Without us we shall meet with many Rubs laid in our way many Snares many Scandals many Stumbling-blocks laid by Satan to intrap us and make us fall The World 's golden Ball of Pleasure and Profit is cast before us to entice us out of the way Satan's wild-fire of Persecution is flash'd in our Faces to affright us from our Christian Course our way is hedged up with thorns or else carnal Relations and worldly Interest hang about our Necks to pull us back So that there needs much strength of Grace much Courage and Resolution much Earnestness and Contention much Labour and pressing forward that so we may lay hold on the Prize Eternal Life the Crown of Glory which is held forth to us for a Prize and shall be given unto us by the Judg the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Rewarder if we strive lawfully and run well So run therefore that ye may obtain 1 Cor. 9.24 3. The Christian Life is here set forth unto us under the Metaphorof keeping a Trust I have kept the Faith Where by Faith some understand Faithfulness or Fidelity that Engagement which is usually given by Souldiers to their General by an Oath which is called Sacramentum militare And so to keep the Faith is to keep the Oath by fighting faithfully and not falsly betraying the Cause of Christ neither by a treacherous running over to the Enemy as a Transfuga partium nor yet by a cowardly running away and drawing back from their Colours deserting the Cause of Christ and the Gospel which they had sworn to defend as all of us have in our Baptismal Vow But by Faith in this place I think is rather to be understood Fides quae creditur the Truth and Faith of Christ in the Gospel in which sense the Saints are described Rev. 14.12 to be such as keep the Commandments and the Faith of Jesus The Metaphor of keeping this Faith seems to have been borrowed either from 1. The keeping of a Fort or strong Castle The Faith and Truth of Christ is a strong Hold which is committed to the keeping and defending of every Christian Soul and while we keep this Fortress that will keep us safe safe from the power of the Enemy and we shall be kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 Where the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies properly kept as a Garisson is kept Or 2. The keeping of a precious Jewel or Treasure committed to our charge and custody The Faith and Truth of Christ is a Depositum committed to us and intrusted with us To this St. Jude seems to allude Jude 3. when he exhorts all to contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints The like Allusion hath St. Paul when he exhorts Timothy 1 Tim. 6. ver 20 21. O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust and what that was may appear by the Opposition there subjoyn'd Avoiding profane and vain Bablings and oppositions of Science falsly so called which some professing have erred concerning the Faith The Faith was the Depositum and the god thing committed to Timothy as Paul phrases it and exhorts him again to keep 2 Tim. 1.14 the same which in verse 13. he had expressed in other word viz. Hold fast the Form of sound Words which thou hast heard of me in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus If we keep this Faith and Truth that will keep our Souls for by keeping his Faith we trust in him and commit our Souls to his keeping who is the faithful and watchful Lord-Keeper of his Israel And therefore St. Peter exhorts Commit the keeping of your Souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creatour 1 Pet. 4.19 And this did encourage St. Paul to say 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have trusted and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that Day And as our Saviour Christ did pray to his Father John 17.11 that he would keep all his Elect Holy Father keep through thine own Name those whom thou hast given me So he promises Rev. 3.10 to the Church in Philadelphia Because thou hast kept the Word of my Patience I also will keep thee from the hour of Temptation 3. Or else this keeping of the Faith may allude unto a Souldier's keeping of his Station or a Wrestler keeping of his Ground But the former are as I conceive more proper to the place and therefore I shall pursue this no further but come to consider what the thing is which is here meant by keeping the Faith Now to keep the Faith is 1. Truly and firmly to believe the Truth of Christ to assent unfeignedly to it to receive it not into the Ear only but into the Heart also and there to keep it and cleave unto it 2. To keep the Truth and Faith of Christ is to obey it as to keep God's Commandments is to obey and do them The Truth and Faith of Christ are kept in an holy Life 3. To keep the Truth and Faith of Christ is to hold it fast by Profession Thus Christ commends the Church of Pergamus Rev. 2.13 Thou holdest fast my Name and hast not denied my Faith and likewise