Selected quad for the lemma: work_n
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A45205
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Dorcas revived the second time: or a sermon preached at the funerals of Mrs. Anne Mickle-thwait the one and twentieth of March 1658.
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Hunter, Josiah, minister in York.
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1656
(1656)
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Wing H3765B; ESTC R224179
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44,466
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48
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by their knowledge are an Eye to the blind For such men God is blessed of men and such men shall be blessed of God in their Deeds The Sun it self if it did not shine and give warmth unto the Creatures were the glorious Face thereof ten times more glorious than it is none would half so much blesse God for it 3. Good works were one end of Christs death 2 Tit. 14. there the Apostle saith that Christ dyed to purchase unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works not only followers but zealous and lest men should think that we should only preach free-grace these things speak saith he and exhort So it is said that he suffered for Sin 1 Pet. 1.21 leaving us an example that we should follow his steps Now he went about doing good 10 Act. 38. And himself bare our Sins in his own body on the Tree that we being dead unto Sin should live unto righteousnesse 1 Pet. 2.24 4. Good works are an ornament to our profession 1 Phil. 27. 2 Tit. 10 When we are full of good works we walk as becommeth the Gospel and adorn the Doctrine of God and our Saviour A Christian though like Leah tender-ey'd and cannot see farr into the mysteries of Religion yet if fruitful is more honourable than barren Rachel though fair and beautiful for parts and knowledge The credit of the Gospel should be dear to the Professours of it and woe to him who maketh that worthy name by which he is named to be evil spoken off 2 Jam. 7. Hence flows another Good works being an honour to our profession they will put to shame and silence prophane persons 1 Pet. 2.15 1 Pet. 3.16 1 Pet. 3.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who are ready to take all occasions to Blaspheme yea through our good conversation we may be instrumental for the gaining of those that are without Chrysostome calls good works unanswerable syllogismes invincible demonstrations to confute and convert Pagans 1. Then if this be our Doctrine Appl. it is manifest that the Papists do most falsly charge us to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 despisers yea condemners of good works We condemn them in no other sense than the Scripture condemnes them otherwise we commend them as the best signs of a living Faith and the expressions of thankfulnesse to God for redeeming us by his Son And therefore we think Ursine hath very fitly entituled his tractate of good works de gratitudine We say that God commands good works is well pleased with them and glorified by them and though they cannot merit eternal life for that is the gift of God yet there is in them an ordinability to eternal life 6 Roâ— 23. which is not in evil works And they do render the Subject capable of Heaven whereas evil works do wholly unfit him Therefore we are ever pressing upon our Auditors to learn to maintain good works for necessary uses that they be not unfruitful 3 Tit. 14. And we teach them that good works are necessary in a fourfold respect 1. Necessitate praecepti by the necessity of precept this is the will of God 1 Pet. 2.15 2. Necessitate ordinis by the necessity of an inviolable order whereby a rational Creature is obliged to yield all obedience to his Creator 3. Necessitate consequentiae by a necessity of consequence because good works do flow from the very essence and being of Faith Lastly Necesitâ—â—e medâ—i sive hypotheseos by a necessity of the means or a conditional necessity for though no man can be saved for his works yet without good works he shall not be saved for if yee live after the flesh â— Rom. 13. 6 Galat. 7. yee shall dye and whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap therefore good works are according to Bernard Via ad regnum though not causa regnandi 2. It reproves such as make profession of the Gospel and yet instead of being full of good works are full of evil works concerning whom it may be said 32 Deut. 32. that their Vine is the Vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrha their Grapes are Grapes of Gall their clusters are bitter Their works are works of the flesh Adultery Fornication Uncleannesse Lasciviousness Idolatry 5 Gal. 19. Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like Of some one or more of these they are full These men are the scandal of the Gospel and by how much Christian Religion is the best of Religions by so much are these the worst of men and no man so vile in the eyes of God 10 Luk. 33. and Men as a debauched Christian he doth not only bring shame 4 Joh. 22. but also suspicion upon his profession for however the Samaritan not the Jew relieved the distressed Traveller yet the Jews Religion was true not the Samaritans So in other cases truth of causes must not be judged by Acts of Persons Yet as he said it must needs be good that Nero persecutes so many are ready to say it cannot be good surely it cannot but be evil that such a wicked wretch professeth What shall I say to such do yee think it enough to say that you have Abraham to your Father 3 Mat. 9 10. Will you Steal Murder commit Adultry Swear falsly and come and stand before God in the House called by his name 7 Jer 9 10. 8 Joh. 4â— and say we are delivered to do all these abominations shall I tell you that yee are of your Father the Devil and his works you doe take it how you will the Scripture saith expresly that the Devil worketh in Children of Disobedience 2 Eph. 2. such as thou art Or Lastly Shall I tell thee that for such works comes the wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience 5 Eph. 6. Thou art full of evill workâ— God is full of patience that doth not as yet pour out of the Vials of his wrath upon thee but take heed what thou dost God is prest under thee as a Cart 2 Am. 3. that is full of sheavs if the Axeltree of his Patience break the burthen will fall on thee a burthen so heavy 6 Rev. 57. that thou wouldst be glad to change it for Rocks and Mountains 3. Let us all be exhorted in this to make Dorcas our pattern She was neither Idle Evil nor Unfruitful Not Idle for we read of her works nor Evil for her works were good nor Unfruitful for she was full of them 1. Dorcas was not Idle 1 Tim. 5.13 for we read of her works She was none of those women that learn to be idle and wander about from House to House Good works saith Gerrhard in Scripture are taken In Loc. Com. not only for external actions but for inward affections to good but it pleased the Holy Ghost to use the name of works rather than habits or affections because the praise of
