1 Cor. 15. ult Wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye steadfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. This God of his Infinite Mercy grant unto us all for the sake of Jesus Christ c. SERMON IV. Psal. lxxvi 10. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain THIS Psalm is confessed by all to be a Psalm of Thanksgiving a Song composed to perpetuate the Memory of some wonderful and extraordinary Deliverance But what this Deliverance was is not so well agreed on by Interpreters Some would have it to be a Psalm of David penn'd to commemorate those Victories he obtain'd over the Philistines the Moabites and the Syrians others would have the occasion of it to have been the discomfiture of that formidable Army which was brought up by the Ethiopians in the days of Asa but most understand it of that remarkable defeat which was given by the Angel to Sennacheribs Army in the Reign of Hezekiah Upon this account the LXX inscribe it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latin Canticum ad Assyrâ—â—â— that is an Ode or Song made upon the Assyrians And this Interpretation will receive further Light from those words of vers 5. The stout-hearted are spoiled they have slept their sleep and none of the men of might have found their hands The Assyrian was now an Universal Monarch his Soldiers were reputed the stoutest hearted in the World having made their Valour renowned by their innumerable Conquests but yet notwithstanding all this when they brought a formidable Army against Ierusalem their Numbers and their Strength did signifie nothing for the Angel of the Lord went forth and in one Night slew 185000 men in the Camp of the Assyrians 2 Kings 19. 35. They indeed slept their sleep and the opinion of their own strength and Hezekiahs weakness made them secure but in the midst of their security God smote them in the night-time by his Angel so that the Mighty Men of valour slept indeed but it was the sleep of Death for they never awakned again never found their Hands Hence we read 2 Chron. 32. 21. That the Captains the Leaders and all the Mighty Men of Valour were cut off in the Camp of the King of Assyria Thus the God of Israel who had been blasphemed by the Assyrians vindicated his own Honour by this wonderful overthrow and his Servant Hezekiah who was delivered became Famous and Renowned amongst the Nations Hence we read 2 Chron. 32. 23. That many brought Gifts unto the Lord unto Jerusalem and Presents to Hezekiah King of Judah so that he was magnified in the fight of all Nations from thenceforth Thus the wrath of Man did praise the Lord the remainder of wrath he did restrain Before I can draw from the words such Observations as the Solemnity of the Day will require I must bestow some little explication on them First The wrath of Man the Hebrew word is Chamath and properly signifies Rage Tho' Anger Wrath and Rage be often in Scripture used promiscuously yet sometimes they are distinguished and indeed a real difference may be found between them For Anger is the boyling of the Blood about the Heart a Fever darted into the Veins which causes a violent Commotion in the Spirits Wrath is the manifestation of this inward distemper by Looks or Gesture or Actions tending to Revenge But Rage is the height or extremity of both the former it causes the Heart to study Destruction to mediate and contrive the utmost of Mischief and Villany and the outward Man to watch all opportunities of putting it in Execution and that with the greatest depth of Malice and height of Fury One would think this one word had been sufficient to express that Helish Malice which the Wicked bear against the Church of God But what is Chamath in the beginning of the Verse is Chemoth in the close What was put in the singular number is afterwards put in the plural for so the words should be rendred the wrath of Man shall praise the Lord the remainder of wraths or rages shalt thou restrain The Rage of the Wicked is not small their Fury does not terminate in one Plot but it is exceeding great ever working and multiplying by continuance so that there is not any Design so Barbarous any Conspiracy so Bloody or Devlish which their Rage will not put them upon if one Plot fail they are ready for another and like the troubled Sea they never rest but are still casting up Mire and Dirt Well then might the Psalmist call them Rages in the plural number they are as Gad a Troop or if you please you may call their Name Legion they are so many But Secondly It is called the wrath of Man in the Hebrew the wrath of Adam This Livery can fit the Shoulders of none but a very wicked Man one that is descended from the First Adam and is not yet ingrafted into the Second But yet it is some comfort that he is but a Man whose Heart is filled with all this Rage we may be safe it seems so long as the God of Heaven is on our side He can restrain all this wrath he can make it turn to the benefit of his People and his own Glory The LXX are very ingenious upon the last words of my Text for what we translate the remainder of Wrath shalt thou restrain they render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Rage of Man shall keep Holy-Day unto the Lord and give his People opportunity to Laud and Magnifie his Glorious Name By this you cannot but understand how well the Text and the Day will agree We shall in the Day as well as in the Text find Anger and Wrath and Rage yea Rages in the plural number And tho' our Adversaries call themselves Christians and pretend to be the only Catholicks in the World yet their Anger will be found to be fierce and Cursed their Wrath and Rage Cruel such as the Psalmist here calls the VVrath the Rage of Adam of one that is not yet regenerate or grafted into the New Stock Their Plots have been many their Conspiracies Black and Bloody but thanks be to Heaven we have found our Enemies to be but Men tho' Cruel and Wicked to the height we have had the experience of God's Power and Goodness over-ruling and restraining their Wrath and Fury so that if our Gratitude had kept pace with our Mercies and Deliverances we should have had more days of Thanksgiving in our Calendar than now we have But to help us a little in the performance of these Duties which this Solemn Day calls aloud for I shall observe from the words three Things First That the Rage of the Wicked against God and his People is very great Secondly God by his Providence wonderfully does over-rule the Rage and Malice of Wicked Men. And Thirdly The end that God hath in these
brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 1. 10. Thus great is the Light of the Gospel and therefore those sins which are committed against it are the more heinous and damnable sins against Knowledg have more of wilfulness in them and argue greater contempt of God Hence such sinners are said in Scripture to reproach the Lord Numb 15. 30. Yea to rebel against the Light Job 24. 13. Since therefore Christians sin against greater Light they must expect severer Punishments Fer he that knoweth his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with more stripes 3. Another reason why Christians must expect the severest Punishments if they neglect this great Salvation is because the means of Grace which the Gospel affords for the obtaining of this Salvation are now more plentiful than they were before St. Iohn tells us Chap. 1. 17. That the Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Iesus Christ of whose fulness saith he Verse 16. we all have received and Grace for Grace or Grace upon Grace to denote the great plenty and abundance of it The Law could do no more than shew Man his Duty but the Gospel affords him Grace to perform it Hence the Preachers of the Gospel are styled Able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit for the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life 2 Cor. 3. 6. The Law is here called the Letter and is said to Kill because it shews our Duty and the Danger of neglecting it but gives no Grace to help us in the performing of it But the Gospel is called the Spirit because the Spirit of Grace does by his internal Operations accompany the outward Ministration of the Gospel and so gives us Life Thus you see what plentiful Means of Grace the Gospel affords us for the obtaining of this great Salvation And therefore if we do neglect these Means of Grace our Condemnation as it will be more just so it will be more heavy too This is plain from our Saviours threatning Chorazin and Bethsaida Mat. 11. 21 22. Wo unto thee Chorazin wo unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in Sackcloath and Ashes But I say unto you it shall be more tollerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of Iudgment than for you Thus Christians as they enjoy more plentiful Means of Grace than others so if all these be lost upon them they must expect the severer Punishments Thirdly I come now in the Third and Last Place to shew you that Ministers may very well be allowed to be mighty earnest and passionate in their Exhortations and Admonitions See how earnest and passionate St. Paul is in the Text with what Vehemency and Fervency of Spirit does he cry out How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation St. Paul was one of the greatest Orators in the World And he never thought his Oratory better employed than in the winning Souls to Christ. Hence we find him in the Acts Preaching with such Zeal and Eloquence that the Men of Lycaonia fancied Mercury their God of Eloquence was come down from Heaven And as St. Paul was thus Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord and promoting the Salvation of Souls so 2 Tim. 4. 2. He charges Ministers to be Instant in Season and out of Season Reproving Rebuking and Exhorting with all long Suffering And in truth what Zeal what Vehemency can be thought too much for the Pulpit Indeed the Heathen of old said well Stultus labor ineptiarum It is a ridiculous thing said he to make a noise about Trifles But sure Life and Death Heaven and Hell these are no Trifles Men do not well consider the worth of Souls and the greatness of that Salvation Christ has purchast for them when they are offended at the Zeal and Earnestness of Ministers when they are angry at the seriousness of their Exhortations or the severity of their Reproofs But what pity is it that Hell should be hung with such rich Furniture as the precious Souls of Men And who would not employ their utmost Zeal to save such wicked sinners as are ready every moment to drop into Hell Fire Let me therefore with all seriousness intreat you to work out your Salvation with Fear and Trembling As you love your own Immortal Souls and value that Infinite Price which Christ has paid for them as you dread the everlasting Burnings of the infernal Tophet and earnestly desire the endless Joys of Heaven be perswaded to break off your League with Sin and make your Peace with Almighty God that when ye come to die your Blessed Saviour may see the travel of his Soul and be satisfied that he may then be as ready to Bestow on you as he was to Purchase for you that you may at last obtain this great Salvation Which God grant unto us all for the sake of Jesus Christ to whom c. The Grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the Love of God c. A SERMON Preached at the Assizes in New-Castle upon Tine in the Reign