the Church in Philadelphia Rev. 3.8 Thou hast kept my Word hast not denied my Name 4. Lastly The Faith is kept by holding out and constant Continuance and Perseverance in all these believing practising and professing it This is that which receives the promised Reward Mat. 24.13 He that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful unto Death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Paul must finish his Course before he shall receive a Crown Without this we shall come short of the Prize Thus we have briefly surveyed the Character of a Christian Life which was the first thing observed in St. Paul's first Meditation II. The second thing propounded to be consider'd is the comfortable Testimonial which Paul's Conscience gave him concerning his past Life and Conversation he was able to say in the sincerity of his Heart I have fought a good Fight c. St. Paul had long since made it his Exercise his constant Care and Indeavour to have always a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Men Acts 24.16 And now you see here he reaps the fruit of it Accordingly as we use our Consciences so will they deal by us if we wound them they will wound us If we keep not Peace in our Consciences how can they speak Peace to us But if we keep them tender and pure they will be able to comfort us in our greatest Streights and Difficulties St. Paul reflecting upon his Life past his Conscience told him what he here professes of himself First That he had fought a good Fight in a good Cause and that he had fought it well observing therein the Commands of his General That he had been
the right hand and on the left enticing and alluring us to Sin terrifying and persecuting us to drive us from God and Gooodness And with this Host assaulting us from without do combine a Party within us our mutinous Lusts and Corruptions the Flesh lusting against the Spirit without which all Satan's Attempts upon us would be in vain as we see those against Jesus Christ were because as our Saviour saith Joh. 14.30 The Prince of this World cometh and hath nothing in me No Corruption to side with him no combustible Matter for his Wild-fire to take hold of so that all his Attempts against him were in vain And so would they be against us also were it not for those Bosom-Traitors which harbour in our Breasts those Lusts which war in our Members It is the Tinder within us that makes Satan's fiery Darts and Temptations so dangerous to us These our Enemies are represented unto us as very formidable and dangerous and so they are whether we consider 1. Their Number They are very numerous Legions of Devils and a whole World of wicked Men. But yet if Beelzebub commanded only an Army of Flies though never so numerous and swarming the danger were not so great But add to their Number 2. Their Power and Might They are Angels and how great the natural Power of one single Angel is witness the Camp of the Assyrians 2 Kin. 19.35 where one Angel in one Night made a Carnage of no less than an hundred eighty five thousand Men. Hence it is that Angels are said to excel in Strength Psal 103. 20. And although Satan and his Train be fallen from their Happiness Holiness and extremely debauch'd in their Morals yet their natural Powers do still continue very great and therefore they are called Principalities and Powers and spiritual Wickedness in high Places Eph. 6.12 In high Places surely a great Advantage in Wrestling and no less in Fighting But although our Enemies were never so numerous and never so strong yet if they had no Wisdom to order their Numbers and to manage their Strength they might come to Ruin by their own Weight as we know that great Armies have proved sometimes unweildy and cumbersom to themselves and by frequent Mutinies have in time fretted themselves to nothing But 3. Our Enemies are subtle Enemies managing their Force with exceeding great Policy and Cunning and are wont to prevail more by Sleight than Power The Devil is called the Old Serpent Rev. 12.9 A Serpent subtle by Nature but much more by long Use and Experience and old Serpent He hath many Windings and Turnings many Devices and Stratagems many Wiles and Methods to circumvent us by 4. Our Spiritual Enemies are Cruel and Merciless which makes them still the more dangerous This adds Will to their Power and sets their Subtlety on work to contrive Mischief against us In this respect Satan is said to have been a Murderer from the beginning John 8.44 And called a red Dragon Rev. 12.3 A roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5.8 5. This his Malice to our Souls makes him watchful and restless exceedingly industrious to work us Mischief and to bring Dishonour unto God We see with what indefatigable Industry he prosecuted our Saviour Christ by tempting him again and again by slandering and blaspheming him by crucifying him and even after Death by denying and belying his