probable that Dorcas had been Sick before but not unto Death but now She was Sick and Dyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will not break forth into any Rhetorical Declamations against the cruelty of Death yet the Scripture calls it an Enemy and the last Enemy 1 Cor. 15. and it doth the worst it can even to Gods own people But it may be said of it as Socrates said of his Enemies they may kill me but they cannot hurt me For what Basil said of Martyrdome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is true of any kind of Death to Gods Children it is but a way to passe from a Temporal Life to an Eternal She Dyed The Holyest and most Religious persons are subject to Death The Apostle speaking of the Patriarches these all Dyed saith he 11 Heb. 13. Grace gives comfort in Death but not power against it It is one of the Statutes of Heaven which cannot be revoked Statutum est 9 Heb. 27. it is appointed for all Men once to die There is no man hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit neither hath he power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that Warr 8 Eccl. 8. no union unseperable but that between Christ and a believer Death will seperate the union between Husband and Wife between Children and Parents between David and Jonathan yea the union between Soul and Body for a time Privilegia singularia regulam non faciunt regulam non infringunt Personalis Actio moritur cum persona nec sunt amplianda privilegia but not the union between Christ and the Soul for when the people of God are dissolved then they go to be with Christ which is best of all If it be objected that Enoch and Elias never saw Death the Answer is that singular privileges neither make a Rule nor break a Rule these were personal privileges and a personal Action ever dies with the person Neither are privileges to be amplified for then they are no privileges Though Christ hath taken away the sting of Death that it cannot hurt us the strength of Death that it cannot always hold us yet hath he not as yet altogether destroyed it But the best men must dye that as Sin brought in Death so Death may again cast out Sin Death was first inflicted as the punishment of Sin now it is the end of it 2 Cor. 5.4 Therefore do the holyest men dye that their mortality may be swallowed up of life Again sometimes God takes away his dearest Children by Death 2 Chro. 34.28 â—7 Isa 1. as he did Josiah from the evil to come Lastly that of the Apostle is considerable speaking of the Martyrs he saith of whom the World was not worthy 11 Hebr. 38. The World is apt to deride revile maligne and cast aspersions upon good men they will not profit by their Admonitions and good Examples therefore the World is worthy no longer of their Societie and God takes them away He thinks that he hath let them live but too long to have no kinder usage and therefore he takes them up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Justin Martyr speaks to their heavenly kindred where they shall be more made of 5 Wisd 4. Hence we learn that as they are Fools who account the Godly mans life madness so are they that think their end to be without honour It is not the misery of good men that they die For he is not miserable that dyeth but once and for a moment that death may for ever be swallowed up of life But he is miserable that is ever dying and yet lives in torments infinitely worse then death Thus it is with the wicked in Hell who passing out of this life are immediately seised on by the second death but for the Godly the Scripture saith blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death shall have no power but they shall be Preists of God and of Christ Secondly the Godly are desirous of death 20 Revel 6. 1 Phil 23. for love is an affection of Union Now Christ is with the Saint here there is security in that but the Saint also would be with Christ for in that there is full foelicity Lastly though the holiest Persons die yet God suffers not Death to put in his Sickle before they be ripe There is no question what age soever Dorcas was of being so full of good works She could not but be fit for Heaven For this reason a Christian can never die out of season Paul saith that he was as one born out of season 1 Cor. 5.8 because he had not seen Christ on Earth but he could not die out of season because he was sure to see Christ in Heaven That Dorcas died the Text tells us but how she died it doth not tell us neither was it very necessary for we may be confident that She who lived so piously could not but die peaceably She that was so full of good works in her life we may probably think that she was not full of fears at her death The wise man tels us that the wicked is driven away in his wickednesse but the righteous hath hope in his death 14 Prov. 32 Dorcas being so righteous a woman could not but have hope in her death and it is very probable She had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The full assurance of hope 6 Heb. 11. It is likely She had that full assurance of hope that filled her with joy But to be sure She had that hope in her death 5 Rom 5. which would not make her ashamed at the day of Judgement I will only add this now Dorcas is gone her works we are sure have followed her long since and our praises can add nothing to her glory only they are an excitement to our selves To him that soweth righteousnesse there shall be a sure reward 11 Pro. 18. Which reward Dorcas now hath For God is not unrighteous that he should forget Dorcas works and labour of love which She shewed towards his name in that She ministred unto the Saints 6 Hebr. 10. That Dorcas Soul is blessed I can tell you But how blessed if I had the tongue of Men and Angels I could not tell you The Scripture hath left us but a Negative description of the Saints blessedness Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard c. 1 Cor. 2.9 Paul was translated out of himself to behold it 2 Cor 12. and being returned into himself could not express it Doe not envy Dorcas her happiness but imitate her holinesse 14 Rev. 13. 2 Pet. 1.13 25 Math. 4. She hath rested from her labours and received her Crown but left us still to sweat and toil in Gods Vine-yard Nor must we think to come to Heaven upon easier terms than Gods Saints have done before us Wherefore let us gird up the loyns of our minds let us every day be adding more Oil to our Lamps that