of K. Iames II. Ephes. ii 19 20. vers Now therefore you are no more strangers and forreigners but fellow-citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God Vers. 20. And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets ST Paul having planted the Gospel among the Ephesians labours in this most excellent Epistle to confirm them in the same by sundry Arguments Some of these Arguments are drawn from the consideration of that wretched condition they were in before and some from the excellency and blessedness of their present State Their former condition is displayed in all its colours ver 12. of this chapter where he tells them that they were then without Christ they were then Aliens from the common wealth of Israel strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the World It seems such as are without the pale of the Church are no better than the Children of Wrath they are expos'd to all the dreadful effects of God's anger in this World and must hereafter be cast into everlasting burnings in the next But tho' this was the lamentable condition of these Ephesians before their conversion yet the planting of the Gospel had made a happy change for they were now no more strangers and forreigners but fellow citizens with the Saints they were now delivered from the fears of Eternal damnation and had a Right and Title to all these glorious Priviledges which Abraham and the other blessed Citizens of Heaven did actually possess And what was it which gave them a right and title to all this happiness If you please to look a little farther into the Text you 'l find it was because they were of the houshold of God or in plain terms Members of the true Church for this indeed is the true Gospel which
2ly We shall find yet more reason to fear the Lord our God if we consider seriously that great power he exercises over the Souls and Consciences of men It is a true Saying of Seneca if understood with respect to men In corpore exercentur supplicia animus ipse sacer aeternus est cui nequeat injici manus The Sword of Justice which Earthly Potentates carry before them as the Ensign of their Power can only hurt the Shell of Man insomuch that the greatest Tyrants are honoured in Scripture with no higher Titles than those of Masters according to the flesh For the Soul or Spirit is far enough out of the reach of their Power the Conscience is secure from their Rage and Fury and it is the Prerogative Royal of God as by his Omniscience to know the most inward thoughts so by his Omnipotence to be able to punish them When the Almighty pleases he breaks into the solitary Recesses of the Soul and lodges his revenging Furies in the Inner Man And now could we set a Casement upon the Breast of an Orestes or some despairing Sinner and there see those ictus and laniatus those gnawings of the Worm which prey upon all the Vitals of the Soul we should easily grant with Tertullian that an inraged Conscience is praejudicium judicii the Antedate of the last Judgment we might then see Hell seizing the Wretched Sinner here upon Earth at least inflicting some part of its Torments on this side the Grave Such a dreadful Monument of Vengeance was cursed Cain no sooner did he kill his Brother Abel but he became a wretched Vagabond he trembled at the sight of every Beast saith Iosephus and was forced to bear such incredible Torments as he himself confessed were greater than he could bear It is sad enough for the Sinner to have God Almighty and the whole World against him but his condition must needs be sadder when he becomes a Traytor to himself nay more his own Tormentor So much of Truth there is in that Saying of Seneca Nemini gravius imprecari potes quam ut seipsum habeat iratum Thou canst not saith he lay an heavier Curse or imprecation upon any person than to wish him angry or at enmity with himself And now I hope we will join with the Psalmist in the Text and say Thou even thou O Lord art to be feared and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art Angry Fearful we are to offend an earthly King how careful of our Words and Behaviour lest by Treason or any Misdemeanour we fall under his Displeasure But what I pray are Gibbets Racks or the most ingenious Torments they can invent to the sullen Lashes and silent Girds of an inraged Conscience Let Solomon if you please determin this matter Prov. 18. 14. The Spirit of a Man saith he can bear all his Infirmities but a wounded Spirit who can bear How many noble Martyrs have sung and danc'd amidst the devouring Flames But what Iudas what Spira what daring Sinner was ever yet able to bear the stings of a wounded Spirit What reason then have we to fear the Lord our God who can when he pleases wound our Spirits and fill our Souls with the ineffable Torments of black Despair But Thirdly We shall find yet more Reason to fear the Lord our God if we consider those most exquisite and eternal Punishments he is able to inflict both on the Bodies and Souls of Sinners in the Lake below If the bold Sinner has but courage enough to look beyond the Grave he will find prepared for him the eternal Tophet such a dreadful place of Torments as is most tragically described by the Prophet Isay Chap. 30. 