the Transgression of that interdict he is cast into the Den of Lyons but God sent his Angel and shut the Lyons Mouthes that they hurt him not and he was taken out of the Den safe and sound Then King Darius wrote unto all People Nations and Languages that dwell in all the earth Peace be multiplyed unto you I make a decree that in every aominion of my Kingdome men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel for he is the living God and stedfast for ever and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall be even unto the end c. Jer. 24. 5. with Dan. 6. 7 10 26 27. By all which it plainly appears what Eminent instruments of God's praise the sincerely pious ones have been and of great Good unto others when they have been under great persecution and so Afflictions and Tryals were profitable unto themselves in conclusion And the Apostle writing to the believing Philippians saith I would ye should understand brethren that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel so that my bonds for Christ are manifest in all the Pallace and in all other places And many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear Phil. 1. 12 13 14. 6. And lastly as to this matter God hath promised that he will in due season deliver them out of their Tribulations and afflictions And he will faithfully perform what he hath so promised The righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all Psal 34. 17 19. The Salvation of the righteous is of the Lord he is their strength in the time of trouble And the Lord will help them and deliver them he will deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him Psal 37. 39 40. and 91. 14 15. 2 Tim. 4. 18. By all which it doth evidently appear that God will make profitable unto them and cause all the afflictions which he orders to work together for the good of them who are undefiled in the way and walk in the Law of the Lord. Thus we have spoken somewhat unto the promise of this life which Godliness hath as to the things more directly appertaining to the good and benefit thereof and shall now proceed on to what follows to wit 2. Godlinèss hath also the promise of the life that now is namely that in exercising our selves thereto he will while we are in this world bless us with spiritual blessings with those blessings which more directly conduce to the life prosperity and advantage of the inner-man the most Noble and excellent part of man And indeed what we have been speaking of afflictions and of the profit and advantage of them is to be understood as with respect to the soul and inner-man especially but having spoken so largely of them before I shall add no more thereto But we may say he will now justify them freely by his grace