Resurrection He left no Stone unturn'd that by any means if it had been possible he might have hindred God's Glory and Man's Salvation Thus we see what a dangerous Adversary we have to fight against whom resist stedfast in the Faith for we are not ignorant of his Devices And now 't is high time to bethink our selves wherewith we may oppose him and defend our selves 3. As in other Fightings so in this Christian Combat we are furnish'd with Weapons both for the offensive and defensive Part and those both of them tried and approved 2 Cor. 10.4 5. The Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong Holds And we have the whole Armour of God which is to be put on by every one of us that we may be able to stand against the Violence and Wiles of the Devil The several Parts whereof we may see described Ephes 6.13 c. Truth Righteousness and Faith the Word of God and Prayer Stand therefore upon your watch having your Loins girt fight the good Fight of Faith quit your selves like Men but be sure you take Christ for your General he is the Captain of our Salvation Heb. 2.10 He hath baffled the Devil and overcome the World therefore be of good Comfort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God will give us the Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord 1 Cor. 15.57 The Quarrel is ancient as old as Gen. 3.15 Our Enemies are formidable but our Cause is good and God is on our side and so long who shall be against us who can stand against him Not the Gates of Hell the Plots and Power of it nor the Depths of Satan nor all his whole Militia shall be able ever to prevail against the Church of Christ Be thou faithful unto Death and he shall give thee a Crown of Life For those that conquer shall be rewarded as shall be shewed anon So much briefly of the first Metaphor whereby the Life of a Christian is set forth unto us It is a Fight I have fought a good Fight A good Fight it is in respect of the Cause good also in respect of the Nature of the Fight which is to be managed by well-doing and good also in respect of the Success which is Victory and Happiness But I hasten to the next Resemblance of a Christian Life 2. The Christian Life is compared to a Course or Race I have finished my Course A Course of Life is a Phrase in ordinary use with us at this day as Spatium vitae decurrere was with the ancient Romans But it seems in this Place to have been borrowed by the Apostle from the running of a Race used in the Olympick Games by the Grecians called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very word here used by St. Paul To this we may observe him often alluding in his Epistles Heb. 12.1 Let us run with Patience the Race that is set before us laying aside every weight And Phil. 3.14 He saith of himself I press toward the Mark for the Prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus where the Expressions of pressing toward the Mark and for the Prize have manifest allusion to the running of a Race Now the Race of a Christian is no other than a careful and consciencious and zealous walking in the ways of God which lead unto Salvation wherein we shall meet with many hindrances 1. The Sin that so easily besets us which is spoken of in Heb. 12.1 Our Corruption within us which hopples and intangles us so that we cannot do the things which we would 2.
To assure him of a Crown of Righteousness and by that Assurance mediately to comfort him against the Fear of Death of which I shall speak afterwards 2. By this consideration to comfort himself immediately and next way against the Fear of Death The Testimony of a good Conscience Conscientia rectè factorum doth arm and support a man against the gastly aspect of approaching Death For What is it that makes Death so terrible unto Mortals that the very mention of it makes them tremble like an Aspine-leaf The Apostle tells us The Sting of Death is Sin 1 Cor. 15.56 The guilt of Sin upon the Conscience is that which puts the Heart into such a palpitation For the Conscience knowing that for all those Impieties whereof it keeps the Register it must come to judgment and the Books must be opened and every one must be judged according to what is found written in the Books it dreads Judgment to come as Felix did and cannot but look upon Death as on the grim Serjeant that comes to arrest us and to summon us to judgment This is the Sting in the Tail of Death But now a good Conscience sprinkled with the Blood of Christ that sincerely reports unto us that we have by Faith in the Blood of Christ received him for the Pardon of Sin and gives us in an holy Life in evidence of the Truth of our Faith doth thereby shew that the Promise of the Gospel which was made conditionally is now become absolute unto us and that therefore we are already passed from Death to Life And then being once assured that our Debts are pardoned and the Hand-writing cancelled we fear no