33. Tophet is prepared of old saith he the Pile thereof is Fire and much Wood and the Breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it continually See how each word is armed with Thunder It seems there is Fire in this eternal Tophet yea there is a great Pile of Fire Now how dreadful how terrible is Fire Which the Persians of old were wont to call immanissima bellua a most fierce and devouring Monster And yet this Fire of Tophet is no ordinary Fire it is no such material Fire as we have in our Chimneys For the Scripture tells us it was originally prepared for the Devil and his Angels Now the Devil and his Angels being spiritual Beings cannot be tormented by any material or corporeal Fire The Fire therefore of Tophet must be some strange metaphorical Fire such as the Fire we use is only fit to be made a cold and faint emblem of it and we will the rather believe this when we consider that it is said to be kindled by the Breath of Almighty God The fiery Furnace of Babylon was dreadful enough tho' kindled only by the finite power of an earthly King How dreadful then must the Furnace of Hell be which has all the Treasures of Torment infinite Wisdom could invent If all this be not sufficient to make these Torments dreadful remember that they are said to be prepared for the Devil and his Angels We know these infernal Fiends are the most inveterate and most malicious Enemies of Heaven such as did not only at first endeavour to dethrone their Almighty Creator but have ever since imployed all their malice and subilty to affront God and draw Mankind into a conspiracy against him Sure then that Fire which was at first prepared for these inveterate and malicious Enemies of Heaven cannot possibly want any ingredients of Torture either Infinite Wisdom could invent or Infinite Power inflict And yet such devouring Flames as these are not only prepared for the Devil and his Angels but likewise for all impenitent Sinners How fearful a thing then will it be to fall into the Hands of the Living God And yet it will be more fearful if we consider the eternity of all these Torments For in Hell the Worm never dies and the Fire shall never be quenched When the Sinner has lain in Hell as many millions of Ages as there are Stars in Heaven or Sands on the Sea-shore he will be no nearer an End of his Torments than he was the first Moment he entred into that place of Torments Who then will not fear the Lord our God Who may stand in his sight when once he is Angry But it seems our Psalmist met with some in his days who had no fear of God before their Eyes who did set their Mouths against Heaven and bid defiance to the Almighty And are there not still too many in the World who discover little or no fear of God in their Lives and Conversations such I mean as are not afraid to spit in the Face of Heaven by their drunken Vomits who profane his tremendous Name by Oaths and Blasphemies deride his Ordinances and break his Holy Laws by their notorious Debaucheries But sure these men have other apprehensions of the Majesty of Heaven than
come now Fourthly In the fourth place to shew you what Reasons and Encouragements we have to endeavour after the highest degrees of Grace And 1st Our serious endeavours after the highest degrees of Grace will be an excellent means to preserve that saving growth in Grace the pious Christian has already attain'd to There is a dangerous Opinion in the World that a man cannot totally and finally fall away from Grace According to these mens sentiments he that is once sincerely Righteous will infallibly hold on and persevere unto the end Now if this Opinion were true this exhortation would be vain But certainly nothing can be more contrary to the plain Doctrine of the Scripture Hear what St. Peter saith Chap. 1. of this Epistle vers 10. Give all dilligence saith he to make your Calling and Election sure for if you do these things you shall never fall You see he puts an if in the case such as fairly implies that we may neglect our Duty and fall from our own stedfastness For the same reason St. Paul gives this necessary Caution Rom. 11. 20. c. Be not high-minded but fear for if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them which fall severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off But a fuller confutation of this dangerous Opinion we cannot desire than what may be gathered from the words of the Prophet Ezek. 18. 24. VVhen the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth shall he live saith the Lord No All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die Thus plain it is that a Christian may fall away from that saving state of Grace he has attained to And what I pray is more likely to secure his steadfastness than serious endeavours after the highest degrees of Holiness Our Apostle it seems thought so for having in the foregoing Verse given this necessary Caution Beware Brethren lest you fall from your own steadfastness he presently subjoins in the Text as the properest means to secure them from falling but grow in Grace It is the same in spiritual growths that it is in naturals For as a man by eating and drinking and other natural Actions preserves his natural Life so the Christian by serious endeavours after higher degrees of Holiness preserves his spiritual Life The Musician screws up his Peg to an higher pitch that he may be sure it will not fall lower than the true Note Even so the higher degrees of Perfection we aspire to the less danger shall we be in of falling lower than what is absolutely necessary And this certainly is sufficient encouragement to continue these our serious endeavours 2ly These serious endeavours after a further growth in Grace than what is absolutely necessary to Salvation will give the pious Christian a more comfortable assurance of Eternal Happiness It is no doubt a kind of Heaven upon Earth to be assured of Heaven whilst we are here upon Earth This is that hidden Manna mentioned in the Revelations which fills the Soul with all variety of Delights Now nothing besides a particular Revelation from Heaven can be more likely to create this full assurance in the Soul than these Heroick attainments of Grace