their lives in not answering the end of them They are meer Earth-cumberers and such who have lived only to themselves Thirdly But which is worse some have lived to wicked purposes having spent their days in sin and been offensive both to God and Men who as last will come to dye like Jehoram without being desired And such another was Hezekiah's Father even that King Ahaz who when he died was buried like Jehoram and not brought into the Sepulchres of the Kings of Israel And such another was that persecutor Jehoiakim for whom they lamented not saying Ah Lord or ah his glory Oh! these are to be exploded out of the Land of the living For Men shall clap their hands at them and hiss them out of the world he never did good work while he lived and he shall have never a good word when he dieth So much for Reprehension This Point instructs us in matter of Humiliation What hath been said should humble even the very best of God's people in that they have done no more service for Jesus Christ in their Generation You have possibly done something for him but you might have done more You might have praised him more declared the Truth more to your Children you might have projected and designed more for the glory of God and the good of Posterity you might have devised liberal things lived more exemplarily been more zealous of good works more edifying in your conversation you might have adventured more for Christ and whereas you have gained two Talents for him you might have gained five Truly for my part I might have done more and it humbleth me that I have done so little I remember it is said of Doctor Vsher in the Narrative of his Life and Death that when he was a dying he was humbled for his omissions And indeed they are great sins and the judgment of Christ at his appearing will pass much upon good works on the one side and omissions of them on the other And therefore we had need to sit in judgment upon our selves for our omissions before we dye For it is not enough to do good sometimes but we should be rich in good works and prepared unto every good work always abounding in the work of the Lord giving a portion to seven and also to eight going about as Christ did doing good And he that is thus exercised is fit to live and fit to dye But let us be humbled this day for our neglects For have not our hearts sometimes checked us upon reviews of the loss of our opportunities to do such or such a good work Saith a gracious and tender heart when he is come from such a person or such a place or such a company or occasion Alas what have I omitted I might have put in such a word for Jesus Christ I might have reproved such a sin or given such or such counsel or stopt such a vain discourse or given such an example or moved for such a good work c. Alas who knows the errors of his life this way and therefore this consideration calls for deep Humiliation and self-judging at this time 3. Exhorted We are here Exhorted and the Point affords Exhortation several ways To do all the good you are able during your abode here below seeing death will put an end to all your opportunities If God enable you to speak a good word to his honour and to the edification of others when you lye a dying you are never like to do so much good again to Eternity When you take your leave of the world you take your leave of doing good And therefore you had need bestir your selves while your Bodies and Souls abide here together Whatsoever therefore thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest And suppose you have done well hitherto like a good and faithful servant be not yet weary of well doing but up and be doing still and in due time you shall reap if you faint not What a deal of good had Hezekiah done before he fell into this sickness He destroyed the Monuments of Idolatry set up a notable Reformation brought back the Tribes of Israel to the Lord God of their Fathers And yet you see here he is willing to live longer to do more So Peter had done much good in his time you know he converted about three thousand Souls at the beginning of his Ministry he had a most happy hansel Acts 2d And yet he takes another opportunity and sped well And after this he passeth through all quarters and came at last to Lydda Saron and Joppa you know what good he did in the house of Cornelius c. At length he becomes old then he writes to the Saints For saith he I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me Moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance First saith he I am aware of death approaching Secondly I will therefore do all the good I am able both with my Tongue and Pen. Thirdly I will endeavour that the good I do may live when I am dead that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance Even thus we should endeavour to live in this world after our departure Survive your Funerals and out-live your deaths For it is not enough that we shall then live in Heaven but we should endeavour to be doing of that good while we live that may make us live on Earth even when we are dead And in this way the memory of the Just shall be blessed and the Righteous had in everlasting remembrance It is the Saints happiness to have Glory and Honour and Immortality in