longer Death's Arrest but may say with this Apostle O Death where is thy Sting Thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord 1 Cor. 15.55 56. Thus we see that the Testimony of a good Conscience and nothing else without it can give us true and solid Comfort when we come to dy A wicked man may through the hardness of his Heart and searedness of his Conscience be sensless and stupid in his Death and so fall down like a Log into Hell-flames An erroneous Conscience may make a man brave it out and with Curtius leap desperately into the Gulf of the Bottomless Pit An Hypocrite's Conscience may set a fair outside upon it and dy possibly with seeming Joy but in the midst of Laughter his Heart is sad his Joy is but like the risus Sardonius when Men seem to dy laughing but 't is rather a Rictus than a Risus a grinning of the Teeth than Laughter and shall end in gnashing of Teeth in another World 'T is only the Testimony of a good and pure sincere and enlightned Conscience that can yield a man good ground of true and solid Comfort And therefore St. Paul being now as it were at Death's door takes this Cordial before he knocks hath recourse unto his own Conscience for his Letters Testimonial drawn up from a Survey of an holy and well-led Life and here he finds support And the like he had done before 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in Simplicity and godly Sincerity we have had our Conversation in the World This also hath been the Practice and Method of other Saints and Servants of God in Scripture who when they were under the apprehension of their approaching Departure have fetcht their Comfort from the lame Topick which St. Paul here made use of viz. the Testimony of a good Conscience concerning their passed Lives and Conversations Thus good Hezekiah Isa 38.1 c. having received that doleful Message the Sentence of Death pronounced by the mouth of the Prophet Set thine House in order for thou shalt dye and not live whence does he look for his Comfort but from the secret witness of his own Soul testifying unto him the Sincerity of his former Course which he is willing to have tryed by the Sun-beams of God's own Knowledg v. 3. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walke I before thee in Truth and with a perfect Heart and have done that which is good in thy sight Thus Elijah sitting under the Juniper-tree 1 Kin. 19.4 could not with any comfort have desired seriously as he did that God would take away his Life from him had he not had this assurance written on the Table of his own Heart that he had been very Zealous or Jealous for the Lord of Hosts as himself professeth v. 10.1 And how could good old Simeon with joy have sung his Nunc dimittis had he not known in his Conscience what the Gospel reports of him that he was a just and devout Man waiting for the Consolation of Israel Luk. 2.25 As ever therefore we desire to find Comfort in our Death let us lead holy Lives and keep good Consciences as Paul and these other Servants of God did There are scarce any so profligate and given up to all Impiety but do desire Comfort when they come to dy But alas by their wicked Lives they have stop't the Minister's mouth seared the Breasts of Consolation and cut off those Conduit-pipes which should have conveyed Comfort into their Souls There be many who will be ready to say with Balaam O let me dy the Death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his but they will not live the Life of the Righteous Mark the perfect Man and behold the upright for the end of that Man is peace Psal 37.37 But alas what Peace can thy Conscience or any other speak to thee while thy crying Sins and Impieties are so many Light is sown for the Righteous and Joy for the Upright in Heart Psal 97.11 A man may with as much reason expect to reap where he hath not sown as to reap Joy and Comfort in Death without sowing the Seed of it in an holy Life Sow then in thy Life-time what thou wouldest reap when thou comest to dy And thus I have done with St. Paul's First Meditation or his Reflexion upon his former Life well-spent I come to the Second Medit. 2. St. Paul's second Meditation is a Prospect into the Life to come and the Glory of it together with his own Share in it Wherein we have these Severals to be taken into our Consideration 1. The Reward it self called a Crown of Righteousness 2. The Certainty of it in those words laid up for me 3. The Bestower of it the Lord the Righteous Judg shall give me 4. The Time when it shall be bestowed at that day I. The Reward it self which is no other than Eternal Life the Glory and Joys of Heaven Which we have here set forth unto us under the Metaphor of a Crown of Righteousness The Joys and Glory of Heaven are called a Crown 1. Because Eternal Life and Blessedness are promised to us under the Notion of an Heavenly Kingdom Luk. 12.32 Fear not little Flock for it is your