and Vertue Grace is that Seal of the Spirit by which we are marked and sealed unto the day of Redemption And certainly the brighter and more evident that Grace is the more evident will it be to our own selves and the fuller our assurance of Heaven and Eternal Happiness Many good Christians are in a safe condition and yet their condition is not so comfortable by reason of those fears and doubtings which do often accompany these lower degrees of Grace But the more we abound in good Works and the more eminently our Graces shine the more comfortable will our Assurance be and the clearer our Title to Heaven and Eternal Happiness Read St. Paul's 11 Chap. to the Hebrews where he sets down a large Calendar of God's eminent Saints such as advanc't into the highest form of Piety and Vertue and you 'l find their Faith as great as was their growth in Grace and their assurance of Heaven bearing a just proportion to their improvements in Holiness For St. Paul describing their Faith ver 1. calls it the substance or subsistence of things hoped for the evidence or clear demonstration of things not seen 3ly These serious endeavours after the highest degrees of Grace as they will secure our Title to Heaven and give us a more comfortable assurance of it for the present so they will hereafter advance us to higher degrees of Glory in Heaven We know there are different degrees of Glory in Heaven even as one Star differeth from another Star in Glory so also saith St. Paul shall be the Resurrection of the Iust As St. Austin speaks Splendor dispar Caelum commune the Saints shall dwell together in the same Heaven but yet like Stars they shall shine with different Rays of Glory Now these higher degrees of Glory will be conferred on such who arrived at higher degrees of Grace Hence when our Saviour tells his Disciples John 14. 2. In my Fathers House are many Mansions Tertullian remarks thus upon the place Quomodo multae Mansiones si non pro varietate Meritorum Wherefore saith he should our Saviour mention many Mansions in his Fathers House if there were not several Rooms of different Size and Glory provided for his Saints according to the variety of their deserts Indeed Heaven has room enough to lodge all the Godly but as in other Magnificent Palaces so in this of Heaven there are higher and lower larger and lesser Mansions in which God's Saints shall be disposed of according to those Services they have performed upon Earth Their Rewards hereafter shall be answerable to their Obedience here See then what incouragement there is to endeavour after the highest degrees of Glory These it seems will create an Heaven in our Souls whilst we live here on Earth These will at our Deaths carry our Souls as high as Heaven nay which is more they will lodge them in the best Mansions there Hence is that of our Apostle Chap. 1. 11. If these things be in you and abound then shall an entrance be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Having therefore these Promises Dearly Beloved let us cleanse our selves from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of the Lord. Let us go from Strength to Strength and grow from one degree of Grace unto another until we appear before our God in Sion I shall conclude all with St. Pauls Exhortation
Text for it seems he believed Christ to have been both able and willing to save him which is in effect to own him for a Mediatour Hence we find him making solemn and earnest Addresses to him for Mercy Lord saith he remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom One would think these Circumstances which I have mention'd namely his deep Sense of his Sins his humble Confession of them his Charity to the Soul of his Fellow Thief and his strange and prodigious Faith I say one would think these Circumstances so wonderful and so extraordinary that they were sufficient of themselves to evidence the sincerity of his Repentance how short soever it was and yet by way of Overplus we have the Testimony of our Saviour himself concerning it This day saith our Saviour thou shalt be with me in Paradise Sure that Repentance must be sincere and perfect which enters into Heaven passeth into Paradise and makes so notorious a Thief all on a sudden so fit a Companion for the Holy Jesus And now let us enquire what matter of Comfort here can be for the bold Daring Sinners of the Times Have they any reason to expect such a lively vigorous and extraordinary Faith Or is it possible they should be so well assured of the sincerity of their Repentance The Age of Miracles did expire long ago and God having abundantly confirmed the Truths of the Gospel by mighty Signs and Wonders did resolve to leave the succeeding Ages of the Church to the ordinary Means of Grace How then can we expect at the Hour of Death to find such a wonderful Faith wrought in those profligate Wretches who have all their Life time despised Gods Ministers quenched all the Motions of his Holy Spirit trampled on the Blood of the New Covenant and shamefully abused all the ordinary Methods and Dispensations of the Gospel And as we cannot expect to find in the Clinicks of the Age such a prodigious and extraordinary Faith as was in this penitent Thief so neither is it possible they should be so well assur'd of the sincerity of their Repentance as he was I am willing to be as Charitable to these Penitents as the Salvation of their Souls will allow me to be And therefore let us suppose such Presumptuous sinners to be deeply sensible of their sins and willing to Confess them Let us suppose them sending for their Debauch'd Companions to remind them of Eternity and the great danger of delaying their Repentance Nay farther let us suppose them