Heaven but it is much to the glory and honour of God for the Saints to be immortalized on Earth and to live in their good Examples good Counsels good Names and good Works when their Souls are shining in Heaven Particularly 1. Dilate and diffuse the praises of God and make his Name glorious to the utmost of your power And let this be often sounding in your ears The living the living he shall praise thee Speak much and live much to his praise Let the high praises of God be in your mouthes Ainsworth and the Dutch Interpreters render it Let the exaltations of God be in your throat and it suits with the Original as also with the Translation of the 70. The Exaltations i. e. the lifting up of God in his Name Attributes Precept Promises Threatnings Providences c. let them be in your throats i. e. exalt your voices in exalting
while they live in this world where they make the Name of God known to them that knew it not before This is the first and highest Petition of all in our prayers and therefore of greatest concernment Secondly There is another service in my Text which cannot be performed in Heaven and it is contained in these words The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth And is not this also a most blessed service for it contains what is imported in the second Petition in the Rule of Prayer viz. Thy Kingdom come For this is one excellent way of advancing and enlarging the Kingdom of God in this world viz. when Parents shall make known the Truth and Faithfulness of God to their Children To which purpose consider Psal 78. 2 7. Deut. 4. 9. and 6. 6 7. And this is the great service of the Saints upon Earth both Ministers and People The things saith Paul to Timothy 2 Epist Ch. 2. Ver. 2. That thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also And this is a service which cannot be done in Heaven For the dead Saints cannot contribute ought to the enlarging of the Kingdom of Grace in this World and as for the Kingdom of Glory there are but two wayes of enlarging that which are by the departure of the Saints on Earth to Heaven and by the Resurrection in neither of which doth God use the service of the glorified Saints at all The care therefore of the choicest Saints hath been not only for the time of their lives but for the Generations to come that they might know what God had done The time would fail to tell of Moses and Joshua and David and Paul whose Epistles close with this Doxology and hearty desire of glory to be given to Christ in the Churches for ever The truth is the whole Scripture is a Book of the Acts and Monuments of the Lord 's wonderful works in gathering and building protecting saving and doing good to his Church and that for this end that the Generations to come might put their hope and trust in God And this was the unanimous design of the Pen-men of holy Scripture This shall be written for the generations to come and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. Thirdly Here in this world the Saints may live exemplarily blameless and harmless as the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation And this is a great service also For First Hereby some may come to be converted 1 Pet. 3. 1. and so the Kingdom of God is enlarged by this way also And Secondly Many hereby will be convinced and left without excuse in that great day For this is one way whereby the Sains shall judg the world they shall judg it exempâ—arily and in concurrence with Christ sententiarilly Now I say this is a service which cannot be done in Heaven where First There is no evil person Nor Secondly Any need of examples for the glorified Saints to walk by who are all perfect and under the immediate and sole Government of the Spirit of God There is but one example in Heaven and that is the exemplary cause of the glorification of our bodies viz. The glorified body of Christ For in this life the Saints conform to the grace of Christ actively and at the Resurrection they conform to his glorified body passively as to their patern Here in this world the Saints have opportunities of reproving Sin confuting Errors instructing the Ignorant warning the Unruly comforting the Feeble minded praying for their Relations and Friends c. Now there are no such things in Heaven where there is no Sin no Error no Ignorance no Unruliness none Afflicted no praying for Relations I remember how dying Mr. Rollock was much offended with a Kinsman for desiring his Prayers when he should come to Heaven God will have but one Intercessor there Hence they may do good to the bodies of Men. For they may feed the hungry give drink to the thirsty lodge the harbourless clothe the naked visit the sick and imprisoned whereas in Heaven there are no necessities or wants Here the Saint may suffer for Christ give a testimony to his Cause and to the Truth by the loss of their Relations and Friends of their Goods Health Ease Credit Liberty Houses Lands Countries Life c. For 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 follow them And this is such a service as the very Angels are in no wise capable of So that you see there are many services which the Saints may do here for Christ which they cannot do in Heaven Indeed if they could return to this life again they might do such works as these For when Lazarus was raised from the dead he entertained Christ again And when Tabitha was raised from the dead it is very probable that she fell to her good Works and Alms-deeds again to her making of Coats and Garments again for the poor as she had been wont Act. 9. 