watering their Couches with their Tears and making most solemn Protestations of better Obedience if God should restore them to their former Health Supposing all this be done by the Clinicks of the Age is it possible for a Minister to afford them a Cordial or any solid Comfort from this Example of the Text For my part I must declare that I think it impossible We may hope well in the Judgment of Charity but to give them any such Assurance as this penitent Thief is beyond the power and skill of the wisest Minister for the Heart is deceitful above all things and since Ministers are not Omniscious as our Saviour was they cannot pass an infallible Judgment upon the sincerity of such a late Repentance When Esau had lost his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage did not he shed as hearty and unfeigned Tears as these supposed Penitents can do and yet it is said found no place for Repentance Did not Iudas run to the Scribes and Pharisees Did he not confess publickly that he had betrayed the Innocent Blood Nay did he not throw down the Thirty peices of Silver And sure if he had not been in earnest such a Covetous Wretch would never have parted with his Mony and yet we know his Repentance was not right Alas the Horrours of Conscience and the ghastly Apparitions of Death will force men to do many things which God will not accept of because they proceed from fear of Punishment and not from the Love of him Nay let me add yet farther that sad Experience has set its Seal to this Observation That many such Penitents who have made the most solemn Protestations of better Obedience in the time of their Sickness when God has restored them in Mercy to their former Health they have with the Dog return'd to their Vomits and with the Sow to their wallowings in the Mire Thus you see that Repentance of the Thief in the Text was so remarkable so wonderful so extraordinary in all the parts of it as will afford little solid Comfort to repenting Sinners at the Hour of Death 4ly This Repentance of the Thief will be found yet farther extraordinary and such as can afford little Comfort to the Clinicks of the Age if we consider those great and extraordinary Temptations he had to grapple with Christ was now in his worst Estate in the very lowest degree of his Humiliation there was no Beauty no Form no Comeliness in him that he should be desired The Chief Priests the Scribes and the Elders mocked him all that passed by reviled him wagging their Heads Of his own Disciples some denied him and all of them shamefully and most ungratefully forsook him This poor penitent Thief was the only Confessor he had And what Inducements had he at this time to own him He could expect no Wordly Advantages all that he could promise himself was only this that as he was now Crucified as a Malefactor only so for such his Confession his Torments would have been enhanced and he persecuted as a Martyr And can now the Clinicks of the Age shew us any such extraordinary Repentance Is Christ now under the same Circumstances of Pain and Ignominy that he was then Do not all our Creeds tell us that he is now at the Right Hand of God That He is made the Head of all things both in Heaven and in Earth And will it be any such heroick Act of Faith now to seek unto such a Glorious and Triumphant Saviour Sure there is a vast difference between the case of the Thief and the case of the presumptuous Sinners The Thief had no inducements to fly to Christ for succour and these have none to fly to but their Saviour There is therefore but little solid comfort for such Penitents in the Example of the Text. 5ly The case of the Thief will yet further be found extraordinary if we consider the time when he obtained Mercy it was no ordinary time but a time when God was shewing a publick Act of Grace and Mercy to the World God at this time was giving his own Son out of great love to Mankind And therefore it might seem proper and well becoming so solemn a time that there should be some Monument of this Infinite Mercy It may possibly deserve your serious observation that God Almighty did always something extraordinary to grace the several Passages of our Saviours Mediatorship We know at his Nativity a Glorious Star shone in the Air
Resolution Now tho' all this do abundantly shew a late Death-bed Repentance to be a thing most dangerous and in some sort impossible and yet seeing this is a Subject of most serious importance 5ly I will in the Fifth place add one Consideration more which will shew it yet to be more dangerous and in some sort impossible And pray let it be Consider'd that the Day of Grace may be lost before the Day of Death come Sure it is not possible that such sinners should repent without the assistance of God's Grace and yet before their death they may sin to such an height as to forfeit this assistance of God's Grace It is the vain fancy of such presumptuous sinners that the Day of Grace and the Day of Life run parallel and that as long as the one lasts the other will last too and therefore they encourage themselves in their wickedness thinking they shall have time enough to repent when they come to dye But if this Fancy of theirs be vain the delaying of Repentance till the Hour of Death must needs be a thing most dangerous and in some sort impossible Now it is very plain from Scripture that God has set bounds to his Patience and limits to his Mercy Tho' he bears very much with sinners and waits a long time to be gracious yet he has told us expresly Gen. 6. 