39. But these are rare examples of the returning of the dead Saints to this world again For as the Cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more He shall return no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more Lastly There are some gifts of grace which cannot be exercised in Heaven For First Here the Saints do believe whereas in Heaven Faith is turned into Vision Here they walk by Faith and not by sight as they shall do in Heaven And Faith is a gift of Grace whereby God is much glorified for it empties and humbles the Heart and carrieth it forth to Christ and glorifies God in all his Attributes Whereas in Heaven the Saints have all in hand and therefore they live by sight and not by Faith There is but one thing there to come to them to the compleating of their happiness and that is the resurrection of the dead in the Faith whereof they live but yet this Faith is of another nature than that which justifieth and saveth in this life Secondly It followeth hence That here in this life the Saints do exercise Hope waiting for the good which is held forth in the Promise which their Faith believeth they shall have Whereas in Heaven Hope is turned into fruition and enjoyment For Hope that is the thing hoped for that is seen is not Hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for There is no hope in Heaven the Fathers to the Children cannot hope for thy Truth as Hezekiah here saith except it be of the Resurrection whereof the Saints have a most joyful expectation They are glad and rejoyce in that their flesh
of such a Lord and Master Consider what I say For it is a very honourable thing to suffer for Christ his Gospel and Kingdom For the Spirit of God and of glory resteth upon all such And what are all the sufferings of this present time in comparison with the glory which shall be revealed in us But though we have escaped what others have undergone yet we know not what may be our portion as to suffering before we dye Perhaps there is the more behind God hath appointed the number of them that shall suffer for Christ And who knows what God hath appointed for him this way But what ever it be Heaven will put an end to it where are no sufferings but Crowns even incorruptible Crowns of glory You know what is said of them that came out of great tribulation they were clothed with white Robes and had palms in their hands Ninthly Exercise those fruits of the Spirit which are proper to this life You have heard of several as Faith Hope Patience love to Enemies and to Men out of Christ Sympathy common gifts for Edification Communication of Knowledge which is mediate in this life All these are the gifts of the Spirit on this side Heaven in the exercise whereof God is much glorified and others edified which is that which should be the scope and aime of us all Tenthly and lastly There is one thing more which we are exhorted to do in this world which cannot be done after death and it is a very great service and highly incumbent on us and I was willing to reserve it to the last place that it might the rather abide by us and 〈◊〉 this Endeavour to transmit pure Religion and undefiled to posterity by commending it to your Children The Fathers to the Children shall make known thy truth And we may run it through Fatherhood at large But Let me speak of Domestical Fathers that is Fathers of Families This is a great matter and is the special work of the godly in their generations How else shall that be made good which is written His Name that is Christ's shall endure for ever his Name shall be continued as long as the Sun Some render it His Name shall be continued as a son continueth his Father's name for the Original Jinnon or Janin cometh of Nin 〈◊〉 son As if one should say Filiabitur nomen ejus or sobolescet nomen ejus as Tremellius renders it That is Christ shall not only himself live for ever in his person but his Name also shall endure for ever and be derived to his Children who therefore shall prolong his days as Children mete out their Fathers mortality in bearing his name being called Christians and the sons of God and the Children of Christ And this shall be saith the Psalmist before the Sun that is as long as the Sun endureth Now God will use means to bring this to pass and what are those means one special one is this The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth For how should the Name of Christ be childed from generation to generation as some render it if care be not taken by Parents to Child Christ's Name downwards to their Off-spring that his Name may be put upon their Children by being not only Christians by Baptism but by Regeneration And this is one of the great works and ends of our lives for Hezekiah here mentioneth First Praising of God and Secondly Making known the Truth to our Children which was a great Statute in Israel and obligeth us no less then them saith the Psalmist I