3. My Spirit shall not always strive with Men We find in the following Verse that God allowed the Anti-Deluvians or Old World a long Day of Grace he promised to bear with them 120 Years now during this time he sent unto them Noah a Preacher of Righteousness Besides those Admonitions and frequent Calls the Holy Man gave them to repent his very building the Ark was a constant daily Sermon to them but when they would not hearken unto this Preacher but scoffed at his Discourses God did not tarry for the time of their death but with a dreadful Deluge swept them all away In Luc. 19. 41 42. we find our Saviour weeping over Ierusalem and declaring their wretched Condition in such like doleful Accents as these O that thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy Day the things which belong unto thy Peace but now are they hid from thine Eyes It seems the Day of Grace has an Evening before the Night of Death approaches The things of Peace were hid from the Eyes of Ierusalem before they were closed by the Hand of Death To this we may add what we read in Prov. 1. 28. Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but shall not find me There is a certain measure of Iniquity God is said in Scripture to allow Sinners to fill up and when this Measure is full they may call upon him in vain they may seek him early and late but he will not hear them And as is it thus plain from these Texts that the Day of Grace may be lost before the Day of Death so the same Truth may be evidenced by sundry Scripture Examples God allowed Cain a Day of Grace and during the Time of this Day Cain tho' he sinned again and again yet he heard nothing but this Still Voice if thou dost well shalt not thou be accepted but if thou dost ill Sin lieth at the door But when all the Means of Grace were lost upon him when notwithstanding the frequent Admonitions of his Father and solemn Remembrances of Heaven he added sin to sin till at last he fill'd up the Measure of his Iniquity by murdering Righteous Abel His season of Grace was then gone and God tells him in plain terms that he was then accursed from the Earth Now this hapned unto him some hundreds of years before his death Another Instance we have in Esau whom the Apostle styles a Prophane Person He was an idle unprofitable Fellow one who spent too much of his time in Gaming and impertinent Recreations and to all his other sins he added the felling of his Birthright on which were entailed all the Blessings of Heaven and this indeed shewed him to be a Prophane Person with a witness one that preferr'd his Sports and Recreations before God and his Religion Now this great sin fill'd up the Measure of his Iniquity so that his Day of Grace expir'd some 50 years before his death as Divines compute And tho' now he endeavour'd to regain his Birth-right tho' he sought the Blessing earnestly and with Tears yet he was rejected there was no place found for Repentance Heb. 12. 17. I shall add but one Instance more and it shall be the Example of wicked Saul God had striven with Saul many ways and many times He had given him Riches and Honours yea all the Glories of a Kingdom and which were more than all the gifts of his Spirit but when Saul multiplied his Transgressions and notwithstanding such signal Tokens of his Favour rebelled against the Lord God then cast him off yea he sent an Evil Spirit to torment him and would no longer hearken to his Cries as he sadly confesses to the Witch of Endor Now this Rejection hapned 36 years before he died according to Iosephus's Chronology Thus God does withdraw the Assistance of his Spirit from sinners long before they dye In their Life time he delivers them up to a Spirit of slumber and of giddiness He hardens their Hearts and sears their Consciences and gives them over to a Reprobate sense And since these things are so it will be too late for the Clinicks of the Age to Repent when they come to dye If they will obstinately go on in a Course of wickedness and multiply their Transgressions till the measure of their Iniquity be full then they are beyond the possibility of Salvation they have then forfeited the Assistance of God's Grace without which it is impossible they should repent It will therefore be safe for sinners to follow St. Pauls Advice To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts As the Prophets Exhorts Seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near Let not this present Discourse this present Opportunity be lost upon you for as the Apostle speaks Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation Begin this very moment to resolve against thy sins come this day to the Holy Sacrament and there vow and swear that thou wilt hereafter keep all Gods Righteous Iudgments I shall conclude all with the excellent Advice of the Son of Sirach Say not God's Mercy is great and he will be pacified for the multitude of thy Sins For Mercy and Wrath is with him he is mighty to forgive and to pour out Displeasure and as his Mercy is great so are his Corrections also Therefore make no long tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day For suddenly shall the Wrath of the Lord come forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Humble thy self