will open my mouth in a Parable I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our Fathers have told us We will not hide them from their Children shewing to the generations to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done Here 1. Are such as are worthy of the name of Fathers viz. who transmit to posterity the Truths of God contained in the Scripture so as these here did as appears in the sequel of the Psalm And 2. Here is the only infallible sort of Tradition viz. that which delivereth to posterity what God first delivered to the Prophets Apostles and holy men of God and is now contained in the Scriptures 3. From these words we are taught that the godly in every age ought to have the same care to transmit the Word of Truth to their posterity as their Ancestors had to transfer it unto them and so to pay the debt which they owe to their godly Ancestors unto their succeeding Children for our Children are here called their Children vers 4th And if you descended not from such Parents immediately yet peradventure mediately you did However this here is your duty out of love to God to Truth and your Posterity Mark therefore what followeth in the same Psalm For God established a Testimony in Jacob and appointed a Law in Israel which he commanded our Fathers that they should make them known to their Children that the generation to come might know them even the Children which should be born who should arise and declare them unto their Children You see this transmitting of the Truth and true Religion to Posterity is God's love and Testimony because it testifieth and witnesseth for God and against us if we break it And this Law and Testimony we have several times in Moses So that the Law and Testimony is to transmit the Truth to Posterity For God did not deliver the Truth and true Religion to a person or people for the use of themselves alone but for the benefit of their Children also And he never loved the Truth truly who is careless whether it dye with himself or out-live him Let such Parents and Masters look to it who have been negligent in instructing their Children and Families The handing of Religion from Parents to Children from the Living to the next succeeding Age is a standing part of our Generation-work It is said of David That after he had served his generation he fell asleep And truly such as fall asleep before go to bed before they have done their work and that is the way to make them start as many do when they are newly setting themselves to sleep Oh sirs care and pains for the godly being of posterity is a great and necessary business I many times think of the care and endeavour of the nine Tribes and half lest their Children should lose their interest in the God of Israel To which end they built the Altar Ed as they tell the two Tribes and half in their Apology Say they The Lord God of Gods The Lord God of Gods he knoweth and Israel he shall know that we have not done it in rebellion to turn from following the Lord c. But we have done it rather for fear of this thing lest in time to come your Children
thing that was in his Eye in his desire of prolongation of life For indeed it is the chief good of Man whom God made for himself and who therefore is to have this end continually in his aim and to be often thinking What shall I do to glorifie God For of him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory for ever Amen And all is lost that ends not in him that is Omega to whom you may well afford this honour when you consider that he is Alpha. He that is the first must be the last Take heed then of a narrow selfish Spirit which never looks so far as to this end and that makes many so unactive for God and his Glory You must therefore believe more and love more and then you will act to this end more c. Secondly Your love to the glory of God must extend to the Generations to come You must not therefore limit it to the present Generation and never be concerned that God may be glorified in future Ages even to the Worlds end But your desires herein must reach to the very end of the World For note the words of the Apostles Paul To God be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end Amen His love to God's glory ran through all Ages even to Eternity And so should your love do or else you do not sincerely love it neither indeed can you love that his Glory be upheld during your own time and not love the continuance of it to the Worlds end And such was the love of the Saints in the Scriptures to the praise and glory of God say they We will shew forth thy praise to all generations And therefore 1. They desired the continuance thereof to the Worlds end 2. They would also endeavour it With my mouth saith the Psalmist will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations And this hath been their care still That the people which shall be created may praise the Lord. Thus you must love God's Glory both Intensively and Extensively As you must love the Glory of God that it may be extended to future Ages so likewise you must love his Kingdom or else you will never attend this great work unto which you have been exhorted God's Kingdom Power and Glory must go together in your prayers And this was much upon Hezekiah's heart when he said The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth For he doth not say I will make known thy Truth to my Children though he purposed so to do but the Father that is every Father that feareth God not only in my time but in the generations to come Thus must your love be extended to the Kingdom of God and Thy Kingdom come must be always in your desires and endeavours Come how long even to the end of the world and never cease coming till Christ himself come Now if this be upon your heart and if you love that Christ should reign in the world you will do your utmost to promote it in your capacity in attending to the several Particulars propounded As you love God's Glory and Kingdom so must you love his Gospel For it is the Word of the Kingdom That is The Word whereby God's Kingdom is erected enlarged governed perfected It is that in which and by which our Lord Jesus doth reign in the world viz. as to his Spiritual Kingdom therein of which I now speak especially And you see in my Text Hezekiah's love to the Truth and to the making of it known from Generation to Generation whereas the Gospel is the Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Truth with an excellency called therefore The Word of Truth and The Word of the Truth of the Gospel The Truth made known not by the Light of Nature but by Revelation a mysterious Truth and therefore a great Truth that we use to say As true as the Gospel Now if you love this Truth as you have cause enough so to do you will do any thing that may tend to the publication and propagation of it by your praiers pains purses Counsels c. Fourthly As you must love God's Glory Kingdom and Gospel so you must love Souls The Father to the Children shall make known thy Truth Therefore the Father must love the Souls of posterity and have a zeal for the salvation of them that shall succeed And this will quicken your endeavours to the service of your Age when you shall look upon the Souls of successours as of equal value with your own seeing the ransom given for all Souls is the same And it is a blessed thing to be a lover of souls it makes a man like unto Jesus Christ whose love to Souls shines in his own blood wherein the kindness and love God our Saviour towards Man appeareth His kindness and Philanthropy i. e. love towards Man For God and our Saviour are great lovers of Men so should we be And Christ's delights were with the sons of Men from eternity We should not therefore terminate our love in Men's bodies we should love the Jewel far above the Cabinet and be frequently looking upon Mens Souls 1. In comparison with our own and 2. In the Blood of the Son of God and 3. In relation to Eternity especially the Souls of such as are near to us And the enlargement of our affections this way will amplifie our endeavours In Heaven we shall love Souls that are saved but here we must love Souls that they may be saved A work which determineth in Glory Now all this requireth a publick Spirit and an heart carried far beyond our selves For a narrow Spirit acteth within a narrow compass and is limited to private concernments And that is the reason why there is so little Generation-service performed All Men seek their own and not the things which are Jesus Christs Whereas our care should extend far beyond our own salvation and love to God's Glory future Ages Christ's Kingdom Gospel and precious Souls should all have a large room in our hearts and affections Thus you have had a great deal of work set before you which will dye together with you And to quicken you to it Consider That you know not how soon you may leave this world As Isaac said to Esau I am old and know not the day of my death and yet he lived 43 years after that Few men in Scripture knew the day of their death so as Hezekiah here did to whose life 15 years were added and he resolveth to spend them for God's Glory and the good of Posterity So do you as for the remainder of your days which may not be a quarter so many as his Only have a care to perform better than he did For when he was recovered he rendred not again according to the benefit done unto him Why what was the matter His heart was lifted up
be that we were born in a Time and Place of Light For great was the Darkness and little the Light about Six or Seven-score years past when England lay under the Darkness of Antichristian Ignorance since when it hath been turned from the Valley of the shadow of Death into a Valley of Vision This heighteneth the account of the Land we live in for the enjoyment of so great a mercy as no other Nation this day hath enjoyed the like especially as to the clearness of the Light that hath shined in it And though it will not be accompanied with outward peace yet it will not want inward if we keep close to the Light and live up to it in this our Day Fourthly This Day being thus intermixed with Light and Darkness Let us not wonder nor be offended that there are such varieties of Persuasions differing one from another and therefore all of them cannot be of the Light whatever is pretended by them that do profess unto them but the Light hath influence upon some of them and Darkness upon some other So that God's Heritage