before thou be sick and in the time of Sins shew Repentance Let nothing hinder to pay thy Vows in due time and defer not till Death to be justified The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ c. SERMON VIII Luke xxiv 43. To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise THE Occasion of which Words we may easily learn from the Context We find Ver. 33. that our Blessed Saviour was Crucified betwixt two Theives or Malefactors Tho' he was without Sin yet as the Apostles speaks he appeared in the likeness of sinful Flesh and as the Prophet Esay tells us was numbred with the Transgressors Chap. 53. 12. Now one of these Malefactors begins to rail on our Saviour saying If thou be the Christ save thy self and us vers 39. It is an Argument of desperate Wickedness to insult over such as are in Misery it is no less than to defie Almighty God who is the Protector of such as are in misery and uses to avenge their quarrel And therefore the other Malefactor rebukes him ver 40. saying Dost not thou fear God especially since thou art in the same Condemnation Such as are in Prosperity do ordinarily forget God but in time of Adversity most men will consider When they are approaching towards the Gates of Death they are then generally serious the Thoughts of another World and the prospect of a Future State usually strikes an awe into their Souls But this Thief is so desperately wicked that even on the Cross and when Death was near at hand he despises God and reviles our Saviour But the other Thief gives ample demonstrations of his sincere Repentance and Faith in the Messiah For he does not only rebuke his Fellow Thief and endeavours his Conversion but he also acknowledges his Fault aud patiently submits to the Punishment as a just reward of his evil deeds ver 41. If such scandalous persons that are amongst us would when they are upon their Death-beds thus take shame to themselves by a free Confession of their Faults If they would send for such persons whom in the time of their Health they have endeavour'd to debauch either by their Example or Counsel and acquaint them with the danger of Sin and the bitterness they then find in it they would give the World much better demonstrations of their sincere Repentance and much surer grounds to hope their Eternal welfare And as this poor Thief gives such ample demonstrations of his sincere Repentance so he gives also very good proof of a true and stedfast Faith in Christ for ver 42. he says unto Christ Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom Ye see he believes Christ to be the Lord and to have a Kingdom tho' not in this World which was more than Christ's own Disciples did Nay farther he owns Christ upon the Cross and when in the lowest degree of his state of Humiliation even when all the Iews were mocking and persecuting him yea when his own Disciples forsook him and St. Peter one of the Chiefest had deny'd him thrice Nay farther yet how wonderful was his Humility He only desires that Christ would remember him in his Kingdom He does not presume to ask that he might sit on Christ's Right hand or on his Left in his Kingdom but only that he would remember him A true penitent humble Soul will think the least degree of Mercy great enough or too great for him I have the rather noted all this because too many encourage themselves in their Wickedness by the Example of this poor Thief They think they may live as they list and yet be saved if they repent on a Sick-bed and at the Hour of Death But how rare is it that God does give such Presumptuous sinners so much Grace in the time of their Sickness How seldom do they give such ample demonstrations of their Faith Humility and sincere Repentance Now what Answer doth Christ return to this honest Thief The Text will give you a fair account of this Then said Iesus unto him Verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise In which Words we have a fair description of the happiness of pious Souls after they are departed from this wretched Body I shall consider the Words in the same order that they lye And First They assure us That pious Souls are immediately admitted to the actual possession of Happiness upon their departure from the Body To Day saith Christ. Secondly They do farther assure us of the greatness of this Happiness they shall be with Christ and they shall be in Paradise To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise First These Words assure us that pious Souls are immediately admitted to the actual possession of Happiness upon their depature from the Body There are a sort of Men in the World they call Psychoparruychites who hold that the Soul after its departure from the Body sleeps all the while till the General Resurrection and consequently is neither in a state of Ioy nor Misery till the Day of Iudgment when it shall be reunited united to the Body and sent with it either to Heaven or Hell But it is plain from the Text that the Souls of Good men are immediately after their departure from the Body admitted to the actual possession of Eternal happiness For Christ does here promise this honest Thief that he should be that very day with him in Paradise Paradise is a place of Joy and Bliss and to be with Christ is to be in a state of Happiness Now in such a place and in such a state was the Thief to be that very day So Act. 7. 56. St. Stephen saw the Heavens open'd and the Son of Man standing on the Right hand of God He knew the Heavens were open'd for him and that Christ stood there ready to receive him into Glory and therefore he prays ver 59. Lord Iesus receive my Spirit So again 2 Cor. 5. 8. We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord. It seems the pious Soul as soon as it is absent from the Body it is present with the Lord and consequently in a state of Bliss and Glory Again Revel 14. 13. I heard a Voice from Heaven saying Write blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them Ye see here the Godly are said to be blessed as soon as they dye and not only to rest but also to receive the reward of their good Works I shall add but one Text more which you 'l find Phil. 1. 21 22. I am in a strait betwixt two saith St. Paul having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you As much as if the Apostle should have said I cannot tell whether I should desire to live longer or