is unto him as a speckled Bird which the Birds fly round about against her But however let us not fly one against another lest we fly against our selves whiles we have our several feathers and colours in this one Bird but let us bear with one another as to particular Light and Darkness so long as we are all enlightened with the saving Knowledg of the Truth We ought not indeed to be Scepticks in Religion but every one to be perswaded in his own mind yet in some things peradventure thou art in the Light and I am in the Dark in others the Day perhaps shineth unto me and not to thee Let us yield to the Dispensation of the Day and keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace and if in any thing we are differently minded God shall reveal even this unto us Nevertheless whereunto we have already attained let us walk by the same rule let us mind the same thing For thus there are some in the Visible Church who are be-misted when others are enlightened and yet all agree in Fundamentals who ought to live in Unity and the Stronger to exercise Charity towards the Weaker that God who hath begun to enlighten them in other things will acquaint them in due time with those Truths whereof at present they are ignorant For it is God alone who revealeth the Light unto us And He that formeth the Light and createth Darkness may in some things make it Day to one man and night to another We are all who truly fear the Lord Children of the Light and of the Day and not of the Night nor of Darkness as to our states yet as to particular apprehensions in Truths of an inferiour nature it may be Day to one Night to another And thus it will be till the Evening cometh but then there shall be one heart and one way one Lord and his Name one Use 5. Lastly What hath been held forth administreth a word of Comfort That this Gospel-Day is known to the Lord from the Morning to the Evening of it He knoweth the Light and also the Darkness and who are in the one and who in the other and how far And therefore He knoweth what is done by the Children of the Night to introduce Darkness and to obscure the Day of the Gospel For the Day is his and the Night is his He formeth Light and Darkness and therefore he ordereth the Rulers of the Darkness of this world that no more either of Ignorance Error Heresie Superstition and Idolatry on the one side or of Tribulation Persecution and hostile Opposition to the Truth and Peace on the other shall prevaile further than He hath determined And whatsoever He hath appointed to be the portion of this Day as to the darkening of it yet it is our Comfort that the Day is known to the Lord and that He will have a care of it For he seeth the Darkness as well as the Light of the Day the darkness and the light are both alike to Him He hath seen the Day from the Morning of it to this moment and hath ordered and disposed of the darkeness of Ignorance Error Heresie and Idolatry and likewise of Affliction and Persecution in it in times of Pagan Arrian or Antichristian opposition And his care of this Day is no less towards the Evening of it nor his love to to it abilitie to see to it any less than in the Morning or Noon of it He that said I have seen I have seen the Affliction of my People which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their Task-masters for I know their sorrows knows all the Sorrows and Sufferings of his People in this Hour of the Gospel-day It was a very dark Night with Israel in Egypt when God spake these words to Moses for then was fulfilled in the Truth what was signified to Abraham in the Type when an horrour of great Darkness fell upon him And yet I have seen I have seen and I know saith the Lord in the midst of that horrid Darkness And therefore however the Day prove and Clouds and darkness arise as perhaps they may do marvel not at the matter for he that is higher than the highest regardeth Men and Devils may be high but God is higher yea higher than the highest which is a degree above the Superlative God hath a care of his Church and Gospel of such as Preach it and profess it only it is our duty to be humbled for the sins of Churches Ministers Professors which may otherwise the more darken and imbitter the Day that we are now entring into which calleth us to Prayer Humiliation Mourning and Reformation wherein if God assist us it shall be well in the end and though weeping may endure for a time yet joy cometh in the evening For it shall come to pass that at Evening-time it shall be Light FINIS Heb. 1 14. John 9. 4. Heb. 12. 2. 1 Pet. 4. 14. 2 Thes 1. 11 12. Psal 89. 30 31 32. 1 King 13 21 22. 2 King 18. 2. 2 Chron. 32. 25. Psal 6. 5. 2 Sam. 20. 3. Psal 30. 3. Psa 88. 10 11. Quest Answ Psal 118. 17. Quest Answ 2 Tim. 2. 2. Deut. 31. 19. Josh 2 last Chap. 2 Chr. 2. last Ch. Eph. 5. last Psal 102. 18. Phil. 2. 15. Mat. 12. 42. with 1 Cor. 6. 2. Phil. 3. 21 Melch. Adam in vit ejus Matth. 25. 35 36. Rev. 14. 3. John 12. 2 Acts 9. 39. Job 7. 9 10. 1 Cor. 13. 12. 2 Cor. 5. 7. Rom. 8. 24 Psal 16. 9. Rom. 8. 25 1 Cor. 13. last Ver. 8. Mat. 5. 44. Tit. 3. 2 3. 1 Cor. 13. 8. 1 Co. 14. 3. Ver. 5. Numb 11. 15. Deut. 34. Job 6. 8 9. 1 King 89. 4. Jonah 4. 3. Luke 2 29. Ver. 26. Phil. 1. 23 24. Phil. 1. 12. ver 13.